[lewis111]

I found AS4 more boring when Valentina was gagging for the cameras every 5 minutes and being constantly over dramatic tbh,it didn’t really get more boring afterwards cause Monique could carry an entire season herself
Her AS4 preformance was a massive let down and her attitude for a while after S9 was very unlikeable, If anything that’s a generous placement

[Smithy]

Is there a list of who is left?

[Black Dagger]

Valentina is ****e. Bye.

[Daniel-X]

I have a love/hate relationship with Valentina, so I would’ve found her very difficult to place myself anyway. My opinions can change on her from one episode to the next.

[TomC]

I adored her in S9 but found her kinda deluded and overly-serious in AS4

[TomC]

She also kinda flopped in AS4, I think a lot of ppl had her pegged as a winner

[Shaun]

Remaining queens:

S1: Bebe Zahara Benet, Nina Flowers, Ongina, Shannel & Tammie Brown
S2: Raven, Jujubee, Tatianna, Jessica Wild, Morgan McMichaels & Shangela
S3: Raja, Manila Luzon, Alexis Mateo, Yara Sofia, Mariah, Shangela, Stacy Layne Matthews & Mimi Imfurst
S4: Sharon Needles, Chad Michaels, Phi Phi O'Hara, Latrice Royale, Willam & Jiggly Caliente
S5: Jinkx Monsoon, Alaska, Roxxxy Andrews, Detox, Alyssa Edwards & Coco Montrese
S6: Bianca del Rio, Adore Delano, Courtney Act, Darienne Lake & Bendelacreme
S7: Violet Chachki, Ginger Minj, Kennedy Davenport, Katya, Trixie Mattel, Mrs. Kasha Davis & Jasmine Masters
S8: Bob the Drag Queen, Chi Chi DeVayne, Thorgy Thor, Robbie Turner & Acid Betty
S9: Sasha Velour, Peppermint, Shea Coulee, Trinity the Tuck, Alexis Michelle, Nina Bo'nina Brown, Aja & Eureka
S10: Aquaria, Eureka, Asia O'Hara, Monet X Change, Monique Heart & Mayhem Miller

[Headie]

Mrs Davis coming for the crown!

[Smithy]

Jasmine and Mayhem still being in this

I-

[reece(:]

Ginger, Trixie, Roxxy OUT!

[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

[lewis111]

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

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Shaun

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 , 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.

Youtube video

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'.

Youtube video

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).

Youtube video

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
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!!! "
Tearing off Raven and Jujubee's wigs in the 'Jealous of My Boogie' music video challenge

....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......amazing...ppfffft with your 65th nonsense....

[Samm]

Did y'all get the T on Koont

[Shaun]

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:

Spoiler:

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.

Youtube video

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 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. I think she thinks she's funnier than she is.

Youtube video

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 "
Best Runway(s):
Best Moment(s): The lipsync with Bebe to Britney's "Stronger" is one of the show's greatest and closest.[/size]

[lewis111]

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]

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:

Youtube video

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 "
"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 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 fuck are my tits?"

[Daniel-X]

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.

[TomC]

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]

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 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.


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 And her unicorn look was more "tribal warrior" than unicorn 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".

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

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."
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]

Worst winner by far!

[RileyH]

I do not like her

[Headie]

Originally Posted by Daniel-X

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]

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]

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 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 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 ) but unfortunately those squats she turned out against Kennedy - whilst amazing - were pretty much the only move she had in her bag.

Youtube video

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".