February 17, 2024
RuPaul's Drag Race/Twitter/X
Philly 'Drag Race' contestant Sapphira Cristál stood out with an over-the-top flower outfit with giant petals for episode 7's runway challenge.
With the lineup of contestants whittling down in "RuPaul's Drag Race" season 16, the queens are becoming a bit cutthroat.
In last week's episode, Sapphira Cristál had a rare moment of vulnerability, using her immunity potion and shocking the judges and her fellow contestants.
"I was in my own head, and to sort of like, quiet the voices, I did what I needed to do for me," said Sapphira, justifying her decision to the rest of the group. "And you can't turn back. But what it means is that I have to freaking turn it every time."
Even so, Sapphira shook it off and expressed her confidence. "I hope these girls are happy that they saw a little crack in the shell," Sapphira said in a talking head interview. "But baby, Sapphira is is back, and it's time for you to be scared."
The bulk of the episode focused on the maxi challenge, which tasked the queens to cast themselves and perform in a "Rusical" parody of "The Sound of Music," naturally called "The Sound of Rusic."
As with the sketch comedy episode, the queens once again butted heads when figuring out who would play which role. For the lead role of "Mariah Grande," Sapphira fought against Miami queen Morphine Love Dion and New York City queen Plasma, the latter already established as a musical theatre nut.
Plasma put her foot down, so Sapphira acquiesced and instead took the supporting role of Mother Superior. "Turn it out," Sapphira told Plasma dispassionately.
"The last queen I fought with a role with and gave it to her, she ended up going home," Sapphira said in a talking head, referring to Mirage in the sketch comedy episode. "I'm just saying."
While absorbing the show material in the Werk Room, Sapphira led Morphine and Miami queen Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige, who would play the two sisters under Sapphira's Mother Superior role — or "Mother Sapphir-ior," as Plasma and Sapphira called her.
"Listen, I've been mama-bearing these queens all through the entire season, so Mother Superior fits me like a habit."
With the Rusical casting finalized, the queens began rehearsals under the choreographing direction of guest judge Adam Shankman, the director of the 2007 "Hairspray" musical film adaptation.
Sapphira was eager to impress the Hollywood director but got thrown off by another special guest — Oscar-nominated actress Melissa McCarthy.
"Drag is a big part of why I have a career." 🥹🫶
— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) February 17, 2024
Thank you @melissamccarthy for stopping by #DragRace and spreading the LOVE! 🌈 pic.twitter.com/L4L5mZkfG4
"You expect me to now be learning choreography, and Melissa McCarthy is sitting like 10 feet away from me," said Sapphira in a talking head. "Baby, you gotta be out of your mind."
During the full performance, essentially every performer went on without any major blunders. Sapphira and her sisters were prominent throughout the whole show, with Mother Superior even having a solo number where she comically interrupted the lead character of Mariah whenever she tried to jump in.
Even though the Rusical was entirely lip-synced, Sapphira sold her performance, featuring lip quivers as she pretended to sing.
After the Rusical, the runway challenge's theme was "I Could Buy Myself Flowers." Every contestant had a flowery outfit to show off, but Sapphira's was certainly the biggest.
The scream I scrumpt when I saw this on the runway 😭😍 https://t.co/3ARVVYMFnk
— Jasmine(Mouth Almighty)Kennedie (@jasminekennedie) February 17, 2024
Showing off giant flower petals on her dress, Sapphira had a standout look that audibly wowed the judges.
"This is my fantasy drag," said Sapphira. "Big, huge petals as wings. I'm such a big flower, I can barely fit on the runway. And that is Sapphira Cristál: she cannot be contained."
The judges were hugely complimentary of Sapphira's performance in both "The Sound of Rusic" and the runway challenge.
"This is a masterpiece," said judge Michelle Visage of Sapphira's flower outfit. "It's very carnival, but it's just so beautiful." To the judges, Sapphira had the best supporting performance in the show. "And you made it feel effortless," said Shankman.
Sapphira ended up in the top three, with Mhi'ya and New York queen Megami having to lipsync for their lives — Megami fell short to Mhi'ya's showy dance moves, going home.
The competition is thinning, but Sapphira is showing no signs of faltering, even without her safety net.
"RuPaul's Drag Race" airs Fridays at 8 p.m. on MTV.
