‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 12 Episode 7 Recap — ‘Madonna: The Unauthorized Rusical’
Step aside, “Kardashian: The Musical,” there’s a new “rusical” in town. This one features the contestants of season 12 of Drag Race and U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and model Winnie Harlow as the guest judges. Here’s what you might’ve missed from episode 7 of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 12.
This article contains spoilers from the latest episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 12. Read at your own risk!
Aiden Zhane is gone, to begin with
With another queen eliminated, Widow is calling people out left and right, especially Brita for her “apolo-lie” while wiping away the lipstick on the mirror. Just a few weeks ago everyone was piling on Aiden. Now they’re pretending like they loved her?
Anyway, there’s other drama to worry about. Gigi says her piece to Heidi, apologizing for how it came out during Untucked. There’s still some unresolved tension between Widow and Jackie, too, because Jackie called out Widow for being unprepared in the Snatch Game.
Widow just says she hopes a dance challenge is next, so that way Jackie can see how she felt. Widow gets her wish. The next day, RuPaul comes in and shares what their challenge is for this week — Madonna: The Unauthorized Rusical.
Similar to Cher: the Rusical, the queens each choose a version of Madonna that they identify with, record vocals, and perform it for the judges on the mainstage. (However, Cher: The Rusical had the contestants sing live.) Jan couldn’t be more excited. The Rusical episode is always her favorite and this is her time to shine!
The maxi challenge is ‘Madonna: The Unauthorized Rusical’
No one is assigned to give the parts out so the queens listen to the music and work it out amongst themselves. Jackie is nervous about singing as “Boy Toy Madonna.” Jan is nervous about opening the show as “Early Madonna.” Brita gets the part that Gigi initially wants and Gigi is nervous about the iconic choreography for her version of Madonna, “Unapologetic Madonna.”
After the roles are decided, the queens record their vocals with Michelle Visage. Jan goes first and the other contestants quickly realize they made a mistake having her open the show. She has a background in musical theater and isn’t going to ru-pologize about it. The other queens are kind of shaky while recording, especially Gigi, who is literally shaking from being so nervous.
When it’s time to do the choreography, the same thing happens: Jan kills it, Heidi gets the steps down pretty quickly, but everyone else is having problems. Widow, a self-proclaimed dancer, can’t do some of the moves because of a cut on her knee. Jackie… she’s trying.
Back in the Werk Room, the queens have a chance to open up about their appreciation for Madonna, especially her early support of the LGBTQ community. Heidi shares that her uncle passed away from HIV, Crystal shares that her father has Parkinson’s Disease and she worries about him a lot.
Category is: ‘Night of 1000 Michelle Visages’
It’s time for the challenge and on the runway, category is: Night of a 1000 Michelle Visages. The musical begins with Jan, who really gets to show off her love for singing and dancing. Gigi, surprisingly, kills it. She does the choreography perfectly and even sneaks in a flip. Crystal, as “Enlightened Madonna,” is quirky and funny. As AOC says, this was her favorite Rusical.
It’s those three, Jan, Crystal, and Gigi, who are in the top. In a gag-worthy turn of events: Gigi Goode is the winner of this week’s challenge, instead of Jan. And Jan is mad. When she walks to the back of the stage as a safe contestant, Widow notices some anger lingering in Jan’s face.
Jackie, Heidi, and Brita are in the bottom. Because they loved Jackie’s runway look so much, it’s Brita and Heidi who lip-sync for their lives to Madonna’s “Burning Up.” As a result, Brita sashays away. Only 8 queens remain in the competition.
Episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race premiere on Friday nights on VH1. Fans can binge-watch already released seasons on VH1.com and episodes of Untucked on the World of Wonder YouTube Channel.
