The Sound of Rusic - Power Ranking RuPaul's Drag Race S16E07

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16, Episode 7 was our annual Rusical! “The Sound of Rusic” recast familiar tropes from The Sound of Music as a pop music musical set in a high stakes pageant in a remote town.

It was paired with a “I Can Buy Myself Flowers” runway themed to match the lip sync tune “Flowers,” Miley Cyrus’s recent Grammy-winner for Record of the Year

We’re at a point in the evolution of Drag Race where not only every contestant comes ready to smash the Rusical, but the show itself has a vested interest in the Rusical looking amazing. Even though this was unseen to us, it’s a virtual guarantee that the queens had an extra 1-2 days to rehearse this show “off camera” between when we saw them go home on Day 1 and when they hit the runway on “Day 2.”

As with “Wigloose” last year, that resulted in a musical with no obvious worst performance, unless we’re going to get nitpicky about a wardrobe malfunction. That means we do have to get nitpicky, not only about that, but about whether people looked alive behind the eyes or made the most out of their little bits of business.

That lead to a cutthroat and somewhat hard to predict set of bottom queens. However, it was the runway that confirmed our top queens, as three of our drag artists had the objective best looks of the night (and a fourth queen’s fashionable runway may have saved her from the bottom).

What does that mean for our Power Rankings compared to last week’s “Welcome to the DollHouse”? One queen fights her way back into the Top 3 while another queen falls out of the Top 4 for the first time, and the four queens marooned outside of the Top 5 are going to have to get serious about their game theory to see if they can last long enough to play spoiler against a frontrunner.

Readers, start your engines. And, may the best drag queen win!

Reminders: I consistently refer to Drag Race artists with their drag names and with she/her pronouns even when they are not in drag, which is the convention of the show. Some performers may have different personal pronouns. Drag is inherently brave, political, and artistic, and all drag is valid. It’s also hard to do. Every drag artist in the world deserves endless essays dedicated to their talents and life stories. I’m commenting on drag artistry in how it fits the established expectations of this specific television program, but the reason I’m commenting at all is because I am obsessed with drag and the people who create it.

RuPaul’s Drag Race, Season 16 Episode 7 – “The Sound of Rusic” Rusical Power Rankings

Before we get to our power rankings, let’s appreciate a pair of fashions from Ru that couldn’t be more different from each other.

First, in the workroom, Ru delivered monochrome purple with a slight iridescent sheen. I love the purple suit paired with a slightly brighter purple polka-dot shirt. I would wear this blazer every single day if I owned it. I wouldn’t mind the flower being 50% smaller, but Ru had to plug the runway theme!

Then, on the runway, we got… something.

I love anytime Ru makes a subtle nod to the “Race” of Drag Race, so I dig the checkered fabric in the middle of this look. And, I always love a opera-length fetish glove in black vinyl.

But, mawma… what is this flower bustier and what is that lazily-wrapped skirt? The bustier is so weird and bulky that it somehow makes Ru’s shoulders look huge – and not in a flattering way. And, I don’t understand what a blue silk skirt has to do with anything! It would have made more sense if it was any of the other colors in the look – or, even yellow or purple! Blue just feels random to me.

This is why Ru should always avoid dressing with a nod to the runway theme of the week – because she risks looking rudimentary compared to all of the queens to walk the runway after her!

#1 – Sapphira Cristál, 1 win (was #2, 2, 1, 2, 3)

Sapphira Cristál bounced back from a brief crack in her confident facade with a delicious scenery-chewing performance. She proved once again that it doesn’t matter what part you fight for if you’re one of the most-talented performers on the stage.

As part of the arcane ritual required to gather all of the images for this post, I’ve now watched this Rusical severalmany times with the sound both on and off.

As a result, I am here to tell you that while Plasma had the obvious, showy part, it was Sapphira Cristál who was giving full Broadway fantasy. I swear that even though this Rusical included pre-recorded vocals, at points the sounds are coming directly out of Sapphira’s mouth as if she swallowed a speaker.

Her lip syncing, her faces, her body movements, her dancing – she was fully this character, giving it a much higher caliber of performance than any Drag Race Rusical requires or deserves. As great as Plasma was in the challenge, it would have been entirely fair to award Sapphira the win.

That’s doubly true after seeing this runway. HOW DID SHE PACK THIS?! Even if Drag Race entirely lifted their suitcase limit, how do you get even one of those flowers into a bag? I guess they must have flexible wire frames that fold down onto themselves like one of those reflective sun-blockers you pop open and place in your car windshield.

(Plus… her Instagram reveals that there were actually more petals which malfunctioned and that the dress is designed by Philly’s own Iris Specter (who is presently Miss Bob & Barbara’s 2024, a Philly institution I last wrote about (and photographed) 17 years ago on CK).)

Logistics aside, this is a tremendous look. Just the dramatic white dress with its yellow-to-green skirt panels alone is impressive enough if you throw in the central back flower as a little bit of a kicker. Also, I love how Sapphira’s sleeves give the subtle illusion of stamen with her as the pistil To then add in those massive petals framing her body in more white and then framing it even wider in orange… it’s stunning.

It’s always fun when queens bring Carnival-style looks to the runway, but often they are so festooned with glitter and feathers it can be hard to know where to look and the queen looks laboured in the middle holding the whole thing up. This look on Sapphira seems effortless, by comparison.

Sapphira had a perfect bounce-back from her stumble of drinking her immunity potion in last week’s DollHouse challenge. Honestly, she might perform better without that “Get Out of Jail Free” card up her sleeve. I fully expect Sapphira to be dominant in Snatch Game next week, and I can’t imagine this season has any challenge in store that will cause her to stumble unless her confidence wavers. Her ability to be the most-memorable queen even in a challenge she didn’t win bodes well for her potential to snatch the crown at the end of the season.

#2 – Plasma, 2 wins (was #7, 6, 3, 4, 7)

(Cameo | Instagram | Merch | TikTok | Twitter)

Plasma is a sudden front-runner after showing endless charisma, nerves of steel, and boundless talent in securing the lead in the Rusical and delivering a flawless performance. Perhaps what makes her unique is that she is a rare musical theatre queen who stands a real chance of going all the way to the finale.

I know that the lead character can’t exactly “steal the show” in a Rusical, since the show already belongs to them, but Plasma certainly ran away with this entire performance. It felt like she got an entire episode of Drag Race where she had the starring role! I’m trying to think of another Rusical that gave a single queen this amount to do, but even Loosey LaDuca’s main character in Wigloose last year got to cede the stage to some other characters more than Plasma did.

Plasma had so many lines to lip sync and did so much dancing. She truly did not show a single moment of weakness the entire time. Instead, there were so many moments where her little bits stood out – like when she peeked around Sapphira’s hip during her solo song or when she pulled a ukulele out of a full-size guitar case only to chuck it off-stage a minute later.

So often when queens brand themselves as musical theatre enthusiasts on this show it means they have some theatre experience or they love belting out showtunes. It’s much rarer for them to be someone who can charismatically carry a show-within-the-show but also an entire Drag Race episode as a main character.

Plasma really is something unique.

Yet, all of that charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent could’ve been all for naught if Plasma packed on of her dowdier runways for this “I Can Buy Myself Flowers” theme. Luckily, this sunflower yellow take on My Fair Lady is her best look so far this season.

THIS IS HOW BIG A HAT ON A DRAG QUEEN SHOULD BE. Take note. I will never accept a hat any smaller. Also, check out the sheer density of the flowers on her shoulders and upper arms. It looks like more flowers are peeking out from beneath the visible ones! The corset is perfectly placed to break up the subtle print of the dress, there are just enough flowers to disguise the transition from the dress print to the skirt, and the skirt’s repeated white-to-goldenrod ombré on each tier is beautiful.

NYC designer Beck Jones delivered perfection here and Plasma styled his work perfectly to hit the runway. PS: feel free to buy me one of his custom corset-backed bomber jackets, please and thank you.

This leaves Plasma in a unique spot in this competition. She is a sudden front-runner purely on win count, with Sapphira only holding 1 win and Nymphia’s 2nd win being from a shared Girl Group victory. Yet, Plasma hasn’t delivered as consistently as either of them, or even as much as Plane Jane and Q. She has shown a particular weakness on the runway, though at least the ball and the design challenge are behind her now!

If Plasma wants to capitalize on this sudden lead, she needs to show she can go toe-to-toe with all four of those queens in Snatch Game next week. Luckily, we’re also likely in for an acting or improv challenge after that, where Plasma will do just fine. However, I’m concerned if there is a makeover anywhere from Top 7 to Top 5. Plasma has fashion foibles and her makeup look is idiosyncratic and heavy-handed. It would be ideal if she can hit a makeover challenge prior to Top 6, at which point the lip sync opponents may all be deadly. But… we haven’t seen Plasma lip sync for a win or a bottom placement yet. Who knows what tricks she might be packing!

#3 – Q, 1 win, 1 lsft-win, 1 lip sync (was #3, 3, 4, 7, 4)

Q got to follow up her win with redemption for her dancing downfall and one of the most over-the-top runways we’ve ever seen on the American franchise. Can she keep up her string of high placements right to the finale, or will she have to shake her groove thing again if she wants to be a finalist?

Q rock-paper-scissored her way into a prime casting spot in The Sound of Rusic. Her character got to do some of the most acting and physical comedy in the show, and it either required very little dancing or Adam Shankman dialed it down for Q after the initial dance rehearsal.

I think Q sold a lot of this performance purely with her face, which shouldn’t come as a surprise since that’s also what made her Talent Show performance so uproarious back in Episode 1. She absolutely gave me hints of Amanda Lepore before the judges ever mentioned it.

LOOK. AT. THIS. RUNWAY.

I am not of the mind that we need to heap praise on every large or unusual runway. If you’re reading all of my Drag Race coverage you just heard me pan a very similar concept from La Grande Dame in yesterday’s post about Drag Race UK vs. The World. Q’s look works for all of the reasons La Grande Dame’s look did not. Q’s look has texture. It has contrast. It was opulent. She gave it the character of an awkward and slightly scary creature, but she walked it languorously so we would have time to drink it it.

Look at the density of sequins on her turtleneck bodysuit. Look at how she sniuk in purple and yellow butterflies into her collection of flowers to create texture and contrast.

Also, check out her face. That mug is beat. I cannot get over how gorgeous she looks or how well she managed blending and contouring entirely in shades of pink. I love how she used geometric dots and squares of white to give the illusion of highlighting and reflection.

The only thing about this look that leaves me slightly conflicted is the off-white panty. I get that she had to do something, but to see such a conventional panty shape in such bright white against the figure of her weird creature slightly takes me out of the fantasy. Why is this Groot-like flower colossus wearing panties?!

I feel like it would have looked better if instead she just flowered her crouch, or extended her corset down to boy shorts in the style of a wrestling singlet. It’s not enough to detract from the stunning achievement of this garment, but it takes it down from a SHOOT to a TOOT for me.

If Q was in some danger of being discarded by the show after her creaky Girl Groups showing, it feels like that has now been entirely forgotten. Production knows they can rely on her to deliver on the runway and perform at the level of all the top queens in the challenges. I think Q is back on track to make it to the finale – but, having Plasma in the mix as well complicates things for her. Q’s ability to be funny on her own next week in Snatch Game will be a huge factor in whether she can hold off Plasma (and Plane Jane) to keep herself stuck firmly into the Top 3 of the season for another five episodes.

#4 – Plane Jane, 1 win (was #4, 5, 5, 3, 2)

Plane Jane was so crisply bitchy in The Sound of Rusic that it seemed like she would have a top spot locked up again, but a relatively plain runway couldn’t compete with the major costumes hauled out by the top three queens.

When I think back on The Sound of Rusic between ru-watches, every time I have a brief moment of being confused about if Plane Jane or Q was the main villainess.

Maybe it’s because Plane Jane dominated all of her duo moments with Xunami. Maybe it’s because Plane and Q looked and painted similarly. Or, maybe they achieved exactly the sort of “Mean Girls” team gestalt they were looking for.

Whatever the case, I think Plane delivered one of the best performances of the seven “background queens.” She made a small part into a big one.

Plane Jane’s “I Can Buy Myself Flowers” runway felt like a throwback to an earlier season to me. This short skirt with a little burst of flower appliqués feels slightly basic for the modern seasons of Drag Race. There’s nothing wrong with it from a styling perspective, but I can’t imagine packing this and thinking “yep, that’ll be a winner.” It looks like a mini-challenge outfit. And, if I’m being picky, the flowers look a bit crafty.

Also, I cannot get with the trend of several queens in this cast painting their undereye area with a base of WHITE. They’re not even blending it out! I get the whole idea of trying to give the impression of a light shining on your face at all times. I absolutely practice it myself! It looks bad when it’s carried this far. I refuse to normalize this trend in the same way I refused to pretend that queens spraying their foreheads black to marry up to their wigline looked good.

Plane Jane continues her trend of being good at every single challenge Drag Race has to offer. I fully expect her to smash Snatch Game out of the park – I’d be shocked if she can’t notch a high placement with the opportunity to volley directly with RuPaul. If Plane snatches a second wind next week, I might have no choice but to elevate her to the top of the rankings! But, I still don’t feel like it’s possible for her to snag the crown this season unless her edit takes a turn towards redemption – and does that pretty soon.

#5 – Nymphia Wind, 2 wins (was #1, 1, 2, 1, 1)

Nymphia Wind didn’t just fade into the background this episode – she gave a wobbly, imprecise performance that likely should have resulted in a bottom placement. After also missing out on a top spot last week, now is not the time for Nymphia to ease up on her perfectionist tendencies.

There is no way you can convince me that Nymphia did well in the Sound of Rusic.

That doesn’t mean she did poorly. No one did. But, her lip sync was off enough times that it really started to bug me even on the first watch. Also, her big “oo, a pine cone!” reactions started to feel rubber stamped from one occurence to the next. For me, she had the same issues the judges assigned to Megami – not really being compelling until her moments in the spotlight.

However, in a Rusical this tight the runway becomes a true tie-breaker, and Nymphia had the fourth best runway of the night after the nearly-obscene display of fashion prowess from our current top three. This flat cactus dress was giving Comme de Garçons haute couture. It was already a memorable look even before Nymphia comedically sprouted leaves from her cuffs.

Plus, it wasn’t a banana tree!

After a strong start, Nymphia has slided faded the past two episodes while Q, Plasma, Plane Jane, and Sapphira have surged. Is that part of her strategy to keep her light dimmed until it’s time to go in for the kill? Or, is she feeling slightly exhausted after delivering so hard for six weeks in a row?

I think Snatch Game is going to be major for Nymphia. It’s the first solo performance challenge of the season, and we have every indication that Nymphia is capable of uproarious humor. However, Ru has a history of being cool towards Asian immigrant queens in Snatch Game – as if their humor is completely incompatible with what he thinks is camp. I’m curious to see if the outcome will be a return to high placements for Nymphia or her first true stumble (or, at least, the first one acknowledged by the judges).

#6 – Dawn (was #5, 4, 7, 8, 5)

Dawn attacked The Sound of Rusic with vigor despite being a music-theatre-hater (me too!), but her runway wasn’t flower-powerful enough to score her a top placement for a background performance.

Y’all, I loved Dawn in The Sound of Rusic. She was pulling focus from Plasma (in a good way) every time the three sisters were on stage together. It took effort to pay attention to Megami or Nymphia, because Dawn stole she show every time. She’s a good dancer, and I enjoyed how she adapted her makeup to look like a sunburnt doll for this look.

Dawn also delivered a striking runway, and I think if Q hadn’t come so hard as the flower monster from hell that Dawn might have snagged a top spot.

I enjoy this dress. If you zoom in on it, it has a little bit too much going on – but, it also has a lot of shape and texture to help our eyes know where to go. You can get away with a busy bodice when you’ve got those lovely pops of red, a nipped in waist, and a steady trickle of flowers down to the hem of the dress where it perfectly touches the floor.

Honestly, if I have an objection to this look, it might be the horns. I’m not sure they added anything other than being red. A pair of red roses in Dawn’s hair could have achieved the same effect. If she was trying to give some kind of “devil”storyline here, it was lost on me.

I was sure that Q or Plasma would be getting the Jan LaDuca memorial “Always a Bridesmaid” edit, but now that Q has gotten her due and Plasma has broken through it seems that Dawn has been saddled with it. This is extra ironic since that edit usually is conferred on a musical theatre queen and Dawn hates musical theatre.

I think the thing that Dawn still has going for her is that of these four stragglers, she has had the most positive notes from the judges. I get the sense they were hanging on to her to play potential spoiler to the top queens of the season, but Plasma inserted herself so far into that situation that now she is one of the top queens of the season. Could Dawn be deployed against Nymphia if she continues to be stuck in middle gear? Or, is the show now done with Dawn, who will be sacrificed to Mhi’ya next week after Snatch Game?

#7 – Xunami Muse (was #10, 11, 9, 9, 10)

Xunami Muse handled herself adequately in the Rusical challenge, but she’s still seeking a breakout moment – and she’s running out of time to find it!

For me, Xunami would have been the easiest queen to send to the Bottom Two along with Mhi’ya based on her Sound of Rusic performance.

I don’t think Xunami did anything wrong or bad. She simply did the least with her part. And, she had a benefit that none of the other trio queens had, which is that her trio was only a duo for half the show! Yet, any time she and Plane Jane were on stage together I remember what Plane did but not what Xunami did.

That’s not Xunami’s fault! She wound up in a role with not a single joke or bit written into it, and she delivered the icy mean girl quality of it perfectly. There just wasn’t much to work with, and she didn’t find anything of her own to bring to the part.

I think this Xunami Muse “I Can Buy Myself Flowers” runway was a borderline flop, but she had the self-consciousness to realize that and did her best to style it and walk it as if it’s was high fashion.

I love, love, love the concept of a human bouquet, but I think both Sapphira and Nymphia outshone Xunami with similar conceptual work while this dress struggled with the details. I think it would have been easier to sell this inverted bouquet look if the underskirt of the dress was white and pink instead of black. Even if the black was meant to be dead flowers, it just didn’t read as flowers at all. Also, the stiffness of the dress was actively working against Xunami as she walked it – folding and buckling in awkward spots.

Xunami is stuck in an untenable spot right now. She has not made a single unforced error in this competition so far. But, she also hasn’t had a single major highlight, except perhaps Girl Groups and her Lesbian-coded pants runway. And, if her Talent Show performance was any indication, her lip sync style is not going to be packed with tricks.

I don’t think there is any possible way for her to place higher than 7th unless something shocking happens. Next week is Snatch Game, where she might do decently, but the best she can hope for is a high placement while Mhi’ya is deployed against Morphine or Dawn, and another one of that same trio going home the following week.

#8 – Morphine Love Dion (was #9, 12, 11, 10, 9)

Morphine Love Dion gave a confident performance in The Sound of Rusic, but she also had one of the most lackluster flower runways. Unfortunately, there’s hardly any room to stay safe as the cast shrinks to single digits.

Morphine hit all the step, served great face, and gave some funny moments in what was effectively a backup dancer role.

Honestly, my initial take on Morphine in The Sound of Rusic was that she was on the high side of safe. To me, she was better than Mhi’ya, Xunami, and Nymphia, and about even with Megami and Plane Jane (and, maybe even Q)? Considering the show gains nothing from giving her a high placement, I assumed she would be safe and Xunami would be the low-ranking queen to hit the bottom.

Morphine Love Dion’s hippy-themed runway confirmed her trip to the bottom – so much so that I think the judges reached for critiques for her performance in the Rusical just to justify the placement. In a runway full of high-concept, high-volume looks, this one was just too basic – which is wild to say about an outfit with as much stoning as Morphine added to this one (not to mention the glorious wig)!

I was tough on Morphine in her first few weeks, but she has turned it out for several challenges in a row and now I’m very much on her side. She’s a smart queen who can handle herself on stage, but she is up against a number of professional drag perfectionists who can execute high-concept looks and performances.

I don’t think production is looking to award any further first-time wins at this point, but there is still a potential path for Morphine to make it into the top half of the season. It all comes down to Snatch Game. Morphine’s weakest spot so far has been humor, but she needs to needs either Xunami or Dawn to get sacrificed to Mhi’ya next week and then for Mhi’ya to be cut loose the following week if she wants to make it to the Top 7. I don’t think there’s any other way to make it.

#9 – Mhi’ya Iman Le’Paige, 1 win, 2 lip syncs (was #13, 13, 10, 6, 6)

(Website | Instagram | Merch | TikTok | Twitter)

Mhi’ya Iman Le’Paige gave an awkward Rusical performance as part of Sapphira’s sister act trio of nuns. For a queen known for her flips and tricks, it doesn’t seem like that joy translates to other performances – even when she knows the steps.

It’s not that Mhi’ya misses many beats in The Sound of Rusic. It’s more that she never seems in it as much as everyone else. Part of that is just her face while she is delivering choreography. She’s not giving a character, nor is she particularly giving herself.

She’s very much just there. Also, even after several watches, she is the one cast member without a single solo moment I can name (unless we count when her habit got stuck in her face.)

I have mixed feelings on this “I Can Buy Myself Flowers” runway from Mhi’ya Iman Le’Paige. It’s the best her figure has looked in a runway yet. It also might be the best outfit she’s had for any theme! I love this color on her, I love the length of the skirt.

What I don’t love is that bodice. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the placement of the flowers, or where the corset extends downward on one side but not on the other. I wanted to believe that it was actually shaped like an anatomical heart … or something that explained the shape of it, but I just can’t see it.

That doesn’t make this a bad runway. Actually, I think it’s better than several other queens. But, it wasn’t the perfect 10 that Mhi’ya likely needed to escape the lip sync. Also, Mhi’ya is another queen who is painting the middle of her face stark white and not blending it out very well, which makes me wild.

Now we’ve seen Mh’iya lip sync two weeks in a row. If the show’s history tells us anything, they’ll either have her lip sync twice more and be out before Top 6 or she will be the loser of a Lalaparuza in two weeks. I think the way that plays out will ultimately come down to who hits the Bottom Two with Mh’iya. If there’s a chance of Morphine or Xunami hitting the Bottom Two, Mh’iya can absolutely be deployed to send them packing. Mh’iya vs. Dawn would be a true “anyone can win” situation. I don’t think the show will risk Q, Plane Jane, or Plasma getting assassinated, but I suspect Sapphira or Nymphia could probably win against Mh’iya if it’s finally time to send her home.

Eliminated: 10th Place – Megami, 1 win, 1 lip sync (was #14, 9, 8, 5, 8)

Megami got a raw deal in this episode, drawing critiques for problems that were hardly evident in her Rusical performance purely because she had the weakest runway of the cast.

Drag Race is broadly a fair competition, but it’s also a reality show. That means story producers are always working in the background to try to tease out storylines and anticipate a potential edit even as the challenges are unfolding. Sometimes a queen with no story potential and no obvious trajectory toward the crown gets a much rougher go of it from the judges than queens who are more engaged with the season’s main narratives.

That seemed to be Megami’s lot in life this season. She managed to snag a win for the Girl Groups challenge, but she also could have easily gotten positive comments one or two other times along the way if she was positioned as a series contender.

That said, Michelle’s comments on Megami’s makeup leading to her dismissal were fair and not unkind. Megami has a very specific approach to eye makeup. I can’t quite explain it, but it feels like it closes off her face rather than lifting it up. Also, she’s another queen who paints with bright white foundation in the middle of her face to create a highlight effect.

I’d love to see Megami with an incredibly soft, blended beauty beat. But, even the most blended makeup in Drag Race herstory probably could not have saved her from this bottom placement due to her muddled runway, even if she was better than fine (and better than Nymphia) in the Rusical.

Ultimately, Megami came across to me as a lovable queen who was satisfied playing her own version of the Drag Race game as long as she wasn’t being left out by her peers. She came through repeatedly with strong performances this season – enough times that I’m willing to forgive and forget her disastrous first week Talent Show and Ruveal runway.

I think Megami has the imagination to deliver some high concept crossover between drag and cosplay that would position her uniquely in the pantheon of Drag Race alum. I hope she gets to push that as far as possible in the wake of her time on the show, all while advocating for local drag.

Until then, let’s all protect queer art.

11th Place – Geneva Karr, 1 win, 1 lsft-win, 3 lip syncs (was #6, 10, 12, 11)

12th Place: Amanda Tori Meating, 1 lip sync (was #11, 7, 6)

13th Place: Mirage, 1 lip sync (was #8, 8)

(Instagram | Links | Merch | TikTok | Twitter)

14th Place: Hershii LiqCour-Jeté, 1 lip sync (was #12)

Trackbacks

Season 16 Snatch Game - Power Ranking RuPaul's Drag Race S16E07 – Crushing Krisis says:

February 26, 2024 at 8:46 am

[…] does that mean for our Power Rankings compared to last week’s epic “The Sound of Rusic” Rusical performance power rankin…? Things have been truly shaken up, with one unlikely queen pushing into contention for the finale […]