It’s time, y’all – Drag Race has circled the globe and crossed the equator to make it to my stomping grounds with RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under Season 2, featuring 10 queens from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand! That means it’s time for a new pre-season Power Ranking!
I won’t beat around the bush: anyone who watched Drag Race Down Under Season 1 knows it was a rough spot for the franchise. The queens were delightful (except for the unrepentant racist), but the production quality was wobbly and the elimination order was wonky. A production favorite came back only to be completely ignored and another was carried to the finale despite flatlining in the back half of the competition.
Luckily, totally awesome Kiwi queen Kita Mean brought the crown home to our shores (or, more accurately, kept it here, since due to pandemic restrictions in Australia the show was shot in Auckland while NZ was COVID-free). That helped to make up for all of the intended guest stars who were trapped in Australia as well as Ru and Michelle not getting many(/any?) Down Under jokes.
All of that is behind us now. We’re back with another season of Down Under queens starting this weekend (again, shot in NZ!). While we won’t know if this production will be a shit-show or “sweet as,” today we can dig into the cast of 10 amazing drag performers to rank their chances at walking away with a crown.
I’d insert some appropriate Kiwi slang in here, but I’ve been locked in my house for half the time I’ve lived here so I don’t know any.
Now, let’s get to ranking the queens!
My rank is not a comment on their quality as drag artists, but on how far I see them making it on Drag Race based on the trends and tropes of the show as witnessed from over 25 Ru-hosted seasons. These are all outstanding performers, but being a great drag artist doesn’t always translate to doing well on Drag Race.
I have deliberately stayed away from any spoilers about this season, so my ranking is purely off of the vibe I get from queens from their two-minute “Meet The Queens” videos and their social media.
Finally, I’ll disclaim ahead of time that, while I haven’t met any of them or seen them perform, I am obviously going to be biased toward the Kiwi queens. I’ll try not to let it effect my rankings, but let’s face it: this is as close as I’ll ever come to participating in a NZ-vs-AUS rugby rivalry.
If you want to watch RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under Season 2 outside of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada you can sign up for WowPresentsPlus to watch the many worldwide Drag Race franchises for $4.99 a month or $50 a year. (Note that if you’re in the home country of a franchise you will need to use a VPN to “visit” another country to see that content.)
Readers, start your engines! And, may the best (antipodean) drag queen win! [Read more…] about RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under Season 2 – Pre-Season “Meet The Queens” Power Rankings