'RuPaul's All Stars Drag Race': Judge Michelle Visage sizes up pros and cons of all 12 queens

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Image Credit: Mathu Andersen/LOGO

Start your engines, Drag Racers! Tonight at 9 p.m. marks the blessed return of RuPaul’s Drag Race to Logo, with the show coming back with an All Stars edition. (And, actually, you can preview the episode in full on the show’s Facebook page.)

Competitors for this special outing include Drag Race faves like Chad Michaels, Pandora Boxx, Latrice Royale, and more.

Also returning is delightful and busty judge Michelle Visage (pictured below), who EW has employed to preview tonight’s premiere by sharing the pros and cons of each queen, in her opinion. From Pandora Boxx’s strengths in personality to Nina Flowers’ need to expand her repertoire, Visage tells us — in her opinion — the things that will help and hurt each of the queens in the quest for the All Stars crown.

Image Credit: Mark Davis/Getty Images

Here’s Visage’s assessment of each queen:

PANDORA BOXX
Pros: “I like Pandora. Pandora is a favorite. I like her personality outside of the show. I like her personality as a boy, and I like her creativity and campiness. I love a camp queen.”
Cons: “Weakness with Pandora is: I feel Pandora stops herself from succeeding in certain aspects. I don’t think she’s afraid of looking like a fool because that’s what camp queens do — we all look like fools — but I think she thinks too much sometimes. She becomes too cerebral instead of just being and doing. Just go with it!”

CHAD MICHAELS
Pros: “When you think Chad Michaels, you think All Stars, don’t you? I’ve said it before on season 4, and I’ll say it again: Chad is a pro-fess-io-nal. There isn’t much that Chad does wrong aesthetically. He thinks out every look completely and fully. I would like a higher heel on Chad, but Chad loves a sensible heel.”
Cons: “The cons on Chad — or what Chad’s going to have to prove — is that he doesn’t have to be a perfectionist. It’s okay to have faults. Perfection is fabulous, but I don’t believe it exists. I feel that because of all that perfection, Chad kept himself inside a box, so that perfection protects Chad from intimacy with the world, from us really getting to know Chad. I’m looking for more personality. Perfection becomes Stepford Wife-ish.”

YARA SOFIA
Pros: “She brings fierceness. She was clearly one of my favorite queens season 3. What changed it for me was when she did that leather reporter, and I fell in love with that because we didn’t get to see the crazy until that. I’m looking for her to continue being her, her kind of avant garde, dark sense of drag. She definitely takes a ton of risks. I think a lot of people — all stars or not — are going to be threatened by Yara’s stage presence.”
Cons: “I think the cons she has to contend with is she is so out there that sometimes it doesn’t translate. She may have to reel it in or just blunt the edges a little bit so we can all understand what she’s going for. The average person doesn’t understand why someone would come out on a runway wearing a Hefty bag on their head. If she’s going to do that, it’s got to make sense.”

JUJUBEE
Pros: “I was a big fan of Juju from season 2. I love watching Juju, I love Juju out of drag, I love Juju as a person. I absolutely adore her and was excited to be able to judge Juju. I think what Juju brings is a sense of girlfriend. Everybody loves Juju — Juju’s real, Juju’s approachable, Juju’s also grown a lot in drag. I was looking to continue what she started in Season 2, which I thought was fantastic. It got her to the top three. I was looking for more of Juju and she delivered. She was really fierce.”
Cons: “The con on Juju are I think she worries too much about the other queens and what they’re going to say about her and how she performed. Juju’s just worried about everyone liking her. Sometimes she goes too crazy with the padding, too, and I think that that’s a big issue with Juju. She could distort herself! Juju’s got to contend with that body image and image in general, without worrying too much about what people think of her.”

NINA FLOWERS
Pros: “Wow. Nina is one of my favorites from season 1. Nina Flowers is a fierce, Puerto Rican drag queen who is determined and is different and is intense. I love intensity. That’s what I’m looking for Nina to continue to bring and she’s amazing.”
Cons: “The cons for me with Nina is I think Nina needs to expand her repertoire. I feel like I get one image in my mind when I think of Nina. I want to see her do something completely different and blow our minds. That’s why I change my hair completely every show. Boredom sets in! Let’s see what you can do outside of this thing. I think that’s something she’s going to have to deal with in her drag life.”

MIMI IMFURST
Pros: “I think Mimi’s a really talented queen. I think what she brings in the pro realm is that she definitely has balls — no pun intended. She goes for it. She’s creative. She has no problem with mincing words. I think she’s got a lot to prove because it went down so bad for her in Season 3.”
Cons: “That goes with her cons. She’s so friggin’ dramatic. She’s got to learn how to not try so hard to get them to try to understand what she’s doing or be on her side or be on her team. She’s got to learn to stop being melodramatic, focus on she’s doing, and bring it to the main stage.”

MANILA LUZON
Pros: “She’s been through a lot recently and I think she’s got a lot to prove for her beloved Sahara. I was accused of loving her most in season 3, and I don’t think that would be a lie. Manila was the apple of my eye. Again with the creativity and the camp, even though Manila’s gorgeous and she could do pageantry, she does this kind of camp pageantry. I look forward to the outfits she brings. Here’s the one big thing about Manila: She knows her body type. She knows how to work what works for her. Everybody makes mistakes — we’ve all had our fashion faux pas — but Manila’s got a great sense of style and she loves big hair, so I’m really looking forward to that on the runway.”
Cons: “The con with Manila is that sometimes I get the feeling that Manila thinks she’s just a bit above everybody else. I could be wrong. Sometimes she feels like she’s a scootch better. I don’t want that to come across as smug because she’s not. I think she needs to keep that in check.”

SHANNEL
Pros: “Oh God. I remember watching season 1 and going, ‘Who is this queen?’ I love a queen that can beat a face down. Some excel at it, some don’t. She’s also one of those crazy Vegas costume queens, which I love. I’m looking for her to bring big costumes, big makeup, big attitude. As far as I know, I don’t know much about her. She’s known for all that stuff, which really excites the hell out of me. Everybody loves a showgirl. She knows how to work a costume, she knows how to work a stage, that’s a definite plus.”
Cons: “I think Shannel is too sensitive. This is a tough business. You got to have a thick skin. My instinct tells me that Shannel is too sensitive and needs to toughen up just a little bit.”

ALEXIS MATEO
Pros: “I think Alexis Mateo is a fierce queen. I think she brings that kind of Florida-pageant, plus because she doesn’t get up there and do the normal pageant thing. She’s got style. She’s got grace. I think she’s a doll. But she’s lost weight. I’m looking for her to continue the positive attitude that she has, but she does not like critiques. I’m hoping in All-Stars, she’ll take critiques better. Listen to them because that’s what we’re there to do.”
Cons: “She’s my arch-nemesis! [Laughs.] Here’s the thing: Alexis and I both have a belly issue. When I gain weight, I have a great a–, great tits, but it goes to my belly. So does Alexis. What I do is I cinch my waist really tight. Alexis somehow decided to put padding around her waist, which makes her look like a fire hydrant. I just think she and I don’t see eye to eye on many things. “

TAMMIE BROWN
Pros: “Tammie brings an aesthetic that no one touches. Thank God, I don’t think we can handle any more. She goes there completely, she knows her eras, she knows her periods. She does not leave an I undotted or a T uncrossed. Talk about perfection. She’s odd, but she does it her way. She’s so kooky and so weird that it makes me uncomfortable to watch her. That’s a plus in my book.”
Cons: “The con could be is she too kooky that nobody’s going to get her but me?”

RAVEN
Pros: “Raven is one of those people who will soak every word of critique up and listen to it. She makes no qualms about when she fucks up. If she’s up there and it looks terrible, she knows it. She has no problem with accepting criticism. Raven is a fierce, fierce, fierce queen who is funny. Personality just heightens your drag. When you’re up there you can be the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen, but if you don’t have the personality to back it up, I’m bored.”
Cons: “A con for Raven is Raven tends to overdo it. Whether it’s the lip or the ass or the eyeshadow, she tends to go heavy on everything. She’s all or nothing. Raven needs to find balance. To go to the extreme might work against her.”

LATRICE ROYALE
Pros: “To see Latrice back on that stage is a gift. What Latrice brings is personality. When you get into Latrice Royale, you cannot help but be put under her spell. To me, drag is secondary. I love Latrice as a person. That just heightens her drag aesthetic. I looking for her to continue to be big personality-wise. I’m looking for her to love her curves, embrace who she is continuously — she does anyway.”
Cons: “I’m looking for her to not paint so pumpkin-like. I’m looking for her to keep true to who she is, but expand a little bit. I want to see some more of Latrice. The con is she doesn’t like to expand too much. She likes to stay where she’s comfortable. I think it’s going to a challenge for Latrice to bring something new to All Stars.”

Tanner on Twitter: @EWTanStransky