At the onset of the “Glitter Ball” episode, Courtney Act claimed that in a journal she had predicted the top five. Now either Courtney Act is clairvoyant (a good drag name: Claire Voyant) or she, too, had quickly realized the talent this year wasn’t as stellar as other seasons. (We want to see a copy of this alleged journal and whether it doesn’t say “Courtney Act” over and over again.)
As if the queens weren’t considered puppets enough, RuPaul asked the contestants to drag up puppet versions of each other in a good old-fashioned bitchfest. Like the “Reading is Fundamental” mini-challenge, this game allowed the queens to let off some steam…aaaaand create some tense moments for the producers. Adore Delano did a freakishly good BenDeLaCreme voice (perhaps she could just be a DeLa impersonator after her sorry-ass gets kicked off the show). It was surprising that Courtney Act didn’t sing her way through this one, even though she got the Darienne Lake puppet. BenDeLaCreme’s take of Bianca del Rio was hilarious, though. DeLa attached huge, white nails to her puppet’s mouth to look like Bianca’s pristine smile. She made Bianca bitch about being perfect and screamed the entire time. Perfection. It was reminiscent of Boney the puppet from Nickelodeon’s “Weinerville.” Surely, the producers of Avenue Q will be in touch.
Based on her blistering take on Bianca, BenDeLaCreme won the mini-challenge, so she got to assign the queens roles in the main challenge, with each queen entrusted a jewel tone, which is kind of ironic since jewel tones were so 2012 (Ru, keep up!).
“Your real self is hateful,” said Bianca of Darienne Lake. Probably the truest statement ever uttered about any queen on the show. For the first time ever, a queen (BenDeLaCreme) didn’t try to throw another queen under the bus in assigning a challenge (Adore received the diamond, which was supposed to be easiest of jewel tone assignments, according to Dela). Darienne Lake saw this as a weakness on Dela’s part because she didn’t try to take down the weakest queen (which based on a false sense of confidence could be Darienne Lake). Why are the plus-sized queens always so mean? Darienne Lake is like a sequel to Delta Werk.
Ru threw a curve ball into the jewel tone/glitter ball challenge by making BenDeLaCreme create an opening number to the ball. Dela delegated the duty to Courtney Act, and soon, all of the queens were trying to choreograph the number themselves.
“I hate you so much,” said Darienne Lake, later to herself in the mirror. As much as she can be mean to other queens, she was surprisingly even meaner to herself. Never had we seen Ms. Lake so vulnerable. After this brief moment in front of her reflection, she decided to completely overhaul her look from scratch. Thank goodness, because her Dripping with Couture gown looked more like she was dressing up as a gold disco ball.
Khloe Kardashian returned as a guest judge (let’s be honest—she’s not doing anything important) and Bob Mackie also served as a critic, looking more and more like a gay Bilbo Baggins every time he appears on this program.
The runway looks were divided into three categories: Banjee Girl Bling, Platinum Card Executive Realnesss, and Dripping in Jewels Eleganza.
Banjee Girl Bling was a confusing category to dress for because all of the queens were supposed to be dressed like they’re walking the streets, so there were lots of ugly outfits going on here. Adore’s ghetto-inspired look was by far the best, and Darienne…well, Darienne looked like she misheard the first look’s theme entirely. Clad in a clingy bodysuit with neon-Skittle hair, Ms. Lake definitely missed the mark.
Platinum Card Executive Realnesss is a common theme every season. Basically, the girls have to dress up professionally. There are always shots of them with briefcases, and they pantomime yelling into cell phones. Bianca wore one of this theme’s only use of color in a turquoise pant suit, and BenDeLaCreme wore a skirt with a polka-dotted pink top concoction. Need a visual? Look at the reject bin from Dolly Parton’s wardrobe from 9 to 5. Darienne decided it was a good idea to dress like a manager of a Fashion Bug (Executive of the Break Room, maybe?).
Dripping in Jewels Eleganza was the category that this challenge was made for. The queens had to utilize Dela’s assigned jewels into their outfits, and we got a varied array. Courtney Act actually put on a different colored wig this time around, and she wore a one-shouldered, glittery dress that Santino later praised. Bianca’s look was classic Bianca in the sense that she wore something that looks like everything else she wears (oh, but she added sapphires!). Darienne’s was inspired by Princess Leia and Jabba the Hut at the same time–a notion she confirmed during the critiques.
You can’t go one season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” without asking the queens the topic they’ve only discussed in the confessionals and when they’re not tearing each other’s hair out on “Untucked”: Which queen should go home and why? Let’s just call this segment “Throw Darienne Under a Bus!” Every single queen told Ru, that based on this challenge, they would like to see Darienne exit the show. Shady ladies! Well, come on—Darienne did underwhelm us this week. And the week before. And the week before that.
When it came to the judges’ critiques, it seemed unanimous that they all appreciated one thing: Adore’s presentation on the runway. She served three different personas, sure, but is delivering on the runway enough? The main challenge was to design 3 separate looks, and Adore definitely succeeded in being the best of the first outfit. These categories have been a bit weird this season, so it felt like none of the queens truly delivered in every single category. Bianca seemed a bit miffed that Bob Mackie suggested she lose one of the ruffles on her dress (Mackie is something Bianca looks up to), and Darienne was read to filth by the judges. It was no surprise that she landed in the bottom 2.
But who would land beside Darienne? Courtney seemed to be coasting as the pretty one. Speaking of coasting, BenDeLaCreme described Bianca as coasting through the competition, but the judges weren’t too happy with DeLa’s looks. Since the judges gushed over Adore’s runway presentation, she won the challenge. Courtney and Bianca were deemed safe, and BenDeLaCreme landed in the bottom 2. Remember a couple weeks back when DeLa and Darienne had to lip sync against each other, and RuPaul kept both of them? Not this week, bitches! DRAG QUEEN LIP SYNC REMATCH!
This week, DeLa and Darienne had to perform to Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You), and everyone thought it was Darienne’s time to go. The lip sync went back and forth, to be honest. Darienne kept her energy up, but DeLa really brought it at the end of the song. In a huge twist, RuPaul sent BenDeLaCreme home. DeLa had been an audience favorite since the first episode, and Facebook and Twitter exploded upon BenDeLaCreme’s exit. We are both devastated over BenDeLaCreme’s departure since we both believed she would land in the top 3–if not take the entire thing.
Light a candle for BenDeLaCreme.
Shade of the Week:
“I hope the hole’s big enough” – Courtney Act, when pulling out the Darienne Lake puppet
“You’re basically already a puppet” – BenDelaCreme on Adore
Ru pun of the week:
“Glory-hole-li-leuia!” – Ru
Lip Sync for Your Life:
BenDeLaCreme versus Darienne Lake
“Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” by Kelly Clarkson