Last night was the big showdown — the decisive moment that determined the top three queens of this year’s RuPaul’s Drag Race. The competition was as close as ever, with contestants challenged to create a trio of candy-inspired runway looks and perform a group dance number with giant lollipops. As if that weren’t enough pressure, legendary diva dresser Bob Mackie was on hand as a guest judge. So, who shantayed into the final three and who sashayed away?
Spice Girl: Roxxxy Andrews
Roxxxy spent most of the competition bullying Jinkx, going so far as to broadcast her joy at watching the rival queen’s narcolepsy-related struggle to stay awake and sew her dress. But all meanness aside, Roxxxy was a real threat in her curvy licorice number and made sure to show off her toned gams in every one of her runway looks. She also completely remade her candy look after receiving an eyebrow raise from Ru, showing that she’s ready for any challenge.
Sweet Dreamer: Jinkx Monsoon
Feeling extra intimidated this week because the other three girls are all a clique and sewing isn’t her strong point, Jinkx brought too much quirk and not enough candy to the runway, landing her in the bottom two for the first time ever. Luckily, she’s brilliant at lip syncing, bringing both strong choreography and hilariously cartoonish facial expressions, and was rewarded with the final spot in this season’s top three.
Hot Fluff: Alaska
Alaska’s cotton candy runway look may have been obvious, but she committed to all three of her outfits — especially the sweet 16 number, an amalgamation of just about every rich-girl stereotype reality TV has to offer. She ended up winning both the mini challenge (which involved making puppets of the other queens) and the main challenge, bringing very close to that crown. If she wins, she and her partner Sharon Needles, last year’s champion, will be drag’s biggest power couple.
Sour Patch Kid: Detox
After falling short in the past few weeks, Detox really needed to up her game this time, and while her first two runway looks were top notch, her candy couture gown was an unappetizing neon green and black, and looked nothing like candy — making the judges question her “taste level.” Unfortunately, after losing the lip sync to Jinkx, it was time for this talented queen to go home.