Season 12 of RuPaul’s Drag Race is coming to a close. With just five queens left in the running to become America’s next drag superstar, it’s time to place our bets on which sickening queen will come out on top. First up for consideration: Miss Gigi Goode.
Honestly? Gigi had me at “Good morning, campers.” She has been an undeniable front-runner this season with three challenge wins, not least of which is the Snatch Game (a traditionally good predictor of who will make it to the finale of each season). Her runway looks have been both conceptual and polished. Basically, she has been the most obviously sickening queen this season.
But snatching the crown won’t be too easy for Gigi. After all, her three challenge wins happened in the first five episodes of the season (post-premieres), and she hasn’t won a challenge since. We have begun to see some cracks in this ostensibly flawless queen over the season. While her performance as Maria the Robot was hilarious, and she had a fierce performance in episode 7’s “Madonna: The Unauthorized Rusical,” she has been less than stunning in the main challenges since.
Here’s the question: Is there enough time for Gigi to convince Ru that she is the superstar we all saw at the beginning of the season, or will one of her rising competitors snatch the crown before she gets the chance?
If it wasn’t clear already, I think Gigi is absolutely fierce. Her runway looks leave nothing to be desired and, despite her weakness as an improv comedian, she out-performed every other queen in the Snatch Game. And as Madonna, she served choreography that I, for one, did not expect to see from her (as a wise Shuga Cain once said, “C’mon, Cirque Du Soleil!”).
So, who is Gigi’s biggest competition?
With Sherry out of contention for the crown, and with Jackie having 0 challenge wins so far, there are just two other queens who really stand a chance at outshining Miss Goode.
Crystal, for one, has the quirky lovable energy that helped propel queens like Yvie, Sharon, Jinkx, and Sasha to the win in the past. She is also the only eligible queen besides Gigi to never fall into the bottom two this season. Unlike Gigi, Crystal hasn’t even been near the bottom in six weeks. Her trajectory is pointing straight up at this point, and we could see a really tight race for the crown if this continues.
Jaida Essence Hall is another queen who could snatch the crown this season. She is the only queen other than Gigi with three challenge wins, and she has only been in the bottom two once (this was the only time she received overall negative critiques, in fact). On paper, Jaida is probably Gigi’s strongest competition. It’s hard to ignore her track record this season, and that could be enough for Mama Ru to give her the crown.
Overall, I still feel great about Gigi’s chances at winning this season. From next week’s sneak peek, it appears the final-five challenge will be well within Gigi’s skillset, which could open the race back up for an easy final lap for her.
However, it’s not a done deal.
Tyler's Tea Time 