Canada's Drag Race - Season 5, Episode 9: The recap.
Are you up to speed?
We've reached the end of Season 5 of Canada's Drag Race. Are you up to speed?
The build-up
This was a fun finale with plenty of opportunities to showcase the queens.
Things kicked off with a work-room chat with Jimbo. Then, each of the queens got a solo chat and photo-shoot with reigning queen, Venus.
Minhi gave us every inch of her body and the resulting photo gave us our Mena Suvari fantasy.
The maxi challenge
Each queen got to produce their own track to perform to, which is a great way to showcase everyone individually.
The music mentor was Orville Peck - adore.
Choreography was provided by Hollywood Jay.
The results were mixed.
I guess I'm hyper-focused on Minhi, but she had comedy lyrics but then was given nonsense choreography that didn't work with what she was trying to deliver.
The edit also took every opportunity to highlight any choreo slip-up.
The run-way
As well as bringing all the eliminated queens back to showcase their finale looks, the Top 4 also gave us some Eleganza Extravaganza.
- Minhi gave us Chinese Empress and looked stunning.
- Helena gave us a latex gown which looked good but must have been sweaty.
- Virgo gave us a silver gown.
- Makayla gave us an elaborate white bridal moment.
The judging
With the runway and the individual performances done, we went from a Top 4 to a Final 2.
It was Helena and Minhi that were eliminated at this point.
It wasn't surprising that Helena was eliminated - she's had an incredibly consistent season but with only one win hasn't really been able to put her mark on the competition.
The shock was the elimination of Minhi. The reason for the elimination was a stumble on the choreo in the finale performance, which seems crazy given she had the strongest track record and had smashed every challenge.
That left us with a Top 2 of Virgo versus Makayla battling it out in a final lip-sync.
The Lip-sync
The track was From This Moment On by Shania Twain.
An iconic track that's perfect for a drag performance.
Both Virgo and Makayla are strong performers and can deliver a lip-sync. Makayla was struggling with her giant head-piece which was a bit of a distraction.
Ultimately, the win went to Virgo.
Season 5, done!
The Cast
The Virgo Queen
The Virgo Queen is the winner of Season 5 of Canada's Drag Race!
Makayla Couture
Makayla has felt like a contender from the beginning but it's been a roller-coaster in terms of her performance in these challenges. At the end of the day, she's made it to Top 2 and has established herself as a beloved queen.
Minhi Wang
Obsessed. Adore. Love everything about her. She made it to the Top 4! So proud!
Helena Poison
From the get-go, Helena has had a clear understanding of her brand and was able to apply that in every challenge. An incredibly consistent season that has showcased her talents.
Eliminated Queens
Perla
A roller-coaster of a start to this competition for Perla but she pulled it together and made it to the final five. Perla has been able to showcase to the world that she not only serves looks and is an entertaining performer, she's also got a great sense of humour and delivers good TV. It's been a great season for Perla.
Xana
Xana gave herself the Mean Girls storyline in this series but the difficulty was that she wasn't really able to back it up with strong performances in the challenges. The Snatch Game win was an unexpected positive, but the sewing challenge of Episode 7 was her downfall - beaten in the lip-sync by Virgo.
Uma Gahd
Uma is an experienced queen who did a reasonable job of adapting her talent to the challenges. She was expected to shine in the comedy side of things but Snatch Game was her undoing - beaten in the lip sync by Virgo and Makayla.
Jaylene Tyme
Jaylene quickly established her presence in this competition and gave us a lot of emotional moments. Unsurprisingly, the Girl Group challenge of Episode 5 was her undoing - beaten in the lip-sync by Xana.
Sanjina DaBish Queen
Although eliminated relatively early - Episode 4, beaten in the lip-sync by Uma - this has been a great season for Sanjina. While she seemed a little less prepared than the rest of the cast, she brought a lot of heart and emotion to everything she did and established herself as likeable, passionate, and bringing energy to everything she tackles.
Tiffany Ann Co.
I really like Tiffany - good energy, vibrant personality, gave good TV. However she was never able to catch a break in this competition and you can only land in the bottom so many times before it's game-over. Eliminated in Episode 3, beaten in the lip-sync by Perla.
Tara Nova
The Pork Chop of the competition, it feels like Tara got a bit of a raw-deal in this competition. She leant into the storyline of an underdog rural queen from a small town, and then they eliminated her first - beaten in the lip-sync by Tiffany. That's not quite how that storyline is supposed to go.
What’s life like for LGBTQ people in Canada?
What’s life like for LGBTQ people in Canada?Let’s take a look at some of the key equality indicators.
Is homosexuality legal in Canada?
Yes, same-sex sexual activity was decriminalised in 1969.
Are there anti-discrimination protections in place for LGBTQ people in Canada?
Yes, a decision by the Supreme Court in 1995 confirmed that discrimination on the basis of sexuality was prohibited.
Is there Marriage Equality in Canada?
Yes, Marriage Equality came into effect in 2005.
What’s life like for LGBTQ people in Canada?
In general, things are pretty good for LGBTQ people in Canada – it’s a country that is seen as welcoming and accepting.
Canada also has a strong record in accepting LGBTQ refugees who are fleeing persecution.
Conversion therapy has recently been banned by the government.
The night that the police raided the bathhouses of Toronto
In terms of Toronto’s queer history, the police raids of the city’s bathhouses is a pretty major deal.
In 1981, on 5 February, the police raided four Toronto bathhouses and arrested about 300 men on public indecency charges.
It wasn’t the first time that Toronto’s bathhouses had been raided, and it wasn’t the last, but it was a watershed moment for Canada’s LGBTQ community.
The police called the raids Operation Soap – it was part of an ongoing campaign to ‘clean up’ Toronto and shut down sex-positive businesses such as bathhouses.
In the wake of the raids, Toronto’s LGBTQ community took to the streets and began protesting.
The protests culminated in a Freedom Rally in early March – generally seen as the first Toronto Pride event.
The legacy of the bathhouse raids goes beyond the emergence of the Pride movement in Toronto. It did help to highlight that queer venues such as bathhouses are important to the LGBTQ community. It also illustrates why there’s an ongoing discussion around the participation of the police in Toronto’s Pride events.
The relationship between the police and Canada's queer community remains problematic - particularly in Toronto.
In 2016, Toronto police conducted a six week campaign targeting a popular cruising spot in the city. Undercover officers arrested 75 men during the crackdown. This caused enormous concern within the LGBTQ community.
In 2018, a man was arrested in Toronto and charged with murdering at least eight gay men. The police received a lot of criticism for their handling of this case – the community felt that the police had ignored their concerns and warnings that gay men were being targeted by a serial killer.
