Who Will Win 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Season 16? Episode 7 Power Rankings
We're seven episodes into RuPaul's Drag Race Season 16 and we've finally started to trim the field. With the queens having shown us the full breadth of their talents, we're getting a good sense of who the frontrunners are (and who they are not).
This week we also said goodbye to Megami, who I'd ranked in 8th place out of 10 last week. While I'd argue that perhaps she shouldn't have been in the bottom two this week, she certainly lost the lip sync battle with Mhi'ya Iman LePaige, and her overall performance this season had been pretty middle of the pack.
Related: 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 8' Take New York. Next Stop: the World.
Which brings us to the question: Who will win Season 16 of RuPaul's Drag Race?
To that end, I've put together a ranking of the nine remaining queens competing on this season, ordered from least likely to most likely to be crowned America's Next Drag Superstar. It's a power ranking if you will, and while there are supposed spoilers on dark corners of the internet, I haven't read any of them. This ranking is also based on how likely the queen is to WIN the competition, not just go far.
If you want to take a look at last week's ranking, here you go.
Feel free to swing back to Parade from week to week because I will be updating as the season progresses.
RuPaul's Drag Race Season 16 Episode 7 power rankings:
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9. Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige
Last Week: Tenth
Track Record: Safe, Bottom, Bottom, Win, Bottom, Bottom
Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige is on death row. She's been in the bottom four times. She's lip synced twice. Aside from the Lip Sync Lalaparuza Smackdown, I do not see a way in which she doesn't end up in the bottom every week until she's eliminated. Sooner or later, she's going to face a semi-competent competitor in the bottom, and Ru will gladly send her sashaying away.
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8. Morphine Love Dion
Last Week: Ninth
Track Record: Safe, Safe, Safe, Safe, Safe, Bottom
I said last week that if Morphine's string of safe performances were going to turn into a bottom placement sooner rather than later, and you could tell this week she was feeling the pressure. We're at the point in the competition where if you don't have a win, you're going to be sent home and that leaves Morphine in a tricky situation. While she is THE confessional queen of Season 16, unless the makeover challenge comes early, I think she'll be gone in the next two episodes.
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7. Xunami Muse
Last Week: Seventh
Track Record: Safe, Safe, Safe, Safe, Safe, Safe
Xunami currently holds the record for most weeks being safe in a row without a single placement in the top or bottom. That, however, does not bode well for Miss Muse. She seems competent at everything but not great at anything and that will land her in the bottom in the weeks to come. Perhaps more concerning is just her general lack of screen time. There's no way after seven episodes, the winner of the season has been shown so little.
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6. Dawn
Last Week: Sixth
Track Record: Safe, Safe, Safe, Safe, Top, Safe
Dawn's top placement last week and combative Werk Room dynamics edge her slightly above Xunami, but she also doesn't have a win on her record. Her aesthetic is her strong suit, but with two design challenges in the books, I think upcoming performance-based challenges could spell doom for her.
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5. Sapphira Cristal
Last Week: Fifth
Track Record: Win, Top, Safe, Safe, Immune, Top
While Sapphira Cristal did end up in the top this week, I think Ru's awarding the win to Plasma over her said a lot about her standing in the competition. She had the scene-stealing role and I think if Ru saw her as a contender to take the crown, he would have given her the win over Plasma, given Ru's general disregard of the Broadway queens. In my mind, Sapphira is solidly outside the top four and will need to deliver some exceptional work to claw her way into the top.
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4. Nymphia Wind
Last Week: Third
Track Record: Safe, Win, Safe, Win, Safe, Safe
Nymphia remains an enigma this season. In my mind, she is OBVIOUSLY the strongest queen in the competition. She's good at everything. Her runways, including the leaf bud outfit this week, are some of the best the franchise has ever seen. She's witty and endlessly clever. She can hold her own with choreography and performing. And yet week after week, she falls through the cracks and under the radar. If she was on her way to winning the season, I think she'd be getting more praise, but given that the winning team in the girl group challenge was dismissed before critiques, she's only been lauded by the judges once this season. Unless she has a late surge, I think her chances of winning are slim.
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3. Plane Jane
Last Week: First
Track Record: Win, Safe, Top, Safe, Top, Safe
Plane Jane had a bit of a flat week in Episode 7, but that makes sense given that she opted for a smaller part in the Rusical, and she was up against Broadway divas. I think she still is definitely in the hunt for the crown, especially given that she has that immunity potion and will likely do well in the roast challenge and Snatch Games whenever they arrive.
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2. Plasma
Last Week: Fourth
Track Record: Safe, Safe, Win, Safe, Bottom, Win
Plasma becoming the first queen this season to secure two individual wins is SHOCKING to me given how much RuPaul usually hates this type of plucky Broadway queen. Somewhere, Jan just chucked a purple high heel at her TV in envious agony. While we learned last week that a design challenge may be Plasma's kryptonite, I think the Snatch Game/roast/improve challenges that are yet to come will certainly play to her strengths. I would not be surprised at all for her to earn a third win in the weeks to come and at that point, she'll be a frontrunner to win even more than she already is.
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1. Q
Last Week: Second
Track Record: Top, Top, Top, Bottom, Win, Top
After her horrible dancing in the girl group challenge unseated Q from the top of my leader board, she's back in first place with another strong showing. While I personally didn't find her Baroness performance to be that entertaining, the judges seemed to eat it up, and for someone this bad at dancing to end up in the top on the Rusical week is a harbinger of good things to come for Q. Being singled out by the judges 5/6 weeks is certainly impressive.
Next, Everything You Need to Know About RuPaul's Drag Race Season 16
