Who was eliminated from RuPaul's Drag Race season 16 episode 5? Remaining contestants and more details explored

Season 16 of RuPaul's Drag Race is giving exactly what the show is known for. Camp-like costumes, dramatic acts, the drag queen banter, and emotional farewells.

The show which started at RuPaul's will in February 2009, had garnered popularity for its newness since the beginning. Now with 16 successful seasons under its belt, it has become the top appreciator and empowerer of the drag culture, a reflection of RuPaul's dedication.

Each episode of the show showcases a different drag talent, awards winners, and eliminates the losers. After the previous episodes saw departures of Hershii LiqCour Jeté, and Mirage, episode 5 marked Amanda Tori Meating's elimination after her lip-sync battle with Q.

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What happened in episode 5 of RuPaul's Drag Race season 16?

Episode 5's main challenge for the queens was to write and perform their own verses on the songs from RuPaul's latest album Black Butta. The episode titled Girl Groups, had the queens divided into three groups for their Black Butta performances.

Sapphira, Plasma, and Geneva were made group leaders of groups that had four participants each. Group 1, Sapphira's Sisters, consisting of Morphine Love Dion, Dawn, and Q, performed the song Star Baby.

Group 2 was Geneva's Girlies, which included Megami, Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige, and Nymphia Wind, who became the season's first-ever quartet to bag the winning title, with the song ASMR Lover. Group 3 was Plasma's Pals, which had Amanda Tori Meating, Xunami Muse, and Plane Jane, who performed Courage Love.

The already gripping episode was made more interesting by its mini-challenge, which had the queens make a book, and then pose for its cover. Sapphira bagged the most compliments for her poses thus winning the challenge.

The main challenge paired with the results of the mini-challenge, put Q and Amanda Tori Meating in the bottom two, taking them into a lip-sync face-off.

The stage in this episode was graced by the popular Swedish electropop musical duo, Icona Pop, who were called for their musical expertise to judge the performances on RuPaul's album. As an ode to them, Amanda and Q lip-synced to their song Emergency.

Q's position in the bottom two came as a shock because she had been among the top performers in the previous episodes. However, she outperformed Amanda and successfully secured her place back in the game.

Amanda had circled the bottoms a few times before, so her passing from the show wasn't much of a surprise like her predecessor Mirage's was. It would've been a bigger surprise if the consistently winning Q was the one to say goodbye.

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What to expect from episode 6 of RuPaul's Drag Race season 16

With Amanda's elimination, the 11 remaining contestants toughen the competitive show of RuPaul's Drag Race even more. Dawn, Geneva Karr, Megami, Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige, Morphine Dion Love, Nymphia Wind, Plane Jane, Plasma, Q, Sapphira Cristál, and Xunami Muse are to now compete in the upcoming episode six titled Welcome to the DollHouse.

Episode six of RuPaul's Drag Race will challenge the queens to design and dress their dolls to match their persona. Its guest judge will be Law Roach, a fashion phenomenon, who is known to style celebrities such as Zendaya, Céline Dion, and Anya Taylor-Joy among others.

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Episodes of RuPaul's Drag Race season 16 air on MTV, every Friday at 8 pm ET.