I’m going to preface this review by saying this is the best episode of season 15 thus far. I want to use my limited word count to talk about all the lip-syncs, so basically, in the fallout: Loosey is mad she wasn’t in the top, Spice is done being in the bottom and the queens are happy Mistress won.
The next day, the queens enter the Werk Room, and RuPaul announces the challenge this week will be a lip-sync LaLaPaRuza smackdown. The queens will participate in a lip-sync smackdown with one queen going home in the end.
Instantly, I’m worried for Spice — we all saw her perform “You Better Run.” There’s a bit of setup in the Werk Room where Mistress breaks down who the queens are scared to perform against and scared for how some queens will do.
The queens head to the main stage, and the rules of the LaLaPaRuza are explained. A queen’s name is randomly drawn, and she will pick who she will lip-sync against. The chosen opponent will pick one of the eight song options. If you win the lip-sync, you will be safe for the rest of the challenge and if you lose, you will continue to lip-sync until two are left.
[The Diamond Drag: The Daytona Wind 2 of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’]
Round One: Malaysia Babydoll Foxx vs. Marcia Marcia Marcia in “Boys Don’t Cry” by Anitta
The LaLaPaRuza started so strongly with this performance. I had seen videos of Marcia perform, so I knew she was about to give Malaysia a run for her money. Both queens brought high energy dance moves, with Marcia busting out the backflip. In the end, Marcia won, and I agreed.
Round Two: Loosey LaDuca vs. Spice in “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)” by Joan Jett
I have one word for this lip-sync: No. This song was the best option, and this performance was so lackluster. Loosey wins, unsurprisingly, but she only did slightly better than Spice.
Round Three: Luxx Noir London vs. Salina EsTitties in “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” by Celine Dion
This song is a drag classic and can either be silly or emotional. Salina took the campy approach and was really fun to watch. I’ll say Luxx was giving all the emotion in her face during this performance and held her own. Salina wins, and I agree. I also thought seeing how mad Luxx was that she lost was so entertaining — I loved the drama.
Round Four: Mistress Isabelle Brooks vs. Jax in “Tell it to My Heart” by Taylor Dayne
This performance was so good. Mistress knows how to own a stage — she was giving such great emotion in her face and really captured the energy of the words. Jax, as well as Mistress, was just absolutely slaying and is a magnificent performer. Mistress wins but honestly, it could’ve gone either way for me.
Round Five: Anetra vs. Sasha Colby in “I’m in Love With a Monster” by Fifth Harmony.
By process of elimination, Anetra and Sasha are left. When I realized they would lip-sync against each other, I, along with every other Drag Race viewer, lost their minds. This lip-sync changed my life. Sasha and Anetra just have such a command of the stage and really know how to move. I truly don’t even know if I have the words to explain how good this was. This performance was beyond human comprehension. Sasha wins and honestly, both of them should’ve won.
Round Six: Malaysia Babydoll Foxx vs. Spice in “Don’t Go Yet” by Camila Cabello
The losers of the first lip-syncs come back to the stage and repeat the process. Malaysia is drawn and picks Spice. The funniest moment of the night was when Spice said she picked the song because Malaysia doesn’t know the words. The lip-sync begins, and lo and behold, Malaysia doesn’t know the words. It cuts to a confessional with Spice who’s happy Malaysia doesn’t know the words but then realizes she doesn’t either. This lip-sync was fine. Malaysia wins and again, sure.
Round Seven: Luxx Noir London vs. Jax vs. Anetra in “The Right Stuff” by Vanessa Williams
The final three queens are put together by process of elimination. I thought this performance was so good. This round, Luxx really found her groove, and it’s because she really gets that late ’80s to early ’90s sound. Anetra and Jax were killer too, but what sold it for me was how Luxx embodied the song. Luxx wins, and I agree.
[Alaska wants you to know Valentine’s Day is ‘tremendously burdensome’]
We’re now left with three queens, and this was the most confusing and wild moment of the episode. RuPaul announces to Anetra, Jax and Spice that one of their names will randomly be drawn. That person can choose one of the other two to save from the final lip-sync of the night.
Anetra is chosen and by some twist, she picks Jax to battle and not Spice. My jaw dropped. If you want to stay in the competition, maybe pick the worst lip-syncer to go against? I would not want to lip-sync against Jax no matter how confident I am in my moves.
For the final lip-sync, Jax and Anetra perform CeCe Peniston’s “Finally.” This lip-sync was really fun to watch. I did feel like it was a few too many tricks and stunts. This isn’t the first time the song has been a lip-sync song so naturally, they’re going to be compared. The first time the song was done on the show was better than this time.
Anetra wins the lip-sync and I absolutely agree, but it’s sad to see how Jax was treated this season. It seemed like RuPaul just did not like her this entire season, and this LaLaPaRuza was a set up to send her home. I need to know how much Anetra was paid to pick Jax for the final lip-sync. Regardless, I’m happy we got to see Jax do what she does best.
