Somehow, seamlessly the Drag Race contestants — who were initially split into two groups in a double premiere — have finally mingled together and gotten over their initial group hang-ups. And it’s good time, too. That would have been exhausting, especially for what RuPaul calls the most ambitious challenge in Drag Race history, putting on the premiere production of Shade: The Rusical.
Evil Genius: BenDeLaCreme
On the dark side, BenDeLaCreme looks so good. Her interpretation of the villain Shady Lady showed excellent command of the stage, and her captivating body language is something that will come in handy if she ever does lip sync for her life.
Star Signs: Courtney Act
For an ex-Australian Idol contestant who’s easily the most fish, you definitely saw this one coming. Courtney nabbed this challenge’s win, Broadway perkiness in tip-top shape and never faltering.
Up In the Clouds: Gia Gunn
I think we’ve all realized by now that Gia is a bit of a ditz, but you know what? At least she tries. While the composer had to explain her joke to her during rehearsal, she sold her effort (and her nasally voice) onstage.
Disappearing Darling: Darienne Lake
After winning last week’s challenge, Darienne has gotten a little bit full of herself. Embarrassingly, she thinks that she is in the top three, when really it’s the opposite. Like Gia, she played the role of a Comedy Queen, only her interpretation got lost in the shuffle. Better luck next time!
Sell That Shade: Bianca Del Rio
In a musical called Shade, Bianca surprisingly threw none in her role as pageant queen. But in real life, you better bet she threw some sass towards some of her teammates. Maybe it’s wrong, but you can’t fault her. She’s usually so right.
Bad Attitude Baby: Trinity K. Bonet
We know that Trinity has some problems with acting, but she also has problems with singing. Those two skills put together is not in her repertoire, but she could easily have helped her piss-poor, defensive attitude. While she saved herself with an amazing lip sync, if she keeps up this rudeness, she’s going to get dropped.
American So-Not-Idle: Adore Delano
Last week, the judges’ biggest critique of Miss Adore was that she wasn’t prepared. This week, her outfit didn’t blow them away, but her singing performance was top notch, and showed actual practice and effort (what a concept).
Barely Butch: Joslyn Fox
While Joslyn’s role was supposed to be kind of butch, her performance was pretty femme. That’s okay, it didn’t seem to matter much to the judges, and she easily glided through to the next round.
Smooth Jams and Gams: Laganja Estranja
As per usual, Laganja’s limbs took center stage, especially with her dance moves. A graceful pirouette distracted from her shakier acting, and she glided through, sans risk of elimination.
Holy (Literally) Moly: Milk
During the runway walk, Milk walked down with a pregnant belly. Can we crown her the reigning Lady Gaga of this competition yet? In the actual performance, she played some kind of holy spirit or angel steering the queens into the light of good. While not a scene-stealer, she provided plenty of easy laughs.
Can’t Carry On: April Carrion
April struggled with playing a girl with a big bust and big personality, which goes to show that a pretty face isn’t a guarantee in the Drag Race world. She didn’t deliver in the musical, nor in the lip sync, and so was forced to sashay away.