It's the natural evolution of the RuPaul ballet challenge last year: a Rusical. It's hard to imagine that there hasn't been a musical theater challenge on RuPaul's Drag Race, but there hasn't been. Since Season 2, there has always been a singing challenge. Now we have the triple threat challenge. Spoiler alert: everyone was amazing. This should be the Emmy episode. Deny them the Reality Show/Host nominations this season, Emmy voters, I dare you.
Recap
Right from the top, Bianca Del Rio brought the entertainment factor. Gia Gunn was being annoying, so Bianca called her out on it again and again and again. It made the episode for me.
The mini challenge was a total gag just to split the queens into two teams. They had to decide from extreme close-ups if the person onscreen was a female or a she-male (drag queen). Adore Delano and BenDeLaCreme won the challenge and actually school yard picked the contestants best for their team, not just their original groups.
The main challenge worked just like last year's ballet challenge. DeLa's team performed Act I, where small town queen Penny goes to the big city for fame and falls under the influence of the Shady Queen. Adore's team performed Act II, where Penny falls from stardom because of the overwhelming darkness of the shade. It was incredible.
The List
1. Courtney Act (^3)
Courtney Act nailed this challenge. She tried not to be too confident in rehearsal with her experience, focusing on getting the part just right. During the performance, you couldn't take your eyes off of her. I've been a fan of her voice since her Australian Idol performances first popped up on YouTube and she's only gotten better since.
TIE: 1. Adore Delano (^10)
Adore Delano also stood out in this challenge. It's hard not to notice the lead in a musical. I actually think Adore sang better than Courtney, but Courtney acted better than Adore. Adore also, wisely, saved voice in rehearsal so she could worry about precision and let it rip on the runway. Her little reactions to being walked over by the other queens were hysterical.
3. Bianca Del Rio (v2)
Bianca did the best of the queens who only had a supporting role in the Rusical. Her pageant queen was funny, the choreography looked great, and she could sing the part. She carried Trinity through the staging and really complimented Courtney onstage. The runway look was strong and bonus points were duly awarded for her entertaining presence in the workroom.
TIE: 3. Milk (^3)
Milk isn't a great singer, but she is a great actress. Her Grizabella-inspired turn as the narrator in Act II just worked. It was the physicality and the near-death wheeze on her introduction that sold it. The bizarre pregnancy runway was a perfect twist on the Tony Awards glamour theme despite what Gia Gunn had to say during UnTucked!.
5. BenDeLaCreme (v3)
I'm with Michelle Visage on this one. There wasn't anything wrong with DeLa's performance in the Rusical; there were just a few missed opportunities. The narrator was stronger than the villain, but the villain was more important to the story. She has the chops to do better than that.
6. Darienne Lake (v3)
Darienne got a bad edit this week. No, really. A literal bad edit. They cropped her out of the frame during the Rusical to focus on Gia Gunn and Courtney Act and seemed to have mixed down her spot on Harvey Fierstein impersonation when she sang. I thought her comedy queen performance was great, but the judges almost threw her into the bottom two again. She was obviously blindsided by landing in the bottom 3 since she sincerely said she thought she was in the top for the challenge; she easily could have been.
7. Gia Gunn (^5)
Gia winds up down here just because she really couldn't sing. Her vocals were grating but her acting was actually really funny. She might not have understood all the jokes, but she sold the performance with her physicality.
TIE: 8. Laganja Estranja (-->), Joslyn Fox (bless her heart) (v3)
There's really not much to say about Laganja and Joslyn (bless her heart) this week. They were fine. They didn't pull focus, they hit their marks, and they got through the music in a way that wasn't distracting. They're obviously not strong singers and they did what they had to in order to survive this week.
10. Trinity K. Bonet (v1)
Trinity, again, had another challenge she struggled with. She wasn't as open to criticism this week, which is why she's on the bottom. Her diction wasn't great, but it certainly wasn't worthy of such derision from the judges. Sheryl Lee Ralph's advice about the cork to improve enunciation is spot on, though. Such an old school trick.
11. April Carrion (v4)
April drew focus in a bad way. I didn't mind her physicality as the big girl as much as the judges did, but I did mind the off key shrieking and lack of rhythm. She couldn't dance and she couldn't talk in rhythm. She was a mess.
Elimination
Trinity K. Bonet and April Carrion had to lip sync to "I'm Every Woman" and they both brought it. After announcing that was what the judges want from a lip sync for your life, RuPaul sent April Carrion home. Trinity survives for another week. I don't know if she can fake her way through the Snatch Game next Monday night, but she's proven a far stronger contender than I anticipated before the show started.
Thoughts? Share them below.