With RuPaul’s Drag Race bringing back their Rate-a-Queen system for season 17, Billboard decided to rate each of the new queens every week based on their performance. Below, we take a look at the show’s monologue-meets-interpretive dance challenge to see which queens thrived in this challenge. Spoilers ahead for episode 12.
Since its debut nearly 30 years ago, The Vagina Monologues has become one of the most impactful pieces of political theater in a generation — so impactful, in fact, that even RuPaul’s Drag Race is creating their own spoof on the feminist piece.
On last week’s episode (aired Friday, March 21), the six remaining queens were tasked with performing the “Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve and Talent Monologues,” where the contestants teamed up to not only tell a personal story from their own lives, but to deliver an interpretive dance to their partner’s story as well.
Threading the needle between the artform’s need for sincerity and Drag Race‘s desire for pure camp is no easy task, as the girls found out this week. Yet Onya Nurve and Lexi Love managed to do just that with their duet performances: both queens delivered the goods when it came to their respective stories, while Lexi in particular thrived in her over-the-top interpretive dance, earning both Onya and Lexi a win.
For Sam Star and Lana Ja’Rae, however, the challenge proved a little too challenging, as the two found themselves in the bottom two. Lip synching to “Illusion” by Dua Lipa, both girls left it all on the stage — but ultimately, track records could not be ignored. Frontrunner Sam Star was spared, while Lana’s time finally came as the queen bid “gouda night” and sashayed away.
Below, Billboard takes a look back at episode 12 and ranks where our remaining contestants lie based on this episode and the season as a whole:
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ELIMINATED: Lana Ja’Rae
Image Credit: Courtesy of MTV There’s no denying that Lana Ja’Rae had a gouda run on RuPaul’s Drag Race. But there’s also no denying that by episode 12, it was her time to leave the competition. Her performance of both her own monologue and her interpretive dance to Sam’s monologue were lackluster, and her runway presentation, while very funny, didn’t quite live up to the category of “Ugliest Dress Ever.” That said, and hear me out when I say this … Lana won that lip sync. Sam did fine in the performance, but Lana delivered her best lip sync performance of the season to “Illusion,” kicking, splitting and serving the entire time. That said, when it comes down to it, the judges had to factor in track record, and Lana’s simply paled in comparison to the rest of her competitors.
Last Week’s Ranking: No. 6
Track Record:
- High Placements: 1
- Safe Placements: 6
- Bottom Placements: 4
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Jewels Sparkles
Image Credit: Courtesy of MTV Jewels did a decent job this week, but with our number of remaining queens down to 5, “decent” is simply not enough anymore. Her “ghost” story lacked the humor and wit the judges were looking for, her interpretive dance was solid but not the best of the bunch, and her “ugly” runway dress read as garish rather than hideous. She certainly didn’t deserve to land in the bottom two and earned her safe placement this week, but with two straight weeks of middling performances in the competition, Jewels should be looking to wow the judges with a killer performance this week — otherwise, she is in real jeopardy of sashaying away.
Last Week’s Ranking: No. 5
Track Record:
- Wins: 1
- High Placements: 3
- Safe Placements: 5
- Low Placements: 1
- Bottom Placements: 1
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Sam Star
Image Credit: Courtesy of MTV Throughout season 17, Sam Star has consistently been one of the best performing queens on the show. So when she wound up in the bottom two for the first time in the competition against a queen who was lip synching for a fourth time, there was simply no chance that she was getting sent home. But that doesn’t change the fact that her performance in this week’s challenge was the weakest of the group — her monologue felt stilted, her interpretive dance was lacking in any and all drama, and her runway looked glamorous instead of gross. In short, Sam’s track record saved her this week… but that excuse won’t be able to save her if she winds up in the bottom again.
Last Week’s Ranking: No. 2
Track Record:
- Wins: 2
- High Placements: 4
- Safe Placements: 3
- Low Placements: 1
- Bottom Placements: 1
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Suzie Toot
Image Credit: Courtesy of MTV Suzie Toot performed about as well as we could have anticipated in the monologue challenge. Of the various queens’ speeches, Suzie’s was the most clear — it had a beginning, middle and end, told a full story with a moral, and ended up being pretty funny. Even though the judges weren’t thrilled with her performance in the interpretive dance, the truth is that she did well there, too, accurately portraying Jewels’ ghost story as best she could. And on the runway? Suzie knows how to do gaudy, ridiculous, tacky drag better than anyone else on this season. Props to Ms. Toot for her more-than-adequate performance in a week when she desperately needed it.
Last Week’s Ranking: No. 3
Track Record:
- Wins: 2
- High Placements: 3
- Safe Placements: 6
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Lexi Love
Image Credit: Courtesy of MTV It cannot be overstated how badly Lexi Love needed her second challenge win. As much as the judges clearly like her, it’s become clear over the past few weeks of this competition that Lexi was letting her inner saboteur (in this case, Lexi’s odd obsession with Suzie Toot) get the better of her in every single challenge. This week, though, Lexi put all of the small stuff aside and focused on the task at hand. Her monologue was funny and fresh, while her interpretive dance was easily the best of the bunch — every movement she made on the main stage made RuPaul roar with laughter. Once she turned the corner of the runway in a truly hard-to-look-at tulle gown, her win was set in stone — Lexi finally arrived in this competition, and it couldn’t have happened at a better moment.
Last Week’s Ranking: No. 4
Track Record:
- Wins: 2
- High Placements: 2
- Safe Placements: 6
- Low Placements: 1
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Onya Nurve
Image Credit: Courtesy of MTV Three words: Four. Challenge. Wins. Like Symoné, Sasha Colby, Shea Couleé and other Drag Race icons before her, Onya Nurve has secured a whopping four challenge wins in a single season. It’s easy to see why — her monologue was easily the most entertaining this week, her interpretive dance was well-choreographed and funny, and her turkey-inspired runway look was hideous in the best way possible. Last week, the other girls spent plenty of time on the main stage and in Untucked justifying why they view Suzie Toot as an objective threat in this competition. While I certainly understand their consternation, it’s clear that the girls haven’t been paying close enough attention to the obvious frontrunner. At this rate, Onya Nurve has that $200,000 prize practically locked down thanks to her absolutely stellar performance on this show.
Last Week’s Ranking: No. 1
Track Record:
- Wins: 4
- High Placements: 3
- Safe Placements: 3
- Low Placements: 1
