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With every season of RuPaul’s Drag Race comes the long-awaited (for some contestants, long-feared) sewing challenge — and on season 15, the show decided to switch things up yet again.
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On last week’s episode (aired Friday, January 27), the 13 remaining queens were split into three fashion houses inspired by judges Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley and Ross Mathews, and tasked with turning unconventional home decor materials into runway-ready haute couture.
For Luxx Noir London, the challenge proved to be nothing short of triumph when she earned her first win for creating zebra-print pants and a flowing silk top. But for queens Salina EsTitties and Amethyst, their less-stellar looks landed them in the bottom two.
Facing off in a lip sync for your life to Janelle Monáe’s iconic single “Q.U.E.E.N.” in front of Monáe herself, Salina and Amethyst twerked, dipped and bounced their way through one of the most entertaining lip syncs of season 15, fighting for their right to stay. For her spot-on performance, Salina earned another week in the competition, while Amethyst was finally sent packing after her third time in the bottom.
Amethyst spoke to Billboard following her elimination about her grueling sewing challenge experience, her love of Lady Gaga, and how one piece of personal information turned into “high school” drama with the other queens while filming.
You’ve had quite the journey on Drag Race — what was it like getting to watch it unfold?
It doesn’t really feel real, if I’m being quite honest. I still get giddy over seeing myself on Drag Race — that’s actually still crazy to me. I’m still fangirl-ing a lot. I think that’ll go away soon. Otherwise, it’s been such a blast, connecting with the fans.
Were there any moments while you were filming in particular that made you go into full fangirl mode?
If the work room entrance didn’t do it for me, then I think walking the runway for the first time really did. It’s just the moment that it’s suddenly real.
Over the last few episodes, the queens have conducted a pretty thorough investigation into your prior relationship with Robin Fierce — was that a weird thing for you to deal with while filming this show?
It wasn’t weird, necessarily. Like, I didn’t mind explaining it to my sisters. I think the only super weird part to me was how much of a hot topic it was among them. Once I saw that Robin was on the show with me, my mind immediately was like, “Do we tell people? What’s the plan of attack?” So I told myself from day one that if somebody asked, I wouldn’t lie. I just never saw it getting to the point that it got to, weirdly — the whole “who broke up with who” conversation. It was just so high school to me. I didn’t mind giving my side of the story, but it was weird that this was our topic of conversation.
I gotta say, watching people try and unravel the “mystery” of your breakup despite you literally explaining that it was a mature, somewhat mutual situation is very funny to me.
Girl, it’s the gays, we just gotta make it a drama.
Before we get into this episode, I want to talk to you about the runway you served last week as Lady Gaga at the 2009 VMAs. You nailed the look — what made you choose this interpretation of the theme “Beautiful Nightmare?”
As we all know, Lady Gaga opened that performance by singing, “Amidst all of these flashing lights, I pray the fame won’t take my life.” That was the idea I wanted to run with for this, because when I saw “Beautiful Nightmare,” I thought, “Well, my beautiful nightmare is going to be watching myself look so good on TV and then having to deal with trolls online telling me I’m an early-out.”
I just think Gaga set that metaphor up so eloquently, and I’m a firm believer that if something isn’t broken, you don’t need to fix it. Or as RuPaul would say, “You ain’t gotta reinvent the wheel.” I knew, “Am I going to get read for recreating this look head-to-toe? Probably.” But I do feel like the performance of it all sold it and took it to that extra level, especially with the bleeding.
As soon as the blood came out, I said out loud, “Yep, she did that.”
Exactly! I knew people would forget the fact that I was walking down the runway in a bodysuit and thigh-highs if I could give them that gag. So I was really happy with myself.
To this day, that stands as one of the most iconic awards show performances of all time.
That’s why it was so far in the front of my brain and I was able to replicate it so quickly! Ever since I saw it in 2009, that’s just where it lives, girl. Like, pure horror, the audience was literally scared of her!
Speaking of looks, this week was our first sewing challenge of season 15. What was going through your mind when they announced the challenge, knowing that you’d already been in the bottom twice and you’re not a seamstress?
A lot of explicit language that I probably should not repeat in an interview. [Laughs.] I will say, when Ru said it was unconventional materials, my ears did perk up a little — because I feel like that’s weirdly easier? Then, I can get away with using hot glue because it’s weird objects. That just didn’t work out for me, as we can now see.
I would like to talk about that — I feel like this was a very strong showing from everyone including you, and that made it harder to single out a bottom two. There were no LaLa Ri’s on that stage.
Yeah, for sure. Ru even said while we were walking the runway, “Y’all are making this hard.” It wasn’t that I looked bad, it was just that it didn’t measure up to everybody. But that’s another reason why when they announced the sewing challenge, I was saying a lot of swear words; 11 out of the 13 of us were sewers. It was like, “Well, there’s simply no way for me [to win].” I got really in my head and I started to rethink things that I shouldn’t have been rethinking, because in a situation like that — having less than a day to put this look together — you don’t have time to sit around and stare in a mirror and rethink. You have to go.
I really want to commend you on your lip syncs this season — you’ve killed every lip sync you were in, especially this “Q.U.E.E.N.” one. What, to you, is the key to nailing a lip sync?
It’s so nerdy and boring, so be ready; I went to theatre school for acting, and my approach to lip syncs is actually how I would approach doing a monologue, or a scene. I was trained to have an action for every line, and you want every action to be different. So you’ll pick very descriptive lines of the song, and then figure out what it is that you’re going to sell with that line. That’s why I love lip syncing, because you’re telling a story through your performance of the song.
RuPaul’s Drag Race has always prided itself on a good old-fashioned twist — but even the most prepared of queens couldn’t have predicted the latest surprise on the show,
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On last week’s episode (aired Friday, Jan. 20), the 14 remaining queens got the shock of their lives when RuPaul announced that they would be performing in the Snatch Game — a challenge usually reserved for when there are many fewer queens left. Splitting the faux game show in two, the show tested all of the girls on their comedy and impersonation chops with the iconic challenge a mere four episodes into the season.
Some girls managed to thrive — Loosey LaDuca (who had grown hungrier than ever for her first win) pulled out all of the stops for her spot-on Joan Rivers, cracking Ru and the judges up at every opportunity and winning the challenge. Mistress Isabelle Brooks and Marcia Marcia Marcia similarly slayed their gut-busting impressions of Rosie O’Donnell and Tim Gunn, respectively.
Sugar and Spice, however, had some difficulties. Both of the twins struggled in their Snatch Game performances; Sugar couldn’t nail down any jokes or even mild cracks as professional internet troll Trisha Paytas, while Spice made her Miley Cyrus a cartoonish country bumpkin hitting herself on the head with a sledgehammer.
Facing off against one another in the Lip Sync for Your Life, Sugar and Spice instead decided to make it a “twin-sync” as they called it, working together to make on cohesive number to Pat Benatar’s “You Better Run.” Yet, with Sugar tripping around both the words and her own feet throughout the performance, Ru announced that the sweeter of the twins would be leaving the competition.
Billboard caught up with Sugar following her elimination, where she talked about finding her voice on reality television, her time playing Paytas in the Snatch Game, and why she loves that she had a “Farrah Moan moment” on national television.
Sugar, how are you feeling after watching these first few episodes?
I’m feeling — I hate to be Miss America, but I am feeling so much gratitude. You sit on this for so long, and it’s not that I’m surprised, but I think when me and Spice got back from filming and were all done … we were on TikTok, we had our fans, but the Drag Race fandom had their preconceived notions about me and Spice, typically. I don’t think they knew how to perceive us. So to get the response we got, which was so much love, and for people to understand me as a drag artist and as myself, was such a blessing.
As you mentioned, you and Spice have a huge TikTok presence — what was the biggest adjustment you found yourself having to make going from TikTok to reality TV?
I felt like a doll stepping out of the box — this was my Life Size, honestly. I felt like I was stepping into the real world.
In this scenario, you’re Tyra Banks, yes?
Of course. I know people say what they want about her, but she has inspired me so much. My biggest takeaway from her has been that she redefined what it meant to be a model, and people were like, “Oh, you’re just this, stand still, look pretty.” And she built a whole empire.
But going to the competition, I was used to standing still and looking pretty on TikTok. I didn’t have to glue down wigs, I could just be my little creative artist self from the comfort of my own home. It was definitely an adjustment, but one I was very ready for.
In the episode before this, you and Jax had your little tiff, which has since been squashed. But you resolved at the top of this episode to stop caring what the other competitors thought of you — how present was that struggle with perception for you?
Yeah, I’m really grateful for that moment, because I think it’s such … a relatable human experience where you enter a situation — maybe you’re around friends, or co-workers, or wherever — and you feel like you have to step back. That thought entered my mind, “If I dim my light, people will like me better.” And that should never be the case! We should never dim our light for anyone! I definitely felt like I had to do that. I kept thinking, “Let me hold back.” There’s power in restraining yourself, but then there’s also power in letting your light shine. You gotta own who you are, that will get you way further in life. I’m still working on it, it’s a journey!
That brings us to the Snatch Game — you said in your confessional that there is an understanding that playing internet celebrities is not the best idea for this challenge. What made you decide to do Trisha Paytas anyways?
Looking back, I am like, “Why was I so convicted to do Trisha?” But she means a lot to mean — she was my comfort in high school, and she’s inspired a lot in my drag character. I just felt like … it was in the cards for me to do it. Now, maybe that was my demise, but I wasn’t doing anything to be liked in that moment, you know what I mean? I was doing what was going to make me the most happy. So, yeah, I was taking a risk with Ru not knowing who Trisha was and not understanding the crazy, troll personality. But at the end of the day, we’re all living for ourselves, so I’m happy I went out having the most fun I could.
Was there a backup character you were considering outside of Trisha?
Actually, yes, I did. It was Christina Aguilera — it would’ve been a full thing of me just going [*does an Xtina-esque vocal run*]. Just singing the whole time, but I guess we’ll just have to save that for a later date.
The thing I hope audiences understand is how hard Snatch Game really is — it’s improv and comedy and impersonation for a long time. In the moment, did it feel difficult when you were performing Snatch Game? Could you tell things were not going your way?
You know what it was? I haven’t seen the episode yet, so I don’t know how they edited the Snatch Game — but the irony is I felt the most comfortable I’ve ever felt. I was having the time of my life! I put on that breastplate and you could not tell me that I wasn’t Trisha Paytas. Something came over me, I swear I thought I was her in that moment — I was trolling, I was coming for Ru and asking what his body count was, and just having the time of my life. I feel like I’m the wrong person to ask about it being hard, and honestly, maybe that’s why I went home, because I was just living my fantasy.
Well, before you got sent home, you had the “twin-sync” as you two called it.
“Twin-sync,” yes, they kept it in! I’m happy, good.
This is maybe the first time we’ve seen two queens … work together in a lip sync for your life? What was going on here, what was your plan with Spice going into this?
[Laughs.] Girl, I blacked out after that performance. All I remember is I fell, a shoe came off, like it was wild.
We were too busy crying our eyes out in Untucked, and then we had like 10 minutes left before the main stage. So we were like, “Oh, we gotta come up with something.” I didn’t listen to the lip sync song, I didn’t know the words, because my delusional ass was like “I was giving in Snatch Game.” At that point, I basically knew I was going home from the critiques, so I was like, “Well, let’s go out with a bang.” I guess the success of that is to be decided by everyone else.
As you mentioned, there were a few stumbles that happened for you — walk me through what was going through your mind when you tripped.
I fully manifested that moment when we were doing the group numbers with the girls. First of all, I’m all about the height — I’m always needing more inches with my heels. So in that first challenge, the girls were like, “Babe, you’re gonna fall on the stage in those, you do not want your Farrah Moan moment.” And I was like, “Oh no, baby — I want the Farrah Moan moment.” Like, I’m the viral TikTok person; I want to fall on my face, because the meme possibilities will be endless. And sure enough, it happened.
I feel like, with the twins lip syncing, we had to make that as iconic as humanly possible. What makes a good lip sync? Someone falling; messiness; not knowing the words — we have all of the elements right there.
Throughout the storied history of RuPaul’s Drag Race, many mini and maxi challenges have come and gone. Between queens making puppets and variety/talent shows, there are few challenges that have remained essentially the same since their inception … except for the Snatch Game.
Since its debut back in season 2, Snatch Game — Drag Race‘s celebrity impersonation challenge lampooning the classic game show Match Game — has become one of the most beloved challenges on the show. Usually seen as a turning point in the competition, Snatch Game is one of the few challenges every queen can expect to see in their time on the show.
Now, only four episodes into its run, season 15 is launching its 14 remaining contestants into the iconic competition. On Friday’s new episode (Jan. 20), the queens will be split into two groups to face-off with their celebrity impressions, all aiming for the same goal — to make RuPaul laugh.
Along with being one of Drag Race’s most iconic challenges, Snatch Game is also one of the most difficult. Speaking to Billboard, two-time Snatch Game winner Jinkx Monsoon explained that the challenge is more than meets the eye. “Snatch Game is very hard,” she said. “It feels like it’s a test of your impersonation skills, but it’s simultaneously a test of your comedic skills and improv skills.”
With the challenge’s history of providing plenty of hilarious (and cringe-worthy) portrayals of iconic musical artists, Billboard decided to look back on every Snatch Game in the show’s herstory and rank each musical impersonation. From the Great Beyoncé Curse to spot-on performances as Adele, Cher and Britney Spears, check out all of our findings below.

Maren Morris got emotional as she fulfilled a “decade-long dream” of serving as a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
The country star appeared on Friday’s (Jan. 13) episode of the series and that night tweeted: “I’ve done some cool s—. #DragRace is rivaling it all. Getting my jacket framed next to my Grammy. It is DONE.”
In a post-episode Untucked clip, Morris was teary-eyed as she spoke from her heart to the room.
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“Coming from country music and its relationship with LGBTQ+ members, I just want to say I’m sorry,” Morris said. “And I love you guys for making me feel like a brave voice in country music. So I just thank you guys so much for inspiring me.”
“I’m gonna cry,” she admitted.
In August, Morris showed her allyship when she called out the “unapologetically conservative” wife of Jason Aldean, Brittany, who spread hurtful anti-trans misinformation on her Instagram account. When Brittany called gender-affirming care for minors “one of the worst evils,” Morris and Cassadee Pope jumped in with comments, with Morris calling Aldean “Insurrection Barbie” and telling her to “not be a scumbag human.”
When Fox News’ Tucker Carlson called Morris a “lunatic” for her comments, the singer created T-shirts that read “lunatic country music person,” and later donated more than $100,000 worth of proceeds to GLAAD’s Transgender Media Program and Trans Lifeline.
In November, Morris spoke out against Candace Cameron Bure for her plans to“keep traditional marriage at the core” of content on her new network, Great American Family. Morris commented “Make DJ Gay Again,” a reference to Bure’s most famous role as Full House‘s DJ Tanner.
“We love an ally! So grateful @marenmorris stopped by #Untucked to support our Queens with this heartfelt message,” the official Rupaul’s Drag Race Instagram account posted on Saturday (Jan. 14).
Watch Morris’ Untucked clip below.
The engines have officially started, and with them, our first contestant of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 has crossed their finish line.
The two-hour premiere episode of the now-MTV-helmed franchise saw a record number of queens (16 of them!) enter the work room for the first time, as they sized up their competition — in some cases, quite literally measuring the length of their wigs.
As has become custom in seasons past, the premiere challenge saw the queens vying against one another in an all-out talent show extravaganza. Thanks to her tae kwon do-chopping, duck-walking, comedy-fueled lip sync performance, Las Vegas star Anetra took home the very first challenge win of the season.
Meanwhile, Seattle’s premiere “alien queen” Irene DuBois found herself in the bottom after a less-than-stellar comedy tutorial for making ice water, as did Connecticut queen Amethyst following her underwhelming lip sync to Lisa Stansfield’s “All Around the World.” Facing off in a fiery lip sync to guest judge Ariana Grande’s hit single “7 Rings,” Amethyst eked out a victory, making DuBois the first eliminated queen of the season.
DuBois chatted with Billboard following the airing of the premiere about her time on the show, getting to meet Ariana Grande, joining the legendary sisterhood of the First Eliminated Queens, and the thrilling conclusion to the work room drama dubbed “40-Inch-Gate” by Twitter.
Irene, you did it, you premiered on Drag Race! How are you feeling after watching the episode?
Honestly, watching myself on television has probably been one of the most cringe-y moments of my entire life. Being knocked off first might have been the best thing that could’ve happened for me.
I was going to say, the First Eliminated Queens has become this almost mythical group to be a part of — so if there’s a good time to go, it’s first.
Not only am I now a part of a legendary group of girls — the PorkChops, if you will — but I don’t have to watch myself on TV anymore. [Laughs.] I will say, I have won more money than any other first out in history, so I will be taking that $2,500 and buying a finale outfit.
Well, Irene, I want to get the most important question of our interview out of the way up top —
I swear to God, if this is about the 40 inches, I’m going to lose my mind.
… Okay, but did you ever get to the bottom of how long Luxx’s wig was?
Look, I’m gonna say one thing, and then we’re going to put this issue to bed, for good — that wig was 32 inches long. Absolutely nothing against my sister Luxx, because here is what I have come to learn about Luxx; the laws of physics that guide the reality that the rest of us live in are not the same laws that govern the world of Luxx Noir London. Her reality is its own specific dimension, and in that dimension, that wig is 40 inches. I can’t take that away from her, I don’t have that power, I’m not a god.
If you ever manage to make it into Luxx’s world, you will see what she sees. For the rest of us out here, we can appreciate a 32-inch wig. It’s a beautiful wig, by the way, and she looks gorgeous in it. We don’t judge a wig’s value by its inches.
But I do appreciate that this ended up becoming a very real conversation on the show, because you are a very funny queen who uses playful shade to sort of bond with the girls around you — have you found that art is lost on more people now?
I think that we live in a culture where, rightfully so, we are very vigilant about making sure that people are not being taken down for things like weight, race, age, sexuality. That’s important. I think some people might swing the pendulum a little too far in that direction, and try saying that we can’t make a joke at anyone’s expense, period. Obviously that’s not true, I just like to make sure the jokes are at people’s expense and aimed towards things that they are in control of — things like their drag, the things they’ve made an active choice about. If it’s something you haven’t made a choice about, I’m not going to touch it.
I think I know how to read a room pretty well — just because people don’t like the jokes I’m telling doesn’t mean they’re offensive jokes, and that’s also important to keep in mind! Also, if you are racist or homophobic or transphobic and you think I’m funny, f–k off. I’m not making jokes for you.
There’s so much to talk about from the episode — let’s start with the big gag of Ariana Grande entering the work room dressed as Vivacious and then guest judging. What was you experience working with her as a guest judge like?
I have not met many celebrities at her level — she’s more than A-list at this point, she’s like A-A-list. She is maybe one of the most humble, down-to-earth, genuine people I have ever interacted with in my life. That person is exactly who she portrays, she has such true genuine appreciation for what it is that we’re doing, she made eye contact with all of us, she took the time to get to know us. She was on the work room on camera for probably, what, two minutes? She was talking to us for at least 15 minutes — so lovely, and it almost felt like she was more starstruck than we were.
It was also very clear, as you said, that she not only appreciated what you were doing, but had a very clear, deep understanding of how it works — both drag and Drag Race.
Oh, she fully gets it, and she loves it. She’s not just some average Drag Race watcher; you could tell that she really wanted to be a part of this world. Straight-A’s for Ms. Ariana.
Let’s talk about the talent show. I appreciated that you chose to take a risk in the talent show with a tutorial on making ice water — how much of you choosing to do the ice water bit was you trying to stand out from queens who were lip-syncing?
Oh, at least 100 percent, if not 200 percent. [Laughs.] I can lip-sync — I can’t lip-sync to “7 Rings” apparently, but I can lip-sync very well—
Well, hold on now, let’s be clear — that was a phenomenal Lip Sync For Your Life, and it felt like it could have gone either way for a good two-thirds of it. You did great.
Well, thank you. There were plenty of songs they gave us on our iPods that we could have done, and it wouldn’t matter who I was up against, I could have sent them packing. That song was not one of them. But all of that is to say, I am a lip sync artist, it is what I do in my act five shows a week.
This moment is the one time where I get the choice to do something other than a lip-sync. So, why would I choose to do the thing that I do all of the time? I mean, now I know why, because the other option sent my ass home, so maybe a lip sync would have worked. I just thought that I’d get points for originality, but they were not awarding those points on that night.
You mentioned on the runway that this is normally a much longer bit that had to be cut down to fit the show. What were some of the parts of that act that you wish you had kept?
I was shocked that I was able to get as much in as I did, to be honest. Part of what makes the act work is that it’s a slow burn — something like making a glass of ice water should take about 15 seconds, and I usually draw it out to about five minutes, and there is a lot of comedy that comes with that. There’s also several bits about where you can find things like water or ice, and with those asides you can kind of convey the tone of the piece and sort of illuminate my perspective. You add little jokes in like, “Make sure your water doesn’t contain lead,” “make sure you get some ice before this planet doesn’t have any left,” on and on.
It kind of reminded me of a performance from the incredible Chicago queen Aunty Chan, where she also just takes a very simple concept and milks it — instead of lip syncing, she plays an instrumental Christmas song, and rings a bell like a member of the Salvation Army until people start tipping her.
I have seen the act, I love Aunty Chan. That idea of breaking the mold of what a drag performance is going to be is what I’m interested in doing with my art. That’s why I’m such a fan of Aunty Chan’s, to be honest. Whether or not it got me sent home, I am very proud to have brought a piece of that to the main stage.
Before you go, Irene, what can fans hope to see from you in the near future?
Generally, I am a queen who is very focused on look, I put a lot of work into the visual aspect of drag. I would encourage folks to make sure they’re tuned to my Instagram, because I will be dropping my looks for the show — I will say, if you liked the first runway, you will be obsessed with the rest of them.
RuPaul’s Drag Race is back for another lap! Season 15 of the hit series premieres on VH1 on Friday (Jan. 6) at 8 p.m. ET.
Ariana Grande will join as a guest judge for the two-episode season premiere, while Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley and Ross Mathews return as mainstays and Ts Madison is a rotating judge this season.
With the finale just hours away, fans can still catch up on their favorite queens just in time for the new season. See below for how to watch and stream RuPaul’s Drag Race online.
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How to Watch RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 15
Althrough previous season of RuPaul’s Drag Race have aired on VH1 and Logo, the new season will broadcast exclusively on MTV and stream on MTV.com.
Can I Watch RuPaul’s Drag Race for Free?
Yes! If you don’t already have MTV through a cable, satellite or a streaming subscription, sign up for a free trial to Philo for just $25/month after your first free week.
Philo, which offers more than 60 channels and unlimited DVR, is currently offering a seven-day free trial here, so you can stream RuPaul’s Drag Race and more. Want to save on your streaming bill? T-Mobile has a deal that gives you an even deeper discount on Philo for a year.
Philo $25/month
You can also find a free trial through Fubo TV, Direct TV Stream and Verizon Fios. Other ways to watch and stream Ru-Paul’s Drag Race: Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV and Verizon Fios.
Additionally, the newest season of RuPaul’s Drag Race will be available to stream on Prime Video along with the previous seasons that you can stream right now and on Vudu.
How to Watch All Seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race and RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars
RuPaul’s Drag Race and All Stars are available to stream online via a number of streaming services, such as Philo, Paramount+ and Hulu.
Not familiar with Paramount+? The ViacomCBS’s streaming service launched in 2021, replacing CBS All Access. When you sign up for a 30-day free trial to Prime Video, you can also get a seven-day free trial to Paramount+ that will be billed through your Amazon Prime account.
New Hulu subscribers can choose between Hulu with or without ads to watch RuPaul’s Drag Race online. Alternatively, the Hulu + Live TV package offers customers 85+ live channels, including MTV. Sign up for Hulu here.
Who’s on This Season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars?
This season’s queens vying for the ultimate title of “America’s Next Drag Superstar” and a grand prize of $200,000 include Amethyst, Anetra, Aura Mayari, Irene Dubois, Jax, Loosey LaDuca, Luxx Noir London, Malaysia Babydoll Foxx, Marcia Marcia Marcia, Mistress Isabelle Brooks, Princess Poppy, Robin Fierce, Salina EsTitties, Sasha Colby, Sugar and Spice.
Ariana Grande is set to make her return to the Werk Room on the season 15 premiere of RuPaul’s Drag Race this Friday (Jan. 6), which provides ample opportunity for one of her songs to be used in a lip sync smackdown to eliminate the first queen of the season.
The pop star’s music has already provided epic moments throughout the show’s 15 seasons, spin-offs and international iterations (“I’d like to keep it on, please,” anyone?), and she even served as a guest judge back in season 7. Now Billboard wants to know: Which of Grande’s song do you want to hear in a Lip Sync for Your Life next?
So far, Grande’s discography has been mined a total of eight times on the main stage, including iconic lip syncs set to “Break Free,” “Into You,” “No Tears Left to Cry” and, yes, “Greedy.” But there are still more than a few gems and powerhouse cuts left yet untapped by RuPaul.
One of the most obvious choices is “7 Rings” — its swaggering beat, braggadocious lyrics and delectable connection to The Sound of Music (a.k.a. canon for theater gays!) would provide the perfect backdrop for two desperate queens to outflex each other.
Both “Positions” and “Thank U, Next” are equally strong contenders for the lip sync treatment, with the former’s teasing, sexually charged lyrics sure to inspire some rather NSFW moves on the stage and the latter giving queens a chance to live out their First Wives Club fantasies for the judges. (I mean, just imagine it after a runway filled with white power suits, am I right?)
Other fan favorites perfect for a Lip Sync for Your Life include her Lady Gaga duet “Rain on Me,” “Dangerous Woman,” “God Is a Woman” and “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored.” Also, how has “Side to Side” (featuring Nicki Minaj) not been used already?
Vote for the Ariana song you want to see used as a Lip Sync for Your Life in Billboard‘s poll below.
With the return of RuPaul’s Drag Race, the time has come for us to consider an important question asked throughout ages long past — what song do you think they’re going to lip synch to in the premiere?
With a Drag Race premiere, it’s not even a foregone conclusion that we will definitely get a Lip Sync For Your Life — back in season 9, for example, when guest judge Lady Gaga oversaw the queens’ first challenges, there was no elimination or winner lip sync. Then again, when season 13 rolled around, we got six lip syncs in the premiere episode as every queen faced off in pairs.
Assuming we’re getting at least one lip sync battle — be it For Your Life of For The Win — in season 15’s two-episode MTV premiere, we can also assume whose song we will be hearing. With Ariana Grande stepping in for her second stint as a guest judge, it’s safe to say that we will likely get a new rendition to one of her tracks.
It’s a position that Grande is very familiar with; the singer once held the record for most songs lip-synced on the show (other than Ru, of course). Today, she’s tied with Whitney Houston for second place, both having eight of their songs performed on the show and its All Stars seasons, while Britney Spears has had nine tracks earn their place on the main stage in 11 different lip syncs.
Which of Ariana’s songs can we expect to hear during the premiere? Tom Campbell, an executive producer of the show since its conception, told Billboard last year that RuPaul has final say over what songs make it onto the show, and he takes a lot of aspects into consideration. “He will reject songs because they’re the wrong tempo, they don’t build, there’s all of these factors he’s thinking about,” he said.
Billboard decided to offer up a few suggestions — below, we list out 10 songs by Ariana Grande that we would love to see featured in an upcoming lip sync on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15:
Wave that checkered flag, Drag Race fans, because the competition is about to begin.
On Friday (Jan. 6), RuPaul’s Drag Race is set to return for its 15th season, with a bigger batch of queens and an even bigger cash prize — the latest season is set to feature a record number of 16 queens competing for $200,000 and the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar.
Along with its new set of queens, the season will also feature a vast array of celebrity guest judges ready to offer their expertise and advice to the competitors on how to get ahead. Ariana Grande will appear in the season’s premiere episode on Friday, with subsequent episodes set to feature stars like Janelle Monáe, Maren Morris, Hayley Kiyoko, Orville Peck, Ali Wong, Amandla Stenberg, Harvey Guillén, Julia Garner and Megan Statler.
Fans used to viewing the show on VH1 will also have some adjustments to make with season 15 — for the first time in the franchise’s history, RuPaul’s Drag Race will now be aired exclusively on MTV. In a statement released with the news back in December, co-CEOs of World of Wonder (the production company behind Drag Race) Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey said that they were “delighted” to see the show make the move. “Drag Race is about universal themes of love, self expression, and acceptance — and there has never been a more important time than now for these ideas to be expressed internationally,” they said.
With MTV’s storied history as the primary home for the most iconic music videos of all-time, Billboard asked the 16 queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 to select their favorites. Below, the queens explain their picks, from Lady Gaga to Beyoncé and beyond:
No, you’re not “Imagine“-ing things — Ariana Grande is returning to one of her favorite “Positions” as a guest judge on a popular reality TV show.
On Wednesday (Dec. 14), MTV announced that Grande would return to the main stage of RuPaul’s Drag Race to serve as the inaugural guest judge for season 15. In a short clip posted across the Drag Race social media accounts, Grande struts down the runway sporting a pearl-covered cone bra and a long pencil skirt. Blowing a kiss to the camera, she says in a voiceover, “Season 15 is here, and so am I.”
This won’t be Grande’s first time judging on Drag Race. Back in season seven of the show, the pop superstar appeared as a guest judge for the now-infamous “Death Becomes Her” runway, where she watched queens Jaidynn Dior Fierce and Kandy Ho lip sync to her iconic Zedd collaboration “Break Free.”
The news of Grande’s upcoming appearance on the show comes just one day after the show’s 15th season was officially announced, alongside a cast of 16 queens competing for the coveted title of America’s Next Drag Superstar, as well as a doubled cash prize of $200,000. Along with bringing in more queens in one season than ever before, season 15 will also mark RuPaul’s Drag Race‘s first season on MTV, after the show spent its last six seasons on VH1.
RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 premieres on MTV Friday, Jan. 6, at 8 p.m. ET. Check out the official teaser for Ariana Grande’s guest judge appearance above.