Skip to Content
Celebrating Canada's 2SLGBTQI+ Communities
RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16 Episode 13 RECAP: Drag Race Vegas LIVE! Makeovers

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16 Episode 13 RECAP: Drag Race Vegas LIVE! Makeovers

The top five queens give drag makeovers to dancers and country superstar Kelsea Ballerini is a guest judge…

Last week we said goodbye to Dawn after a literal murder on the dancefloor after she was placed in the bottom with Morphine, the self proclaimed “BBL queen” where they had to lip sync for their lives to Bodyby Megan Thee Stallion. The main challenge saw the queens designing their own specialty gender neutral washrooms and Sapphira and Plane Jane got the week’s top spot. This week the remaining queens will give drag makeovers to dancers from the RuPaul’s Drag Race show in Las Vegas and lead them in a choreographed routine and someone will be sent home ahead of the grand finale. Let’s get into it.

This week’s episode begins in the werk room following Dawn’s elimination. The remaining queens enter and read Dawn’s message before heading over to the couches to debrief. Morphine is feeling good about surviving her third lip sync and moving forward to the top five. The queens congratulate Sapphira and Plane on their win and everyone is feeling tense about being so close to the top four. Plane is not feeling great about being vulnerable which she thinks the other queens will use against her in the rest of the competition.

It’s a new week in the werk room and the top five are feeling ready to take on another challenge. A game of RuPaul’s Drag Race Monopoly is waiting for them on the table and they play a quick game. Ru interrupts the board game kiki and tells the girls that what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas and introduces some of the dancers from the live show to the werk room. This week the queens will be making over the dancers into devastatingly beautiful drag queens with family resemblance. The queens pick their dancers at random out of a pink furry box, so there’s no sabotage at play. One by one the queens are paired up and Ru reveals that together each pair will have to choreograph a sickening dance routine to show off on the mainstage. Being close to the finale, all of the queens are feeling the pressure to make a good impression with this challenge. Plane is feeling nervous about the muscular physique of her dancer but they have similar personalities which has her feeling better. Morphine does other people’s makeup all the time, so she’s feeling confident about this challenge. Nymphia is getting into it with her dance partner who reveals he is not only straight, but also married to a woman. Sapphira and her partner have similar competitive spirits and they connect over that. Finally, Q’s partner doesn’t think he wants to shave his beard for the competition but Q is confident in her abilities to make a good outfit, but Sebastian is a little shady which Q adores. The dancers have a walk-off in heels and the queens get to work on starting the transformation. Nymphia gives the dancers a quick anatomy lesson on tucking using two oranges, a pair of nylons, and a banana. Ru comes back into the room to check on the pairs and how they’re getting along. They reveal the concepts of their ideas and some background info of the werk room guests.

Out on the mainstage the queens and their dancers work on coming up with some showstopping choreo to impress the judges. Plane lets her partner take the lead since he is a trained dancer. Q brings forward some inspiration that her dance partner takes into consideration when coming up with their moves. Morphine and her dancer get along really well when coming up with their steps but Nymphia is hoping she won’t have to do a lot of dancing to sell her look. Sapphira quickly realizes her 80 pound dress is really going to get in the way of her dancing, so she takes it off to get the steps down. Sapphira is the only queen to take the lead on coming up with the choreography but she’s scrapped her dress, so now she has to come up with a whole new idea. 

It’s elimination day and it’s finally time to put their dancing daughters in drag for the first time. After getting rid of all of their facial and chest hair they get right to painting. Brows are blocked and makeup is getting put on for the first time. The girls are starting to feel themselves and some of them have heart-to-hearts with each other about their personal journeys. Nymphia gets a little teary-eyed talking about her own insecurities and her partner reassures her and Plane and her partner talk about their life experiences that lead to them not wanting to live closeted anymore. Some of the dancers lighten the mood with a bit of reading before heading out to the main stage. Out on the runway Ru introduces this week’s panel of judges, Michelle, Ts Madison, and this week’s extra special guest judge, country artist Kelsea Ballerini. The category on the runway is “Drag Family Resemblance” and one-by-one the queens and their new daughters make their way down the runway in their freshest looks. Before critiques each of the pairs show off their dance skills to Super Queen.

Critiques begin with Q and Luna. Michelle loves their outfits and says it’s very Q and compliments Luna on their choreography. Ru commends Luna on their confidence on stage. The judges tell Morphine and Latina that their chemistry was great on stage and complimented their dance but Michelle tells them their look is a bit too simple. Kelsea tells Nymphia and Juanita that their connection brought her joy. Ts tells Nymphia she wishes she could see her in another colour other than yellow. Michelle loved Sapphira and Shakira’s performance but tells them there’s not really a family resemblance. Sapphira tells the judges about her original dress but Michelle tells her it’s not a challenge she can talk herself out of. Finally, all of the judges loved Plane and Lazi Susan’s padding and performance. The attitude was ON and everybody took notice. 

Following deliberations Ru announces that the winner of this week’s challenge is Plane Jane is the winner of this week’s challenge. Nymphia and Q are both safe for the week which means Morphine and Sapphira are in the bottom. The two bottoms lip sync for their lives to “Miss Me More” by Kelsea Ballerini. It’s Morphine’s fourth time in the bottom and Sapphira’s first. Morphine is going for a more showy performance but Sapphira pulls out a split which impresses the judges. After an explosive lip sync, Ru announces that Sapphira will stay in the competition while it’s Morphine Love Dion’s  time to exit. 

Next week on Drag RaceThe top four write memoirs and star in a cover shoot photographed by Ru himself for their last maxi challenge of the season. 

Related Articles

December 2, 2024 / Entertainment Latest

Pete Zias: A Star Is Torn

Actor/comedian/social media star Pete Zias on creating Total Trash Live, his scene-stealing role in the horror movie Ganymede, and his upcoming star turn in the play Messy White Gays

Canada’s Drag Race Season 5 Sashay Q&Eh: Tara Nova

The St. John’s queen talks to IN Magazine about that famous East Coast Charm, her resourcefulness, and the skill she didn’t know she had before Canada’s Drag Race

Canada’s Drag Race Season 5 Episode 2 RECAP: Greetings Queenlings

The season 5 queens make contact with their first acting challenge. Canadian music icon Peaches is a guest judge

POST A COMMENT

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *