Shaun ranks: every RuPaul's Drag Race queen (50th place) [Archive] - Page 2?login=1 - ThisisBigBrother.com

Shaun

04-04-2019, 02:11 PM

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60th Place: Alexis Michelle (Season 9) - finished 5th

This has been something of a season 9 cull recently, but hear me out. I love Alexis Michelle. I think the hate she received throughout season 9 was disgusting and a perfect example of how nasty, toxic and downright stupid the fans of this show can be. The very idea that someone should receive death threats and "kill yourself" messages merely because they were a little delusional and conceited at one or two times during a ****ing drag competition is just innately dumb and horrible. She was very much edited to be a villain in a season where everyone was tiptoeing around extremely carefully trying not to receive the same sort of hatred and give out the same sort of negativity and cattiness that the Bitter Old Lady Brigade of Season 7 had dished out, and Derrick/Betty gave out in Season 8. So being the villain of season 9 means getting pretty much the same trajectory, and having the same personality, as some of the better-received queens of season four :shrug:

I won't deny though there were times that Alexis Michelle really got me confused and concerned. Worried that someone can be that far up their own ass sometimes. We all watched the S9 premiere and saw some of the trailers and immediately assumed Alexis would be the hunky daddy of the season... and I guess with how some of the others looked she still was? But yeah, things rapidly went south for miss "I see something, I say something".

Alexis displayed a lot of talent, though: her Kris Jenner impression and Liza Minelli impression were absolutely stellar and both should have been winning performances, but the judges have a hard on for "queens stealing the show with the smallest part" story arcs so Shea Coulee's Blac Chyna snatched one away from her (not helped, of course, by Alexis' hideous fur runway). In other performances, Alexis did a fine job in 9021Ho as the evil mirror Mona Dartin, did well in the cheerleading with her floozy characterisations, and I still think it was unfair that she should land in the bottom 3 for the Jesus, Mother of Gay sitcom because her southern lady really wasn't that bad? It was certainly on par with Peppermint's, but Peppermint murdered the runway where Alexis struggled again so :shrug: whatever. The very idea that Valentina stans thought she should've lipsynced vs. Nina was a wondrous sight to behold.

Unfortunately I'm removing Alexis from my rankdown because her attitude was, at times, unpleasant. The reaction to the reading challenge, that HELLA awkward "Oh... you did :bored:" snipe at Farrah Moan for her Pillsbury Rools joke, whilst Trinity and Shea pat her back and look like someone's just farted in an elevator, was just...excruciating and so petty and unnecessary from Alexis. Her attack in the Kardashian muscial Untucked was another bizarre one, where even Nina turned her back and just lied down on the couch ignoring her :joker: whilst she blamed the other queens for not telling her that her Fur Runway theme was basic, and refusing to let Farrah / Cynthia learn their lipsyncs. In hindsight it's pretty funny and trivial, but during a rather dry season of drama it was everything.

Also, challenge-wise, there were quite a few embarrassing moments. Her Roast is EXCRUCIATING and so too was her clapback at guest judge ("well," ) Tamar ("have you ever watched the show?") Braxton. Her claims to have been the producer of 90% of Trinity/Peppermint's sitcom have spawned a meme that is still thriving, with Reddit accrediting Alexis as a show producer to this day. And her Princess challenge sidekick of that tadpole is honestly nightmare-inducing.

I do, however, absolutely love Alexis Michelle for her authenticity, her refusal to beat around the bush and hide her true feelings, her immense talent, her performance ability and her lipsyncs. The video below is also the greatest 'reveal' performance I've yet seen. I look forward to an All Stars with both Alexises. Oh and finally: her promo look is maybe my favourite of all time.

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(you might wanna skip 2 minutes)

Memorable quote(s): "They definitely had more natural eyebrows in the 90s, so not too thin, not too sculptural-"
"Did y'all get the T on Koont?"
"I saw this bowl of beautiful turquoise embellishments."
"****in' shady *****s."
Best Runway(s): The Madonna one was solid but I'd vote for her White runway. Gaga runway was also gorgeous.
Best Moment(s): The start to her Macho Man lipsync with Peppermint where she turns around and applies a moustache out of nowhere is a STUNT :clap1:
Also the Wario laugh in her crazy hair runway <3

lewis111

04-04-2019, 02:11 PM

A Tammie, Stacy, Jasmine, Kasha top 4 is pretty much a given

Ammi

09-04-2019, 07:30 AM

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65th Place: Tyra Sanchez (Season 2) - finished 1st

If I were to be far more impulsive with my decisions in this ranking, then sure, Tyra would've finished far lower. But even with all of my bargaining and rationalising about how she's clearly not a terrible queen, I still have difficulty placing her any higher. Tyra Sanchez is a complicated queen to unpack, so I'll give it my best shot.

Season 2 is one of the best seasons, that much is a given. The drama is real, authentic and complex, and the personalities are too. Even the fan favourites had layers of nastiness and that kind of humanity that's all too lacking now thanks to season after season of trying to mute themselves and not get into any controversy with the fans. Tyra Sanchez was never a fan favourite, though, but still maintains a shroud of notoriety that it's unlikely any other winner will claim (unless, like, Eureka wins AS5 or something).

Let's dissect her strengths: Tyra's youthful drag had a hell of a lot of polish that her contemporaries did not. Tatianna, Jessica Wild, Jujubee and Mystique were the only other super-young queens that season and all of them struggled a lot with the runways and makeup, but Tyra almost always looked faultless. In terms of performances, she did very well at the Crisco Shortening advert challenge playing a baby with a goofy voice, she showed a hell of a lot of commitment in the wedding makeover challenge by literally hot-gluing lace to her skin, and she made a whole host of clever ploys for attention on the runways (spray-painting the word 'SANTINO' on some shopping bags :love:, turning a look into 3 options for her country runway).

Unfortunately for Tyra, Drag Race is a lot more than 3 episodes and she really showed her ass in some of the other ones. Back in the days of immunity, it would've been hard to explain why she shouldn't have been bottom 2 for her woeful Beyonce in 'Snatch Game' (but I would argue she shouldn't have been: Sonique and Morgan were pretty much indisputably worse). I mentioned in the Pandora Boxx writeup just how awful her makeover for her 'Golden Gal' was, and she also had immunity for the 'Ladyboy' live performance challenge which uh... I'll let you see for yourselves.

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This time I would've indeed placed her in the bottom, but a Tyra vs. Juju lipsync before the top 5? That would've hurt the show.

Of course, the biggest problem with Tyra is... her personality. The show attempts to portray the first of many "growth" arcs that would later explain the likes of Violet, Aquaria and Sharon winning, but unfortunately for Tyra it was just hard to make a brat seem loveable. Her monotone voice didn't help, but even throwing in workroom interactions with Ru about her son just didn't really do anything to lift her public opinion. The season-long drama with her was pretty entertaining but did nothing to portray her in a good light: she spent many workrooms singing loudly and intentionally trying to unnerve the other competitors, she fought with Tatianna in Untucked and had other queens like Pandora and Jujubee gunning for her on the main stage. Even head judge (at the time) Merle Ginsberg was actively campaigning for her to be eliminated, going so far to say she had a 'stank attitude'.

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Post-show is where it gets more interesting of course: there's the time she announced that Morgan McMichaels had died, there's the time she threatened to bomb Drag Con, there're the times she told fans to kill themselves on Twitter, the time she leaked Tatianna's phone number, the time she pretended to not know who Sasha Velour is, the time she compared Raja to Abu from Aladdin, the time she threw a burger at a waiter and attacked Pandora & Tatianna for corroborating the story, the time she threatened to sue RuPaul and World of Wonder... I suspect we'll have another 20 instances before Season 13 is out.

I am fully at peace with the idea that too many gays absolutely idolise this form of reality TV contestant and thrive off of such negativity and violent hostility, so will lap all of this up with fervour, but maybe I'm just a boring old queer who thinks such people are just...assholes.

And finally, no write-up about the show's most talked-about winner would be complete without her reaction to winning. Raven and RuPaul also get a shout out for the absolutely MARVELLOUS drama (at about 4:15).

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Tyra deserved the win, but as Jujubee said: she was always just UNT.

Memorable quote(s): "Maybe next time I will sing and maybe she'll [Tatianna] wear another horrible dress like she got on now." is a hell of a clapback :clap1:
Best Runway(s): Definitely her eleganza for the Ball at top four.
Best Moment(s): Copying Raven's reaction to winning an award at the DIVA Awards and embellishing it with an "I didn't even know I was nominated!!! :shocked:" :love:
Tearing off Raven and Jujubee's wigs in the 'Jealous of My Boogie' music video challenge :love:

....ouch...I haven’t caught up with all series yet but Tyra is one of my favourite queens...I just can’t see why she would have such a low place...she had so many vulnerabilities, I can’t even begin...and she really did get so much negativity from the other girls...(..plus some of the judges I think..?..)...a lesser queen would have understandably crumbled, surely..?...and yet she didn’t...and she won ...that baby won and showed them all..:lovedup:....amazing...ppfffft with your 65th nonsense....

Samm

09-04-2019, 09:04 AM

Did y'all get the T on Koont

Shaun

09-04-2019, 02:48 PM

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59th Place: Ongina (Season 1) - finished 5th

Long before the tragic trajectories of Manila Luzon, Shea Coulee and Ginger Minj were cut short, the original "robbed queen" was Ongina. Ongina was eliminated five episodes in, but she had already won two of them. It's really quite telling just how primitive and confused the show was in its first season, that a queen could have placings that go "HIGH-WINNER-HIGH-WINNER" and then immediately land in the bottom two and get eliminated, for a makeover challenge that Rebecca Glasscock SOMEHOW won?! I liked Rebecca, but even I still can't get my head around that. Especially when her makeover looked like this:

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Onto Ongina herself, though, and whilst the early seasons were plagued by complaints that Ongina Was Robbed, I was...never really that much of a fan. I've only placed her this high on her track record alone, and for bringing something to Drag Race that was different, and would set the tone for future queens to break convention and push boundaries. Her signature bald look would obviously, indirectly, pave the way for Sasha Velour, and her androgynous sort of "ladyboy" aesthetic would often polarise the judges, despite that now being a key fixture on the show. And of course there was the dramatic and heartbreaking reveal of her HIV status on the runway, which would (again indirectly) allow later queens like Trinity K. Bonet to tell their story and be themselves. Her HIV activism is not to be ignored, either, because there are really few instances where a person on television has been so open and raw about the condition.

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Performancewise, Ongina won for the challenge above which might not be the most showstopping turn now that we're accustomed to choreographed gymnastics routines and live stand-up comedy, but it was a fine-tuned and commanding performance nonetheless. She also won for the Destiny's Child girlgroup challenge, stealing the spotlight from Shannel, and did well in the original Drag on a Dime challenge.

So all of that should mean a high placing, right?

Well... no. The truth is: I just find her extremely annoying and overbearing :worry: There was a reunion of Season 1 at Drag Con a few years ago and if you've got the patience to watch it, it should explain why I'm just so cold about Ongina... the constant talking over everyone, answering questions directed at Merle/Jade/Tammie, the nasal voice, the tangential storytelling and ego taking over... it's an attitude I've clocked in other videos with Ongina and something that's just stuck, for me. :shrug: I think she thinks she's funnier than she is.

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It's almost a running joke now that Ongina will be an eventual All Star - it's just pretty surprising she hasn't already.

Memorable quote(s): "I'm going to be blamed if we lose, just because I'm team captain, and I swear to god if we do - I will cut someone :bigsmile:"
Best Runway(s): https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/logosrupaulsdragrace/images/0/07/Ongina4.gif/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/350?cb=20180616173158
Best Moment(s): The lipsync with Bebe to Britney's "Stronger" is one of the show's greatest and closest.[/size]

lewis111

09-04-2019, 03:31 PM

I’m kinda the same I was a fan of her on the show but I can’t hardly even bare to watch interviews with her now - watched a bit of her viewing the AS4 opening at Roscoes at the constant “I still haven’t been on all stars” jokes were just so annoying

Shaun

13-04-2019, 06:24 AM

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58th Place: Jiggly Caliente (Season 4) - finished 8th

I'm sure that placing her this highly will raise eyebrows but hear me out: Jiggly Caliente is a perfect example of how real and raw this show can be and how its queens have gone through hell and back and still continue to shine.

Obviously, Jiggly had some well-documented low points on Season 4. She landed in the bottom for the first challenge with her "baked potato couture" apocalyptic outfit that fell apart as she sent Alisa Summers packing, and again for a pretty confusing Pride Float boat ("very St. Tropez..."). She then infamously fell foul of Phi Phi O'Hara's villainy and decided to tackle weight-loss as a serious subject in the Dragazines challenge, instead of taking Latrice/Chad's advice to be funny. It'd be her downfall: she was sent home by Willam in one of the show's most lacklustre lipsyncs of all time.

She never won a challenge, but I will argue that she made great TV and did very well in some, too: the wrestling challenge performance was excellent and she embodied that loud, obnoxious villain character perfectly (but was held back by a weak team). She took some time but warmed up eventually in the Tuckahoe sitcom, playing the prissy character who wasn't impressed by nuts, and she also did fine with Phi Phi's trite Asian stereotype in the Glamazon advert challenge. As for the drama, she was a key player in season four. Her fight with Lashauwn in the first Untucked is now iconic, and she also gets into it with Sharon, Willam, Milan and - most dramatically - Phi Phi at the reunion.

I mostly place Jiggly this high for her off-show endeavours, though: as a trans queen she's proven a far more enlightening, endearing and human role model than Carmen Carrera and she's featured in a whole range of stuff I've enjoyed: she was excellent on Billboard's "Spillin the T" series on YouTube and had brilliant chemistry with Bob/Peppermint/Gia/Aja. Her music career is just taking off and is pretty well-polished and interesting:

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She's appeared on Saturday Night Live, Search Party, made a cameo in the greatest American sitcom of the 2010s, Broad City, and also appeared in Ryan Murphy's "Pose". Jiggly is one of many queens who've more than evolved since a messy Drag Race showing, and whilst she might not want to do All Stars - she was one of many trans queens vocal about their disappointment with RuPaul during that "no trans contestants" debacle last year - she is certainly one to watch in the future.

Memorable quote(s): "Clearly I don't get along with you. Nuff said. No **** sherlock."
"One small corset plus another small corset equals one FATASS corset :bigsmile:"
"I beg your pardon... but I am NOT into horticulture."
"That's not soy sauce in your panties, that's happy endings"
Best Runway(s): I did like the candy-princess one I've used in the GIF at the top, but her yellow gown was also gorgeous on her (http://i.imgur.com/XxG4x.gif) so that gets my vote.
Best Moment(s): Oh this is a no-brainer: that small bit in the Hope Floats episode, where everyone's about to hit the runway and she walks around going "where the **** are my tits?"

Daniel-X

13-04-2019, 06:48 AM

TomC

13-04-2019, 09:38 AM

Jiggly is one of the most complex queens of any season IMO. I mean she deffo had unlikeable moments but she was clearly prettt broken at that point in her life and some of her breakdowns were so hard to watch <\3

Shaun

14-04-2019, 06:59 PM

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57th Place: Sasha Velour (Season 9) - Winner

A lot of the blame for season nine being received so poorly and perceived to be so bland and sterilised must surely fall at the feet of Miss Sasha Velour, who took 5 minutes of airtime in every episode to drone on about queer history, eating disorders, the Russians, the Pulse shooting, the AIDS crisis, cancer, the club kids. These are all topics worthy of discussion, but there's something about the cadence of Sasha's voice that just turned them into lectures and extremely uninteresting viewing (coupled with the fact that she never said anything groundbreaking, just read the room for something plain and obvious and safe to say in a confessional). Combine this with some of the absolute nonsense that she chose to fight over and you have: one insufferable winner!

I did fairly well to disguise my dislike of Sasha towards the end of Season 9 because I was under the illusion that the crown would be going to Shea or Trinity. She started off incredibly unique, with the best promo look and a distinct style and voice, and paired up with Shea to win her two challenges in a convincing fashion. But something about Sasha reminds me a lot of Yvie Oddly, and not just because they're both bald :oh: this attitude and feigned-wisdom they bestowed upon themselves rapidly turned me off their personalities. That whole "don't joke about that" interaction with Eureka was so dramatic and acting like a dying swan over one throwaway bad joke that it was pretty much the turning point for me re: Sasha. This'd later manifest in her treatment of Nina Bo'nina Brown. For a queen who spent so much of the season begging for Serious Issues to Be Taken Seriously, to watch someone so visibly and loudly dismiss Nina and use phrases like "I'm over it" re: her mental health was pretty telling that Sasha just exploits hot topics to look virtuous.

Also this insistence with how artistic she is when... she just uses an over-head projector in her performances?

Obviously, Sasha did a good job with season 9. She never landed in the bottom and never really deserved to either. I've already mentioned her two wins, as a vaguely lesbian cookery presenter on the Good Morning, Bitches! (or was she Not On Today? idk) challenge, and as Assky in the brilliant sitcom pitch. She also did well in Snatch Game with a complex Marlene Dietrich impression, did just about fine in the Roast and even handled her bombs well, and could easily have won the makeover of a crew member episode with Duncan. I will not, however, for a second, entertain the idea that Sasha should've won the Gayest Ball Ever.

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THAT. COWBOY. RUNWAY. WAS. HIDEOUS. The hat is disgusting, the boots are disgusting, the hair doesn't go with it, and the cravat is only there to mask the fact her top is falling apart :oh: And her unicorn look was more "tribal warrior" than unicorn :hmph: And her deconstructed rainbow was so...blah and pedestrian. Shea deserved the win. Sue me.

I retract my earlier statement about how she should never have had to lipsync, I just remembered her Princess runway and that ridiculous voice she put on for her sidekick "Lump".
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That is literally... [michelle visage voice] a piece of fabric stapled around her. With a birdcage on her head. The story should not have saved this hideous look and Kimora/Farrah should've been safe :oh:

And finally, other reasons I'm getting rid of her now: her Category Is verse and performance was just dumb, her verse in that C.L.A.T. song was hilariously pretentious, she's now RUINED drag race finales for the foreseeable future because everyone's going to try and pull off ridiculous reveals, she did a pretty poor job of interviewing the S10 queens before Aquaria/Adam Rippon really stole the show and showed us how to present a trainwreck... I'm also sick to death of the "hey beauties" outro to every god-damn VH1 video on YouTube now.

I will say this in her defence though. She got Katy Perry to talk about why she should win. Sasha, sweetie, I'm so sorry-

Memorable quote(s): Trinity: "Well, if this [Sasha's clubkids dress] goes missing, I didn't take it :)" Sasha: "Good luck fitting in it".
"Tonight, we really do have an opportunity to salute empowering representation in the media. We have an out and proud lesbian comedian. Thank you so much, Ross Mathews."
"And now a queen who combines all the excitement of smiling, with the thrill of just...standing there. Give it up for Valentina." :joker:
Best Runway(s): It's a tie between her Madonna look and that fur runway with the russian cossack dancing she did.
Best Moment(s): Her impression of Farrah Moan was pretty funny.

Smithy

14-04-2019, 07:19 PM

Worst winner by far!

RileyH

14-04-2019, 07:25 PM

I do not like her

Headie

14-04-2019, 08:57 PM

May I call you Jiggly?

I really liked Jiggly on first viewing, but when I rewatched with Untucked in 2017 the whole ‘Sharon, dating another drag queen (Alaska) is disgusting!’ really rubbed me the wrong way. Especially when she wouldn’t even own it ‘I SAID NOT YOU BUT DISGUSTING FOR ME MAMA!’ getting all defensive. I know it’s one blip, but it was a pretty bad showing in my opinion.

I think that was probably deep rooted with her internal, yet to be discovered transphobia to be honest. That was probably her worst moment of Drag Race tbh but she's really grown since and I really like her.

Headie

14-04-2019, 09:03 PM

How Sasha managed to get the most likes/RTs on those traditional "Which #Queen Do You Want To Win?" tweets they do before every finale, I'll never know... I'd say white privilege but then surely Trinity would've been the better choice for the twinks to back, seeing as she actually won stuff during the season.

Shaun

16-04-2019, 04:25 PM

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56th Place: Jasmine Masters (Season 7, All Stars 4) - Finished: 12th and last, respectively

Even typing her finishing positions made me question if I've placed Jasmine too high but a quick trip to her Instagram page will surely rectify that.

Jasmine... sucked at Drag Race. She really didn't have an episode where she shone, although I would argue her 'Glamazonian Airways' showing was deserving of a top 3 with Ginger and Kasha. Instead they gave it to Violet for wearing french fries and wrapping a seatbelt around her waist :unsure: I guess Jaidynn would've been equally deserving as Jasmine so perhaps this is a losing battle.

As for every other episode she featured on: she had her nightmarish cocoon naked runway, an ABYSMAL Shakesqueer acting challenge ("basic bitches.... not wanted... *takes off skirt 3 seconds later*"), a pretty confusing and sad stand-up routine about washing your ass at the AllStars talent show, and then a lost cause of a lipsync against Trinity the Tuck to 'Peanut Butter'. I never knew she had the twerking of a white girl :(

All of this is immaterial though when you consider how many iconic quotes and moments she delivered in such a short amount of time. Obviously the 'Bitter Old Ladies Brigade' were frowned upon at the time and treated as if they were the four horsemen of the apocalypse, but her continued dismissal of queens like Miss Fame and Pearl was, ultimately, fighting the good fight :clap1: Jasmine wanted to save the season, and y'all turned on her for it. She ended up going third and had she not been against Kennedy Davenport I'd have loved her to have gone further (and she would've, if she lipsynced against Fame like she should have :hmph:) but unfortunately those squats she turned out against Kennedy - whilst amazing - were pretty much the only move she had in her bag.

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Jasmine is mostly beloved for her off-screen rants, though, and here's a collection of some of the best.

Memorable quote(s): "Get your jush!"
"Panties, bitch."
"No tea, no shade, no pink lemonade."
"Pop the corns and feed the children!"
Best Runway(s): I mean, obviously the Shakesqueer gown that she was sent home in.
Best Moment(s): RuPaul / the show surprising her at the reunion with a video from Patti LaBelle was honestly heart-warming and so deserved after such a disgusting and hateful reaction from the "fans".

Daniel-X

16-04-2019, 06:25 PM

Sasha is definitely the worst winner to date (and I doubt there will ever be a worse winner). S9 is by far my least favourite series, just so bland and not many queens to actually actively root for in the cast. Her winning pretty much cemented my opinions to the series, I’ve tried to rewatch it since but I can’t bring myself past about episode 3 because it really was trash. Pretentious, self-righteous and completely lacking of any sort of personality.

Jush is fine but I would NOT have placed her this high.

Shaun

22-04-2019, 04:40 PM

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55th Place: Morgan McMichaels (Season 2, All Stars 3) - Finished: 8th and 5th, respectively

I adore Morgan McMichaels. I originally had her around 10 places higher but a late crisis of confidence has had me throwing queens out of this rankdown on a whim and I hope I don't live to regret this decision. Morgan is one of the most perfect examples of polished drag not translating brilliantly to Drag Race: she's immaculately put-together, razor-sharp and smart, full of good bitchy putdowns, and has tonnes of charisma. It's just unfortunate that she can't make P!nk a funny character, or had to impersonate a swan in an acting challenge that wasn't at all ****ing rigged. We'll move onto more AS3 riggery later (which is funny, because AS2 was supposed to be the most rigged, right?)

Morgan burst into season two as part of the legendary WeHo queen circle (that would later offer up queens like Detox, Willam, Mayhem Miller, Delta Work and Raven) and was very much an organic character: ie. she didn't give a **** about mincing her words and managed to pick the first ever Untucked fight with Mystique. I know it's tired to say it but god I miss the old Untucked :(

Like her friend Mayhem, Morgan won the first sewing challenge and then ended up being fifth-eliminated, but that would be pretty under-selling of her talents: that Gone With the Windows look was pretty stellar and she also managed to put in a great pole-dancing routine in the second challenge, but just wound up on the losing team. Her Country Queens challenge was also decent, serving a ridiculously-good "grandma" makeup. Unfortunately, Morgan didn't quite steal the hearts of the judges and ended up in the bottom two pretty quick thanks to silly immunity twists and not being as good-for-storylines as Tatianna or Tyra, and she was sent home by Sahara Davenport after one of the show's most underrated lipsync performances:

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I'm still confused as to how she was in the bottom two for that wedding dress challenge, though, when Pandora looked like this and Jessica looked like this:

http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/26100000/The-Wedding-rupauls-drag-race-26168977-540-380.jpg

NEVER MIND. Morgan eventually made it onto AllStars 3 and infamously decided to announce to the room that she would send home the strongest competition. I do wish she'd had the opportunity to land in the top just for the drama of it all, but instead she was sent home by Bendelachrist because Ben has a tendency to be boring and "above all that" or whatever. Cow. And again: Morgan shouldn't have been bottom two, Milk should have. She then fell foul of the "returning queen who has no chance of winning because she's had 2 episodes of airtime where the rest have had 6 or 7" rule and went home again despite a pretty decent job of a terrible role in that Best Friend's Wedding challenge (which, in hindsight, might be the worst acting challenge the show has ever had).

I place Morgan this high because of her effervescence whenever popping up in World of Wonder videos; her appearances on shows like Fashion Photo RuView, the Pit Stop or the Trixie and Katya Show have often been great - such as the time she literally threw a guy's phone on the floor in the latter :love:

There's also the time she broke her hand punching a Nazi :love:

p/Bo0LTxVBnFP

Memorable quote(s): "Sweetie. Sweetie. Go fix your hair, go fix your mug."
"I look pretty good for a dead bitch."
Best Runway(s): I loved her Scottish look for the Red Runway in AS3 but I would opt for her 'High Class Drag' look in episode two of S2.
Best Moment(s): https://media.giphy.com/media/3oEjI9AAFvhwhUAoIU/giphy.gif

Smithy

23-04-2019, 02:12 PM

I can’t help but wonder how much different AS3 would have played out had she not gone home first, would we have ended up with a worse winner then Trixie? :worry:

Shaun

23-04-2019, 04:39 PM

She's a good performer so most likely would've been safe until Snatch Game, but couldn't see her winning a challenge and sending the strongest "bottom" queen home (which, even then, would've only been Kennedy or Milk in Ep2+1 respectively)

Shaun

23-04-2019, 05:15 PM

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54th Place: Robbie Turner (Season 8) - Finished: 7th

I'm in a good mind to say that Robbie Turner might be one of the most underrated queens of all time. The edit did a spectacular job of painting her out to be a conceited bitch who was always the inferior Seattle girl to Jinkx & Dela, and maybe she is a little bit, but that shouldn't undermine her talents.

That's not to say she didn't suck at times: the two design challenges showcased Robbie's sewing skills to be questionable, and probably could've been sent home first for that weird, shapeless canine couture look. Her lion-inspired Oz runway was even more hideous; a scrunched up wig stapled to her waist and a couple more dangling on her shoulders. She was a little disappointing with Snatch Game, too, with a poor choice of Vogue editor Diana Vreeland (at least go for Anna, since she's iconic AND recent?!) and all of this, added with the fact she landed in the bottom AGAIN for a bad performance in the RuCo's Empire challenge, would be reason enough to make her an early boot in this rankdown, right?

Wrong. Why is she this high? She �� can �� lip �� sync �� in �� god �� damn �� roll �� er �� skates ��

d23lKq6pY8Y
also Derrick should've lipsynced but I'm long past talking about that drunken bitch

What I love about Robbie is how she bought so much into her own delusion, and that's manifested since Season 8 in the bizarrest of ways, isn't that right, Uber? (https://www.metroweekly.com/2018/04/robbie-turner-breaks-silence-on-uber-crash-claims-she-was-roofied/) She was loathed for the first two or three episodes for throwing shade at Sharon Needles, Laila McQueen and the New York girls, Were it not for Acid Betty equally hamming up the "cold bitch" angle, she could've been the most hated queen of all time :love: And at first I was fooled into buying it: she must just be a jaded, bitter bitch. But Robbie had talents to back it up: she won a challenge with Kim & Naomi as "Les Chicken Wings" in the New Wave Queens episode, winning praise from Debbie Harry on her birthday. She did great at the reading challenge, and stole several scenes in the Bitch Perfect challenge despite being on the worst team.

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fJVulP6Vu_4/VvBc7UCtw2I/AAAAAAAAIVQ/t9MnKf6NOSUKdkmPzCSUxsqeTmqH1IK-w/s1600/RuPaul%2527s%2BDrag%2BRace%252C%2BS08E02%2B-Bitch%2BPerfect%2B%2528720p%2529.mp4_snapshot_00.3 7.01_%255B2016.03.21_20.39.26%255D.jpg

I still believe she should've at least been top 3 for Bitch Perfect, and maybe should even have won for this runway alone.

https://media1.tenor.com/images/109d5b636671004277576fa6415107da/tenor.gif?itemid=5247212

Otherwise I just loved Robbie's personality for livening up a weak season of Untucked; playing around with Bob and Thorgy and teasing the dumber, vapid queens (convincing Naomi Smalls that Greta Garbo was in the Spice Girls), throwing shade in the workroom, and just generally having the ability to tell a story. Even if it's weird, fabricated, and leaves you as a social outcast with the Drag Race fans :worry:

Come back soon, Robbie. We forgive the Uber thing! And All Stars would be richer with your presence, dear.

Memorable quote(s): "I'm gonna tell you a story about flats... No."
"Too real?"
"Derrick. Let's not get crazy."
"BUY OUR VINYL IN THE BACK :mad:"
Best Runway(s): Already posted it, but her neon showgirl was also good (a bit like Detox's Marie Antoinette, but Robbie did it first x)
Best Moment(s): Breaking a light on the runway in her Mesmerize lipsync :love:

Headie

23-04-2019, 06:11 PM

The Uber thing was a damn mess :skull: Didn't she blame it on a really strong lucid dream or something :joker:

Shaun

23-04-2019, 06:26 PM

https://www.metroweekly.com/2018/04/robbie-turner-breaks-silence-on-uber-crash-claims-she-was-roofied/

She hasn't posted on anything since this </3

p/BiGDsT3HS8H

Captain.Remy

24-04-2019, 01:38 PM

Where did that Sasha hate come from? Just because y'all thought the other three were better?

People are mad because she never got to lipsync during her season and murdered both Shea and Peppermint during the finale for the two times she had to lipsync. She pulled it when it mattered the most and ripped them a new one.

Plus, her looks were and still are very original and not conventional. That's what is so great about drag, you get to see so many sides of people and their take on the world.
Sasha is a nice person and very commited to what she is doing. So yeah, she's not the typical Drag Race contestant, all over the top, but in the end a much deserving winner.

Shaun

24-04-2019, 02:05 PM

I do not care for nice drag queens, thank you!

Captain.Remy

24-04-2019, 04:24 PM

I do not care for nice drag queens, thank you!

And that's fine to me, Shaun. Your ranking, your rules. Doesn't mean I like you any less nor I don't enjoy reading your wisdom on RPDR.

I was just surprised to see all those negative comments and the ranking Sasha got which to me are not deserving. She came through with those lipsyncs at the right time and overshadowed two big competitors, that's something you cannot take away from her and she deserves a bit of recognition for that too.
And I think to compare her with Yvie's attitude was a bit harsh too. If anything, Sasha was more in the background than living for the drama and stirring it like Yvie does.

Barry.

24-04-2019, 04:37 PM

Shaun

24-04-2019, 05:15 PM

https://66.media.tumblr.com/7116f1c432889ec82262d5878378465e/tumblr_pjekkuYM4a1qfvtzto1_250.gif
53rd Place: Mayhem Miller (Season 10) - finished 10th

Mayhem is definitely the queen I'd been waiting the longest to see cast on Drag Race; her name always popped up with all of the WeHo girls lavishing praise upon her, and she'd often appear in music videos and cameos in shows like Willam's Beatdown (back when it was good, and must-see YouTube). She's something of an LA legend, and that's why so many of the other Season 10 queens were intimidated and whispering her name on her entrance.

And it's not really hard to see why: she won the first sewing challenge with an immaculate black latex glove runway and it's hard to give that win to anyone else except maybe Miz Cracker. She should've landed in the top three for the Climate Change Ball; that Martian eleganza was stunning, and her Miami Summer even moreso... I mean come on:

https://i0.wp.com/78.media.tumblr.com/fd537a6d51332af71317c29dafd4afc2/tumblr_p76q61S5r11upznp7o2_1280.png?w=605&ssl=1
It's half-Sindel from Mortal Kombat, half-Miranda Priestly. I'm gagged. HOW did this not finish top 3? HOW. HOW? HOW?!?!!?!? Even her Alaska Winter was cute! AND MIZ CRACKER LOOKS LIKE A HAIRBALL AND WEARS A SPACE HELMET?

I am still fuming that she even landed in the bottom two for wearing pink denim and delivering a perfectly fine performance alongside Cracker's Pickle character; she was hysterical, over-acting, and played the character well, whilst you literally had the Vixen and Asia forgetting their lines, and Kameron in a cheap Dolly parton costume?

I will concede that she deserved to lipsync for the App challenge, although again that was a case of Monique being a poor leader and the whole concept being confused and edited to make Mayhem look like an afterthought. But, hey, we got a lipsync where she truly murdered Yuhua out of it, so no loss.

After Season 10, she stole the show at the Holi-Slay spectacular with a jaw-dropping Krampus look that, if the episode were taken seriously, would almost certainly have handed her the win. She's also become something of a meme queen thanks to her legendary performance at Micky's:

oE--rynpEMU

This whole rankdown has pretty much been me arguing a case for certain queens to make an appearance on a future All Stars, but Mayhem is one of those queens who I can say with absolute certainty will one day appear. I just hope she doesn't have to wait 10 years like she did the first time :(

Memorable quote(s): "You see your name on the lists in those videos all the time, you know every year it happens, and I sit at home like... knowing I didn't get the call and I just feel... worthless" :(
Best Runway(s): Already mentioned it above tbh!
Best Moment(s): I loved the PharamaRusical episode for one moment and one moment only:

jghZXw5RNGY?t=369

Daniel-X

24-04-2019, 05:28 PM

I appreciate Mayhem being quite high, she was SUPER talented and had she not been shafted for storylines/been in a season with more filler queens she could’ve easily made at least F6/5 I would argue.

Shaun

30-04-2019, 07:41 PM

https://68.media.tumblr.com/4e2db24bc4c6aff1dc560c441158e321/tumblr_oq2x0w1fdC1w8cen3o2_540.gif
52nd Place: Peppermint (Season 9) - finished 2nd

Look - everyone liked Peppermint. She is a drag legend, a proud trans woman, respected by the other queens (past and season 9) for a long career in performance, releasing music and fighting for the LGBT cause. She is a sweet person, killed the Roast challenge and proved her comedy chops, and murdered both her verses in the Category Is finale and her C.L.A.T. song with Aja, Alexis and Sasha in the build up to the season.

The problem is that she made it so far.

Season 9 was blessed with some extraordinarily talented queens that shot themselves in the foot with their own mental health, their lack of preparation, physical injury, or some deeply unlikeable personality traits; and as such we saw viable contenders for the crown like Valentina, Aja, Eureka, Nina and Alexis have to sashay away whilst Peppermint breezed through with one challenge win. For her to then utilise a twist that will probably ruin Drag Race finales for the foreseeable future, and send Trinity home with just one reveal of a skirt, is just laughably wrong. Especially when she already did the exact-same wig reveal in her lipsync with Alexis Michelle.

Don't get me wrong: Peppermint is a lipsync assassin and her murders of both Cynthia Lee Fontaine and Alexis Michelle were richly-deserved and high drag performances. She has a quick, energetic style that accentuates every lyric and can pull out a whole range of retro moves to camp it up a bit and keep the audience entertained. I just don't think she beat Trinity in that finale, I'm sorry. Not enough. Not to the extent that Sasha obviously beat Shea, thus overriding the difference in their track records.

Because Peppermint's track record was really questionable in Season 9: her runways fluctuated between the insanely brilliant and the worst of the season (that pink skirt in the Naughty Nighties runway, FYI, which she should've lipsynced for over Trinity - although a Peppermint vs. Charlie Hides lipsync seems like overkill). Her Snatch Game as Nene Leakes was atrocious and completely lacking in delivery or timing. I also grew incredibly tired of her screech-laugh in all of those Lee Dawson videos, and her talking heads were a little bit tired and forced ("I. CAN. NOT. BELIEVE. WHAT THEY. ARE ASKING. US. TO DO." [twenty head jerks])

HOWEVER: All of this makes me sound like a hater when she had many highlights. The Mary, Mother of Gay sitcom was enriched by her narration and acting, and she did a good job in the 9021HO challenge too. I've already mentioned her roast performance, but she did well as Britney Spears in the Kardashian musical, too. She also indirectly gave us the true MVP of Season 9:

http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/709071/27576066/1495898893270/rpdr-s9e10-pepmakesitrainonwintergreen.gif?token=5ysP5aykCC04 s3BzkXKGQSL8Te4%3D
Real talk: that interaction with Kesha breaking into hysterics was probably in my top 5 Drag Race moments of all time :love:

I do love Peppermint; she was probably the only queen who actually tried to help Nina through her inner struggles, and she talked about serious issues throughout the season in a way that wasn't preachy or drab. For that, she should've beat Sasha x

Memorable quote(s): "I don't want any extra breast other- unless they come with a 2- 2 biscuits, 2 uh - breast and two biscuits!"
"Michelle, Michelle. Not since Destiny's Child has a Michelle become so famous by riding somebody else's coat tails :unsure:"
Best Runway(s): Obviously the Club Kids look
Best Moment(s): Eating the diamond earring in the 'Music' lipsync

Headie

30-04-2019, 07:51 PM

Perched to finally get the answer to this question up next:

wFsLV46DGn0

lewis111

30-04-2019, 09:33 PM

I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone disliking Peppermint, she’s so universally liked :love:
Slight side note though, I really don’t think her Roast was great at all - jokes like “Happy 90th birthday Michelle” and “it’s a great book - said no one” are just so like playground humour (idk who should’ve won instead though.... maybe Sasha)

zrc

01-05-2019, 07:33 PM

Nobody's roast was great. It was tedious at best, down right trash at worst

Shaun

01-05-2019, 09:09 PM

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/GrippingNiceDogfish-size_restricted.gif
51st Place: Aja (Season 9, All Stars 3) - finished 9th and 7th respectively

I'm not sure who exactly was after Peppermint but I'm giving myself a fighting chance and picking a fellow season 9 queen to throw out next. Aja is a strong fan favourite with a particularly rabid fanbase but when you take both seasons of Drag Race into account... she really didn't do that amazingly. I'm also getting rid of her now because I am so tired of hearing queens, RuPaul herself and other judges reference that "Linda Evangelista" rant. It wasn't that iconic! Sorry!

Aja is known for a whole bunch of perfect reactions and facial expressions though so her status of a recent DR icon is somewhat deserved. But if you dissect Season 9, you'll find little else to commend her for. She spent most of the season bitter about her inability to steal the spotlight like she's used to at home (Sasha Velour even says that Aja's the most exciting Brooklyn queen at the time in the premiere), and her insecurities came across in a pretty unpleasant way. She also got the Ru/Michelle "WE HATE MILLENNIALS" edit; being read by many of the other competitors for her inability to paint as well as her FaceTuned pictures, and not knowing enough references from pre-1995. This annoying judges' trend continued into AS3 and saw her sent home for not knowing how to pronounce France Joli and wearing something that was slightly out of the made-up "70s disco only" theme given a completely different name (Studio 54 wasn't just disco :shrug:)

I haven't even mentioned where she did badly in S9 challenges but I need not mention her blah Alyssa Edwards Snatch Game, her terrible princess Disastah, her 9021HO brattiness or her abysmal chemistry with Valentina presenting the gossip segment of Not on Today!

Let's instead focus on why I've put her this high: she killed All Stars 3 but unfortunately not in the same way that Ben or Shangela killed AS3. She was always meant to be filler but that first performance of 'Level Your Pussy Up' was stellar; and she did a great job as Amy Winehouse and as Crystal LaBeija in Snatch Game, too. She only really flopped a little as a "needy" girl in the Bitchelor episode, but even then did perfectly fine as a scene partner to the incomparable Kennedy Davenport (even visibly corpsing as Kennedy rambled on :love:) Her runways vastly improved too, and that "wigs on wigs" look is extremely underrated :love:

https://78.media.tumblr.com/303730a80a1fb963cb42ecb38cbb41ca/tumblr_p3wn9kzC4N1vev4f2o3_250.gif

I do think Aja has the tendency to be a little bit cringe, and run her mouth on Twitter in the same way Aquaria does and thinks she's "IT"... but Aja does have a lot of credentials to back it up somewhat and overall? I'm a fan. Definitely room for even more improvement, though, and her music career is pretty impressive.

Memorable quote(s): "Ayo sis...I gotta go."
" I was like a little turtle, inside its shell and now I'm like...... what's [i]not a turtle?"
"Bebe is taking her wig off and girl, I don't see no flowers, I don't see no glitter, I don't see no gag. You ain't no Sasha Velour bitch, keep your wig on."
Best Runway(s): Already mentioned her Wigs on Wigs, but I also loved her AS3 Flowers runway :love:
Best Moment(s): Coming for Valentina at the Reunion :clap1:

RileyH

01-05-2019, 09:11 PM

aja <33

Shaun

08-05-2019, 07:01 PM

https://i.gifer.com/embedded/download/Lh3i.gif
50th Place: Shannel (Season 1, All Stars 1) - finished 4th and 3rd, respectively

Where do we start, with Shannel? I could say with absolute conviction that if Shannel emerged on Season 11 or 12, and acted and talked in the exact same fashion as she did on Season 1, she would almost certainly be the most-hated queen of all time. Shannel was the proto-Alexis Michelle, a queen lodged so far and so firmly up her own asshole that it was painful to watch at times. With the luxury of almost 7 years since she was last on the show, however, the memory of Shannel being a bitch is long forgotten.

It is a tried and tested tradition of reality television to throw the most confident and self-assured queen to the dogs by letting her talk endlessly about her own talents in confessionals, and Shannel was the first and most prominent victim of this. A clash with the judges over her inability to win a challenge only cemented this: in the top four, when asked who should go home, she nominated herself with this iconic speech that almost single-handedly murdered Santino:

ZoAAfwnzyQQ

On the face of it, this is a hysterical overreaction, but when you consider the fact that Rebecca Glasscock was continually getting good critiques and told she's beautiful whilst performing so limply, and Shannel delivers meticulous drag, it's pretty justified. Shannel is the first queen to ever enter the workroom, and honestly one of the most iconic. I've used up the Best Moment below on something else hilarious, but I couldn't write about Shannel without including this terrifying moment

SGu9buMYZXU

The season 1 reunion is also iconic for Shannel telling Rebecca that she didn't win the lipsync; Shannel lost it because she wanted to go home :joker:

On All Stars she was savvy enough to partner up with her Vegas sister and "queen who this whole thing has been set-up for" Chad Michaels, and they breezed through to the top four. It's a common criticism that she was carried by Chad but honestly, the opposite was sometimes true.

Memorable quote(s): "I am amazed at myself. I had my hand really in a lot of the entire package of what we did. In my mind, I've already won."
"Sweetie, let me tell you - I can give you 39 character illusions, I have headlined Vegas, I have travelled the United States. I have been there, done that, have the t-shirt."
RuPaul: "Now Shannel, why should you wi-?"
Shannel: "First of all, good afternoon RuPaul and our distinguished panel of judges. As an entertainer, and as a gentleman, I am happy with who I am. I look in the mirror and I love myself."
"I have probably got about $25,000 in costuming and rhinestones with me, I've got headpieces and head-dresses and 16 pairs of shoes, 22 outfits, things with Versace buckles on them..."
Best Runway(s): When she literally juggled to avoid landing in the bottom two :love: but all of her runways were pretty incredible.
Best Moment(s): Interviewing Tori Spelling in the Oprah challenge, and coming up with this accidental DIAMOND - "I mean originally watching you on 90210 was amazing, you were always one of my true fans." :joker:

zrc

09-05-2019, 11:54 AM

Every single person in season 1 was better than Glasscock. Even Porkchop.

Shaun

29-06-2019, 03:18 PM

ok work has been ridiculously busy lately, and whatever free time on here i've had, i've put towards Pointless or music reviews, but here's a little respite

https://media1.giphy.com/media/l0Iyf03iHMDG9PMw8/giphy.gif
49th Place: Jessica Wild (Season 2) - finished 6th

First of all, Jessica should probably have won the first weekly challenge because the look she turned in the GIF above was a teeny bit better than the one turned by miss Morgan McMichaels. However, it's not something I feel that strongly about and am quite "over". One thing I will not let die though: Jessica needs to be on an upcoming Allstars immediately! Why? For the reading challenge, bitch!

wjZ2VBKJqrI

Drag Race has a long history of fetishizing its Puerto Rican and other hispanic queens, with RuPaul jumping immediately to stock lines like "¡ESCANDALO!" whenever they perform in mini-challenges or the runway. I don't really recall Nina Flowers getting much of that treatment, but it was really amped up with Jessica's tenure on the show. Her unique comic stylings were TV gold, and she was blissfully unaware of how her language barrier helped her performances in the reading mini-challenge, the book promotion challenge, or Snatch Game, stand out.

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Her trajectory is also one of the show's most confusing - she had consistently placed "high" and even won the challenge before she was eliminated - in that episode where everyone grew really damn tired of hearing "Ladyboy" by RuPaul sung live and Jujubee lost an eyelash in a drunken post-Black Velvet Untucked breakdown. She never even placed low, and when put against Tatianna to Sister Sledge's "He's the Greatest Dancer" you would've assumed it was a one-horse race. But Jessica over-exaggerated some moves or something so Tatianna stayed. Choices.

Memorable quote(s): "You are SO fat, girl........." :joker:
Best Runway(s): Her country couture with those ridiculous apple bottom jeans :love:
Best Moment(s): She was a delight as the hyperactive, confused counterpart to Raven's disastrous chicken costume in the Crisco advert challenge :love:

Shaun

29-06-2019, 03:18 PM

goddamnit I left it so long I can't even edit the title any more

MB.

29-06-2019, 04:04 PM

All Stars 8 winner Messica Wild :love:

Braden

29-06-2019, 04:10 PM

I completely agree with the Robbie Turner write-up. She's very underrated and it saddens me that she doesn't post on social media any more - I assume she is, but I'd like to know if she's doing okay.

Shaun

01-07-2019, 03:21 AM

https://i.imgur.com/EauC7YD.gif
48th Place: Mrs. Kasha Davis (Season 7) - finished 11th

Pretty much the entire thread up until this point has been a game of "how far can I push Mrs. Kasha Davis up the list?" Because the very idea that she finished 11th, in a cast that was season seven, is one of life's greatest injustices. Eliminated before Kandy Ho and Pearl? Bish, please.

So Kasha's most memorable line is quite ironic since she is actually teetotal now, but I spent most of season seven on here stanning the hell out of Ginger, Katya, Kennedy and Kasha. A dream top four, if you will. As one of the more loveable members of the Bitter Old Lady Brigade, Kasha tread the line carefully between stern mother and supportive friend, but was always ready to provide a talking head that said what we all were thinking.

Her haughty voice and old-fashioned style of drag may have dated her from some and prevented her from reaching out to the youngest of Drag Race fans, but to those of us who love a grand dame, she was TV gold. Whether it was dressing as Joan Rivers, unprovoked, in a mini-challenge where she recreated Bjork's swan dress out of paper with (I think) Katya, or being compared to Ethel Merman in the parodies challenge with her vocal choices, or this scene-stealing moment at the DESPYs.

https://66.media.tumblr.com/987cb6f2d8e6cd6a880eaea120a746f5/tumblr_nvd83rb2EC1rwdw1wo2_250.gif

Speaking of the DESPYS - it was the episode that sent her home. Now, judging on this show is often suspect, but... she fluffed one joke at the start of the show... whilst Miss Fame, Jaidynn and Violet all visibly struggled with any comedy whatsoever. It was infuriating.

Especially when her run up to that point had been so good: I will argue to this day that she was robbed of the Glamazonian Airways challenge and absolutely destroyed Ginger, let alone anyone else. Her and Katya's chemistry manifested excellently again later in the series with the conjoined twin challenge, as a pair of casino-going alcoholics who were somehow from different cities. We were also robbed of a Liza Minnelli Snatch Game that would've put Alexis Michelle's to shame :(

Memorable quote(s): "There's always time for a cocktail!"
"Anybody can be a girl, but it takes a lot of balls to be a lady."
Best Runway(s): I vote for her green runway, where she wore a dress covered in dollar signs :love:
Best Moment(s): I want to go and rewatch the conjoined twins challenge again just because of their backstory.

Remaining queens
Acid Betty - Adore Delano - Alaska - Alexis Mateo - Alyssa Edwards - Aquaria - Asia O'Hara - Bebe Zahara Benet - Bendelacreme - Bianca Del Rio - Bob the Drag Queen - Chad Michaels - Chi Chi DeVayne - Coco Montrese
Courtney Act - Darienne Lake - Detox - Eureka - Ginger Minj - Jinkx Monsoon - Jujubee - Katya - Kennedy Davenport - Latrice Royale - Manila Luzon - Mariah - Mimi Imfurst - Monet X Change - Monique Heart - Nina Bo'nina Brown
Nina Flowers - Phi Phi O'Hara - Raja - Raven - Roxxxy Andrews - Shangela - Sharon Needles - Shea Coulee - Stacy Layne Matthews - Tammie Brown - Tatianna - Thorgy Thor - Trinity the Tuck - Trixie Mattel - Willam - Yara Sofia

Samm

01-07-2019, 07:40 AM

We want to welcum yo..welcome you to the first..

Shaun

01-07-2019, 07:14 PM

https://media.giphy.com/media/kx5WtEnc77BcnHKr63/giphy.gif
47th Place: Aquaria (Season 10) - finished 1st

I change my mind about Aquaria pretty much every other day so I've resolved to oust her from this list at a pretty respectable position for someone who can occasionally just get properly on my tits.

Season 10 began with Aquaria as the villainesque counterpart to some vague, boring Miz Cracker drama (that was mercifully cut short by the Vixen's no-nonsense approach) and her talking heads certainly helped to build her up as this snooty, awkward figure with a limp sense of humour and a head lodged firmly up her own arse. As someone going into Season 10 with already six digits of Instagram followers, though, I guess that's somewhat understandable - but that's something that lingered throughout season 10 in my head, of why the idea of her winning was such a tired set-up from the get-go: she was friends with Amanda Lepore, frequently in contact with previous winners Sharon Needles and Alaska, in social circles with Lady Bunny and presumably even RuPaul herself... it just... goes against the sort of reality TV story that I love. But she was pretty, young and white so the fans loved her anyway.

As the season progressed though, Aquaria continued to surprise the cynics and managed to put in solid, memorable performances in comedy and acting challenges; she won Snatch Game with an excellent Melania Trump impression, somehow honing her often-wayward speech pattern into a few clever one-liners ("no wonder my husband goes on about hating Chyna all the time :/"). She did great in the Bossy Rossy episode opposite a winning Eureka, and also put in a great performance in the Breastworld episode as a cyborg hostess (I personally would've placed her above Asia for the performance, but she messed up the runway so Asia won fairly).

On the subject of runways, obviously Aquaria was mostly faultless. Her only bad critiques were for the "completely different runway" 50 years from now look, but I will still argue that she was vastly overrated in some regards. That "evil twin" look which was basically just a "Prehistoric Runway" outfit repurposed for this challenge, being labelled "top 5 of all time" by RuPaul.... really? I cannot endorse that at all. But otherwise, sure, she burned the runway frequently. She could also put in a strong lipsync, and undeniably defeated Kameron and Eureka in the final lipsync (but I still argue Eureka beat her in the semi-final! and so does the unedited live reception, sweetie!)

So all of this should mean she's a winner that's well-respected, beloved and should've finished top 25 in this list, right? Well... the problem is Aquaria is still an awkward, kinda embarrassing asshole at times! Take her stint on Fashion Photo RuView: she knows a few references but oftentimes her opinions are just wildly off-base and prone to a few whiny, "we've already seen it :rolleyes:" moments that just sets drag at a ridiculously unattainable "I can afford £20,000 gowns" standard. She's had a fair few spats on Twitter that have had mixed results: on the plus side she called Theresa May out and told Bebe Rexha to suck a dick or whatever, but on the downside she fatshamed Darienne Lake for disliking her MET Gala look and "achieving something for once"

https://i.imgur.com/zixVrjl.png

There's her reaction to Shuga Cain playfully saying she was robbed of "Top toot of the week":

https://i.redd.it/iulgtim5dit21.jpg

And, well, there's probably around 50 more examples on the Drama reddit of her lashing out and making a bit of a fool of herself. And I know she's incredibly young, and impetuous, or whatever, but I guess I just like my queens with a little more decorum.

We won't mention the "Meet the S11 Queens" video but she tried. Also I'm still mad she won the Evil Twin challenge when Asia was RIGHT THERE.

Memorable quote(s): "I said: Lady Bunny is a wonderful entertainer, a humble kween, and she keeps the show going, and is a handsome and smart gentlemen :) Close? Ah. Any hole is a goal."
"Turning looks, stunting pretty - I'm the bitch from New York City."
Best Runway(s): I mentioned the overrated 'evil twin' look because I would actually argue her 'good twin' look was comfortably her best. Amazing colour palette. The mermaid is a close 2nd.
Best Moment(s): Nearly falling on Jinkx Monsoon in the very first minichallenge, giving Jinkx, and us, the line "I was just happy for the airtime" :love:

Remaining queens
Acid Betty - Adore Delano - Alaska - Alexis Mateo - Alyssa Edwards - Asia O'Hara - Bebe Zahara Benet - Bendelacreme - Bianca Del Rio - Bob the Drag Queen - Chad Michaels - Chi Chi DeVayne - Coco Montrese
Courtney Act - Darienne Lake - Detox - Eureka - Ginger Minj - Jinkx Monsoon - Jujubee - Katya - Kennedy Davenport - Latrice Royale - Manila Luzon - Mariah - Mimi Imfurst - Monet X Change - Monique Heart - Nina Bo'nina Brown
Nina Flowers - Phi Phi O'Hara - Raja - Raven - Roxxxy Andrews - Shangela - Sharon Needles - Shea Coulee - Stacy Layne Matthews - Tammie Brown - Tatianna - Thorgy Thor - Trinity the Tuck - Trixie Mattel - Willam - Yara Sofia

montblanc

01-07-2019, 07:18 PM

https://66.media.tumblr.com/987cb6f2d8e6cd6a880eaea120a746f5/tumblr_nvd83rb2EC1rwdw1wo2_250.gif

Braden

01-07-2019, 07:20 PM

I swear you hated Coco, Shaun? :p

Shaun

01-07-2019, 07:22 PM

I diiiiid find the Alyssa/Coco drama irritating in S5 yeah, and she was obviously a non-starter in AS2, but I would be foolish not to put her high for the lipsyncs alone!

Cold Hearted Snake is obvs the most-respected but 'I'm So Excited' is in my top ten of all time :love:

Braden

01-07-2019, 07:25 PM

Yaaaaas, Coco is an underrated gem in Drag Race lore.

Daniel-X

01-07-2019, 07:28 PM

Gutted Aquaria is out so soon, she definitely deserved a higher placing than some of these queens just for her run in the show alone.

Shaun

01-07-2019, 07:28 PM

Yeah, she's also got about a hundred one-liners that're still Drag Race iconography to this day (I mean, the GET HER JADE gif alone is enough to secure top 50)

MB.

02-07-2019, 12:35 AM

I was pleasantly surprised when I watched the most recent RuCap* to find not one but three Mrs. Kasha Davis references shoehorned in (there's always time for a cocktail, welcyum, and of course wHaT tHe hELL?!?!), which means she's slowly but surely becoming the one true meme queen of season 7. Watch out, Jasmine!

*yeah, they're still going somehow

MB.

02-07-2019, 12:38 AM

Also, of the queens remaining I'm pulling for randomly high placements for Mariah, Bebe and Chi Chi, and randomly low placements for Manila and Bianca, because sometimes I just like to watch the world burn

Shaun

05-07-2019, 08:23 PM

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46th Place: Mimi Imfurst (Season 3, All Stars 1) - finished 11th and 11th/12th place respectively

Sure, on the face of it placing Mimi this high is going to raise a few eyebrows but have you ever considered the fact that she's unarguably one of the most iconic queens of all time? You haven't? Act a fool, girl. Act the fool.

For someone who's only appeared in four episodes (excluding reunions), Mimi sure packed a lot of drama into the Drag Race lore. She entered season 3 with a tray of cookies and aiming to make friends, but by the halfway point of the episode she was breaking down and crying over her blue sheets falling apart. She mercifully pulled it together and delivered one of the best looks that week, as the Mother of Christ herself (no, not Rylan's mum), but her volatile emotions quickly saw her become the butt of the editors' joke. The next episode would see a dramatic close-up shot of her expecting to win the "Drag Queens from Outer Space" challenge only for it to be delivered to Alexis/Shangela instead, and pave the way for the greatest Untucked moment of all time

CmK3ghfsSVM

Ugh. So many quotes. "I saw the fishnets and they were ripped". Ugh. We were blessed.

Moving on, Mimi then delivered another iconic moment by deciding to pick India Ferrah up and throw her over her shoulder in the lipsync in episode three, to Thelma Houston's "Don't Leave Me This Way", and then had the nerve to present India with a t-shirt at the reunion that said "I got picked up by Mimi Imfurst and all I got was this lousy shirt" :love: a petty mess :love:

nP4WLWvgEVA

As if that wasn't enough, Mimi then - like the saint she is - went on to deliver the SECOND most iconic Untucked moment of all time on her return to All Stars. She might not have been the highlight of it, but she facilitated it and that was enough. Was she bullied? Absolutely, and it was uncomfortable as hell, and if this aired today she might get the redemption she clearly deserved, because Pandora Boxx was a ****ing petty **** with a ****ty attitude and TIRED DRAG and TIRED HUMOUR and SHOULD DIE but that's immaterial and I'm over it (really). But god damn. What an episode.

7JKD612zfg4

And if that weren't enough - I place Mimi this high for her post-show shenanigans. Anyone who has ever enjoyed the Roast episodes of Drag Race will be absolutely blown away by this clip here, where she absolutely DESTROYS the rest of the girls (and this is a lineup with Bianca, Jinkx, Alaska, Detox, Pandora, Shangela and Willam). I won't spoil the best zingers, but the joke about Detox being born is quite possibly the best delivery of a joke I have ever heard.

1d5yxyU_1qM

She's also turned major looks at recent finales/reunions, with that Carmen Sandiego outfit I mentioned and some crazy wicked-stepmother thing from the S9 finale. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that she would boss a future All Stars, but um... the attitude would definitely be a problem and also the sexual harassment allegations

Memorable quote(s): "And if I have to lipsync... :sad: I'll mother****in' lipsync my life off :bawling:"
"They're all fools, 'cause I have an acting company! Their loss... if they don't pick me."
"The ship is surrounded by a forcefielduuhhuahuhhAHhahahhHAHH"
Best Runway(s): I did like pretty much all of them, but I'd give the title to the S3E3 one she went home in.
Best Moment(s): Picking up India Ferrah again in a Carmen Sandiego outfit at the Season 10 live finale :love:

Remaining queens
Acid Betty - Adore Delano - Alaska - Alexis Mateo - Alyssa Edwards - Asia O'Hara - Bebe Zahara Benet - Bendelacreme - Bianca Del Rio - Bob the Drag Queen - Chad Michaels - Chi Chi DeVayne - Coco Montrese
Courtney Act - Darienne Lake - Detox - Eureka - Ginger Minj - Jinkx Monsoon - Jujubee - Katya - Kennedy Davenport - Latrice Royale - Manila Luzon - Mariah - Monet X Change - Monique Heart - Nina Bo'nina Brown
Nina Flowers - Phi Phi O'Hara - Raja - Raven - Roxxxy Andrews - Shangela - Sharon Needles - Shea Coulee - Stacy Layne Matthews - Tammie Brown - Tatianna - Thorgy Thor - Trinity the Tuck - Trixie Mattel - Willam - Yara Sofia

MB.

05-07-2019, 08:31 PM

The pure Curb Your Enthusiasm moment of "oh screw it, let's have two winners..."

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lg0ouayDEt1qckk8j.jpg

"...congrats Alexis and Shangela!"

:love:

Shame her Precious joke has been copied by so many other queens since, but judging by Alaska and Willam's podcast, a good 75% of pre-Monét X Change/Madonna-gate Hater's Roast drama apparently involved Mimi doing the same to other queen's jokes

Shaun

06-07-2019, 07:39 PM

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45th Place: Chi Chi DeVayne (Season 8, All Stars 3) - finished 4th and 8th place respectively

Season eight panned out in such a dissatisfying way that it made the trajectory of Miss DeVayne all the more confusing: she started off as a major underdog, but by the time the likes of Betty, Robbie and Thorgy had been culled in surprise results, the very idea of Chi Chi not making the final three became all the more unpalatable. Season 8 highlights for Chi Chi include: literally neck-popping and lipsyncing perfectly in an upside-down handstand-split in the Bitch Perfect challenge which earned her the win, a pretty great Eartha Kitt impersonation on Snatch Game, a strong 'Shortbread' in the Empire acting challenge, and an excellent Paper Ball performance with that crazy jagged ballerina look in the GIF above.

Unfortunately for Chi Chi, the season was so heavily orientated towards design challenges to try and hide Kim Chi and Naomi Smalls' lack of charisma, so she also put in a pretty abysmal Dorothy look in the Oz Makeover challenge. She landed in the bottom two twice and I'm not sure she deserved to both times: in the first, she threw her team under the bus in the RECTANGLE GIRLS OF THE WORLD performance and had the most basic runway of the three of them, so no excuses there, but did she really do worse than Kim Chi in the political campaign? No. No she didn't. Still: both results gave us jaw-dropping lipsyncs and for that alone, she should've been top 3 over Naomi.

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Genuinely the only solo-performance in a lipsync that comes close to Dida Ritz's. Magical.

The weird season eight edit should've been a hint that her All Stars one would be just as puzzling, really: there was definitely a strong sense that Chi Chi was "not all there" and aching to go home by the end of her run, but I'm still pretty pissed that she was given such a rough time of it by the judges. She deserved to be in the bottom for the Talent Show, sure, and there was no defending her Snatch Game as Maya Angelou, but that performance as Patti LaBelle in the VH1 Divas challenge should've landed her in the top, not the bottom. Absolutely confounding.

As of right now, Chi Chi is still battling scleroderma and whilst I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on that disease, from what I've heard of her interviews with Hey Qween and other places, it's a pretty devastating one and forced her into severe changes with her drag (no more cartwheels and jump-splits). It's a pretty heartbreaking thing to witness one of the most talented and physical performers of Drag Race herstory go through, and the fandom's willful ignorance of anything a black queen does unless it's a death-drop on TV, means I fear for her drag future... but hopefully her charm, circle of friends, and impressive peers can help her into other styles of drag. Because if we're talking "look queens", then well... it doesn't get more gag than this.

p/BscXuLyBYRc

Memorable quote(s): "Girl... face crack."
"Hey everybody, I'm Bob the Drag Queen. JOKES JOKES JOKES JOKES. :)"
Lucian: "I don't really have anything negative to say about y-"
"THANK YOU. :idc:"
Best Runway(s): That Allstars "wigs on wigs" runway was jaw-dropping. (https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DVyGP45VQAAdSYW.jpg:large)
Best Moment(s): Thinking that her prize for winning the Bitch Perfect Challenge, a getaway in "New England", meant she got to go on holiday abroad :love:

Remaining queens
Acid Betty - Adore Delano - Alaska - Alexis Mateo - Alyssa Edwards - Asia O'Hara - Bebe Zahara Benet - Bendelacreme - Bianca Del Rio - Bob the Drag Queen - Chad Michaels - Coco Montrese - Courtney Act
Darienne Lake - Detox - Eureka - Ginger Minj - Jinkx Monsoon - Jujubee - Katya - Kennedy Davenport - Latrice Royale - Manila Luzon - Mariah - Monet X Change - Monique Heart - Nina Bo'nina Brown
Nina Flowers - Phi Phi O'Hara - Raja - Raven - Roxxxy Andrews - Shangela - Sharon Needles - Shea Coulee - Stacy Layne Matthews - Tammie Brown - Tatianna - Thorgy Thor - Trinity the Tuck - Trixie Mattel - Willam - Yara Sofia

Shaun

07-07-2019, 04:20 PM

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44th Place: Trixie Mattel (Season 7, All Stars 3) - finished 6th and 1st (allegedly) respectively

Another placement that I'm sure will disgust some, but hear me out: Trixie sucked at Drag Race. She's great at other things. Before we address those good things, though: a list of reasons why she doesn't beat the likes of Alexis Mateo or Tatianna in my rankdown. In season seven she was already one of the strong fan favourites and I couldn't really understand why; she bombed at pretty much all of the challenges she featured in and her only good episode was the comeback "conjoined twins" challenge with her "good evening, distinguished panel of judges :bigsmile:" moment. She was easily outshone by stronger comedic talent (Katya in the 'Tan With You' episode, Ginger in the 'EGGS EGGS EGGS' episode) and just didn't really know how to land a punchline or steal a scene. Her entrance line for Season 7, too, was pretty much an unfunny copy of Courtney Act's "is this America's Next Top Model? no? ok -walk out-" from the season directly before :joker:

https://66.media.tumblr.com/b9705683164ddcf97e1946261462acd4/tumblr_owstkab3n61wxyr2yo3_250.gif
"This isn't Maury Povitch?"

You'd have thought, coming back into All Stars as one half of the most beloved Drag Race duo of all time, she'd have managed to seal a convincing challenge win or two - especially when there are two winners for each challenge. Instead, she TANKED impersonating RuPaul in Snatch Game, was visibly frustrated and unable to finish a line when paired with Milk in the Bitchelor episode (and I'm sorry, but even if she wasn't interrupted by a rabid Milk, she wouldn't have defeated Kennedy or Dela that week. Not by a mile.), put in a pleasant but bland performance of her song 'Moving Parts' in the talent show (that could've gone either way, really, but when you had Aja and Kennedy slamming the ground, Dela doing a great burlesque routine, and Bebe losing her wig, it was never going to steal the show), and only really managed to pick up two arbitrary wins for performances I cannot even recall. One was for that horrific Drag Wedding acting challenge that she pretty much only won by virtue of "not being Kennedy, Bebe or Morgan", and the other was for that disaster of a Warhol Ball that was judged...bizarrely, and the other??? It wasn't for IQ Kitty, I know that much.

Trixie also has the honour of losing the most lipsyncs of all time on the show, against Pearl, Ginger, Bebe, Shangela and Kennedy in the final. And she had the Roxxxy verse in Kitty Girl and I won't hear otherwise. "Long thick legs a tarantula"? Please.

THAT SAID... Trixie is obviously a superstar off the show and has proven herself to be one of the funniest, most captivating queens. 95% of her fanbase might be the annoying rabid fangirls I try to dissociate myself from ASAP, but it's hard to deny that she's actually the glue of the webseries 'UNHhhh' and comes up with most of the best one-liners and steers the conversation away from Katya mentioning something about tube-socks of lunchmeat, or the movie Contact, again. Musically, too, Trixie has broken the mould and released (so far) two albums of strong, personal and emotional material that have been a world away from the usual Drag Race Alumni fodder.

TLDR: Trixie sucked at Drag Race but is one of the funniest queens to emerge from the show, and someone who I'll watch religiously from now on.

Memorable quote(s): "Milk, your talent can't be Velcro. :umm2:"
"Oh my god, get out of my station"
Best Runway(s): It'd have to be something from All Stars and I think I'll opt for either the 'Red Runway' (that latex dress with an apple on top of some books on her head) or, more convincingly, her Flowers runway (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/46/1c/8b/461c8bbb82163817a49c98f2e0fd533d.png) :love:
Best Moment(s): Challenging Acid Betty to a fight in the parking lot at the Season 8 finale :love:

Remaining queens
Acid Betty - Adore Delano - Alaska - Alexis Mateo - Alyssa Edwards - Asia O'Hara - Bebe Zahara Benet - Bendelacreme - Bianca Del Rio - Bob the Drag Queen - Chad Michaels - Coco Montrese - Courtney Act
Darienne Lake - Detox - Eureka - Ginger Minj - Jinkx Monsoon - Jujubee - Katya - Kennedy Davenport - Latrice Royale - Manila Luzon - Mariah - Monet X Change - Monique Heart - Nina Bo'nina Brown
Nina Flowers - Phi Phi O'Hara - Raja - Raven - Roxxxy Andrews - Shangela - Sharon Needles - Shea Coulee - Stacy Layne Matthews - Tammie Brown - Tatianna - Thorgy Thor - Trinity the Tuck - Willam - Yara Sofia

MB.

07-07-2019, 10:16 PM

Chi Chi seeming genuinely worried that Robbie would be hanged by the city of Seattle for her poor Snatch Game performance is a season highlight, tbh

And yep, everything about Trixie (well, everything but her fanbase, as you mentioned, and even then I don't think her fans are as notoriously unbearable now as they were, say, two years ago) is so much more fun away the show than on it. I think my opinion of her as a Drag Race queen will always be tainted by her randomly OTTN turn in the AS3 premiere, when she had about half a dozen uncharacteristically bitchy confessionals in the space of the first ten minutes, several of which were about how omg Chi Chi and Kennedy are ~the same person~

Liam-

07-07-2019, 10:35 PM

Trixie is so overrated, glad she’s not exceptionally high

Shaun

13-07-2019, 03:26 PM

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43rd Place: Coco Montrese (Season 5, All Stars 2) - finished 5th and 10th respectively

Going into the second All Stars, Coco and Tatianna were the only two queens I wasn't too thrilled about returning. The latter managed to steal the show in the first episode, whilst the other...committed suicide.

Why wasn't I thrilled? Despite Season 5's reputation as "one of the best seasons ever" (6, 4, 3 and 10 are all comfortably better :)), it was just so suffocating and draining to watch at the time. With time, of course, a lot of that season has gone on to become iconic, and there are so many staple Drag Race Quotes per episode that it's undeniably a pivotal season, but it was essentially a cast of six queens with a whole bunch of disposable filler. Why? Because of the freight train that was the Coco/Alyssa storyline.

It didn't help, of course, that both of them were phenomenal lipsyncers and sending home everyone in their paths when they inevitably tanked challenges - but putting aside the unjust and premature demises of the likes of Lineysha Sparx and Ivy Winters, the editing between these two as they confronted each other in the Workroom or on Untucked was honestly insulting to the viewer. Scenes were so choppy and reworked that it made whatever backstory and history there was between the two completely hazy.

I'm also not fully in love with Coco because she displays quite a few layers of 'ugly personality' in the season; notably eviscerating the likes of Jinkx and Alaska for their drag appearance and not really getting what it means to be a comedian (until, of course... she won the comedy challenge).

All of that noted, I put her in the top 50 on the strength of her four lipsyncs alone. She didn't do brilliantly at "It Takes Two" vs. Detox, but every other one was just... frighteningly good. I choose this as one of my favourites of all time merely for how much the judges and everyone else are enjoying themselves.

7p5MfNxfRBE

Coco also managed to beat Jinkx and Alaska in the best ever RuPaul Roast episode, with some quips that prompted reactions from Ru that've never been seen since, but otherwise her good episodes were fleeting :worry: Luckily, Coco's presence as one of the show's greatest ever villains and most quotable queens means she's surely a shoe-in for another future AllStars, and hopefully this time she doesn't experiment with an old Hollywood number.

Memorable quote(s): "And just for the record - LADYBOY - this outfit is what I wear on a Las Vegas stage every single night, people pay over a hundred-something dollars to see me every night, so whenever you get through trying to say that *I* don't look the part, I ain't doing my job? I've been doing my job since 1992 - was you even born yet? Don't TRY it little boy. MONICA, SEND HER ASS HOME."
"How can I put Jinkx? Well... Hot. Garbage."
"She's competing for the same title that I am right now. In that muumuu? Girl. She looked like a pumpkin. Oh hell to the naw."
"OH I'M NOT JOKING BITCH."
"Girl... find the note."
Best Runway(s): 100% that telenovela episode where she's flailing in some insanely-sleeved mango dress :love:
Best Moment(s): OH. AT ALL.

Remaining queens
Acid Betty - Adore Delano - Alaska - Alexis Mateo - Alyssa Edwards - Asia O'Hara - Bebe Zahara Benet - Bendelacreme - Bianca Del Rio - Bob the Drag Queen - Chad Michaels - Courtney Act
Darienne Lake - Detox - Eureka - Ginger Minj - Jinkx Monsoon - Jujubee - Katya - Kennedy Davenport - Latrice Royale - Manila Luzon - Mariah - Monet X Change - Monique Heart - Nina Bo'nina Brown
Nina Flowers - Phi Phi O'Hara - Raja - Raven - Roxxxy Andrews - Shangela - Sharon Needles - Shea Coulee - Stacy Layne Matthews - Tammie Brown - Tatianna - Thorgy Thor - Trinity the Tuck - Willam - Yara Sofia

RileyH

13-07-2019, 03:49 PM

Best Moment(s): OH. AT ALL.

:laugh:

RileyH

13-07-2019, 03:49 PM

I really liked Coco vs Alyssa oop! And that lipsync against Jade is SO underrated :love:

MB.

13-07-2019, 04:09 PM

Coco's Ridiculous Instagram :love:

p/Bzvii82pmlJ

Shaun

20-07-2019, 07:05 PM

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42nd Place: Adore Delano (Season 6, All Stars 2) - finished 2nd and 9th respectively

Another placing I'm sure will raise is a few eyebrows is this one - but I'm quite resolute in getting Adore out of the way now. It's quite simple really.

Obviously, Adore Delano is a talented singer (although I thought her tone in both her AS2 performance and the Shade the Rusical performance was a little...offkey?) and artist and has commanded the hearts of hundreds of thousands of viewers. She had an infectious personality in season six and had the show's most obvious "underdog" story arc to date. There are countless soundbites, and she did well at a handful of challenges.

Why am I placing her this low, for a finalist? Because... I just get the impression her attitude stinks.

Adore has been the focus of a lot of post-Drag Race attention for a long time, and her diva antics have rubbed a lot of fellow queens and fans the wrong way. She had a big falling out with her production company, PEG, because she failed to read what was - in fairness - a pretty horrific contract that left her footing the bill for any wardrobe, touring and promotional costs herself. She's left all sorts of childish bad tastes whilst touring, notably here:

https://i.redd.it/4tpc0semk0y01.jpg

And then there's her Instagram Lives which are just....incredibly uncomfortable, and open to all sorts of interpretation (most seem to agree she is using meth, which is, erm... party?)

Ss0VO4n7Ro4

Idk. I don't want to rat on someone who's going through substance abuse but I guess the story of Adore Delano is that Drag Race girls can let a whole lot of preteen fans go to their head and think it gives them license to be the most obnoxious, immature bratty celebrity in the name of "punk rock".

And she was carried to the final, idc what anyone says. Season six was fantastic for a lot of reasons but the one niggling gripe I have with that season is how many free passes Adore was handed. That first sewing challenge with the Honey Boo Boo look was a PINK RIBBON. AROUND A PIECE OF FABRIC. AND SHE DIDN'T LAND IN THE BOTTOM TWO? HOW?

But... her Anna Nicole Smith was great, and I did feel for her on Allstars 2. But she just needs to grow up.

Memorable quote(s): "I'm polish remover, bitch :)"
"She's everything I wanna be when I'm 57... she's gonna kill me."
Best Runway(s): I GUESS that diamond ballerina thing in the Jewel ball.
Best Moment(s): falling off the chair haha i do that Adjusting her wig after the Vibeology lipsync :love:

Remaining queens
Acid Betty - Alaska - Alexis Mateo - Alyssa Edwards - Asia O'Hara - Bebe Zahara Benet - Bendelacreme - Bianca Del Rio - Bob the Drag Queen - Chad Michaels - Courtney Act - Darienne Lake
Detox - Eureka - Ginger Minj - Jinkx Monsoon - Jujubee - Katya - Kennedy Davenport - Latrice Royale - Manila Luzon - Mariah - Monet X Change - Monique Heart - Nina Bo'nina Brown - Nina Flowers
Phi Phi O'Hara - Raja - Raven - Roxxxy Andrews - Shangela - Sharon Needles - Shea Coulee - Stacy Layne Matthews - Tammie Brown - Tatianna - Thorgy Thor - Trinity the Tuck - Willam - Yara Sofia

RileyH

20-07-2019, 07:08 PM

Adore <33

Shaun

28-07-2019, 03:09 PM

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41st Place: Phi Phi O'Hara (Season 4, All Stars 2) - finished 3rd and 7th, respectively

A lot of time has passed since people felt strongly about Phi Phi O'Hara and her status as the most-loathed queen of all time has long been handed to various other substitutes. But when Drag Race was a little more real, and queens weren't so heavily self-aware and fearful of coming across as a sociopath bitch with rage issues, Phi Phi was by far the biggest monster the show created. And a lot of the fan response was justified, but naturally, many others took it far too personally on Willam/Sharon's behalf and just... yeah, silly things.

So I won't sugar-coat the Season 4 edit: it was horrific and she did and said awful things. Repeatedly calling Willam and Sharon talentless, setting Jiggly Caliente up to fail in the Dragazines episode, and going absolutely mental on most Untuckeds made her TV dynamite, but also gave us probably the only ever "finale" episode where more than half of the audience are actively rooting for a queen to fail. Sure, most probably hated Silky in S11 but the reception at the finale was civil enough (whether the boos were edited out, or not, remains to be seen). But there is no purer form of schadenfreude than the wooping and screaming in the S4 finale when Willam coughs the word "bullshit" over Phi Phi's half-assed apology. A truly iconic moment, and not just for the cut to a then-largely-unknown Alaska in the audience looking completely shellshocked :love:

XBpM7xtT2qk

So yeah, aside from all of the drama, Phi Phi just... didn't shine anywhere near as much as Chad and Sharon and was always doomed to be the trailing finalist; having only won two episodes and one of those was the disastrous Dragazine challenge (I sincerely hope every single person involved with editing those front covers was fired on the spot, that was a MESS). I also question her win of the Bitch Ball since she wore Kenya Michaels' Nicki Minaj outfit for a "daytime doggy park realness" look that is just...what? Huh? Sharon won that episode hands down. But Phi Phi did well at the wrestling challenge, was snubbed in the Rupocalypse premiere (my top 3 from that first challenge were Sharon, Milan and Phi Phi. Lashauwn just looked weird and the Princess' was too clean) and did fine in the other performance challenges... bar Snatch Game.

It just all gets a bit murky and unfortunate with All Stars 2 because she could've - like Roxxxy - come in and redeemed herself and really set herself up for a boost in popularity. But she seemed too neurotic, too cautious and paranoid of what everyone was saying and doing, and a background in pageant drag meant that she was always naturally going to play a few mindgames with the other girls since it was still a competition. I will say in her defence, I think she was right about most "controversial moments" that arose on the show: Alyssa Edwards is and was handed too many free passes "because she's Alyssa" and is otherwise a bumbling fool who isn't trying as hard as the other girls. Roxxxy Andrews was probably making a dodgy choice with Sofia Vergara for Snatch Game, and whilst she did change her mind and bomb as Alaska partially due to Phi Phi's advice, it's harsh to lay the blame for that at Phi Phi's feet.

The story of Phi Phi on Drag Race is largely unfortunate because the talent is undeniably there: her 365 Days of Drag on Instagram was incredible, she can sing and dance and is pretty quick-witted... she just got put in two of the best seasons of all time where there were clearly bigger talents on display and more likeable ones too. Was she right to send a big middle finger to the shady production? Absolutely, but she also brought a lot of it on herself and needed to just... either take it easy, or play up a ridiculous loudmouth-bitch character that the fans could've responded to. Like Yvie Oddly.

Memorable quote(s): "AT LEAST I AM A SHOWGIRL, BITCH. GO BACK TO PARTY CITY WHERE YOU BELONG."
Best Runway(s): Oh, hands down the "2-in-1" look from All Stars 2. She had some KILLER runways in All Stars but that shift from Prince Charming to Belle was astonishing. Close 2nd: her space-age blue alien with the massive gold gun :love:
Best Moment(s): I still get a little tingly feeling in the Lee Dawson recap (back when they were good) of the Alyssa vs. Phi Phi fight with the simmering kettle sound effect and explosive I SAID I FELT moment :love:

Remaining queens
Acid Betty - Alaska - Alexis Mateo - Alyssa Edwards - Asia O'Hara - Bebe Zahara Benet - Bendelacreme - Bianca Del Rio - Bob the Drag Queen - Chad Michaels - Courtney Act - Darienne Lake
Detox - Eureka - Ginger Minj - Jinkx Monsoon - Jujubee - Katya - Kennedy Davenport - Latrice Royale - Manila Luzon - Mariah - Monet X Change - Monique Heart - Nina Bo'nina Brown - Nina Flowers
Raja - Raven - Roxxxy Andrews - Shangela - Sharon Needles - Shea Coulee - Stacy Layne Matthews - Tammie Brown - Tatianna - Thorgy Thor - Trinity the Tuck - Willam - Yara Sofia

MB.

28-07-2019, 03:36 PM

Best Moment(s): I still get a little tingly feeling in the Lee Dawson recap (back when they were good) of the Alyssa vs. Phi Phi fight with the simmering kettle sound effect and explosive I SAID I FELT moment :love:

Seeeecret plaaan... revenge on my miiiiind....

Barry.

05-09-2019, 11:38 PM

Will you continue this please?

montblanc

06-09-2019, 01:14 AM

obey our bazza's demand

Shaun

06-09-2019, 01:21 AM

i never have time lately :bawling: that said i'll rush a 40th place writeup now

Shaun

06-09-2019, 02:13 AM

https://thumbs.mic.com/ODA5OWNhOGUxZCMvUldlMDFpT3dGTmdsZ1ZnNjRNT2c2ZjVMUV J3PS9maXQtaW4vNzYweDAvZmlsdGVyczpub191cHNjYWxlKCk6 cXVhbGl0eSg4MCk6bm9fdXBzY2FsZSgpOmZvcm1hdChqcGVnKS 9odHRwOi8vaW1hZ2VzLm1pYy5jb20vdWVjYXdpb2l2NGt6aWFk a3dpdG1ydnN6bHY0a3lqdzBjOGxhOXNrdnRsaW83YTRnZ3ZoeX JsOG9scW9rM3YzMi5naWY.gif
40th Place: Tatianna (Season 2, All Stars 2) - finished 4th and 6th, respectively

We're down to the nitty and gritty now and each of the placements are starting to hurt. This one'll probably upset a lot, as she'd make at least the top 20 of most of yours, but hear me out: she didn't do that greatly in either season and she hasn't really done much post-Drag Race to justify placing her any higher.

A brief history of Tatianna then: in season two she posed as a 21 year old despite being 20 at the time. It is perhaps unsurprising, considering it was season two and she was so young, that her drag was routinely undermined and described - by the more seasoned queens like Raven, Morgan and Jujubee - as so pedestrian and "off the rack". Indeed, some of the dresses she wore in the S2 runway were pretty much just... things you might spot at a River Island. But for all of her lacklustre runways, she had a few star moments; she won the first ever Snatch Game as a genius take on Britney Spears, and her makeover of her older partner almost saw her take the crown thanks to a wheelchair performance that is so underrated :love:

0s_aE4rODhA
the gold moment is at 2:10

Otherwise, Tatianna is best remembered for Untucked drama and there was a lot of it. Her talking heads were pretty vicious and she often had a lot to say about the cliquey bitchiness of Raven/Sonique/Morgan and the ridiculousness that was Tyra Sanchez. It's actually inconceivable for another season in future to be anywhere near as vitriolic and authentically-bitchy as Season 2 was, although season 3 sure eclipsed it. This video best encapsulates where Tatianna was coming from - and whilst the reunion episode definitely made Raven look more of the "bitch", I would still venture that Tatianna gave as good as she got and the majority of Season 2 is spent with her whining and bitching in confessionals about how nasty and stinky everyone was. It was a bit of a headache.

9HtMLelXpZM
the "I'm not done talking yet. You'll speak when I'm done :oh:" bit is a tad cringe, too

Surprising everyone and finishing 4th, it shouldn't really have come as any surprise that she should feature in All Stars 2... but compared to your frontrunners like Katya, Alaska, Alyssa and Adore, she was very much an afterthought in most fans' minds.

That, of course, changed, with one little song.

QxX1F0r7tC8

It's kinda funny, really, how massively this impacted Tatianna's reception on the show. Aside from a pretty comfortable stand-up comedy challenge, paired with Detox, she otherwise did pretty terribly at All Stars and her Ariana Grande was perhaps an all-time low (especially disappointing considering she won the very first, although I did laugh at her being unable to keep in character when Detox started interrogating her as Nancy Grace). It was a little irritating seeing fans leap to her defence when she again bombed at the advert challenge with an awkward, confused "Tea with Tati" product that only really had one LOL moment (".............she's a ****ing **** :)" )

In both seasons, Tatianna divided opinions but came across relatively well and secured a strong number of fans. But I just don't know if I really see her as this wowing talent that I see in some of the other queens I've placed higher, so her journey ends here in this ranking :shrug: sorry :love:

Memorable quote(s): "Umm... I don't think that the judges are seeing that Tyra is a complete bitch :)"
"Your outside is gorgeous, Raven, but your insides are dark and nasty."
Best Runway(s): Obviously her Pants runway in AS2.
Best Moment(s): Did you think I'd go this whole writeup without mentioning the Alyssa lipsync?

hmUe0ud0XYs

Remaining queens
Acid Betty - Alaska - Alexis Mateo - Alyssa Edwards - Asia O'Hara - Bebe Zahara Benet - Bendelacreme - Bianca Del Rio - Bob the Drag Queen - Chad Michaels - Courtney Act - Darienne Lake
Detox - Eureka - Ginger Minj - Jinkx Monsoon - Jujubee - Katya - Kennedy Davenport - Latrice Royale - Manila Luzon - Mariah - Monet X Change - Monique Heart - Nina Bo'nina Brown - Nina Flowers
Raja - Raven - Roxxxy Andrews - Shangela - Sharon Needles - Shea Coulee - Stacy Layne Matthews - Tammie Brown - Thorgy Thor - Trinity the Tuck - Willam - Yara Sofia

Shaun

06-09-2019, 02:15 AM

If it helps with me placing her this low: I still maintain to this day that she won the Alyssa lipsync hands down. I tire a little of Alyssa's unnecessary "let's hit the floor a bit" sometimes.

MB.

06-09-2019, 02:22 AM

That wasn't a rushed write-up in the slightest, you lying little girl!

If Scaredy Kat turns out to be half the iconic bedroom queen Tatianna was on season 2 (didn't she get her boyfriend to film her lip syncing in her garage and pretend it was a club? lmao :love:), we'd be very lucky

montblanc

06-09-2019, 02:29 AM

Riley's queen cut :(

https://thumbs.mic.com/ODA5OWNhOGUxZCMvUldlMDFpT3dGTmdsZ1ZnNjRNT2c2ZjVMUV J3PS9maXQtaW4vNzYweDAvZmlsdGVyczpub191cHNjYWxlKCk6 cXVhbGl0eSg4MCk6bm9fdXBzY2FsZSgpOmZvcm1hdChqcGVnKS 9odHRwOi8vaW1hZ2VzLm1pYy5jb20vdWVjYXdpb2l2NGt6aWFk a3dpdG1ydnN6bHY0a3lqdzBjOGxhOXNrdnRsaW83YTRnZ3ZoeX JsOG9scW9rM3YzMi5naWY.gif

Barry.

06-09-2019, 02:29 AM

I loved her little tiff with Raven at the reunion and her Britney snatch game.

Shaun

28-09-2019, 02:25 PM

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/ThornyOrangeAnophelesmosquito-size_restricted.gif
39th Place: Violet Chachki (Season 7) - finished 1st

Right, so I forgot to put her in the "remaining queens" section at the bottom but she does exit here, so... here goes. I've made peace with Violet Chacki winning season seven, even if the runner-up probably hasn't. The tide turning against Ginger in spite of her numerable talents was pretty understandable, although a little frustrating since Violet was arguably just as catty and nasty at the start of the season. But being young, cute and white on Drag Race gives you a lot of free passes, so whatever.

I still have difficulty with her trajectory on Season 7, though. The editing was a complete mess, and save for one random awkward talking head of Mrs. Kasha Davis commenting on how much "growth" Violet had displayed on her return for the Conjoined Queens challenge, there wasn't really that much of a story arc for Violet. She absolutely murdered every single runway, yes, but there were no stand-out challenge performances to really laud.

Her Alyssa Edwards Snatch Game (awkwardly changed, last minute, not to clash with Miss Fame's disastrous Donatella Versace) was fine. Her acting was wooden in the John Waters and Shakesqueer episodes, and her comedy was "meh" at best in the DESPYs. In fact, save for the joint win with Katya on that weird half-man-half-woman dancing challenge (which, let's face it, they won by virtue of "not having Ginger or Pearl on their team"), there realy isn't that much great about Violet's win.

With every rewatch I do like her more, though, but that's just why I'm placing her this low. In her favour? The talking heads were usually sublime (eyerolling at Max's affected British accent and supposed loathing of sex-talk) and she of course, contributed this moment:

http://66.media.tumblr.com/477385784013e4c1fb8d19b2bd09151f/tumblr_nqoqjuyQdt1qb5vczo1_540.gif
Come through!

But... yeah I end this writeup with a shrug, really. Her YouTube channel is pretty good, though.

Memorable quote(s): "No one says that, but yes :)"
"Trixie Mattel. Haute couture? More like haute glue."
"But she does have cliffhangers. You see her toes, like, literally clinging onto the shoe. Boner killer."
Best Runway(s): I mean, obviously the Fall one in episode one, with the jumpsuit 2-in-1 tartan moment that nearly killed Carson.
Best Moment(s): This. Bloody. Runway.

ew0WcDv3J0Q

Remaining queens
Acid Betty - Alaska - Alexis Mateo - Alyssa Edwards - Asia O'Hara - Bebe Zahara Benet - Bendelacreme - Bianca Del Rio - Bob the Drag Queen - Chad Michaels - Courtney Act - Darienne Lake
Detox - Eureka - Ginger Minj - Jinkx Monsoon - Jujubee - Katya - Kennedy Davenport - Latrice Royale - Manila Luzon - Mariah - Monet X Change - Monique Heart - Nina Bo'nina Brown - Nina Flowers
Raja - Raven - Roxxxy Andrews - Shangela - Sharon Needles - Shea Coulee - Stacy Layne Matthews - Tammie Brown - Thorgy Thor - Trinity the Tuck - Willam - Yara Sofia

Barry.

28-09-2019, 02:57 PM

Katya was robbed of season 7. Violet was fine but I forget she was a winner a lot.

RileyH

28-09-2019, 03:21 PM

Tati was robbed again
1112741181367169024

Barry.

08-10-2019, 01:52 AM

How would you rate the season 11 girls in the rankings Shaun?

MB.

08-10-2019, 02:29 AM

As you say, Violet has aged quite well, particularly in terms of her as a reality TV character who clearly showed no signs of the ~personal growth~ storyline that the producers relucantly forced onto her when Ginger stumbled in the endgame :joker:

(I'm choosing to ignore her recent UK tour which was apparently a complete shambles, not limited to her turning up late to every show and hiring a kids' party magician to be her warm-up act)

Shaun

08-10-2019, 02:31 AM

How would you rate the season 11 girls in the rankings Shaun?

A'Keria - perhaps top 50????
everyone else - struggling to crack the top 100
Ariel - bottom 10

god i hated that season

MB.

08-10-2019, 02:40 AM

Also, speaking of Violet rocking up to gigs ridiculously late, her and Valentina's episode of WOW Presents' backstage Werq the World series (https://www.reddit.com/r/rupaulsdragrace/comments/c0r6kw/valentina_and_violet_being_late_for_a_mg_on_the/) is easily one of the top television moments of the year, right next to Richard Madeley dabbing and Gemma Collins having a blazing row with Jason Gardiner while dressed as Marilyn Monroe

MB.

08-10-2019, 02:41 AM

A'Keria - perhaps top 50????
everyone else - struggling to crack the top 100
Ariel - bottom 10

god i hated that season

This is Scarlet and Ra'Jah erasure!

Shaun

08-10-2019, 11:25 AM

They both sucked ty!

MB.

08-10-2019, 11:44 AM

Reported :)

Barry.

08-10-2019, 05:15 PM

Scarlet was a goddess.

Shaun

09-10-2019, 07:13 PM

https://media2.giphy.com/media/3oEjHGjOtJ9ARDdATS/source.gif
38th Place: Acid Betty (Season 8) - finished 8th

There aren't too many people who worship season eight. There were fewer queens than most seasons, and it was so hilariously one-sided and obvious that Bob would win that most of the competition element of the season was pretty much AWOL. But for a brief few episodes, it at least seemed like Bob might have competition and one of the biggest surprise-culls - and by surprise cull I mean A TOTAL ****ING ATROCITY - was Acid Betty.

Betty spent all of the first three episodes in the "tops"; she delivered a great silhouette with a revamp of the Money Ball, that should've won over Kim Chi's Gothy Kendoll look, also landed in the top for her Bitch Perfect performance (despite Robbie Turner being better) and then also finished high for her RuCo's Empire acting performance as a schizophrenic daughter. I'm hard-pushed to recall a better start to the season, but they'd most likely belong to your Biancas and your Rajas.

An attitude began to emerge and that pretty much defined Betty's storyline on the show; Thorgy Thor's talking heads helped to create this impression that Acid Betty is a one-note bitch who is impossible to work with, and sure enough there were signs of that when glaring at team-leader Chi Chi DeVayne and demanding that they learn their lines before they attempted choreography. Throw in that Untucked moment where she attacked Trixie Mattel's makeup in a video message to Kim Chi, and... yeah it was inevitable she'd end up hated (even though Trixie's makeup was hideous until, like, a year before AS3).

But the editing was so weird on season eight that it's hard to take this at face value: Robbie Turner had the worst premiere edit of perhaps all time and ended up being loved by pretty much all of her fellow queens (and the judges). So much build-up was put into the double elimination episode. A huge teaser for a returning queen ended up in...Naysha Lopez. It was just a bit all over the place, and I refuse to accept that the same Acid Betty, who's visibly kikiing with Thorgy, Derrick, Bob and Robbie in many workroom scenes, was this unapproachable monster who stands as an all-time villain.

Especially when her talent is so insane. I place her this high for her runways alone; all of them were creative, outside-of-the-box masterpieces (she not only didn't wear a kimono, she opted to have birds fly out of her ****ing stomach), and if you follow her on Instagram you'll be familiar with her ridiculous make-up skills and experimentations with colour.

Also I forgot about her reunion look. Jesus christ.

p/ByHPnnIlMcx

Memorable quote(s): "Look at that ugly make-up, let's be honest :) she is ugly :) that nose contour is atrocious."
"I'm a **** and I can't stand people."
Best Runway(s): If pushed I'd have to say the Neon Runway. I think it's my favourite of all time.
https://www.out.com/sites/out.com/files/2016/03/29/acid_betty.gif

Best Moment(s): Her entrance with the hairspray and a mask was pretty awesome.

Remaining queens
Alaska - Alexis Mateo - Alyssa Edwards - Asia O'Hara - Bebe Zahara Benet - Bendelacreme - Bianca Del Rio - Bob the Drag Queen - Chad Michaels - Courtney Act - Darienne Lake
Detox - Eureka - Ginger Minj - Jinkx Monsoon - Jujubee - Katya - Kennedy Davenport - Latrice Royale - Manila Luzon - Mariah - Monet X Change - Monique Heart - Nina Bo'nina Brown - Nina Flowers
Raja - Raven - Roxxxy Andrews - Shangela - Sharon Needles - Shea Coulee - Stacy Layne Matthews - Tammie Brown - Thorgy Thor - Trinity the Tuck - Willam - Yara Sofia

Barry.

09-10-2019, 07:21 PM

She was a good queen, left too soon.

Shaun

15-10-2019, 07:01 PM

https://media2.giphy.com/media/13OPIZWCGhZ1Yc/giphy.gif
37th Place: Alyssa Edwards (Season 5, All Stars 2) - finished 6th and 5th respectively

Obviously, Alyssa is one of the show's most iconic and memorable queens. She is a walking meme, a tremendously talented girl and full of unpredictable quotes. She has made a name for herself and is the only queen, to date, with a Netflix special following her life.

So why do I place her this low? A handful of reasons, really...

https://media1.tenor.com/images/afc1f65dae81eb3d30a3d53588e0e0f8/tenor.gif

The chief one? Phi Phi was right; Alyssa was handed an awful lot of free passes and "safe" placements just by virtue of accidentally making RuPaul and other judges piss themselves laughing. See All Stars 2, and her Snatch Game as Joan Crawford. Absolutely no resemblance whatsoever, but she read out an IMDb page of quotes in a ridiculous voice and pulled some faces and it was apparently enough (but then, Tatianna, Detox and Roxxxy sucked anyway). She somehow won the stand-up challenge just by shouting one-word catchphrases that aren't even that funny? whilst Alaska did all the leg work, and had AS2's most obvious example of production "rigor morris" in being given the only character in the historic women of the world lipsync number, in Annie Oakley, with any comedy.

And if you look back on season five, she was frankly pretty piss poor at every respect bar the ballet challenge. Her runways were ram-shod, her Snatch Game as Katy Perry is an all-time-worst, and she just couldn't act (Telenovela challenge) or harness her uniqueness into a commanding role. And I guess that's the most frustrating thing with Alyssa: it often looks like she isn't trying, and takes things for granted - Alyssa is the queen with the absolute worst reputation for showing up late, if at all, to gigs and meet-and-greets and the like - because she's been afforded so much lee-way by virtue of "the gays on Twitter find her hilarious".

I'm making a bigger deal of this than is actually necessary because I need to back up putting such a big name so low, but I just get the impression that the character of Alyssa Edwards is one big, draining chore to be around... but pretty bloody fun from far away.

Off the show, there have been even more memes, and I will always cherish this exchange with Violet Chachki and Katya when they improvised a pageant entry for Violet:
http://66.media.tumblr.com/3d40c00f038e2a22a24fbd0e4aff8df9/tumblr_nq2da1wUOY1qzw7lko2_400.gif

Memorable quote(s): "Bitch, sit your ass down and shut the hell up, bitch!"
"....Backrolls?"
"What the hell you squirpin' like the chirpin' like the bird?"
Best Runway(s): The camera dress was iconic, not gonna lie
Best Moment(s): I mean it would have to be the mirror moment from AS2, really, wouldn't it?

Remaining queens
Alaska - Alexis Mateo - Asia O'Hara - Bebe Zahara Benet - Bendelacreme - Bianca Del Rio - Bob the Drag Queen - Chad Michaels - Courtney Act - Darienne Lake - Detox - Eureka
Ginger Minj - Jinkx Monsoon - Jujubee - Katya - Kennedy Davenport - Latrice Royale - Manila Luzon - Mariah - Monet X Change - Monique Heart - Nina Bo'nina Brown - Nina Flowers
Raja - Raven - Roxxxy Andrews - Shangela - Sharon Needles - Shea Coulee - Stacy Layne Matthews - Tammie Brown - Thorgy Thor - Trinity the Tuck - Willam - Yara Sofia

Fetch The Bolt Cutters

15-10-2019, 07:05 PM

37 :omgno:

Barry.

16-10-2019, 03:57 AM

What a shock. But your write up did make me agree with most parts.

Shaun

17-10-2019, 03:12 PM

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/logosrupaulsdragrace/images/7/70/Bebetan.gif/revision/latest?cb=20180301041501
36th Place: Bebe Zahara Benet (Season 1, All Stars 3) - finished 1st and 3rd respectively

In amongst all of the confusion and outrage that was All Stars 3, it was quite easy to overlook what made Bebe such a fierce queen. Her presence was a continual affront to the fans of the younger queens, and her supposed betrayal of Aja in the Warhol Ball almost made her a villain. "She's already won!" they screamed. "This is so unfair!" Yes, well, that might be a salient point had Season 1 not had a prize fund of 50p and been watched by just fifteen people in the back of a Wendy's.

Even in season 1 things came pretty close with Bebe's path to the crown; she was one half of the first ever "nail-biter" lipsync in a showdown with Ongina that pretty much set the bar for lipsyncs to come.

a-RN2mPDa0I
There's a reason this is the only lipsync song to be used twice :eyes:

As for her positives? She nailed the Oprah challenge, she had a strong Grace Jones impression in Snatch Game, channeled Diana Ross in the Divas lipsync perfectly (but we won't credit that because that episode is the most contrived of all time) and just shone in both seasons as this unique, African goddess that was above it all and had a tone that was often interpreted as condescension and superiority (but... look at her? You are inferior).

I also feel that whenever we talk about who gave the best verse in a RuPaul song in the semi-final episode of a season, we go on and on about Shea, Katya, Kameron, Detox, etc... but Bebe's cameo in the "Cover Girl" music video is honestly beautiful and so simple.

N3RB_56WziA
an iconic budget! "Shall we hire 50 hot guys to make up the background? No, Lucian Piane has a boiler suit and we'll just clone him x"

We won't mention the slip in the Kitty Girl performance, because that would be cheap and mean

Memorable quote(s): "Paramedics! Paramedics make sure she's ok. Because I was not ready. NOT."
Best Runway(s): She had some great ones in AS3, but I will always remember Bebe as this:
https://queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com/wp/docs/2013/12/cameroooooooon.gif

Best Moment(s): I hated it the first time I watched it, but, it's unquestionably...

llsG1B2-CQ4

Remaining queens
Alaska - Alexis Mateo - Asia O'Hara - Bendelacreme - Bianca Del Rio - Bob the Drag Queen - Chad Michaels - Courtney Act - Darienne Lake - Detox - Eureka - Ginger Minj
Jinkx Monsoon - Jujubee - Katya - Kennedy Davenport - Latrice Royale - Manila Luzon - Mariah - Monet X Change - Monique Heart - Nina Bo'nina Brown - Nina Flowers
Raja - Raven - Roxxxy Andrews - Shangela - Sharon Needles - Shea Coulee - Stacy Layne Matthews - Tammie Brown - Thorgy Thor - Trinity the Tuck - Willam - Yara Sofia

Saph

17-10-2019, 04:40 PM

acid betty is one of those queens who just vanished after drag race

Shaun

17-10-2019, 06:10 PM

It was inevitable she was never going to win over many with a YouTube series, though, she's been painted into a "bitch" corner. Same with Alexis Michelle, Derrick Barry, the Vixen... once the fans decide they hate you, they're not gonna get the same opportunities with WOW or touring that the favourites do :shrug:

Her Insta is great, though, and at the rate they're burning through All Stars you'd have thought she'll have a revival one day.

Saph

17-10-2019, 06:13 PM

She was very creative, never one of my favourites but I didn't really like many from S8. Would be good to see her on a future all stars

Captain.Remy

18-10-2019, 03:43 PM

Acid Betty was on the Werq the World tour in Paris. I was very surprised to see her there, so was everybody else in the crowd. Her performance wasn't great, people hardly clapped. She was a filler tbh

Jigs

18-10-2019, 04:38 PM

We definitely need to see Acid Betty again. One of the most innovative look queens out there.

Shaun

18-10-2019, 07:33 PM

https://media2.giphy.com/media/bFcwW6l96cEvxU6wIL/giphy.gif
35th Place: Monique Heart (Season 10, All Stars 4) - finished 8th and 3rd respectively

The cuts are really starting to hurt, now </3

Monique was the Heart of Season 10, and is the best queen in a long, long, long time to really sell the hell out of the talking heads segments and really make a name for herself as a winning personality. In fact, I might say she's the best of all time at doing that, and that's in a season that also contained Asia, Monet, Cracker and Eureka.

I only out her now because of her pretty poor showing in Season 10 :( she suffered a lot from the delusion edit, thinking she should have won (or at least been in the top) for her Queen of Hearts 'Drag on a Dime' look (that, sadly, wasn't as good as Mayhem, Miz Cracker or Yuhua's), and had to rush most of her outfits together to mixed results: her 'hats extraordinary' runway was great... her mermaid... was not. Her lipsync was pretty abysmal, and her Snatch Game as Maxine Waters was, too. In fact, the only defense I can make for her is her showing in the App challenge for Fibstr where she (ironically) plays a pathological liar who believes she lives in luxury. Actually no, she excelled at the Drag Con Panel challenge, too, but was marginally upstaged by the chemistry of the Monet/Eureka/Kameron team, and Asia's hat.

She might, too, place higher, had she not MILKED the Brown Cow Stunning thing to death at the start of AS4.

But otherwise, she is a stellar queen and an absolute contender: her Jersey Justice performance was incredible and went toe to toe with Manila (which few queens fairly managed to do), and she completely redeemed herself as a lipsyncer with some incredible performances against Manila ("The Bitch is Back") and Latrice ("Sissy That Walk").

gqyNcTM1eho

I think she might also have my favourite ever exit line (for season 10): "America, I didn't know my words and I have to own that. You may clock my lipsync, America, and you may clock, "Oh, that bitch is horrible, what the hell she doing...?" but you cannot say that the bitch didn't try. I got my ruward, I made America know my name. A little girl from Kansas City that no one knew... and that's a fact. And facts are facts."

I love Monique for about a million reasons, but I don't know a queen who's able to use words so charmingly and so uniquely.

https://media1.tenor.com/images/d96bec8dc61b7a616061138f97eda4c5/tenor.gif?itemid=12141623

Memorable quote(s): "Top of the morning to you. Do you want something delicious? Better off, succulent, decadent, hot and vivacious? Then you should try RuPaul's chocolate bar."
Not actually on TV but this was my first glimpse of Monique and it made me fall in love instantly: https://www.reddit.com/r/rupaulsdragrace/comments/8b5s5l/what_did_we_do_to_deserve_this_icon_monique_heart/ ...
Nico Tortorella: "If you could say one thing to...
Monique: Yes, to a drag race troll? Hi. The bible says that if you **** with this one, God Himself is gonna make you a foot stool. So I want you to know no weapon formed against me shall prosper, every lying tongue shall be condemned... I'm not putting up with the bull**** and if you are about that life, I'm gonna hit your ass and then sue you like a good Becky. What's good? Imma walk away from the situation paid. So you can try it: Imma block your ass. Thank you :)"
Best Runway(s): Tough call, but my vote goes to her Feathers runway from S10... that was honestly as beautiful as Kameron's, IMO.
Best Moment(s): Bolting to the back of the stage ("you ain't gotta tell me, twice") when announced no one was being eliminated in AS4 (where Valentina would've gone before the lipsync episode)? Absolutely SCREAMING during the Valentina/Monet lipsync? Her confusion over which way to paint a wall with Monet in the Clubs challenge? I think my vote would have to go for the reaction to Monet's Miz Cracker read, though. (Skip to 11:10) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U96SRUTvmQo)

Remaining queens
Alaska - Alexis Mateo - Asia O'Hara - Bendelacreme - Bianca Del Rio - Bob the Drag Queen - Chad Michaels - Courtney Act - Darienne Lake - Detox - Eureka - Ginger Minj
Jinkx Monsoon - Jujubee - Katya - Kennedy Davenport - Latrice Royale - Manila Luzon - Mariah - Monet X Change - Nina Bo'nina Brown - Nina Flowers - Raja
Raven - Roxxxy Andrews - Shangela - Sharon Needles - Shea Coulee - Stacy Layne Matthews - Tammie Brown - Thorgy Thor - Trinity the Tuck - Willam - Yara Sofia

Shaun

29-10-2019, 07:33 PM

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/ThinHighlevelIndianpangolin-max-1mb.gif
34th Place: Monet X Change (Season 10, All Stars 4) - finished 6th and won, respectively

When I originally compiled this list, I did feel that I was placing Monet a little too low. Her talkshow on the BUILD Series YouTube continues to grow from strength to strength, and she possesses so many talents and a natural charisma that it felt wrong placing her outside of the top twenty.

Thankfully, that dumb Meghan McCain thing happened so I can oust her now out of spite. But seriously, there is a tendency for Monet to be a bit... dumb. And she is quite indelibly seated in that "liberal but doesn't know why" bracket; a pocket of right-on moral leanings without any real depth or inclination to explain why or articulate herself intelligently on a subject. If you listen to her podcast (Sibling Rivalry) with Bob the Drag Queen, you'll notice her time and time again just sort of getting lost in the conversation and being unable to keep up with Bob, who is far more intelligent and quick to express herself. So it can be quite frustrating following Monet as a fan and then just walking blindly into a dumb comment, or a petty outburst like eliminating Manila Luzon.

All this aside, though, Monet is one of the brightest stars in the show's recent years. If the prime of Drag Race is s4-6, then Monet is among the best of the rest. I've mentioned it many times before that Season 10 was one of the strongest of all time, and it is telling that someone as 'C.U.N.T.' as Monet couldn't even crack the top four. She didn't even do THAT badly: she had a great Maya Angelou in Snatch Game, she stood out in the PharmaRusical, she proved naturally engaging on the Drag Con Panel, and she should've won the Breastworld episode over Asia (who was good, but too brief, and the script was a mess so her lines weren't even that funny). She also could've won the Cher episode, had her glitter bodysuit not been so...meh.

Unfortunately, she did stumble twice in a row for a lacklustre Bossy Rossy episode and a shoddy, cheap showing at the climate change ball. This double strike would inevitably prove fatal later on, as even a stellar lipsync against Kameron Michaels couldn't earn a double-shantay.

In All Stars, she had a bit of a flip-flopping performance and of course the outcome of AS4 will always leave her with this awkward, unwanted mantle of "joint winner that didn't really deserve it". Almost all of her good performances were ones that intermingled well with others, so it's hard to say she really stood out; off the top of my head, she only really individually shone at the Lady Bunny Roast, but again, not as much as Manila.

I will continue to watch the X Change Rate on YouTube because, as I've said, she's so naturally engaging and conversational and great at hosting a show, but in the context of RuPaul's Drag Race, it's confusing where to place her. So I'll hope for a miracle with 34th.

Memorable quote(s): "Oh don't mind me, I'm just here to sweep up the competition, girl :)"
"If these hoes try to come for me, I surely will cut thee. I will not hesitate to put thou in a ditch, 'cos Maya Angelou ain't no punk bitch."
"Manila Luzon. Emphasis on lose. Twice. :)"
Best Runway(s): That pope look in AS4 was jaw-dropping. Also a fan of the motorcross one.
Best Moment(s): Obviously the fake-out death drop in the lipsync vs. Dusty Ray Bottoms

Remaining queens
Alaska - Alexis Mateo - Asia O'Hara - Bendelacreme - Bianca Del Rio - Bob the Drag Queen - Chad Michaels - Courtney Act - Darienne Lake - Detox - Eureka - Ginger Minj
Jinkx Monsoon - Jujubee - Katya - Kennedy Davenport - Latrice Royale - Manila Luzon - Mariah - Nina Bo'nina Brown - Nina Flowers - Raja - Raven
Roxxxy Andrews - Shangela - Sharon Needles - Shea Coulee - Stacy Layne Matthews - Tammie Brown - Thorgy Thor - Trinity the Tuck - Willam - Yara Sofia

Shaun

13-11-2019, 05:47 AM

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33rd Place: Nina Bo'Nina Brown (Season 9) - finished 6th

One of the most confusing queens of all time, Nina Bo'nina Brown could be one of the most frustrating queens to support in their season. Season nine ended up rather bland and with the introduction of the "lipsync for the crown" twist, it would've been fascinating to see the same Nina - who dominated episode one and had one of the most memorable entrances and styles of all time - competing in the finale with her lipsync repertoire.

Nina lipsynced three times and it's easy to forget the last one because she threw in the towel ("Demi Lovato's "Cool for the Summer"? This can't not be legendary", I said at the time) but the other two are genuine contenders for individual performance of the entire damn show. Yes, "Greedy" vs. Valentina might be infamous for another reason, but to see a pink skull-demon in a tutu absolutely boss the stage was something joyous to behold. But not as joyous as the main reason I place her this high:

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That titty-shake is, without a doubt, my favourite moment in any lipsync. And that turn to the judges, perfectly in sync with the tense build-up? Ugh. Perfection.

Outside of fighting for her survival, Nina put in a handful of solid performances and truly seemed like a contender for the crown at one point: she won the Gaga Ball and was lavished with praise by the woman herself, she put in a strong Jasmine Masters Snatch Game performance, and her roast as an old church lady was pretty damn good too. Had she been on the winning team, her banter with Eureka in the "Good Morning Bitches!" show, padding with an entire joint of ham, could've landed in the top three, too. She may have become a little repetitive in the silhouette of her runways (insanely thick ass, thigh high boots, and a tiny waist) but the sheer execution of some of the makeup was honestly mystifying...

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Unfortunately, Nina ended up falling out of the competition before Alexis Michelle and it wasn't exactly undeserved; she failed to prepare at all with Valentina for the Pilots episode (even if the results were cringeworthy-funny), and her bitterness over not getting Blac Chyna in the Kardashian episode spilled over into a big, upsetting puddle of paranoia, bad mental health and confrontations with the other queens. I mentioned before in the Sasha Velour writeup that I was still team Nina in all of that (because the way some just abandoned her because they "didn't have time for her damage" was... corrupt reality-TV morality at its finest) but at the same time, her head was clearly not in the game by the time she had to lipsync for a third time because of a sloppy bunny makeover (still more creative than Alexis' space bimbo but whatever :idc:)

Post-show, too, Nina has built a reputation for being messy and petty and going on Instagram Live 24/7 with something to say about queens almost all the time (that Jasmine Masters Snatch Game must've rubbed off)... and I just fear that she'll never have that big turnaround that All Stars queens surprise us with... partially because, as a queen of colour, she's not privy to the same ridiculous number of followers - and therefore paid opportunities - as the less talented, white (or white-passing) queens of her season have accrued (Farrah, Valentina, Aja).

Memorable quote(s): "Sue me :)"
"Somebody has to be the messy one."
"Some of the girls are saying, oh she's unoriginal, oh she's stealing her jokes-"
Shea: "who are you hearing that from, Nina? Who's saying that?"
Nina: "You :)"
Best Runway(s): The peach is iconic but I'd vote for her "naughty nighties" runway (even if it was more "voodoo slut")
Best Moment(s): That ONE tear causing her mascara to run in a perfect line down her face, dressed as Mary J Blige and being admonished for the Kardashian episode... ugh, HIGH drama.
Alternatively, failing to get up in Untucked from the pouffe :love:

Remaining queens
Alaska - Alexis Mateo - Asia O'Hara - Bendelacreme - Bianca Del Rio - Bob the Drag Queen - Chad Michaels - Courtney Act - Darienne Lake - Detox - Eureka - Ginger Minj
Jinkx Monsoon - Jujubee - Katya - Kennedy Davenport - Latrice Royale - Manila Luzon - Mariah - Nina Flowers - Raja - Raven - Roxxxy Andrews
Shangela - Sharon Needles - Shea Coulee - Stacy Layne Matthews - Tammie Brown - Thorgy Thor - Trinity the Tuck - Willam - Yara Sofia