[Shaun]

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

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 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 " 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 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.

Youtube video

(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."
"Fuckin' shady whores."
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
Also the Wario laugh in her crazy hair runway <3