Guess what this week’s Mini Challenge is? Everybody Loves Puppets! This is a fun little challenge that I highly enjoy. Basically, the girls shove their fists through a dark hole (RuPaul’s words, not mine!) and pull out a puppet that vaguely resembles one of the Queens. They drag ‘em up and mimic that Queen. Here’s who each Queen impersonates:
Katya gets Ginger
Ginger Minj gets Violet
Pearl gets Kennedy
Kennedy Davenport gets Pearl
Violet Chachki gets Katya
Ginger’s one-liner about how Violet picked her name sealed the deal and made her the winner: “I wanted to figure out what was beautiful and completely worthless. A tchotchke!”
Ru then dives in to the Maxi Challenge – by introducing the face behind an $8 billion dollar industry, HELLO KITTY!!! The girls get tasked to create a runway eleganza look using Hello Kitty products, #HelloKittyGirl. Now, some may look at this challenge and think, “Oh great, a product placement challenge. How very Project Runway of them.” But I’ve decided that this is different, because it’s drag queens and camp and awesome! So to all the haters…stop it right meow!
Because Ginger won the mini challenge, she gets a head start on grabbing items, though it’s not like she knows what she’s going to do with it since she doesn’t sew! Basically, Ginger is freaking out. Kennedy is freaking out. Katya is freaking out. Violet is ecstatic. Pearl is, well, Pearl.
While the old lady brigade (aka Ginger, Kennedy & Katya) are panicking, it’s Katya who seems to be having the biggest problem. Her insecurities have been front and center the past few episodes and it’s all boiling over during this challenge. She so desperately wants to have the confidence Violet has. If only she could see that she’s the one standing in her own way.
Anyway…Ru checks in on the girls and guess who’s with her? Santino Rice! Ginger is drooling, Violet wants to take him to Red Lobster. His head still looks like a cue ball. He doles out his expert advice on how the girls can take their outfits to the next level.
Before Ru leaves the workroom, she surprises the girls with yet another look that they must create for the runway: Turn their drag persona into a Hello Kitty character that Hello Kitty herself would be proud to call a BFF. Oh, and they have to wear a Hello Kitty head that is apparently impossible to see out of.
Insert: more freaking out from Ginger & Katya.
Time for the runway! The guest judges are:
Santino Rice (we knew that already)
Rebecca Romijn, model, mommy, wife to that hot O’Connell dude
First up: Hello Kitty BFF Realness. Memorable quotes from each girl, because that’s way more exciting than the name they gave themselves!
Pearl: “everyone loves her brass knuckles”
Ginger: “everyone loves her milkshake”
Katya: “sweatiest woman in show business”
Violet: “best frenemies forever”
Kennedy: “love to fry chicken with Hello Kitty”
Basically, Hello Kitty would not be friends with any of these girls. And that’s quite alright.
Next runway look: Hello Kitty Eleganza. Okay, I’m not gonna lie here. I was very excited about this challenge but all of the looks on the runway are just…meh. Violet is clearly the front runner in this challenge, though not quite sure why when she just went with her usual cinched waist. Only difference is the Hello Kitty garb, which is hello, part of the challenge! Pearl just wrapped a blanket around her body, belted it and called it a day. But dammit, that girl serves face like no other. Ginger is cute looking like a crazy Hello Kitty cat lady. But it’s Kennedy & Katya who look rather worse for the wear. Guess who’s in the bottom two??
Oh yeah, the winner of the main challenge is: Violet. No surprise there. She wins some Hello Kitty gear, which has probably already been sold on eBay. #sorrynotsorry
As predicted, Kennedy & Katya are in the bottom and must lip sync for their lives to “Roar” by Katy Perry. I almost couldn’t watch because I love Katya so much and the thought of her going home gives me a rash, but gosh darnit, this was a GOOD lip sync. These girls turnt it out (FINALLY!). Kennedy blasted out the gates with splits and cartwheels into splits and jumping from the main stage to the judge’s floor into a split. So many splits. But mostly, Kennedy served face! I was…surprised, really. Katya keeps it classy with her lip sync, only getting crazy as the song continues to build and while perfectly on beat, does a cartwheel into a split. It’s a moment that even gets Violet jumping.
It was the lip sync we’ve been waiting for all season, hunties.
I was secretly hoping Kennedy’s overdone performance would send her packing, but NO! It’s Katya who’s told to sashay away. It’s a sad day in Drag Herstory. If only Katya didn’t let her self-doubt get the better of her.
But let’s get real folks: we all know wins Miss Congeniality!
