Other than the Grand Finale, the Lip Sync Lalaparuza Smackdown has become one of the most popular episodes of each season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
The penultimate episode for Season 17 featured our Top 4: Lexi Love, Onya Nurve, Jewels Sparkles and Sam Star, all joined by the previously eliminated queens. The queens were all happy to be back in the Werk Room, and Kori King and Lydia B. Kollins returned as an official couple. In a particularly heartfelt moment. Nurve and Arrietty hashed out Arrietty’s mean spirited mirror message and Arrietty provided a sincere apology that Nurve graciously accepted.
We then headed to the Main Stage where RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Ts Madison and Pit Crew member Bruno Alcantara were at the judge’s table, while the Top Four got to witness the lip sync battles from the Werk Room. Alcantara pulled the first ball from the hopper and it had Hormona Lisa’s name on it. For this year’s Lalaparuza Smackdown, the queen could choose either the song they would perform or the opponent they would lip sync against. Hormona Lisa’s choice was the song, and she chose “Say Liza (Liza With A Z)” by the iconic Liza Minnelli. Suzie Toot was itching to be able to perform this song, but ultimately Kollins’ name was pulled to go up against Lisa. Offering all of her reveals almost immediately, Lisa did herself no favors and ultimately, Ms. Butthole snagged the win and moved forward in the Lalaparuza Smackdown.
Toot was up next and she elected to choose her opponent instead of the song and she chose Joella, who in turn chose “Training Season” by Dua Lipa. Toot had a sickening reveal and ended up winning the lip sync. Lucky Starzzz hit the stage next and chose the anthem “Step By Step” by Whitney Houston (the Junior Vasquez Tribal X Beats Mix). Alcantara pulled Acacia Forgot’s name from the hopper to battle it out against Starzzz. While Starzzz’s look to battle it out against Acacia might have looked unorthodox (dressed as a basketball woman of sorts complete with basketball breasts!), it ultimately worked in her favor and she snagged the win against Acacia (despite Acacia’s extra clever slow motion death drop).
Arrietty was up next and she chose Pink’s “Blow Me (One Last Kiss) and Alcantara ended up choosing King’s name to go up against Arrietty. While Arrietty delivered a stunning performance (and some streamer-style ribbons during the performance), the win ultimately went to King.
That left Crystal Envy and Lana Ja’Rae to battle it out once more (this was their second lip sync, with the first being the battle post-Snatch Game that ultimately sent Envy home). Ja’Rae chose the song, “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” by Sylvester. Both queens left it all on the stage, but the win once again, ended up going to Ja’Rae.
Round two kicked off with Starzzz who chose the song “We Found Love” by Rihanna and Toot ended up being her opponent, making it a South Florida vs. South Florida battle. The Sunshine State stunners battled it out, but ultimately Toot came out on top. This left three queens remaining: King, Kollins, and Ja’Rae, and the three finalists battled it out to “360” by Charli XCX. Kollins successfully pulled out scissors during a lip sync this time, but King still came out on top and won this round.
This left King and Toot as the final two in the final round, and they would be battling it out to “APT” by ROSÉ & Bruno Mars. King may be impersonating Toot brilliantly online recently, but at the end of the day, the original took the win and Toot snagged the win and the $50,000 cash prize.
Follow RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17 on Instagram @rupaulsdragrace.
