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'RuPaul's Drag Race' S11 Week 2 Power Rankings

How are the queens stacking up after two complete weeks of competition?

By Bryce BaileyPublished 5 years ago 8 min read
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After one pretty solid week and one absolutely boring week, I think there is just enough information on each queen to start ranking them. These rankings will be mostly based on their performances so far with a fair mix of how they are coming across in the edit and my own personal preference.

13. Mercedes Iman Diamond

I feel bad for Mercedes because she has struggled this entire competition, except for when she really came alive in her lip sync against Kahanna and showed the first actual glimpse of real confidence and star power. However, it doesn't make up for a laughably bad performance in the acting challenge and a mediocre runway (one where she looked stunning but was also carrying a bow and arrow that she looked like a toy). Things could pick up for her, but right now she just seems too quiet and conserved to make it much further.

12. Ariel Versace

I'm actually a pretty big fan of Ariel so far in the competition, but I may be in the minority with this opinion. She's very clearly getting the villain edit, but I think nothing she has done so far has actually been truly evil or wrong. She voices her opinion about anything, whether it's popular or not, which is something I really appreciate. Her performance wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either, just boring. Her runway was pretty good this most recent episode besides being too bulky. I'm ranking her low because I'm not sure the judges are loving what she's serving and she could be out much quicker than I would like. Everything we've seen from Ariel so far has just been average, but unlike other girls, she's managed to remain very visible in the edit, so I'm not counting her out just yet.

11. Nina West

Speaking of girls that have fallen into the background in the edit, it's time to talk about Nina West. She does just okay in the acting challenge and her runway is nothing to write home about, so it's not even close to being enough to redeem her from her very first runway on the show. I think the judges like her though, so she gets placed above Ariel for this.

10. Honey Davenport

For me, she's the lowest of all the Davenport girls this season, but mostly because she is completely invisible in the edit. I remember really liking her in the first episode when she was commenting on other girl's walking in, but I don't remember seeing her even once since then. This could mean that she's not going to make it much farther, which would be a shame as many of the other queens speak highly of her. Her performance was very forgettable, but I actually liked her runway for the most part.

9. Ra'Jah O'Hara

The only reason that she's getting placed above Honey is that she was much more present in the edit, but I'm not sure that's better. I think they could be setting up drama for later in the season which I assume means Ra'Jah will be there. She struggled in the challenge and her runway was just average, so I'm not quite sure what to think about her at this point. Even though she's ranked above Honey, her actual performance from Honey has been worse. Is it better to stand out for being bad or not stand out at all? I guess Ra'Jah gets the upper hand here, simply because of the good old saying "all publicity is good publicity."

8. Shuga Cain

Shuga has been much like Honey, in that I really liked her in the first episode, but I've quickly forgotten about her since. I thought her performance was really good, but I definitely agree with Michelle in that her runway was confusing. She's pretty quiet in the edit so far as well, but I think her personality is pretty polarizing, so I look forward to seeing what she does next.

7. A'keria C. Davenport

A'keria is completely embodying the professionalism that we have come to expect from the Davenport family, perhaps better than any of the other Davenports on this season. She placed high in Week 1 with a really cool runway, had a pretty solid runway this episode, and had a memorable role in the acting challenge, so even though she remains pretty quiet in the edit, she's performing well. Keeping close to Silky will, of course, guarantee her screen time, as one of the quietly funny moment from the past few edits was when A'keria asked her Silky what she was doing with her makeup. I like A'keria so far, and I plan on seeing her stick around for quite a while, even though she had a quiet week.

6. Vanessa Vanjie Mateo

I'm not sure how she does it, but she managed to remain at the forefront of both episodes so far despite having just above average performances. The judges love her and the edit is showcasing her which could mean she's going to be around for the long haul. She keeps every moment interesting, so I can't complain about it. She was safe, but her performance in the challenge was memorable and her runway was perhaps my favorite of everyone out there.

5. Silky Nutmeg Ganache

She's been safe both weeks, but she's won both mini-challenges and it feels like she's performing at a much higher rate than she is. Even when she's messing up in the challenge it's still entertaining and interesting to watch. Even though the other queens may dislike her, she handles the situation well and doesn't overreact. The judges love her, which is really all that matters, as even when she's struggling with her lines during the challenge they don't get impatient or snappy at her. I can't imagine her leaving any time soon, and I'm perfectly fine with that!

4. Plastique Tiara

She does surprisingly well in the challenge this week, which proves she's much more versatile than I originally thought. I didn't think it was as funny as the judges did, but hey, that's show biz baby. Her runway this week was so much different from last week I didn't even recognize her, which is a good thing as the judges will want versatility. She's placed high both weeks for wildly different things, and I can't see her going home anytime soon. However, she gets points deducted for not speaking her mind about Silky to her face when given the opportunity.

3. Scarlet Envy

I think I'm yet again in the minority here when I say that I actually really like Scarlet! Her performance wasn't great, but I don't think anybody's really was as the script itself was a total mess. Her runway last week was pretty good, and this week's dress was truly great. They're really force-feeding us the feud between Scarlet and Brook Lynn, which I don't think will fare well for Scarlet as she will inevitably lose that battle in the long run. She gets points for helping the other girls and encouraging them with their parts, despite being the last one picked. (Also, the editing was so heavy-handed towards the beginning of the episode that I could see her winning this challenge coming from a mile away).

2. Brooke Lynn Hytes

Despite a pretty shaky week, it doesn't take away from her strong performance in the first runway. Her runway this week was just as beautiful and prevented her from even coming close to the bottom. She's performing highly at almost all levels (it's not her fault the script was awful), and it's going to be fun watching her throughout the season. As with Plastique, she gets points off for allowing Ariel to be the only one to back up what she said behind Silky's back.

1. Yvie Oddly

By far my favorite queen this season, it's been so much fun watching her so far. Her perspective is totally unique, especially compared to all the other girls in this season. Her runway in Week 1 was awesome and should've been in top looks, her performance in the challenge was as good as it could be for the script, and her runway this week stood out from all the rest. Her win this week was definitely well-earned. She gets tons of credit for sticking up for Silky and easily winning the fight against Ra'Jah. She's one of the few queens that is performing strongly as well as remaining very visible in the edit.

This week's episode started off strong but then was totally boring for the last half, which isn't a good sign for this season. There's been so much building this season for stuff that comes later that it's felt like kind of a slog to get through. I think the biggest problem is that there are queens that are so obviously leagues ahead of the rest, it seems like we're going to have to suffer through a few weeks of the filler girls eliminating each other before we get to the good stuff. Nevertheless, I'm more than ready to suffer because I'm hoping the payoff will be more than worth it.

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