Is it too late now to say sorry?…
Last week we said goodbye to Waterloo queen Kyne after a week of recreating Canada’s iconic heritage moments with a Drag Race twist. This week we’re going to see our Canadian queens be split up into girl groups and have an epic rap battle. Will Lemon continue to rise, or will we see a new queen take the lead?
This week’s episode starts in the werk room following Kyne’s elimination. The queens read her goodbye message and say their final farewells. Over on the couches, they congratulate Lemon on winning the season’s first acting challenge. Tynomi doesn’t want to be in the bottom ever again, but if she has to lip sync again, she vows that she won’t be going home. It’s a new day in the werk room, and there are 10 queens left. Ru interrupts with a video message, and it looks like this week will be all about the Canadian apology. Jeffrey enters the werk room, and introduces Canada’s Best Squirrel friend entertainment reporter Traci Melchor, and this week’s mini challenge. The queens will compete in pairs to anchor Canada Gay M, Canada’s first trilingual morning news show.
The queens get to work reading a teleprompter, and wow this challenge was a doozy. While some of them excelled at reading their lines, others simply made up the French language. The winners of the mini challenge are Priyanka and Lemon. Traci and Jeffrey also introduce this week’s maxi challenge. The queens will be splitting into groups to write and perform a rap battle. For winning the mini challenge Priyanka and Lemon are team leaders. The queens pick their teams gym class style, and Ilona gets picked last.
Divided in their groups, the queens get down to writing their lyrics, and picking group names. After Jeffrey, does his werk room walk around, the queens head to the stage to record their songs. Team Lemon is up first, and for the most part they’re killing it. BOA has a bit of trouble with her recording, but Jimbo pulls it back with a stellar verse that has everyone gagged. Next up Team Priyanka records their verses. This is another strong group, but AnaSTARzia hits a snag, she overcomes though and finishes her verse. Rita Baga comes through with the vocals to finish them off strong, and the queens move on to the choreography portion of rehearsals. Tynomi and Lemon, both trained dancers have no trouble picking the steps up, but Jimbo and BOA are for sure the weakest links when it comes to the dancing. On Team Priyanka there aren’t any strong dance leaders, and they all seem to have a bit of trouble picking up the steps. As someone who cannot dance, these challenges always make me nervous, but with some rehearsing I’m sure they’ll all be alright.
It’s elimination day, and the queens are getting ready for their epic girl group rap battle. Tensions between BOA, and Scarlett Bobo come up with both parties. BOA takes it upon herself to clear the air, Bobo doesn’t want to kiss and makeup just yet. Priyanka tells the queens her dad doesn’t know she’s gay, or does drag yet, and how she’s afraid her relationship with her dad will change once he knows. Out on the main stage our fierce judges throuple make a grand entrance, along with this week’s guest host, Canadian music icon Deborah Cox. The rap battle is on! The Dwolls (Team Lemon) are out first, with Team Priyanka’s Mooseknuckles following. All the verses are great, but some of the queens are getting a little lost with the choreography. There was also a bit of struggling with the lyrics from some of the queens. Especially at the end when it turned into a musical number about being polite.
Following the rap battle, it’s time for the runway. Category is “QueBecky with the good hair”. It’s all about the hair this week, and all of the queens had such fun, and original takes on this challenge. This runway was a fun one to watch with some queens (Priyanka, Ilona, and Scarlett Bobo) standing out from others (Tynomi, and AnaSTARzia). Tynomi, Priyanka, Kiara, Scarlett, AnaSTARzia, BOA, and Ilona are named as the tops and bottoms of the week, meaning the rest of the queens are safe. Kiara starts the critiques. The judges thought she got lost in the performance, and that her gold disco jumpsuit look was a bit basic (not to mention giving me Kyne week one vibes). The judges loved Tynomi’s dancing in the performance, but she missed the lyrics in her song, and the look wasn’t it either. On the other hand, the judges adored BOA’s look, and her amazing energy and dedication in her performance. Priyanka’s look was everything, and that she was one of the queens that stood out the most in the rap battle. The judges thought AnaSTARzia’s look was confusing, and felt she faded into the background during the performance as well. Scarlett Bobo was praised for gluing hair to a bodysuit the right way, and her standout performance in the rap battle. The judges saw Ilona struggling with the dance during the performance, but LOVED her runway look, which will probably save her from bottom status. Backstage the queens go over the critiques, and the tension between Scarlett Bobo and BOA reaches a new high. They apologize but I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more of this feud later on in the season.
Out on the runway the judges announce Priyanka as the winner of this week’s challenge. BOA, Scarlett Bobo, Ilona, and Kiara are all safe. Meaning Tynomi, and AnaSTARzia are the bottom two of the week and will lip sync for their life. The queens lip sync to Deborah Cox’s Absolutely Not.
Tynomi past as one of Deborah’s backup dancers might give her the upper hand in this lip sync, but AnaSTARzia is poised and passionate in her performance. Both queens are delivering, but there can only be one winner. The judges decide that the third queen leaving the competition is AnaSTARzia Anaquway. We’ll miss mother, but she didn’t leave a lipstick message for the children. I wonder what the tea will be on that next week.
Front runners of the week: Priyanka is proving she’s a star on the rise, and Scarlett Bobo is a firecracker that’s just starting to pop.
Canadian-ism of the week: Mooseknuckles was so right, in so many ways.
What we’ll see next week: The queens work in teams to create sustainable fashion made out of… garbage.
Missed a week?: Read our Canada’s Drag Race season 1 weekly recaps right here!
POST A COMMENT