Bon retour, mes chers lecteurs, dans plus de classements! Drag Race Belgique Season 2 Episode 7 was Paquets Cadeaux, a makeover challenge of the loved ones of our Top 4. It is also the final power ranking of the season prior to next week’s grande finale!
Late season makeover challenges like Paquets Cadeaux seem to exist solely to give the Drag Race judges the freedom to assign top and bottom placements as they please. The idea of “resemblance” is often subjective, which helps them eliminate unwanted queens and make the standings more even for the impending finale.
That was abetted by this final four, three of whom seemed to passionately resist the directive that they have a mother/daughter relationship with their makeover partners. All three brought high-concept costumes (moon & stars, pirates, and rats) and seemed to actively resist Rita’s advice in the workroom to do more to make their relationship clear.
It was a letdown to see three of these artists refuse to accept the prompt, but it was a delight to see Rita Baga attempt to convince them. Rita was perhaps at her most charming from both seasons of the show during her workroom walkaround. It gave me the sense that while she is a willing and able judge, she would likely be more at home hosting a talk show or a variety series. I actually rewound several times just to appreciate her silliness and banter with the queens and their loved ones.
In this end, this makeover challenge came with an unexpected twist: the judges DID NOT use it to cut an obvious fourth-place contestant from the finale! Instead, they boldly risked their front-runner in a lip sync clearly earmarked as a “double shantay.”
I think it was the right move. It gave a seemingly flawless finalist a small sense of vulnerability (even though that was entirely manufactured). And, it brought along a wildcard to the finale who can actually dance – which will be useful, since the episode will feature Beyoncé’s choreographer!
Despite all of that turbulence, our Power Rankings haven’t changed at all since last week’s “Le Crime du Drag Express” acting challenge! A late-game surge from one competitor wasn’t enough to unseat our obvious potential-winner, and another bottom performance wasn’t enough for a third-place queen to sink beneath our wild card. I’ll be back with one final post next week to congratulate our winner.
(Want to watch Drag Race Belgique outside of Belgium? For most of the world, it’s available with a Wow Presents Plus subscription as soon as the episode is done airing.)
Lecteurs, start your engines. Et, que la meilleure Drag Queen gagne!
RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16, Episode 10 was a mash-up of a Girl Groups songwriting challenge and an election year voting challenge with Werq the World “Power” – a legit funk tune produced by Leland with a message of empowerment. Plus, a “True Colors” runway that let the queens play to their strengths (even when that turned out to be a weakness).
I’m back with more coverage of the Drag Olympics of Drag Race! RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs. The World Season 2 Episode 5 – Seven!: The Rusical, a live-singing blend of Rusical and Girl Groups challenges with a “When I Glow Up” redemption runway of past looks.