All-stars is the version of Drag Race where fan favourite queens return to showcase how much they have progressed since they first appeared in the franchise and so you would expect so all the songs to be of a much high standard and while this isn’t always the case it is clear that the choreography and characters self-awareness has increased which does lead to some very iconic performances!
5. I’m in love (cast of all-stars 5)
The second episode in season 5 of had the queens perform the original song ‘I’m in Love’ which is an ode from the queens to their celebrity crushes. Blair St Clair opted to write a love song for Hannibal Lecter which seemed like at first a clever way to twist this challenge into a comedy style performance but this fell very flat in execution. They were many verses that were supposed to be comical in nature but this didn’t translate very well in the performance and the rest just felt Meh. The performances could have easily been performed in a regular season and weren’t particularly fitting of the all-star title. Each verse seemed very short in comparison to other original songs and this may have been due to the fact it appeared so early in the season but nevertheless, I felt as if the all-stars weren’t given enough opportunity to showcase their skill well … apart from Shea Coulee who yet again showcased her incredible rapping skills as she sang about Chadwick Bose and what “Wakanda life will bring.” The actual singing in this challenge was questionable with Mrs Cracker and Ongina verses being particularly pitchy at times but also none of the costume used in this challenge appeared to work together and this was only exaggerated at the end of the number where all queens stood next to one another and created a visual mess. Within the show, this average performance stopped the show’s momentum in its tracks with only a few queens being able to truly shine!
4. Super Queen (cast of season 4)
The fourth season of all-stars delivered a superhero-inspired number in the finale so you would expect for this to a song written and performed by the best of the best but alas it only slight tops ‘I’m in Love’ marginally. The whole song was not fitting of the finale of an all-star season with the sense of iconicness missing which is clear in the other songs above Super Queen in this list. The choreography was not of the high standard of you would expect from all-stars, never mind the finale. Trinity even discussed how the choreography would be super difficult due to it being all-stars and so the bar was set high but never reached that level. Something like this would feel at home in the regular season’s episodes never mind the best of the best. Having the other all-stars winners as back-up performers within the band felt very confusing and strange. I do have to say that Trinity’s verse in this number does Ru-deem herself from ‘Category Is’ but her and Monique Hart were the two most memorable performance and if I hadn’t recently rewatched this season of All-stars then I don’t think I would even remember them!
3. Sitting on a secret/Drag up your life (cast of all-stars season 3)
These two-numbers had the eliminated queens competing against the current remaining queens in two character-filled songs. These numbers had the majority of the queens taking on exaggerated personas with crazy, on-the- top costumes/outfits for the number. In particular, for ‘Drag Up Your Life’ BenDeLaCreme gothic interpretation and protest in this song was very unique and is nothing like anything I have seen before but also Trixie Martel’s maths nerd character/lyrics were very comical and insanely clever alongside the outfit she chose to wear for this challenge. Most iconically, however, is BeBe Zahara Benet (whether it’s not you believe she should have appeared in this season) non-sensical lyrics that revolved mostly random words and noises will remain as one of the craziest performance but will forever be ICONIC! These sounds represented here African based character look perfectly and was very unique. For ‘Sitting On A Secret’ which is obviously a joke on the fact they are all men dressed as women but also a reference to Alyssa’s Secret (that was never actually revealed 😉) was highlighted by Thorgy Thor’s 80s aerobatics styles costume and lyrics that was insanely entertaining to watch!
2. Kitty Girl (cast of all-stars season 3)
The finale of All-stars season 3 had the remaining queens (Trixie, Shangela, Kennedy Davenport and BeBe) writing and performing in a one-take performance that had the queens running from backstage to the runway in an epic performance. Shangela managed to shoehorn into her lyrics all of her possible catchphrases and managed to perfectly tell the story of her journey. Trixie wrote clever lyrics that even referenced Shangela while also maintaining a fun vibe to her verse including a genius use of cameras and crew. This challenge clearly played in Trixie’s skillset as her lyrics were fantastic. BeBe did her frantic animalistic punchy lyrics perfectly yet again which represented her character persona perfectly. Kennedy singing is one of the only things that brought this song down but the cleve inclusion of fellow judges and crew members was unique and really helped this song stand out amongst the rest!
1. Read u wrote u
This song is probably the most iconic song to ever have come out of the Drag Race franchise. Alaska’s all blue Martian look and her hilarious reference to, the LGBT+ fan favourite film, the wizard of Oz was incredible to watch and listen to. Detox rebellious persona was fully on display as she walked across an intrigue chair display in heels with ease and her iconic slut drop – X exclamation combination that every gay man will perform with all their vigour when they hear this song. Katya performed her incredible Russian inspired verse with the iconic feather fanning scene before by her backing dancer that I beg anyone to watch this scene and not aspire to be Katya in this routine especially during her split-lift moment which continues to have the viewers gagging! When I first heard Roxxy Andrew’s I didn’t enjoy it at first but it seems to be the verse with the most longevity that people remember the most. This song has some many iconic aspects making it incredibly hard to ever beat in the season to come!
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