RuPaul's Drag Race Season 17 Episode 8: Queens perform "rusical" while Adam Lambert joins as the guest judge

The Queens returned with breathtaking performances in the latest episode of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 17. In episode 8, the theme featured a Ruscical mashup of the Wicked, The Wizard of Oz, and The Wiz. The judging panel included RuPaul Charles and Michelle Visage, choreographer Jamal Sims, and guest judge Adam Lambert.

After last week's elimination, 10 queens are left to vie for the ultimate title of Drag Superstar, which includes Acacia Forgot, Arrietty, Jewels Sparkles, Kori King, Lana Ja’Rae, Lexi Love, Lydia B Kollins, Onya Nurve, Sam Star, and Suzie Toot. With this new week came new challenges for the queens.

Flaunting their parasols, the highlight was how the queens merged singing, acting, and dancing while they dazzled the runway with their musicals. The episode also featured the best performance and the lip sync battle, which sent one queen home. Here is the official synopsis of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 17, Episode 8:

"This season's Rusical is inspired by a mashup of "Wicked, The Wizard of Oz" and "The Wiz." Jamal Sims choreographs the queens; singer Adam Lambert guest judges."

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RuPaul's Drag Race Season 17 Episode 8: Who aced the ruscical performance and who went home?

This week on RuPaul's Drag Race, the excitement is palpable as Jama Sims and Adam Lambert step in as the new companions! The judges put the ten remaining queens to the ultimate test, urging them to channel their creativity and pick their best characters from the iconic worlds of Wicked, The Wizard of Oz, or The Wiz.

With RuPaul at the helm, it’s time for the queens to showcase their talents on the runway and dazzle. After several deliberation and negotiations, each queen decided on a character and presented them with a twist. Here are the characters chosen by Season 17's queens:

• Onya Nurve as Harlem Dorothy
• Jewels Sparkles as The Good Witch
• Sam Star as Wicked Witch
• Suzie Toot as Green Witch
• Lana Ja’Rae as Tin Woman
• Lexi Love as Lioness
• Acacia Forgot as Kansas Dorothy
• Arrietty as Scarecrow
• Lydia Butthole Kollins as Flying Monkey No. 1
• Kori King as Flying Monkey No. 2

Michelle Visage stepped up as the ultimate mentor, taking on the exciting challenge of helping the queens perfect their tracks for the upcoming performance. Together with the talented music producer Gabe Lopez, they offered invaluable guidance, honing the queens' vocal skills and pushing them to shine. And when it comes to choreography, who better to light the way than the fabulous Jama Sims?

While Jama found some queens lacking the rizz in their aura, others were ready to take over the frontstage with their rusical performance. As the performances started, the judges loved the efforts of all but chose fours as the top performers. Onya, Sam, Jewel, and Suzie won over judges with their singing and character portrayal.

Getting a safe passage and having a slightly average performance, Lana, Lexi, Lydia, and Arrietty dodged the lip-sync battle by avoiding being at the bottom. The two performances that did not come out at all for the judges were Kori and Acacia's performances. Judges felt Kori was unable to redeem herself just like previous episode, and did not bring too much character onto the stage.

Amongst the top performances this week, Sam Star won the challenge for her "wicked witch" portrayal and runway look. Going in the bottom two, Kori and Acacia performed the lip-sync battle on Adam Lambert's song Wet Dream. While both put on their best presentation, this week in RuPaul's Drag Race, Kori swept away the win, leaving Acacia to bear the brunt of elimination.

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RuPaul's Drag Race Season 17 airs on Fridays on MTV at 8 pm ET/PT.