But as we've all come to see, she's way more than just a look queen.
Mikelle StreetWhen Jaida Essence Hall walked into the Werk Room for the first time to make her official RuPaul's Drag Race entrance most of us gagged. Let's just be honest: this was female impersonation at its finest.
"She is a woman," Sherry Pie said in what was practically a visible face crack. Almost every other competitor already in the room had a compliment to dole out for Hall, and for good reason.
As the competition has continued, Hall has continually knocked it out of the park when it comes to creating the illusion. Sure, Nicky Doll, Gigi Goode, and Crystal Methyd might have gotten a lot of praise for aesthetics, but Hall has almost never let the ball drop, not even in the 15-minute quick drag segments.
Any true fan of the show will know that getting in drag for mini-challenges is generally less about realness and more about creating some sort of effect. With the lack of time, many performers go the comedic route, hamming things up into a caricature. But, as many on social media have begun to realize over the last few episodes, Hall has strived for nothing less than a Main Stage ready beat. And we love her for it!
Sickening no?!
This isn't, of course, to say that Hall is only a look queen — though she's decidedly that, given looks like what she wore on the runway last night. As the judges have pointed out, every episode she reveals herself as an onion with more and more talented layers to pull away. Her comedy comes off both well-considered and well-timed, and she's clearly aware of the strengths she brings to the table. Add to this the fact that we already know she's an amazing lip sync performer and these are all of the attributes that make for the perfect winner.
It's true that we may have said that Gigi Goode was heading for the top spot but over the past few weeks she's hit a bit of a hurdle while Jaida Essence Hall has leaned into the competition. If it's her as America's Next Drag Superstar, with Goode as the runner up, we certainly would not be mad!
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