More than anything else, RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 6 has been the season of redemption (or Rudemption). Be it Jan finally winning the Rusical, Laganja Estranja returning to absolutely slay as a Lip Sync Assassin or Silky Nutmeg Ganache coming back from an early departure to win six lip syncs in a row in the game-within-a-game, queens changing their narratives and coming out on top has been the focus every week this season.
Heading into the finale, we have two very different kinds of redemptions on the table: Eureka! and Ginger Minj, both of whom made the finale in their seasons, have the chance to secure the crown that only just eluded them; Kylie Sonique Love and Ra’Jah O’Hara, on the other hand, get their first shot at the win after both placing ninth in their original seasons. They are the lowest-placing queens to make the finale in All Stars, beating out Monique Heart (who got eighth in Season 10 and returned for All Stars 4) for that distinction. And while I respect the hell out of Eureka! and Ginger as competitors and queens, I can’t help but be drawn to Kylie’s and Ra’Jah’s longer climb to the top.
Ra’Jah came out of Season 11 with little fan support after an edit that routinely emphasized her negative point of view. True, the editors work with what they’re given, and Ra’Jah herself has admitted she was not in the best headspace in her original season. But what she has accomplished on All Stars 6, with an optimistic attitude in confessionals and fire in the competition, has been stellar.
Kylie returned after over a decade to compete once again—this time as an openly transgender woman. She’s similarly emerged with a new lease on this competition after being charged by Michelle Visage way back in Episode 3 to open up as a performer. And open up she has, excelling in challenges like the acting task, Snatch Game and a monologue performance. Barring the both of them flopping at this final hurdle, it feels only right that one of our former ninth-placers be the one to take home the title.
And one does: “I’ve been waiting for this moment for 11 motherfucking years,” our new winner says in one of her first confessionals post-crowning. Yes, long after Season 2, Kylie has won RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 6. She is the first winner from the Logo era of the show since Trixie Mattel won in 2017, the first trans woman to win RuPaul’s Drag Race and the second trans woman to win the greater Drag Race franchise after Angele Anang, the winner of Drag Race Thailand Season 2. It’s an absolutely stunning victory for Kylie—but as she’s proven over and over again this season, she has been more than up to the task of securing this crown.
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She proves it once again in this finale, which sees RuPaul and guest star Tanya Tucker task the finalists with writing short verses for their new song, “This Is Our Country.” They must also, as is customary in an All Stars finale, dance in a choreographed performance of the song, sit down with Ru and Michelle for a final interview and give a speech explaining why they should win a spot in the Drag Race Hall of Fame.
This finale is a unique one, as every remaining finalist is from the American South: Eureka!’s from Tennessee, Ginger’s from Florida, Kylie’s from Georgia and Ra’Jah’s from Texas. The show does not miss the opportunity to give us a country-fried Rumix as a result. I always get a little uncomfortable when the show embraces patriotism so openly; while pride in where you’re from can be powerful, America is also a country of tremendous contradictions. To watch a show by and about LGBTQ2S+ people celebrating Americana in a year that has seen a record amount of anti-LGBTQ2S+—in particular, anti-trans—legislation enacted across the country feels discordant.
But the queens make do, to varying effect. Ra’Jah very smartly finds a way to offer critique of America in her verse, encapsulating the fear that Black Americans have of police in this country. (That this season was shot sometime last year, in the wake of the massive waves of protests in support of Black Lives Matter and against police brutality, makes Ra’Jah’s verse all the more resonant.) Ginger goes a bit campier, but still gets meaningful, while Kylie’s verse tries as best it can to just lean into a country music vibe. Eureka!, on the other hand, does a verse about historical queens that feels completely disconnected from the song.
The final product of “This Is Our Country” can’t help but feel disjointed, owing to how drastically different each queen approaches it. It doesn’t help that it feels more than a bit… inspired, shall we say, by Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road.” More than one artist can add hip-hop influence into country music, of course. But the parallels feel very blatant.
Credit: Courtesy of Paramount+
In their interviews and speeches, you can feel each of the dolls crafting their final case for the win. Eureka! once again stands out: at first somewhat negatively in their interview, as you can feel their HBO press training kick in (sticks to their points, sounds a bit canned), but extremely positively in their speech. They offer a reflection on not fitting in as a plus-sized person, but finding their own “custom fit” as a drag queen. It’s powerful stuff. Conversely, while Ginger’s speech feels too rehearsed, she has a charming, off-the-cuff moment with RuPaul in her interview, remembering a moment in which Ru claimed Ginger as her daughter on the set of AJ and the Queen.
Kylie and Ra’Jah, on the other hand, do well in both. Kylie’s interview is generous to Ru, but he gives credit back to her for sharing her story. She goes deep in a way that I really appreciate, and sums up her journey well in her speech. Ra’Jah gives a gorgeous speech with a metaphor about a rock giving way to the gem underneath, and in her interview, Ru gives her proper plaudits for knowing her brand and serving on the main stage. (He calls her “a marvel on the runway,” and truer words have perhaps never been spoken in one of those interviews.)
Speaking of the runway: all of the queens look good in their final garments, but I’d be lying if I said anyone serves their absolute best fashion this week. Ra’Jah gives us a final purple, leg-forward gown, one that doesn’t benefit from her look in the last episode being similarly leg-forward. Kylie goes with an American flag runway that is more interesting in explanation than it is in execution, while Ginger’s fold-heavy final look is well-designed, if an odd fit for her. I don’t quite buy it when she says the look is “who Ginger Minj was, who Ginger Minj is and who Ginger Minj will be.”
Eureka! is actually the clear winner on the runway, coming out in a gorgeous Bob Mackie-style design. They really take us back to their showgirl roots in a terrific way, and show how their fashion sense has evolved over their seasons. Combined with their strong final speech, Eureka!’s main stage presentation goes a long way to negate their confusing Rumix performance.
Credit: Courtesy of Paramount+
But come the final lip sync, to Lady Gaga’s “Stupid Love,” there’s a clear winner. In a dynamic, surprising moment, Kylie trips over her coat during the performance—but then successfully pivots it into a somersault. In a gown! It’s such quick thinking on the fly that, along with her strong work all season and superior fan vote response, it makes the clear case for her as the All Stars 6 champion.
By virtue of this season being so close down to the wire, there will no doubt be those who are disappointed that their favourite didn’t win. It’s part of the experience of Drag Race to watch your personal pick fall short: I’ve watched first-hand as my favourites Asia O’Hara and A’keria C. Davenport lost in the first round of the Lip Sync for the Crown tournament, and saw Monique’s near-flawless journey in All Stars 4 cut short before she could even lip sync for her spot in the Drag Race Hall of Fame. Fans of Eureka!, Ginger and Ra’Jah have plenty to hang their hats on, though: this season has truly been one where everyone walks out as a winner. A cast of queens that drew skepticism when first announced turned out one of the best seasons we’ve seen in years. They’re all champions.
Still, I realize there will only be one winner listed for this season, and one new face in the Hall of Fame. Kylie is a tremendous champion: she’s a herstoric winner, and a deserving victor. Her crowning caps what has been a delightful ride, and will likely be the last bit of American Drag Race we see this year.
That’s just American Drag Race, though. If there’s one thing this year is teaching us, it’s that we will never for long be without more. With Drag Race Holland’s second season currently ongoing, and Drag Race UK’s third installment just around the corner, we’re not short for more to watch. But now, in this moment, let’s take the chance to pause, reflect on a great season and celebrate our newest champion. All hail Kylie Sonique Love—she’s got money, honey.
Untucking our final thoughts
✨Okay, the shortening of the verses for All Stars Rumixes has gotten absurd. Each of these queens got four bars to cram everything in? All credit in the world to Ra’Jah for making it work and still saying something significant. The dolls really deserve more time and space to express themselves.
✨Jamal Sims returns as choreographer, and it feels like creative control of the show performances is firmly back in his hands. Bless him for always thinking of the queen he’s choreographing for, and producing something great for each. My favourite quote of his: “Kylie has a natural roadhouse, back road, cowgirl bitch attitude.” And sure enough, that came across perfectly in the performance!
✨The moment in which the queens introduce themselves as “the fierce and fabulous Final Four” is utterly adorable. This final grouping is great. The whole cast is great! What a season.
✨Trinity K. Bonet picked Ra’Jah’s lipstick! While this is something of a surprise at first, it makes sense based on the final performances in the monologue challenge. Still, I’d figured she’d have taken Kylie’s for only having one win. We never really got a consistent judging criteria out of the queens this season—but that made for much more interesting eliminations.
✨Shea Couleé makes an appearance via video (in her robotic look from her “Collide” video) to pass the torch to the next queen. I wish she could’ve been there in person—watching Shea give the scepter to Kylie would’ve been a really cool moment. A Season 9 returning champion crowning a Season 2 returning champion: Who’d have thought?
✨“Live life in your truth, and love always wins.” Amen to that, Kylie.
✨It’s safe to say this is a top-tier season for me—probably the top third of all of them, though I’m still waiting to see how the other seasons this year settle for me. (Others in that top group, in no particular order: Seasons 2, 5 and 9 of the main series, both UK seasons, and All Stars 2.) It’s been a delight to write about every week, and I’m very excited to hop back across the pond for another season of Drag Race UK. The premiere date hasn’t been announced just yet, but whenever it begins, we’ll be here!
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 3 will premiere sometime this month on BBC Three in the U.K., WOW Presents Plus in the U.S. and on Crave in Canada. We will return with weekly recaps and rankings of that season once it premieres!
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