Normalize Lip-Syncing-For-Your-Life-Again
As another All Stars season draws to a close, it’s time for RuPaul’s Drag Race to rethink its lipstick-elimination format and let the queens lip-sync-for-their-lives again.
In 2016, All Stars 2 premiered with a shocking twist: instead of RuPaul, the winning queen of each episode would eliminate a competitor in the bottom by selecting a lipstick marked with that queen’s name.1 This change in format presented new opportunities for queens to showcase their talents. Contestants whose performances in challenges allowed them to avoid lip-syncing on their original seasons could now “lip-sync-for the crown” and display their expertise.
The format has also created some great TV. All Stars 2 winner Alaska Thunderf*ck, who spent most of her season as a frontrunner, infamously had a meltdown near the end of the show when she found herself in the bottom. At the mercy of the two queens who would lip sync for the win, Alaska begged them not to choose her lipstick: “I'll give you $10,000 [of the prize money] if you let me stay -- before taxes,"2 half-jokingly offered Alaska.
Although lip sync winner Detox did not eliminate Alaska, other queens have used their position to send their biggest competitors home. On All Stars 4, Naomi Smalls eliminated Manila Luzon, who had three challenge wins and two lip sync wins under her belt. When asked about her decision on the following episode, Smalls had no remorse, concluding that “life’s not fair.”3
On RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs The World, the rules are no different. This desire to eliminate the strongest competition has resulted in the eliminations of some of the most promising and exciting queens. Representing Thailand, Pangina Heals eliminated Canada’s Drag Race’s Jimbo, even though Jimbo had been in the top two in the two previous episodes.4 In an even more shocking turn of events, two-time winner Heals was sent home by Blu Hydrangea after she landed in the bottom for the first time.5
The unexpected exits of Jimbo and Pangina, two queens who were poised to reach the finale and possibly win the show, illustrates the decline of the lipstick-elimination format. When the best-performing competitors have already left the show, what’s the point of watching?
The current rules of RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars pressure its players to make strategic decisions that produce unsatisfying outcomes for both the contestants and the viewers at home. Without a chance to save themselves in the lip sync, talented performers who could otherwise win the show are sent home prematurely. Though lipstick eliminations make for some entertaining moments, the decisions can be unfair and can ultimately make for a disappointing show.
RuPaul’s Drag Race made lip-syncing-for-your-life iconic. What reason is there to change it?
Jung, E. Alex. “RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Season-Two Trailer: The Queens Aren't Lip-Syncing for Their Lives Anymore.” Vulture. Vulture, August 2, 2016. https://www.vulture.com/2016/08/rupauls-all-stars-drag-race-season-two-trailer.html.
Popcrush Staff. “Alaska Responds to 'Drag Race' Backlash via Video, Snake References Abound.” PopCrush, October 11, 2016. https://popcrush.com/rupauls-drag-race-alaska-backlash-snake-video/.
Damshenas, Sam. “Trinity Is Shocked with Monét's Elimination Choice in Drag Race Preview.” GAY TIMES, March 1, 2019. https://www.gaytimes.co.uk/culture/trinity-is-shocked-with-monets-elimination-choice-in-drag-race-preview/.
Staples, Louis. “Drag Race's Jimbo on Explosive Elimination and Which Queens Disappointed Her.” PinkNews, February 17, 2022. https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2022/02/17/drag-race-uk-jimbo/.
Johns, Victoria. “Drag Race UK Fans Slam Show for 'Dirty' Elimination in Heartbreaking Episode.” Mirror, February 23, 2022. https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/drag-race-uk-fans-slam-26308135.
you are such a fluent and eloquent writer!