The Drag Race fever-dream continues, with Season 3 of Drag Race Spain well underway.

Let’s get into it.

The main challenge

This week was the return of the eliminated queens and a chance for one of the eliminated queens to return to the competition.

But, it was a double-edged sword – as well as one of the eliminated queens returning, two of the remaining queens were to be eliminated.

The challenge was a stand-up comedy challenge, but working in pairs – each remaining queen paired with an eliminated queen.

The eliminated queens got to choose who they wanted to be partnered with – going in reverse order of elimination.

The pairings were:

• Visa and Pitita
• Macarena and Pink Chadora
• Kelly and Vania
• Chanel and Hornella
• Chuchi and Bestiah
• Maria and Pakita

This left Clover on her own, making her the MC of the show – which always seemed like a good option for Clover.

We saw the comedy performances on the main stage, and there were mixed results.

• Maria and Pakita went down a surreal route, which had potential but needed more work.
• Chuchi and Bestiah had a solid concept about promoting their home-towns which was successful.
• Chanel and Hornella went with little girl characters writing a letter to Santa – very strong.
• Kelly and Vania were slutty best friends which felt very relaxed and confident.
• Macarena and Pink Chadora gave us frenemies but forgot to give us any jokes.
• Visa and Pitita fell into the same trap as Macarena and Pink Chadora – all snide remarks but no humour.

The runway

The category this week was hair.

There were really strong looks throughout this runway. Standouts were Hornella, Vania, and Bestiah.

The Judging

The winning duo was Kelly and Vania – that made sense. What that means is that Kelly is the eliminated queen that gets to return to the competition.

Safe were Clover, Hornella, and Bestiah.

That left us with a Bottom 3 of Pitita, Pakita, and Pink Chadora – with all three required to lip-sync to determine which two would be eliminated.

That’s pretty high stakes, but at this stage of the competition there are no weak links – this is a very strong cast.

The Lip-sync

The track was No Controles by Olé Olé.

This is 80’s synth heaven with plenty of personality and an upbeat energy.

It’s not the easiest track if you’re not familiar with it, and having three queens on stage adds extra complications.

Objectively, Pitita looked the most comfortable in this performance. Pink Chadora didn’t seem to know what was going on, and Pakita couldn’t really connect with the track.

It was no surprise that Pitita was declared the winner and safe – plus, she’s one of the current frontrunners. However, that meant that Pink Chadora and Pakita were eliminated. Particularly surprising to see Pink Chadora go at this point of the competition as she’s been one of the strongest. But, that’s how this game goes.

Episode 7, done!

The Cast

Bestiah

Current Ranking: If we’re putting money on it, it feels like this season is Bestiah’s to win. She killed it in the Talent show, and she smashed the sewing challenge – even though she doesn’t show. She gives good TV, she’s fresh and contemporary. She’s giving “future of drag”.

Clover Bish

Current Ranking: She’s relatively new to drag but has already earned the respect of more established queens. Her dancing is her strength but it feels like she’s starting to run out of road in this competition.

Hornella Góngora

Current Ranking: Hornella is giving frontrunner energy. She’s clearly an accomplished queen who knows who she is and knows what she does.

Pitita

Current Ranking: Pitita is a fashion girl and the looks are perfection. Her win in the sewing challenge of Episode 3 pretty much accomplished what she came here to do, but she’s also winning in performance challenges. Can she sustain this momentum? Episode 7 was her first stumble but she survived the lip-sync and is still in the game.

Vania Vainilla

Current Ranking: Vania is really likeable and a very experienced drag queen. However, the pressure of the show does seem to be weighing on her and there’s a question as to whether she’ll be able to last the distance.

Kelly Roller

Current Ranking: Kelly’s USP is that she’s always on skates – that became a bit one-note and she was eliminated in Episode 4. However, she returned in the comedy challenge of Episode 7 and is back in the competition.

Pink Chadora

Final Ranking: She talks a lot, but she gave us good TV. For me, the character and the comedy came to feel a bit one-note but Pink Chadora has had a very strong competition – eliminated in Episode 7, beaten in the lip-sync by Pitita.

Pakita

Final Ranking: Pakita gave us good TV but it was always a bit hit or miss. She never missed when it came to serving a look, but performance was her vulnerability. Pakita was eliminated in Episode 7, beaten in the lip-sync by Pitita.

Visa

Final Ranking: It was a bit of a slow start from Visa, but the more I’ve seen of her the more I’ve loved her – her personal revelations in Episode 4, paired with a devastating runway, were heartbreaking. Gutted that she’s been eliminated so soon.

The Macarena

Final Ranking: The Macarena has a big reputation and had her first Drag Race exposure on Season 1 of Drag Race Spain. It was kind of expected that she’d return to this season with All Stars energy, but she never really found her feet – eliminated in Episode 5, beaten in the lip-sync by Pakita.

Chanel Anorex

Final Ranking: It was a strong start from Chanel but the sewing challenge of Episode 3 that was her undoing – beaten in the lip-sync by Kelly. I’m gutted – I really like Chanel, she’s got a very contemporary perspective on drag. They keep trailing this “second chance” for the eliminated queens – I hope that Chanel gets to make a comeback.

Drag Chuchi

Final Ranking: Representing the drag traditions of the Canary Islands, the expectations were high for Drag Chuchi. However, she never really found her feet in this competition – lip-syncing in the first two episodes. It was Vania who eliminated Chuchi in Episode 2.

Maria Edilia

Final Ranking: She’s likeable and fun to watch but her talent show was her undoing – eliminated in the first episode, Maria is the Pork Chop of the season.

Follow Gareth Johnson on Twitter

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