In episode 11 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 14, RuPaul Charles called for a Lipsync Lalaparuza Smackdown to determine which of the bottom seven from the previous week’s dismal “Snatch Game” performances would be eliminated. In the tournament, Bosco and Jasmine Kennedie each lost their first two lipsyncs, leaving them to fight for a third time for a final chance to stay. Bosco defeated Jasmine, sending the lipsync assassin heir apparent home for good.
This week, the final seven put on their singing and dancing shoes for the annual Rusical challenge. Read below for our recap of episode 12 to see the queens go twinkle toe to twinkle toe for the roles of their dreams in “Moulin Ru: The Rusical.”
The seven remaining queens are: Angeria Paris VanMicheals, Bosco, Daya Betty, DeJa Skye, Jorgeous, Lady Camden, and Willow Pill.
In her lipstick goodbye message on the mirror, Jasmine stuck one last dig at Daya by calling out Angie, Jorgeous and DeJa as the queens she’s rooting for to win, but Ru didn’t give them much time to reflect on the exhausting Lalaparuza because she soon arrived with news of their next maxi challenge. This week she wanted the queens to star in a “Moulin Ru!” rusical inspired by the “Moulin Rouge!” musical on Broadway. Because this season isn’t full of enough tension, Ru decided to let the queens decide for themselves who would act in which of the available roles: the lead Saltine, the bearded Mama Z, genie in a bottle of absinthe Green Fairy, and four scene-stealing girls named Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve and Talent.
The first order of business was for the girls to sit down and choose their roles. Without a leader it was a free for all, with each queen wanting to pick the role that fits their vibe and gives them a chance to stand out. Daya spoke up first, demanding that she wants Uniqueness, followed by DeJa saying that she deserves her choice of Nerve for winning “Snatch Game.” Luckily no one wanted either of those roles. Angie and Willow both wanted Green Fairy, but Angie gladly gave it to Willow as long as she gets Talent, but Jorgeous wanted Talent as well. Jorgeous said that Charisma does not fit her and was putting her foot down on Talent, so Angie said she can handle Charisma and so she agreed. That left Bosco and Camden both arguing that they would be the best Saltine. Bosco challenged Camden by saying she doesn’t have the sexiness for the role and is more capable of doing Mama Z than her, but Camden said that isn’t a fair argument and didn’t budge. Camden said they should flip a coin, but Bosco asked for a room vote instead to see a majority. Angie said Bosco, Jorgeous said Camden, DeJa said Camden, and Daya said Bosco, tying it up and leaving the decision in Willow’s hands. Willow said that she sees them both as a good Saltine, but that when it comes to Mama Z that Camden would be more capable. Camden was very upset and told Bosco she can’t mess it up because she really wanted the role.
The role selection was the biggest amount of tension we’d seen from the girls in an already contentious season. Camden and Bosco both felt bad about it, but Daya was able to coach Bosco through sticking her ground and Angie tried to comfort Camden by saying that she’d be really good in the role. Angie also felt like she got a role she didn’t necessarily want, but tried to get her to see that just because she doesn’t want the role doesn’t mean she can’t still succeed with what she has. Angie’s words struck inside of Camden and got her to see that this was a chance to reignite the fire she had when she rocked the runway stage as Freddie Mercury.
When the queens arrived on stage for their first rehearsal they found their director Leslie Jordan waiting for them alongside composer Leland and choreographer Miguel Zarate. Leslie informed them that he was actually a drag queen back in the day named Baby Wipes, so he was well qualified to lead them through this. Bosco was up first for choreo, proving that she’s capable of the lead role, but inspiring Camden to make sure to do better than her. Miguel challenged Camden to bring more grit and butch energy to her performance to balance out her natural grace that comes with being a ballet dancer. Overall he loved her and said that the other girls should be threatened.
While they prepared their makeup for the performance, DeJa asked Camden about the argument with Bosco. Camden admitted that she was a little embarrassed by her behavior and opened up about not liking to argue or be stubborn in that way. She also said that she’s actually excited about and loving the role of Mama Z at this point. Bosco told stories of her grandma’s experience as a dancer back in the day and that Bosco grew up learning tap. Jorgeous said she’s not into musical theater and that actually she learned how to move her body by watching and rewatching “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”
On the main stage, Ru was joined by Michelle Visage, Ross Mathews, and this week’s guest judge Andra Day. The rusical opened with a number from the four Moulin Ru girls and Camden, then a solo number from each of the four. Bosco entered next for her big solo and then a duet scene with Leland who was playing her leading man. Then Leslie entered as the Duke figure also vying for Bosco’s love, using the other girls as her support system. After taking a sip of absinthe, Willow came in as the Green Fairy for a “hallucination” scene that involved Willow increasing the speed of her lipsync and dancing numbers to great comedic effect. The rusical ended with a group number and smiles across the judges’ faces.
On the runway, the queens walked in the “Mirror Mirror” category. Camden walked first in a shooting star inspired pantsuit, followed by Bosco in a Mugler meets Tin man high fashion metallic look and showing a lot of body again, Willow came up with a 70s style fireworks look, Angie wore a shattered glass blue gown, Daya also wore metallic with a rock vibe and Kiss inspired makeup, Deja made an ice queen caged dress, and Jorgeous was inspired by Cardi B in a short dress with high black latex boots.
In their critiques, the judges called “Moulin Ru!” a “smash hit” and Ru warned that they’d have to “split hairs” to decide the tops and bottoms. Ross told Camden that she made a forgettable role shine and Michelle said this was her opportunity to show off her ballet and that she made it work and did it well. Michelle gave Bosco heat for doing the Bosco eyebrows, saying that they took away from a full commitment to the character. Ru agreed and said that she didn’t deliver on “all the way there” in her attempts and then Michelle gave her more crap for doing another corset and panties look. Ross said that Willow was a standout and Andra said that she had a hard role and was really impressed. The judges loved Angie’s regal look and dedication to pageantry garments, told Daya that she combined technical perfection with the perfect amount of energy, thought that DeJa came to life during the rap verse but had a look on stage that was not a mirror, but said that there was a disconnect with Jorgeous in the face and body and that she didn’t create a clear enough character.
Before Ru could make her decision, she asked the queens to give their own opinion about who should go home. Camden said based on this challenge Bosco, Bosco said Jorgeous based on track record, Willow said Bosco, Angie said Bosco, Daya said Bosco, DeJa said Bosco, and Jorgeous said Bosco. Jorgeous agreed with the others that Bosco fought hard for the role and then added that she didn’t like the way Bosco put Camden down in her argument for the role and that in terms of track record Bosco was in the bottom three times last week.
Ru’s decision this week was to give safety to Daya and Willow as top performers. That left Camden as the impressive winner of the challenge and the other four among the bottom half of the challenge. Angie and Deja earned safety as well, leaving Bosco and Jorgeous vulnerable as the bottom two. In their lipsync to Whitney Houston’s “Heartbreak Hotel,” both queens started out with the intensity of the tension they had earlier on stage. Jorgeous managed to drop the tempo of her typically fast choreo moves and make them work for the song, while Bosco turned out a Sasha Velour-esque finale lipsync. It was a tough decision to make, but Ru once again gave the shantay to Jorgeous. That meant it was time for Bosco to unwrap her chocolate bar, revealing at last the gold bar! Finally the drag gods spoke and saved Bosco from elimination.
NEXT WEEK: The final seven put on their comedy hats for the “Roast of Ross Mathews.”
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