State Champ Radio rupauls drag race
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After a star-making turn on season 15 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Sasha Colby took home the crown and $200,000 on the April 14 finale episode. Now, she’s getting her flowers from none other than Ariana Grande.
In a post to her Instagram Stories on Tuesday (April 18), Grande shared Colby’s interview with Vogue, which led America’s Next Drag Superstar to repost the “Positions” singer’s support on her own stories. Grande reposted Colby, this time adding a sweet message for the winner: “I love you so.”
Grande has a storied history with Drag Race. Earlier this year, the singer served as the first guest judge on season 15, where she watched as the queens put on a talent show before the bottom two lip-synched to her hit song “7 Rings.” It’s far from the first time that Grande’s music has been used on the show; in fact, her songs have been featured nine times throughout the show’s run, putting her just below Britney Spears and RuPaul herself for the most times lip-synched in the series.
Meanwhile, Colby is settling into her reign nicely. In her interview with Billboard shortly after her crowning, the drag superstar said that she wanted her win to be a signal to those currently working to erode LGBTQ rights around the world. “To me, this is why I waited [to be on Drag Race], because I was supposed to be here right now, to be the face of exactly what these people are trying to eradicate,” she said.
Check out Ariana’s message to Sasha Colby here before it expires.
While many formats have come and gone throughout the storied history of RuPaul’s Drag Race, one fundamental tradition on the show has remained since the very beginning — the lip sync.
Whether it’s a lip sync for your life, a lip sync for your legacy, a lip sync for the crown or another variation, the lip sync has become the most inextricable cornerstone of the reality show’s brand. Watching two (or occasionally more) queens battling it out while dancing and mouthing the words to some of our favorite songs is part of the reason why Drag Race has essentially become the unofficial sporting league of the LGBTQ community.
Debates have long been held in the Drag Race fan community as to what constitutes a great lip sync; is it the high-octane dance moves, death drops, duck walks and various other stunts that boost performances to success? Is it the number of reveals — either in costumes or wigs — that a queen can successfully pull off? Is it as simple as how well a queen can convey the spirit of a song?
As valid as all these points are, there is one factor to a successful lip sync that doesn’t often get its due — song choice. Picking the right track for staging a no-holds-barred battle is crucial to the ultimate success of a lip sync. So, the question remains: which recording artist’s songs have soundtracked the most lip syncs on Drag Race?
Below, Billboard breaks down the artists whose songs have been featured the most times in lip syncs on RuPaul’s Drag Race and RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, and why their music has become an essential part of the Drag Race experience.
Rihanna
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/GI for NARAS
The Numbers: 5 lip-syncs (S5:E2, S11:E14, S12:E4, All Stars S2:E5, All Stars S5:E4)
The Impact: While there are five other superstars who have received the lip sync treatment 5 times (En Vogue, Cher, Nicki Minaj, Lizzo and Jennifer Lopez) Rihanna gets just a slight bump ahead if only because queens have a tendency to pop off when her music comes on. The Bad Girl herself didn’t become a regular lip sync occurrence on the franchise until later in its run, after the producers likely realized that Rihanna is a stellar choice for some stunning performances. Between her hyped-up pop stylings and her edgier endeavors, Rihanna’s music is the exact kind of wild that makes for some of Drag Race’s most memorable lip syncs.
The Best One: Alyssa Edwards vs. Tatianna to “Shut Up and Drive,” All Stars Season 2, Episode 5 — Widely considered to be one of the best lip-syncs in the Drag Race extended universe, Alyssa Edwards and Tatianna earned their double win for this unhinged, no-holds-barred lip sync. There are kicks, splits, drops, stunts and two stunning performances that would surely make even Rihanna stand up and scream “you better work!”
Janet Jackson
Image Credit: Francois Nel/GI
The Numbers: 6 lip-syncs (S10:E14 [twice], S13:E1, All Stars S1:E3, All Stars S4:E9, All Stars S6:E2)
The Impact: The sultry stylings of Ms. Jackson bring a much-needed air of desire to the lip syncs of Drag Race — tasking the queens with translating Janet’s smooth, sensual songs into keyed-up performances can be a difficult task for some. But when the queens manage to walk the line, their lip syncs to these songs quickly become some of the best in the show’s history, proving once again why Janet Jackson is as iconic as she is.
The Best One: Ra’Jah O’Hara vs. Brooke Lynn Hytes to “Miss You Much,” All Stars Season 6, Episode 2 — When Ra’Jah and Brooke Lynn faced off to the sounds of “Miss You Much” in All Stars 6, it was immediately one for the history books. Both queens brought the pure sex needed for the song while embodying Janet’s energy — it’s no wonder why they both won. And as an added bonus, no butterflies were harmed in the making of this lip-sync.
Madonna
Image Credit: Zak Kaczmarek/GI
The Numbers: 6 lip-syncs (S4:E5, S6:E1, S8:E5, S9:E6, S12:E7, All Stars S5:E5)
The Impact: B—-, she’s Madonna. There’s simply nothing more to it — when you think of phenomenal songs to get your life to, the Material Girl is one of the first artists to pop into your mind. She’s made a career creating music for the LGBTQ community to celebrate to, so when Madonna’s songs show up in a Drag Race lip sync, you just know that you’re about to watch two queens destroy the runway.
The Best One: Peppermint vs. Cynthia Lee Fontaine to “Music,” Season 9, Episode 6 — While there are multiple incredible entries of Madonna’s music on Drag Race, perhaps none was as impactful as this fateful lip-sync where Peppermint assassinated Cynthia Lee Fontaine on national television. Bringing camp, perfectly timed dance moves and an imaginary shotgun to the stage, Peppermint knocked it out of the park, all while doing Madge proud.
Beyoncé
Image Credit: Carlijn Jacobs*
The Numbers: 7 lip-syncs (Solo: S14:E6, S14:E11, S14:E14, S15:E10, All Stars S7:E3, With Destiny’s Child: S11:E14, S12:E14)
The Impact: Up until season 14 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Beyoncé’s music had only appeared twice on the show, and both times were from her Destiny’s Child days. But when it rains, it pours — scoring three lip syncs in a single main season, Bey came back in a big way, showing just how vital her songs are to the art of lip syncing.
The Best One: Jorgeous vs. Lady Camden vs. Angeria Paris VanMicheals to “Radio,” Season 14, Episode 11 — Having more than two queens perform in a lip-sync proved to be problematic in past seasons. But there is something about this LaLaPaRuza lip sync from season 14 that just works. Maybe it’s the fact that an often underappreciated Beyoncé gem was getting its shine; maybe it’s the fact that all three queens are using every ounce of the stage and their talent to shine; or maybe it’s the simple fact that by the end, it was hard to say who won in one of the best lip syncs of the entire season. All we know for sure is that the “Radio” lip sync was one for the books.
Lady Gaga
Image Credit: Patrick Smith/GI
The Numbers: 7 lip-syncs (S3:E3, S4:E:6, S8:E1, S11:E14, S14:E14, All Stars S2:E5, All Stars S6:E12, All Stars S7:E12)
The Impact: Along with being one of the greatest guest judges to grace the stage of Drag Race, Mother Monster has made her presence known through some of her fiercest songs showing up on the reality series. Gaga’s emotive voice, mixed with her music’s chameleonic quality, creates the dramatic, intense atmosphere that queens everywhere need to pull out a sickening performance. After all, she’s Lady Gaga — of course her songs are going to soundtrack some fabulous lip sync battles.
The Best One: Yvie Oddly vs. Brooke Lynn Hytes to “The Edge of Glory,” Season 11, Episode 14 — Talk about doing what the other girls can’t. In this finale lip sync for the crown, lip sync assassins Brooke Lynn Hytes and Yvie Oddly gave a nail-biting battle to Gaga’s Born This Way hit – but it was the moment when Yvie turned around to reveal a second face before bending over backwards into a flip that we all knew it would go down as an iconic final lip sync.
Aretha Franklin
Image Credit: Theo Wargo/GI for Tribeca Film Festival
The Numbers: 7 lip-syncs (S2:E9, S4:E10, S6:E10, S11:E12, S14:E11 All Stars S4:E5, All Stars S7:E12)
The Impact: When you need emotion, tears, and a voice that could bring a building down, who else are you going to turn to except the Queen of Soul? The late, great Aretha Franklin may not be the first person you think of when it comes to high-energy, dance-the-house-down lip syncs. But the raw passion of her music makes for some of the most moving performances on Drag Race, proving once again that lip-syncing isn’t always about stunts — it’s about embodying the artist.
The Best One: Latrice Royale vs. Kenya Michaels to “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” Season 4, Episode 10 — Lip-syncing while wearing pregnancy bellies is not an easy thing to do, as Kenya Michaels found out in this iconic season 4 moment. While the dancing queen tried to split and kick and flip her way to a win, Latrice Royale stood in place and paid simple, beautiful homage to Franklin, proving once and for all that she was a force to be reckoned with.
Whitney Houston
Image Credit: Kevin Winter/GI
The Numbers: 8 lip-syncs (S1:E3, S9:E13 [twice], S11:E5, S11:E12, S13:E14, All Stars S4:E3, All Stars S7:E4)
The Impact: Who better than The Voice to bring a lip-sync to life? Whitney Houston’s music perfectly encapsulates what makes the lip-syncs of Drag Race so fun to watch; they’re easy to dance to, her breathtaking vocals bring the drama, and everyone knows the words to a classic Whitney tune. Frankly, it’s a wonder that she’s only been performed to seven times on the show — but we’re certain that this isn’t the last we’ll hear from Whitney on Drag Race
The Best One: Sasha Velour vs. Shea Couleé to “So Emotional,” Season 9, Episode 13 — Who could ever forget perhaps the most well-loved reveal in the show’s history? When Sasha Velour lifted her wig and shook approximately a gallon of rose petals onto her head, fans everywhere lost it — not only did the fashion queen manage to beat out the favorite for the crown Shea Couleé, but it was a perfect send-up of Houston’s iconic track. We still get emotional thinking about what an excellent performance this was.
Ariana Grande
Image Credit: Art Streiber/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via GI
The Numbers: 9 lip-syncs (S7:E6, S9:E9, S10:E14, S12:E3, S13:E12, S15:E1, All Stars S4:E2, All Stars S5:E6, All Stars S6:E10)
The Impact: While Ariana Grande’s songs didn’t appear on Drag Race until her appearance as a guest judge in season 7, they have now practically become a staple of the show itself. Almost every season, two queens end up lip syncing to an Ariana banger, and it’s easy to see why — the pop superstar has a penchant for making hook-focused, instantly catchy tracks that almost beg you to lip-sync along to them.
The Best One: Nina Bo’nina Brown vs. Valentina to “Greedy,” Season 9, Episode 9 — Yes, this lip-sync to “Greedy” is universally considered to be one of the all-time worst lip syncs on Drag Race. And that’s why it is the best — to this day, fans still talk about Valentina’s mask, RuPaul’s angry lecture mid-song, Shea Couleé’s off-screen commentary of “She. Doesn’t. Know. The Words.” and much more. But not enough people talk about what a fabulous job Nina Bo’nina Brown did encapsulating the vibe of Ariana Grande while dressed as a skeleton in a tutu.
Britney Spears
Image Credit: Michelangelo Di Battista/Sony/RCA via GI
The Numbers: 11 lip-syncs (S1:E5, S4:E1, S5:E4, S9:E4, S9:E14, S11:E2, S13:E3, S13:E16 [three times] All Stars S6:E4)
The Impact: When you think of a drag queen performing a lip sync, what song comes to mind? “Womanizer?” Perhaps it’s “Work Bitch?” Maybe even “…Baby One More Time?” Either way, Britney Spears is one of the best performers to deliver a dragged-out lip-sync to, and there is no exception when it comes to Drag Race — the pop princess’ vocals lend themselves to mimicry, her discography offers everything from pure campy pop to lonesome ballads, and her music is some of the most instantly recognizable around the world. I mean, it’s Britney, b—-!
The Best One: Peppermint vs. Trinity “The Tuck” Taylor to “Stronger,” Season 9, Episode 14 — While there are nearly a dozen lip syncs to choose from here, none compares to the battle royale between Peppermint and Trinity at the season 9 finale. From the moment the song began, both queens gave their all to this performance, actively manifesting Spears’ inspirational lyrics. But when Peppermint offered a wig and outfit reveal in one fell swoop, it became clear she was the one true winner.
RuPaul
Image Credit: Courtesy of VH1
The Numbers: 23 lip-syncs (I don’t know why you’re all gagging, she brings it to you every season).
The Impact: I mean, duh. Her name is literally in the title. There is no RuPaul’s Drag Race without RuPaul, so of course she’s going to be the one who gets the most lip-syncs on the show. Because of the very nature of Drag Race, RuPaul’s songs are the ideal lip-sync songs — because they are quite literally built to be lip-synced to. Frankly, if it had been anyone else topping this list, that would have been the real gag of the century.
The Best One: Naomi Smalls vs. Gia Gunn to “Adrenaline,” All Stars Season 4, Episode 6 — There are quite literally a mountain of lip-syncs to choose from, but the one that still stands out to this day came during All Stars 4’s infamous “LaLaPaRuZa” episode, when Naomi Smalls and Gia Gunn delivered show-stopping performances to RuPaul’s “Adrenaline.” There are so many noteworthy moments in this one lip sync — Gia’s Gogo Yubari-esque reveal, Naomi’s gravity-defying backbend, both of them voguing for their lives — that we still don’t understand why they both weren’t permitted to stay in the competition for doing Ru proud.
After a high-octane season that saw the show’s highest ratings in three years, RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 went out with a bang on Friday (April 14).
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In the finale episode, the top four queens (Anetra, Luxx Noir London, Mistress Isabelle Brooks and Sasha Colby) performed in a series of solo lip sync numbers, before getting narrowed down to a top two. With Anetra and Sasha Colby advancing to the final event, the pair performed a dramatic lip sync to Amii Stewart’s “Knock on Wood,” where only one queen emerged victorious — Sasha Colby.
The Hawaiian drag superstar — best known for winning the prestigious drag pageant Miss Continental back in 2011 — humbly accepted her new scepter from RuPaul at the end of the finale, declaring that she was dedicating her win to her community. “This goes to every trans person, past, present and future,” she said. “Because we are not going anywhere.”
Colby came into the finale with the strongest track record of any of her competitors — along with never landing in the bottom in any of the show’s challenges, Sasha also racked up four challenge wins over the course of the season, more than any other queen on the show. Fans favored Sasha for the crown, with 47% of respondents to Billboard‘s pre-finale poll declaring Sasha as their winner (Anetra was the next closest with 44% of the vote).
Speaking to Billboard a few days after her crowning, Sasha Colby talked about what it meant for her to win the crown, how she executed two extremely memorable lip syncs in a single episode, her Beyoncé conspiracy theory and why it’s more important than ever to have a trans woman take home the Drag Race crown.
You must have had a wild weekend, queen.
It’s really been wonderful, I got to spend some time with some really good friends who always supported my work. I just got to soak it in, let it integrate, you know?
Yes, because nothing big happened, right?
No, no, you know, I watched a little show on Friday, but other than that, it was chill [laughs]. Which is exactly how I felt going into the event on Friday night, I was telling the top four when we were doing our numbers, like, “Girls, it’s just brunch.”
Let’s get into it — congratulations to you, our winner, our current reigning! How are you feeling after clinching the crown?
I feel amazing! As a very competitive pageant girl, it’s nice to accomplish something, and it really feels good to sit back and know that this was a job well done. I did everything I could — I mean, I literally put my whole a– out there. It’s just really lovely to get this from the ultimate drag queen herself.
This is not your first experience taking home a crown — in your career, where does this particular honor rank amongst your many achievements?
This is the highest honor so far, until my presidency [laughs]. No, this is the pinnacle for me. Doing Miss Continental 11 years ago, Drag Race was, I think, about three seasons in. It was pretty new. When I made a miracle happen by winning Continental, I sort of thought that you get one miracle in your lifetime. But it’s wild to think that we made magic again — and by “we” I do mean my tribe, my family, because it definitely was not just me.
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Right after winning the crown, you had this beautiful moment where you dedicated your win to your community, to “every trans person, past, present and future, because we’re not going anywhere.” With everything going on in the country right now, why was that an important dedication for you to make?
You know, I was thinking about being funny, being cheeky — no pun intended. But really, what summed it up the entire competition me was the fact that I was getting so nervous. You get very in your head, you start feeling insane, like a drag-zilla, if you will. I had to step back and make the competition where it was not about this dream that I was so happy to have achieved. All that was in the back of my head was, “What’s going on?” You know, it was about traveling, and feeling unsafe where we’re going, and this rhetoric on the news about trans folks.
So it was a way for me to not make it about, “I need to win Drag Race, this is the end-all-be-all.” No, when you’re trying to achieve something, you have to look at what’s after. Once you know there’s something else you have to do that is greater than this desire you have, the desire immediately gets filled because of the purpose you have. To me, this is why I waited [to be on Drag Race], because I was supposed to be here right now, to be the face of exactly what these people are trying to eradicate.
Well-said. On a much less serious note, on a scale of 1-10, how certain are you in your conspiracy theory that Beyoncé’s Sasha Fierce moniker was inspired by you?
Girl, that is desperate, desperate ploy for Beyoncé to contact me [laughs]. And you know what? The hive has not come for me yet, because deep down they know that they all would have done the same thing. If it meant mother would talk to them? They would’ve done the exact same.
They’ve just been sitting quietly saying, “Wait, no, let’s see what happens.”
Ugh, the doors Gia Gunn and I have opened [giggles].
There’s so much to talk about from the finale episode, so let’s start with your performance of the original song “GODDESS” — you were in perfect form for this number. Tell me a little about how you went about staging this, because it looked very meticulous.
Well, I was definitely thinking Continental 2.0 — I definitely have a formula when it comes to performances. Even if it’s a solo, I do have a formula that my dance director has worked with us all on for years; “When you tell a story, you have to have a beginning, a middle and an end.”
I like to use my body to write the story of what I see in the music. So if I feel a suspension of breath like there was in “GODDESS,” I want to show that with my body. If I feel tension, I want to show it. I remember Monica Monroe told me the most powerful thing is to understand the silence of the music. Because that takes you on a journey, and it points the viewer in the right direction. And, you know, I like being a little f–gy.
Then we get to the Lip Sync for the Crown, where you executed not one, but two absolutely wild outfit reveals. How much did you have to practice those before getting on the stage?
Can I be real with you? Not one time. The outfits weren’t finished and didn’t get delivered until the day before. I couldn’t unwrap that massive coat, because even if I did, there was no space with enough room to practice that reveal! I’ve done the trick with the second dress before (ripping out a chord from the center of the dress until it falls away), it’s an old-school burlesque trick. But it’s hard to execute, and we did end up painting a little purple on it so it would blend it, which made it a little trickier. So no, that was not rehearsed, and I was really on that stage like, “I am going to rip this off on camera.” I also just didn’t want to be that queen saying “I need to rehearse on the stage! I need to this!” It’s just like, it’s a competition, hold your cards close to your chest.
Do you have any big plans for what you’re going to do with the $200,000 cash prize?
I think I’m gonna try and save, to be honest! I’d love to save it up so I can buy a beautiful home. But, a splurge might be something like … great teeth, honestly. A star smile! Because dental health is very important! It seems like a vanity buy, but ultimately it’s a healthy buy.
What can fans expect from Sasha Colby’s reign as America’s Next Drag Superstar?
You can expect the same goofy, silly, sexy girl to come to every city. You can expect high energy, mothering love, and probably some groundbreaking things that are already in the works as we speak. I mean, I’m not gonna stop now! In the eternal words of RuPaul herself, “This is the beginning.”
After an extremely competitive few weeks that saw 16 queens contend for the crown, season 15 of RuPaul’s Drag Race finally came to an end on Friday night (April 14) when one queen walked away with the crown.
Filmed live on April 1 at The Theatre at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles, the finale gave all of the eliminated queens a chance to return to the stage and show off their fabulous fashion, before the top four — Anetra, Luxx Noir London, Mistress Isabelle Brooks and Sasha Colby — began their official fight for the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar.
Taking to the stage in a series of solo performances, the top four rewrote their narratives for an eager audience: Anetra blossomed into a “Lotus” with her EDM-tinged single; Luxx declared that “It’s Giving Fashion” with her couture single; Mistress psychoanalyzed the “Delusion” of the season with a mesmerizing song; and Sasha Colby ascended to become a “Goddess” with her dance-pop anthem.
With only two queens able to move forward to the final showdown, RuPaul selected Anetra and Sasha Colby as the season’s top two thanks to their stellar performances. Advancing to the famous Lip Sync for the Crown, Anetra and Sasha put it all on the line to the tune of Amii Stewart’s 1979 classic “Knock on Wood.”
Anetra showed off her superior dance skills with a (literally) bleeding heart on her chest that she then removed during the performance. Meanwhile, Sasha Colby gave fans not one but two stunning outfit reveals, all while tearing up the stage and performing her signature hair flips along the way. With the lip-sync over, and the audience at home waiting, RuPaul announced that the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 was…
…Sasha Colby! Your favorite drag queen’s favorite drag queen clutched her face as she accepted the crown and scepter from RuPaul. As the crowd roared with applause, Colby dedicated her award to her community with an empowering statement. “This goes to every trans person — past, present and future,” she proclaimed. “Because we are not going anywhere.”
See the full moment when Sasha Colby clinched the crown below:
Despite what some lawmakers around the country are trying, the art of drag is not going anywhere. Case in point, RuPaul’s Drag Race continues its supreme reign as the pinnacle of modern reality television.
With its latest season, Drag Race managed to up the stakes not only financially (with a newly-boosted $200,000 cash prize) or in terms of network (the show made the jump from VH1 to MTV this year), but through its execution as well — with its largest-ever cast of 16 talented queens, each episode of the hit show’s 15th season saw every contestant working hard to earn their keep.
While the queens gave their all in each of the maxi challenges — including Drag Race staples like Snatch Game and the Rusical — it was season 15’s lip syncs where the queens really brought their A-game. Whether it was a Lip Sync For Your Life to survive another week on the show, or a Lip Sync Lalaparuza performance in the show’s battle royale format, every queen who appeared on season 15 had to rely on their lip sync abilities in order to impress throughout a season where everyone seemed impressive.
But which of this season’s many lip syncs stood out amongst the rest … and which ones failed to impress? Ahead of the finale airing this Friday (April 14), Billboard is taking a look back at all 20 of the lip syncs performed thus far on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15, and ranking them from worst to best. Check out where your favorite landed below:
Malaysia Babydoll Foxx vs. Spice: Camila Cabello, “Don’t Go Yet”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo
Rule number one of every lip sync, on or off RuPaul’s Drag Race: you must know the words to the song. Yet in this Lalaparuza lip sync, neither queen could manage to remember the song’s lyrics — with one even choosing the song as a means of sabotaging the other. Both Malaysia and Spice ended up bopping around the stage while trying to hide the fact that they simply had no idea what Camila Cabello was singing on the song’s chorus.
Watch the full lip sync here.
Malaysia Babydoll Foxx vs. Salina EsTitties: Beyoncé, “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”
The moment that “Single Ladies” began playing in this mid-season Lip Sync For Your Life, members of the BeyHive everywhere got excited — at long last, one of Beyoncé’s most iconic hits would be making its Drag Race debut. But by the time it had ended, even lip sync winner Salina EsTitties was offering up an apology to Queen Bey. Neither queen managed to match the song’s hype or energy in this largely lackluster lip sync, though Salina’s commitment to recreating the video choreography beat-by-beat was at least admirable.
Watch the full lip sync here.
Loosey LaDuca vs. Spice: Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)”
For a song as gritty as “Do You Wanna Touch Me,” we expected these queens to get much more into it than they ultimately did. Both Loosey and Spice seemed to lack the raw, punk spirit of the song, instead aiming for safe performances that would remove them from the Lalaparuza tournament. In the end, Loosey did manage to put some funny moments into the song, earning her early exit from the contest. But, in the words of Marcia Marcia Marcia watching from a couch: “Pick it up girls, c’mon.”
Watch the full lip sync here.
Amethyst vs. Princess Poppy: Diana Ross, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”
Along with knowing your words, reading the room is the key to a good lip sync. That’s clearly what Amethyst did when giving her performance to Diana Ross’ rendition of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” Matching the groove of the song with the vibe of her performance, Amethyst delivered a perfectly serviceable, if not somewhat boring, lip-sync to an iconic song. Princess Poppy, on the other hand, decided to show as much of her “between-me-down-there” (as RuPaul would call it) as possible, making for a very strange and one-sided lip sync.
Watch the full lip sync here.
Salina EsTitties vs. Spice: Lil Nas X, “That’s What I Want”
The real criminal in this lip sync was the choice of song. Both Salina and Spice did fine given the assignment, but we’re stuck wondering why “That’s What I Want” was the song picked out of all Lil Nas X’s discography for a Lip Sync For Your Life. “Call Me By Your Name (Montero),” “Industry Baby,” and even “Old Town Road” would have all been much better choices with clearer paths to success for either of these two queens, while “That’s What I Want” offered very little for our performers to act on.
Watch the full lip sync here.
Loosey LaDuca vs. Salina EsTitties: Kate Bush, “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo
Hear us out on this one. Yes, objectively speaking, this was a very bad lip sync — Loosey and Salina tried “Running Up That Hill” and instead came tumbling down it. But sometimes, a performance can be so bad that it transcends objectivity and becomes compelling again, and that’s what ended up happening here. A lip sync is meant to entertain, and watching a very sad sea monster and a hot-dog-fingered abstract painting try to convey the complicated emotions of Kate Bush’s classic single turned out to be very entertaining, indeed.
Watch the full lip sync here.
Sugar vs. Spice: Pat Benatar, “You Better Run”
Much like the “Running Up That Hill” lip sync, the inevitable showdown between Sugar and Spice entered into “so bad it’s good” territory pretty early on. Watching these twinning queens work together with matching choreography in a competitive lip sync, only to have one of them actually face-plant twice on national television is the kind of high-camp comedy we’ve come to expect from Drag Race. It’s giving pure chaos, which we simply love to see.
Watch the full lip sync here.
Anetra vs. Luxx Noir London vs. Jax: Vanessa Williams, “The Right Stuff”
There is no denying after watching season 15 that Anetra, Luxx and Jax are all incredibly gifted lip sync performers in their own right. But when tasked with performing at the same time to Vanessa Williams’ iconic “The Right Stuff,” it suddenly became very hard to follow who was doing what. Had this been a classic head to head showdown between two of these three, we imagine this lip sync could have been one for the books. But by introducing a third queen, the stage suddenly became too jumbled with kicks and splits and drops to fairly discern which queen was winning.
Watch the full lip sync here.
Anetra vs. Mistress Isabelle Brooks: David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland, “When Love Takes Over”
The final showdown ahead of the season 15 finale was another bit of proof that dancing and stunts are not what makes a good lip sync performance. For the majority of this head-to-head, both Anetra and Mistress Isabelle Brooks remained in their respective spots on the stage, choosing to let their faces do the performing. Sure, we still got some duck-walking from Anetra and some speedbag punches from Mistress, but this lip-sync was sold by the passion in both queens’ faces throughout.
Watch the full lip sync here.
Amethyst vs. Irene Dubois: Ariana Grande, “7 Rings”
If you listen to the beat and tempo of Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings,” you’ll realize that the star’s casual-flex anthem is not that easy to dance to — and yet both Amethyst and Irene Dubois still managed to bop and shake their way into a memorable premiere lip sync. While Irene’s laid-back, sexed-up performance certainly managed to pull our attention, Amethyst’s spot-on embodiment of the track’s energy won her the day, with Ariana herself smiling in approval.
Watch the full lip sync here.
Jax vs. Robin Fierce: The Bangles, “In Your Room”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo
The Bangles may not be an obvious pick for a RuPaul’s Drag Race lip sync smackdown, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by the way that Jax and Robin Fierce performed to their single “In My Room.” Offering up two completely different performances, Robin showed off her flowing dance chops, while Jax proved to be a lightning-fast, endlessly agile performer, each stunning the judges in their own ways. Even with her A-tier stunts and choreo, Jax still got a run for her money from Robin, making their face-off all the more entertaining to watch.
Watch the full lip sync here.
Luxx Noir London vs. Salina EsTitties: Celine Dion, “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now”
Lip-synch smarter, not harder. That may as well have been Salina EsTitties’ motto when she faced off with Luxx Noir London to Celine Dion’s iconic “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” for the Lalaparuza. Picking and choosing when in the song she would serve emotion, camp or sexuality, Salina proved to be a master of timing with this performance. For every beat of the song, she kept viewers on their toes, wondering where she would take them next — which helps, since it left few eyeballs on Luxx’s lip sync.
Watch the full lip sync here.
Loosey LaDuca vs. Luxx Noir London: Hayley Kiyoko, “For the Girls”
There is nothing better in a Lip Sync For Your Life than seeing a queen who will do whatever she has to in order to stay, which is exactly what we got with Luxx and Loosey’s Hayley Kiyoko showdown. Where Loosey tried to show some restraint, Luxx let herself go wild in this performance. Utilizing dips, drops and more hair flips than we can could, Luxx proved that sometimes, the key to winning is being nothing but utterly confident.
Watch the full lip sync here.
Anetra vs. Jax: CeCe Peniston, “Finally”
At the end of a lip-sync marathon and performing their third number in a matter of minutes, Anetra and Jax were both understandably tired by the time they arrived at CeCe Peniston’s “Finally.” But even when they were both worn down, this pair of lip sync superstars managed to turn out one of the highest-energy lip syncs of the season. Pulling out every dance move in their repertoire to this certified bop, the queens gave viewers whiplash with how quickly we felt ourselves bouncing back and forth between their gag-worthy moves, resulting in a photo-finish decision from the judges’ panel.
Watch the full lip sync here.
Malaysia Babydoll Foxx vs. Marcia Marcia Marcia: Anitta, “Boys Don’t Cry”
Everyone loves an underdog. When Marcia Marcia Marcia was seemingly singled-out for this Lalaparuza lip-sync as a queen who could be beat, she had a tall task when it came to proving herself. Yet prove herself she did, showing everyone that she wasn’t joking when she said she was a classically-trained dancer. Every move in this performance was purposeful and clean, as Marcia whipped around the stage like a hurricane made of pure drag, leaving Malaysia deep in her wake.
Watch the full lip sync here.
Amethyst vs. Salina EsTitties: Janelle Monáe, “Q.U.E.E.N.”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo
Guest judge Janelle Monáe said all that needed to be said when she started screaming mid-lip sync. When the original artist cannot help but yelp at your performance, you know you’ve done something right. Amethyst and Salina both knew their assignment from the song’s first note —the lyrics literally instruct you to be “a freak for getting down.” But it was Salina who embodied every ounce of swagger found in “Q.U.E.E.N,” while also adding her perfectly-executed bits (like losing her skirt for the “skirt on the ground” lyric) to make this lip sync one for the history books.
Watch the full lip sync here.
Mistress Isabelle Brooks vs. Jax: Taylor Dayne, “Tell It To My Heart”
Going up against a noted lip-sync assassin like Jax would be nerve-wracking for any queen … unless, of course, you’re Mistress Isabelle Brooks. The self-proclaimed “heavyweight champ” earned her title with this stunning lip sync to “Tell it to My Heart”. Instead of falling into the trap of attempting to outdance a trained dancer, Mistress instead focused on the drama of the song, utilizing her already-commanding stage presence for a phenomenal embodiment of this late ’80s dance-pop classic.
Watch the full lip sync here.
Aura Mayari vs. Jax: Megan Thee Stallion & Dua Lipa, “Sweetest Pie”
There was no “Pie” leftover after this lip sync ended, because Jax ate and left no crumbs. While Aura struggled to remember all the words to Megan Thee Stallion’s rapid-fire rap, Jax remained cool, calm and collected while hitting every word and every movement of this song with perfect precision. Every flip and roll she did throughout the number landed with grace, fluidly transitioning each time into her next “oh my god how did she do that” trick. We’d say that Aura did a good job, too, but if we’re being honest, we kind of forgot that she was there about halfway through this incredible routine.
Watch the full lip sync here.
Anetra vs. Sasha Colby: Fifth Harmony, “I’m In Love With A Monster”
There is a reason that this lip sync was the showdown fans had been waiting for until it finally happened in episode 8. Anetra and Sasha are two of the best lip sync artists in the show’s history, and having them battle it out to Fifth Harmony halfway through the season felt like a gift for fans who’d been dedicated to keeping up with the season. Both queens had their words, their stunts, their acting and their presence down to a science throughout this high-octane number, never letting up on the gas. How the judges decided which of these two won or lost is simply beyond us.
Watch the full lip sync here.
Anetra vs. Marcia Marcia Marcia: Doja Cat, “Boss Bitch”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo
By every possible metric you can judge a lip sync from RuPaul’s Drag Race, Anetra and Marcia Marcia Marcia’s “Boss Bitch” performance gets a perfect score. Words? Dance moves? Face-serving? Storyline? Moments that make you say out loud “wait did she actually just leap over her body?” 10’s, 10’s, 10’s across the board.
Anetra and Marcia definitively showed what makes the Lip Sync For Your Life format — and for that matter, the art of lip-synching itself — so compelling; from the moment Doja Cat groaned “Mmm, I ain’t tryna,” both queens kept their audience rapt while they masterfully executed perfectly plotted-out presentations. While there were plenty of excellent lip-syncs throughout season 15, none of them came close to the masterclass displayed here.
Watch the full lip sync here.
After three months, 12 eliminations and 20 lip syncs, RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 is finally coming to a close on Friday (April 14).
The finale (airing Friday at 8 p.m. on MTV) will see the show’s four finalists — Anetra, Luxx Noir London, Mistress Isabelle Brooks and Sasha Colby — duke it out for the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar, as well as the series’ record-high cash prize of $200,000.
Drag Race has yet to announce the specific format of this year’s finale. Throughout the show’s history, finale episodes have had a tendency to change — while the final episodes for much of the show’s history simply featured a series of performances and interviews before the winner was crowned, more recent seasons have seen each of the top queens battle for the title in a series of lip syncs.
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With the format still unannounced, there are a number of criteria that could be used to choose a winner from season 15. If fans go purely off of queens’ track records on the show, then Sasha Colby would stand out as the clear front-runner — the former Miss Continental winner has taken home four challenge wins (more than any of the other finalists), and never landed in the bottom two. If fans are looking for the queen with the best lip sync record, Mistress Isabelle Brooks is currently undefeated when it comes to lip syncs, having survived both lip syncs she performed in on the show.
Whatever your criteria, the question still remains; who do you think should win RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15? Vote in our official poll below:
It’s L-I-Z-Z-O; five letters and two vowels — and she’s here to show off her brand new nail art with a little help from RuPaul’s Drag Race.
In a post on TikTok on Saturday (April 8), Lizzo shared that she recently got duck nails — the divisive, flared-tip nail shape that has been taking over TikTok in the last two years. But instead of offering up any more discourse on whether or not duck nails are the “ugly sneakers” of nails, as Dazed put it, Lizzo simply decided to play with her new nails to the sound of Drag Race season 15 finalist Anetra.
The clip shows Lizzo voguing with her new pink nails while lip-synching along to Anetra’s now-iconic talent show performance from the season 15 premiere. “You better walk that f–king duck duck walk,” Lizzo mouthed to the camera. The duck-walking queen ended up seeing Lizzo’s video, and commented “Oh…. My god” under the clip.
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The “About Damn Time” singer has been a longtime fan of Drag Race, even appearing on the show twice as a guest judge — once during season 10 of the show, and again for the season 14 premiere. She even enlisted a group of queens from the show (A’keria Davenport, Detox, Asia O’Hara, Mariah Paris Balenciaga, Morgan McMichaels, Silky Nutmeg Ganache, Soju, Kylie Sonique Love and Mayhem Miller) to help create a second music video for her track “Juice” back in 2019.
Meanwhile, Anetra will be one of four finalists — alongside Sasha Colby, Mistress Isabelle Brooks and Luxx Noir London — to compete for the crown and a record-breaking cash prize of $200,000 on Friday’s finale episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15.
Check out Lizzo’s full lip sync to Anetra’s talent show performance below:
After 13 episodes and the introduction of 16 queens, RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 has finally revealed our top four queens.
On last week’s episode (aired Friday, March 24), the top five contestants took part in the now-iconic makeover challenge, transforming teachers from around the country into fabulous drag queens bearing a strong family resemblance to their respective queens.
Transforming her teacher into a sickening drag daughter named Alektra, Anetra immediately wowed the judges not only for her phenomenal makeup skills, but for constructing two iconic outfits that conveyed the family resemblance they were looking for in this challenge. The star took home her third maxi challenge win, tying her for the most wins of the season with frontrunner Sasha Colby.
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Meanwhile, after a hair-splitting critique, Luxx Noir London and Loosey LaDuca found themselves in the bottom for their makeovers of Asia Azul and Lala LaDuca, respectively. Lip-syncing to guest judge Hayley Kiyoko’s “For the Girls,” Luxx pulled out all the stops, earning a spot in the top four, leaving Loosey as the eliminee.
Billboard caught up with Loosey following her elimination to talk about her song “Let Loose” going ultra-viral following her talent show performance in episode one, whether or not she was “delusional” during her Drag Race run, and which queen she felt should have been lip syncing against Luxx instead of her.
Congrats on making it to the top five! How are you feeling about your Drag Race journey?
I feel really great — I’m so incredibly proud of the job that I did. Of course, I would love to be top four … but other than that, I really look back and am just so proud of myself for everything that I did.
Before we get into anything else, we have to talk about the sensation that is sweeping the nation — “Let Loose” is inescapable on social media at this point. What has it been like to watch this song absolutely blow up?
It’s so weird! I wasn’t sure about what the fanbase’s take would be on me, and then I was sick on the couch with COVID, when my phone just started blowing up. And it has not stopped since — every day I think, “Alright, I’m sure it’s passed.” Nope. It’s truly insane. People are now congratulating me, not for Drag Race, but saying, “Congratulations on ‘Let Loose,’ I mean, my god.”
I mean, I get it — the song just passed 100,000 streams on Spotify, so it’s worth congratulating you on!
Yeah, it’s wild. I’m getting videos of people all over the world performing it, it’s actually crazy. All credit to my very good friend Andrew Barret Cox, he wrote and produced the track; he also did “Jantasy” for Jan. He is absolutely incredible and a certified bop-maker.
Along with “Let Loose” going viral, another Drag Race moment caught the attention of none other than Kevin Bacon, who applauded your performance in the Rusical challenge! How gagged were you?
That was absolutely incredible, 100 percent the best moment of my mom’s life. I had COVID all last week, I was firmly planted on my couch with my dog, and sure enough, Kevin Bacon came up in my notifications. I was like, “Oh, I’m sure this is a Kevin bacon fan account or something.” And sure enough, it was actually him, which is absolutely insane. So now I’m one degree away from Kevin Bacon.
It helps that the Rusical was genuinely so good — from the performances to the music, it was top-to-bottom excellent.
Oh, I am so proud of the Rusical. I look back and I’m like, “God, we did so good.” The music was so good, and such earworms! They were bops, Leland and the entire team and all of the vocalists on those tracks were so talented and wonderful. I’m very honored to have been a part of, I think, one of the best Rusicals.
Now, another thing that’s being flying around the internet are accusations of “drag delusion” in your direction. After being on set and after watching the show, do you think that you were experiencing said delusion?
I think … hmm, how to put this? I think what was shown looks like delusion. That’s all! [laughs] I trust that folks can read between the lines.
In the latest episode, getting to do the makeover challenge with teachers is such a lovely idea, especially with all of the anti-LGBTQ classroom laws being passed around the country. What do you feel like you got to learn from working with teachers who are having to deal with all of this legislation?
Yeah, completely. My teacher who I got to work with — Miss Lala LaDuca, thank you very much — was just so wonderful and so sweet. You could tell that she was the type of woman who was just born to be a teacher. I think what I really gained from that was that, a lot of times, teachers are the people who teach all of their students about the world. If kids are only getting the scope of what’s at home, that’s a very small, narrow point of view. School and teachers, it is sort of their job to open kids up to the rest of the world — if they’re not being legally allowed to teach about sexuality or identity, then these laws are stifling teachers’ jobs, which is to help cultivate who these kids are! No laws should be getting in the way of that.
I do hope people understand how difficult the makeover challenge is — can you explain what it is about this challenge that makes it so tough?
Completely! I think, first of all, you’re putting drag makeup that has been designed to be perfect for your face on another human being. So now, it might not look the same — luckily, I thought my teacher looked sickening. She looked fully like a LaDuca. But the thing that’s especially hard about it is that you need to have a family resemblance, but it can’t be exact, but it can’t be too subtle. There’s so many factors in there that the judges can really pick apart, and that means there’s not usually a very clear winner or loser in these challenges, because there’s such a grey area.
Before you go, I want to talk about the placements in this episode. You mentioned in your confessional that you were shocked to be in the bottom this challenge — full tea, who did you think should have been in your spot in the bottom two?
Ooh. I think, for lack of originality, probably Mistress — she wore that gown several times on the show, so if I had to say someone, I would say her.
Drag queens and musical theater go together about as well as peanut butter and jelly, a fact that was proven yet again on the latest installment of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
On last week’s episode (aired Friday, March 17), the six remaining contestant got to perform in a fan-favorite challenge: the Rusical! Fighting for parts and learning their songs and choreo, the queens put on a show-stopping performance of Wigloose: The Rusical, telling the story of a small town trying to ban drag —which sounded pretty familiar to the audience at home.
With the judges struggling to find flaws in what was one of the best Rusical performances to date, they ultimately adored Anetra’s hilarious-yet-moving performance as the show’s supportive mother. Meanwhile, the panel split hairs and decided that Loosey LaDuca and Salina EsTitties didn’t wow them as much as the other girls on the runway, landing them both in the bottom.
Performing in a chilling lip-sync to Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” both queens did their best to showcase the inherent drama of the song. Ultimately, Loosey’s eerie performance earned her another week in the competition, bringing Salina’s competitive run to a close.
Billboard caught up with Salina following her elimination to talk about surviving three lip-syncs on the show, how timely Wigloose feels today, and the backstage drama that came from RuPaul’s infamous question, “who should go home tonight and why?”
You made it to the top six! How are you feeling about your Drag Race journey?
I feel amazing about it. Being there, it didn’t feel like it was that big of a deal, because I was like, “Yeah, I wanted to get to the top!” But after the fact, looking back, I was like, “Wait … top six out of 16 bitches? That’s great.”
With being in the top six, you also join a handful of Drag Race queens who have survived three or more lip syncs, like Jujubee, Coco Montrese and others. Was that something that you were consciously thinking about in the moment?
I mean, no, because we all know that third Beyoncé lip sync was supposed to be Mistress — we all saw that interview! [laughs] No, no, it’s fine, I got to give an iconic Beyoncé moment, I was fully ready, bitch. The thing with our season is it felt like anyone could have been in the bottom at any point. We’re all so talented and good at this, that if you put any one of the girls there, it would have been a fight regardless. It did feel good winning, obviously. But at the same time, it really felt like anyone could have been in my situation, which made it such a weird experience to live through. To be able to keep going felt amazing.
A lot of the girls were like, “Oh, I’m just here to have fun!” But I think, deep down, we were all really there to try and win and do our best.
Yes, girl, people are trying to win this season.
Oh, we see that with Miss Loosey, don’t we, honey? [laughs]
I’ve also love that you shouting the phrase “Free Willy” when Anetra leapt over Marcia in the episode prior has become a full-blown meme on Twitter.
I was so happy they kept that in. When we were watching that lip-sync, when she leapt over her, it was the most iconic lip sync situation we had seen all season. So the fact that they made me a part of it was just sickening. And Marcia had no clue that happened in the moment! The way everyone was screaming in the room, it was just insane.
Let’s get into this week and the Rusical episode. For the one trillionth time on this show, we get this moment where Loosey and Luxx are fighting over who gets to play the lead. You backed out quickly from that fight — do you think it’s really worth it to fight for the lead role in these challenges?
In a situation like this where you’re really vying for wins and you want to get noticed by the judges, in the lead role, you’re going to get noticed the most. Usually, the conversation quickly steers towards, “Oh, you could really mess up! You could do really bad!” But I think with musicals, and the fact that a lot of us drag queens are theater queens, it’s the perfect opportunity for us to showcase everything we can do — dance, sing, act, lip-sync — all at once. As a theater major myself, I wanted that lead role, too! But, I wasn’t gonna fight over it.
I think everyone was very struck by how unbelievably timely this Rusical was. Having a show about a small town trying to ban drag while that actual real thing is actively happening in Tennessee and on the precipice of happening in other states felt really wild.
It’s literally so insane. It’s fully like that thing with how The Simpsons kept predicting the future — now it’s Drag Race. At the time of filming, which was almost a year or so ago, Ru had just done an interview with Jimmy Fallon, I think, talking about acceptance and drag queen story hour, which was sort of the main issue at the time. But it’s still happening today, and now it’s even crazier. It’s actually wild how relevant it is today, and I’m really grateful that this is all lining up the way that it is, because what a great way to combat this and show that it’s really about love at the end of the day.
How have you been dealing with all of the news coming out of places like Tennessee lately?
It’s crazy. Our good sister Aura lives in Tennessee, and she has been a very vocal advocate, and she’s been using her platform to fight against it. We’ve all kind of been asking her, “What can we do to help?”
It’s interesting, too, now that I’m traveling to these smaller, rural towns where I’m thinking, “Wait … y’all don’t like us.” It’s very scary out here today.
Getting back to the Rusical, the judges weren’t kidding when they said that all of you killed this performance. When you were preparing for Wigloose, could you tell that this one felt like such a strong Rusical challenge?
The music is so good. We could not stop singing “Everybody’s going Wigloose” ever since we left the show. Like, we’ve all been talking about how we genuinely can’t wait for it to go on iTunes so we can actually listen to it. Leland is a literal genius, and he’s fast making all of this stuff while we’re there. It’s insane.
So, yes, we knew we were crushing it. When the critiques happened and there were no bad critiques, it felt correct. Like, “the show was perfect, let’s just read you guys for your looks.” So it was like, “Okay, cool, we did something iconic that’s going to go down in history.”
Speaking of critiques, this week the dreaded question comes up; “Who should go home tonight, and why?” I appreciate that you let the girls who said your name know exactly how you felt about being picked. What’s that experience like, having to answer, and being told that these girls want you gone?
Well, in that moment, I was truly like, “Well, it’s only two people out of five.” I had a feeling in my heart that they didn’t even necessarily believe that was true. Up until this point, I had been in the bottom for two design challenges and the one interview challenge, which no one thought I should have been in the bottom for to begin with. So, Loosey straight up told me, every design challenge, “You shouldn’t have been in the bottom.” So, in the moment, I was like, “If that’s the case, Loosey, your math about why I should go home just doesn’t add up.”
So I thought, “Let’s go out with a bang. If this is my last episode, I’m gonna go down with a fight.” And I was so mad that they weren’t pushing back at me during Untucked! Like, “fight with me, dammit!” And then Anetra comes in with, “Well, RuPaul was asking about who deserved to go,” and I was like, “Shut up, Anetra, I’m not even talking to you, I’m talking to Loosey!” [laughs]
We get to this lip sync — I just want to know what your approach was, knowing you had this chilling, emotional song to perform while wearing giant hot dog fingers?
Girl, it was giving Everything Everywhere All At Once. The whole point of EsTitties is that she’s an actress, she takes these serious beats, but the reality of who she is really is just chaos, insanity and camp. I knew it would look ridiculous, but as long as I played it so serious and heartfelt, it would make it even more hilarious that I had these massive hands.
More than perhaps any other show in the history of television, RuPaul’s Drag Race has always prided itself on creating a space for the intersection of pop culture and queerness. Whether it’s in a lip sync for your life to a famous LGBTQ anthem, or a pitch-perfect Snatch Game impersonation of a gay icon, Drag Race delivers a bevy of queer cultural moments every year.
In the series’ more recent seasons, one particular brand of those moments emerged as a fan-favorite: the Rusical challenge. Since the debut of “Shade: The Rusical” back in season 6, every main season of Drag Race has featured the now-iconic challenge where queens are tasked with picking roles and creating on a show-stopping theatrical experience. Complete with costumes, choreography and the occasional 11 o’clock number, the Rusical challenge is a near-perfect way to celebrate the queer community’s undying obsession with musical theater.
Just like Broadway itself, pretty much anything can be turned into a Rusical: Some challenges have seen queens telling an original story about drag ingenues interacting with evil queens; others have seen them telling the lightly altered stories of pop divas; one even saw the queens attempting to sell fake pharmaceutical products. In the case of season 15, the queens will be performing in their very on Footloose parody, Wigloose: The Rusical on Friday (March 17).
What makes a good Rusical performance? Below, Billboard takes a look back at every Rusical performance in the history of RuPaul’s Drag Race and RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, and ranks them from worst to best based on their general concepts, execution, music and overall impact. Take a look at where your favorite Rusical ended up below:
‘PharmaRusical’ (Season 10, Episode 2)
Concept: Who came up with this? It’s sort of funny, but ultimately very strange and random to take the format of drug infomercials and transform them into drag puns that sort of become songs. We don’t need to hear a song about a drug called Badonkadonx that will give you a bigger butt — even when it’s trying to be over-the-top and campy, it still fizzles out.
Execution: It’s tough to remember a single performance from such a strange Rusical. The Vixen made the most out of what she was given, and Mayhem Miller’s ballad about anal options was objectively funny. The rest largely got left in the background.
Music: The songs of this Rusical are disjointed, skipping around frequently from hip-hop to Broadway to pop at a frenzied pace. There’s not a lot to say here – there’s very little that’s actually successful in this music.
Overall: Especially in a season that had another (much better) Rusical, the PharmaRusical was a forgettable experience, and one that you certainly don’t need to think too much about. If you’re looking to rewatch old episodes, feel free to skip this.
Glamazonian Airways (Season 7, Episode 2)
Concept: While being slightly more coherent than the PharmaRusical, Glamazonian Airways still elicits the question, “Why?” Spoofing airline takeoff videos makes a bit more sense than satirizing pharmaceutical commercials, but it isn’t exactly ripe for comedy.
Execution: Mrs. Kasha Davis served a full ham dinner, which is the only sensible choice for this strange lip-sync experience. Ginger Minj earned her win with her choreography and her wacky faces. Most of the other queens in this challenge did a serviceable job, with only Katya, Miss Fame and Sasha Belle standing out for their struggle with performing the number.
Music: With a top 40 pop feel to each of the songs, there’s a plenty of continuity here. There’s nothing particularly exciting about the selections, but they certainly aren’t bad.
Overall: Glamazonian Airways is another rare swing-and-miss among the Rusical challenges. Especially when compared to later entries on this list, this season 7 challenge failed to take off.
Kardashian: The Musical (Season 9, Episode 5)
Concept: Now this is what we call a concept. Taking a Broadway sensation like Hamilton and parodying it by changing the subject to reality TV royalty is a perfect way to get both the competing queens and the audience at home invested in what’s happening.
Execution: Unfortunately, even with such a good concept, two queens ended up bearing the weight of this Rusical on their shoulders. Alexis Michelle’s unhinged portrayal of Kris Jenner was perfect for the challenge, and Shea Couleé’s Blac Chyna was an absolute scene-stealer. But in a musical centered around the role of Kim Kardashian, it’s hard to watch Cynthia Lee Fontaine’s strained stint in the spotlight.
Music: The music isn’t bad, per se. But when the reference point you’ve chosen to mimic is a musical like Hamilton, there’s suddenly a lot of expectation to live up to. The “club song” featuring Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan was fun, as was “Momager,” but the moments meant to directly reference Lin-Manuel Miranda’s magnum opus fell apart.
Overall: The idea of Kardashian: The Musical is greater than the sum of its parts. While the concept should work, the only truly memorable parts of this performance were Alexis Michelle, Shea Couleé, and Nina Bo’nina Brown constantly insisting that she should’ve been Blac Chyna.
Shade: The Rusical (Season 6, Episode 4)
Concept: As the first-ever Rusical, the idea behind Shade is simple; what happens if we take some classic stage tropes and reflavor them for drag queens? A winsome ingenue, a jaded diva, a brassy villain, a Greek chorus — they hit all of the marks. It’s not particularly inventive, but hey, it’s not really meant to be.
Execution: Courtney Act, Adore Delano and BenDeLaCreme are absolute stars in this Rusical. Courtney and Adore nail the live singing, and BenDeLaCreme is pure camp as the eye-patched, leopard-printed villain. Outside of that, there’s not a lot to say; queens like Darienne Lake and Gia Gunn struggled with their singing, while Trinity K. Bonet and April Carrion looked lost on the stage.
Music: As RuPaul once said to Nina West and Silky Nutmeg Ganache: “Meh.” This musical was designed to be campy and funny, not musically exciting.
Overall: Shade: The Rusical kicked off the Rusical challenge trend on Drag Race, and featured a number of highly entertaining, memorable performances. But taken altogether, the numerous rough patches showed some of the kinks that still needed to be worked out for the future of this challenge.
Cher: The Unauthorized Rusical (Season 10, Episode 8)
Concept: Considering that The Cher Show, an actual Broadway musical exploring the life of this pop icon, was already in the works at the time of this Rusical’s release, it’s safe to say that the concept is solid. This is a simple, fun way to give each queen the spotlight, by having them highlight a different era in the Goddess of Pop’s decades-spanning career.
Execution: The good largely outweighs the bad here — Kameron Michaels’ ’60s Cher had great vocals and a very funny impersonation, Monét X Change proved that she could sing the house down, and Miz Cracker delivered one of the best (and frankly, underrated) performances of the show as Vocoder comeback Cher. A few queens stumbled, like The Vixen and Asia O’Hara, but even then, the queens still worked this number out.
Music: While the performances in this challenge made us Believe, the music was not Strong Enough. The verse for Miz Cracker’s comeback Cher, including like “I know the gays will buy this/ And I know Britney will try this” is far-and-away the best, while the Movie Star Cher section sounds like it’s pulled from another project entirely. When the music works, it works — unfortunately, there are more than a few sections where it doesn’t.
Overall: The format of this unauthorized Cher Rusical, along with some high-quality performances from the queens of season 10, make up for the music’s dip in quality.
Social Media: The Unverified Rusical (Season 13, Episode 8)
Concept: Taking each major social media platform and personifying them into a cast of wildly unhinged characters is an easy, albeit hackneyed plot device that leads to all kinds of ridiculous on stage shenanigans. It’s fun, it’s campy, it’s what you’ve come to expect from a Rusical. It’s certainly not worth a downvote, but it’s not getting retweeted any time soon.
Execution: The queens did a pretty good job in this challenge, with a few exceptional standouts, and a few who we simply must swipe left on. Rosé, as expected, killed her role as Foxy, Denali and Gottmik’s Russian bots had us rolling, and while the judges were focused on a mistake Tina Burner made in character, we couldn’t help but absolutely adore her performance as the evening’s emcee, Friendster. Meanwhile Symoné and Kandy both fizzled in their respective roles as Instagram and LinkedIn, while Elliott with 2 Ts’ TikTok impersonation felt like it simply could not pass the vibe check.
Music: The song parodies here are very good — rewriting both the music and lyrics of Barbra Streisand’s iconic Funny Girl showstopper “Don’t Rain On My Parade” to fit the theme was the strongest choice of the night, with the nods to Broadway staples like “The Cell Block Tango,” “Do You Hear the People Sing?” and even “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General” picking up a lot of the slack from the bland story.
Overall: While the concept may not have been particularly inventive or interesting , Social Media: The Unverified Rusical was saved by smart musical numbers and showstopping performances from a few of the queens. Feel free to give it a like.
Trump: The Rusical (Season 11, Episode 4)
Concept: Some fans were very trepidatious about Drag Race making light of the controversial president and his lackeys with this Rusical — but looking back, this was probably the most on-brand way for Drag Race to address the Trump administration. Turning Grease into a political spoof where the queens get to openly mock those surrounding Trump (and praise those who opposed him) was about as good of a concept as we’ve seen in these Rusicals.
Execution: The queens did a great job on this yuuuuge challenge. Silky Nutmeg Ganache stole the spotlight with her Oprah Winfrey number, Nina West’s turn as Sarah Huckabee Sanders was gut-busting, Ariel Versace nailed the leading role of “Shandy,” and Yvie Oddly’s deranged Kellyanne Conway was exactly the right amount of crazy. But without uttering a single word, Ginger Minj’s guest star turn as Donald Trump himself was the show-stopping moment of this entire Rusical.
Music: It’s not easy to create multiple parody songs about political corruption in the style of Grease, but Drag Race managed to do it. While not every number was a winner, the vast majority of them hit their marks as needed, and deftly walked the line between imitation and original.
Overall: Trump: The Rusical had the potential to fall flat on its face, yet it managed to be one of Drag Race‘s most consistent Rusicals. It was over-the-top, funny, and kept the spirit of Grease intact throughout, all while getting to throw up a big middle finger to the Commander in Chief.
VH1 Divas Lip Sync Live (‘All Stars’ Season 3, Episode 2)
Concept: Simplicity, it turns out, is key when putting together a Rusical. With Drag Race and All Stars having made the official move over to VH1 , creating a musical around the network’s iconic Divas series made perfect sense for the show — and felt like a simple, easy way to both reimagine tracks from RuPaul’s catalog and let the queens embody some of their favorite chart-topping artists.
Execution: Simply put, everyone did great. BenDeLaCreme was born to shake her ass while impersonating Julie Andrews, Shangela’s Mariah was spot-on, Trixie Mattel could pull off Dolly Parton in her sleep, and Bebe Zahara Benet looked like the spitting image of Diana Ross herself. Even Thorgy Thor’s turn as Stevie Nicks, while less impressive than some of her cohorts, was still unbelievably entertaining to watch.
Music: Retrofitting each of RuPaul’s singles for different divas — spanning genres like pop, country, rock, adult contemporary and more — is a Herculean task. But each song fit every queen and made the performance that much more fun to watch, anticipating just how they would take a song like “Peanut Butter” and make it work as a Celine Dion showstopper.
Overall: From top to bottom, this challenge checked every box it needed to, and earned its Diva title.
Bitch Perfect (Season 8, Episode 2)
Concept: With Pitch Perfect‘s continued cultural dominance back in 2016, this challenge was a perfect way to honor (and poke fun) at the impact of a cappella. There’s no need for a convoluted plot or fleshed-out characters when all we really want to see is our favorite drag queens competing in different collegiate singing troupes.
Execution: Go back and watch Bitch Perfect and try not to have a great time. Everyone in this challenge is giving their best, campiest performance art, and absolutely working out the choreography. The late, great Chi Chi DeVayne is an immediate standout — her handstand-twerk continues to impress us to this day — while Thorgy Thor’s unbridled energy is infectious. Kudos to every single one of these queens.
Music: This is some of the best music ever put to the stage in a Rusical challenge. Whether they were going for bubblegum pop on “Jealous of My Boogie” or scintillating hip-hop on “Geronimo,” every a cappella arrangement in this performance was absolutely stellar.
Overall: It may not be the first one that comes to mind for some fans, but Bitch Perfect is far and away one of the best Rusical performances ever brought to the mainstage of Drag Race. Everybody say “underrated!”
Moulin Ru! The Rusical (Season 14, Episode 12)
Concept: This story is about … drag. The idea here is pretty simple — taking the hit film and Broadway musical Moulin Rouge, re-translating it using the music of RuPaul herself, and casting drag queens (as well as Leland and Leslie Jordan) in the roles. With a built-in and already beloved story, you have yourself a winning formula for a Rusical.
Execution: Can we get a standing ovation? Throughout this marvelous Rusical, each of the seven queens did a fabulous job pulling out all the stops to ace the monumental task of telling the story of Moulin Rouge armed only with RuPaul’s repertoire. Some queens, though, sparkled more than others — Lady Camden in particular, in her Harold Ziegler-adjacent role as “Mama Z,” stole every moment she appeared, nefariously stroking her beard and twiddling her mustache. Willow Pill also managed to shine as the Green Fairy with her high-energy, ratcheting-up performance in the show’s back half.
Music: Producers Leland and Gabe Lopez nailed the assignment. Each of the tracks throughout the Rusical took on RuPaul’s songs — including “Cover Girl,” “Freaky Money” and “Jealous of My Boogie” — and gave them that dramatic, brassy twist that makes Moulin Rouge so fun to listen to over and over again. Also, listen closely to that Green Fairy medley, and you’ll hear the beautiful vocal stylings of Allie X giving a truly unhinged performance.
Overall: Season 14’s installment of the annual Rusical challenge was, to borrow a phrase, spectacular-spectacular. With a clear-cut concept, some entertaining takes on RuPaul originals and a series of show-stopping performances, Moulin Ru will go down as one of the best Rusicals in the show’s herstory, come what may.
HERstory of the World (‘All Stars’ Season 2, Episode 3)
Concept: Taking a tour through history, guided by a handful of the powerful women who helped shape it? Brilliant. Not only is the concept easily accessible for fans, but it opens the door for hilarious performances and creative liberties with music throughout history. Someone in the Drag Race writers room deserved a raise for this concept, and we hope they got it.
Execution: Even the judges had a hard time finding faults in these performances. They ended up singling out Katya and Ginger Minj, but both excelled in the challenge — Ginger’s absolutely unhinged Catherine the Great was hilarious to watch, and Katya’s Princess Diana felt spot-on. Of course, the two scene stealers were Detox as a neon-colored, opera-singing Marie Antoinette, and Alyssa Edwards’ rootin’, tootin’, gun-shootin’ Annie Oakley. If there had been an audience, we would have expected a standing ovation.
Music: With every song, the producers upped the camp factor, making this challenge even funnier than it needed to be. Making hard pivots from heavy metal to opera to rockabilly to salsa, the music in HERstory of the World is insane — and yet every song works for the context it’s put in.
Overall: While it was far from the first Rusical, HERstory of the World certainly helped cement the Rusical’s status as a mainstay challenge on Drag Race, thanks to how exceedingly well it was executed.
Madonna: The Unauthorized Rusical (Season 12, Episode 7)
Concept: The fact that we don’t have a real-life Madonna jukebox musical is, frankly, criminal. With a songbook as iconic and versatile as Madonna’s, Drag Race would be foolish not to pay homage to the Material Girl’s career through a Rusical.
Execution: First things first — yes, Jan was robbed. The New York City queen slayed every vocal, nailed every dance move, and was a near-perfect embodiment of Early Madge. But when you look at the rest of the talent in this Rusical, it’s understandable why the judges had such a hard time choosing who should win the challenge — everyone was phenomenal. Gigi Goode’s True Blue-era impersonation was endlessly entertaining, Jaida Essence Hall served pure sex, Crystal Methyd was ridiculous (and really good!), and even Brita (who ended up sashaying away in this episode) did an excellent job portraying the iconic cone-bra phase of the Queen of Pop’s career.
Music: One word: composition. Nailing a parody song is a difficult task, but each and every track in the Madonna Rusical perfectly evokes a specific song in her catalog without directly using its melody. Every song managed to be both funny and good — a feat that no other Rusical accomplished quite like this one did.
Overall: This Rusical had everything — incredible performances, a strong well of material to pull from, excellently orchestrated music and stellar choreography. Frankly, no other Rusical compares — Madonna: The Unauthorized Rusical is unquestionably the best Rusical in the history of Drag Race. Period.
