CATEGORY IS…RIGOR MORRIS

Last week on Rupaul’s Drag Race, we watched the queens perform the annual Snatch Game. Gigi Goode won by impersonating Maria the Robot (a character based off of Sophia the Robot), leaving Aiden Zhane and Brita in the bottom two. Aiden’s abysmal portrayal of Patricia Quinn (Magenta from Rocky Horror) and Brita’s performance as Jennifer Holiday, which the judges described as one-note, landed them in the bottom two, where they lip synced for their lives to “Let it Go.” Aiden Zhane ended up going home, and Brita stayed another week.

This week, the episode started out with the queens mourning Aiden’s departure, however, Widow reminded everyone that the queens did not exactly treat Aiden well during her time on the show.

The next day in the Werk Room, Rupaul introduced this week’s challenge: “Madonna: The Unauthorized Rusical,” a musical based on the life and career of Madonna. The queens were told to assign their own roles, which led everyone to get their first choices, except for Gigi, who originally wanted Blond Ambition Tour-era Madonna, but instead was given “Papa Don’t Preach” music video Madonna. 

The queens went to the main stage to record vocals with resident Madonna expert and judge Michelle Visage. Jan was praised for her vocals, and was really the only one praised, given the only other one who did well vocal-wise was Sherry Pie, who was disqualified. 

When it came time to learn choreography, again Jan slayed every move choreographer Jamal Sims gave her. The other queens fared well with the difficult choreography, based off of Madonna music videos, save Sherry Pie, whose choreography consisted of raising her arms and walking around and making Madonna movie puns.

When it came time for the main stage performance, Rupaul introduced the guest judges for the week: model and former America’s Next Top Model contestant Winnie Harlow, and U.S. representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Rupaul then announced this week’s runway theme: Night of 1000 Michelle Visages. 

Performance-wise, most of the queens did very well, executing the choreography and the lip syncing. The queens that really struggled were Brita, Heidi and Jackie Cox. Runway-wise, all the queens really brought it, and there really wasn’t one terrible outfit. 

During the judges’ critiques, Jan and Gigi were praised for their amazing job as well as their runway outfits; however, Brita, Heidi and Jackie were criticized for their less-than-great performances. During this, Ocasio-Cortez gave a really heartfelt message to Jackie, who comes from a family of immigrants, while Harlow just sat there and looked pretty.

At the top, it was clearly going to be between Jan and Gigi. Rupaul told Jan everyone’s three favorite words, “You are safe,” as Gigi won her third win of the season. Many fans feel that Jan really deserved this win, as Gigi’s vocals didn’t compare to Jan’s.

In the bottom two, Brita and Heidi had to lip sync for their lives to the Madonna classic “Burning Up.” Brita ended up falling short in the lip sync, causing her to go home. 

Fans shouldn’t be “Hung Up” on Jan’s robbery this week, as next week seems to be another acting challenge, which will be a “Ray of Light” for Jan and could be the “Lucky Star” in her track record this season. On the other hand, Heidi’s less-than-perfect track record could leave her on the “Borderline” of going home. 

And remember: “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else? Can I get an amen?” 

Tom Benoit can be contacted at tbenoit@kscequinox.com