The Lip Sync for the Crown finale format was an invention of necessity for RuPaul’s Drag Race. After seasons of predictable results threatened to stagnate the show’s popularity just as it moved to VH1, and after a notably underwhelming run of lip sync battles on Season 9, production turned the finale on its head. Track record could only take you so far now; you’d need to win out in a lip sync against one of your fellow final four castmates to take the crown.
In that first season, the results were superb, owing to Sasha Velour and Peppermint’s surprising reveals and stunts. They had not performed as well as Shea Couleé or Trinity Taylor (now Trinity the Tuck) throughout the season, but Sasha and Peppermint won a crucial battle that made them the winner and runner-up, respectively. But the effectiveness of the formula quickly diminished, as queens came overly prepared with stunts (Season 10), or had lip-synced so many times throughout the season that they had nothing left to surprise us with (Season 13).
The second season of Canada’s Drag Race threw an interesting wrench into the mix by holding the tournament during the season itself, calling it a Lip Sync for the Finale and making it a semifinal qualifier. The song choices (all RuPaul songs we’d seen lip-synced to before) kept this from being a great twist, but it showed promise. And so UK Versus The World’s season finale offers yet another update: the finale, filmed as part of the rest of the season, will feature a Lip Sync for the Crown. This gives queens less time to prepare overly convoluted stunts and reveals, but also means those who cannot perform won’t be able to take the crown.
The results are mixed, I’d say: Baga Chipz, after an underwhelming season, is all but shuffled off the stage after Mo Heart beats her in their first lip sync to Jessie J’s “Domino.” (In perhaps the episode’s single best moment, when asked who she’d like to lip sync against, Mo chooses “wisely, strategically: Baga Chipz.”) Meanwhile, Jujubee, a legendary lip-syncer with a 6-2 record in her Drag Race career, unfortunately falls victim to a Duran Duran song that’s a bad fit for her style—and a uniquely great one for Blu Hydrangea’s. But the end result is as interesting as the rest of the season has been: In a battle between Blu and Mo, who will win?
Credit: Courtesy World of Wonder
Before we can get there, though, we’ve got a lot of filler to get through. And I mean a lot. This episode has the difficult task of presenting the final four as having completed a great journey to get here, when in fact they are by and large here because of a series of ultra-strategic elimination decisions over the course of just five previous episodes. No shade meant to the final four: as I wrote in last week’s recap, there are arguments for all of them to take the win. But it’s silly to pretend that had Ru been making the decisions, we wouldn’t be looking at a very different final four. At minimum, Jimbo and Pangina Heals would be there; I wouldn’t be surprised if Janey Jacké were, too.
Speaking of Janey, Mo indeed had her lipstick last episode, meaning that of the three eliminated frontrunners, only Jimbo was sent home because of one queen winning the lip sync over the other. (And considering that was Pangina beating Janey to the Vengaboys, it was a decisive victory indeed.) Mo cites her alliance with Blu as the reason for her decision, and it underlines what has quietly been the story of the season: Blu and Mo as both rivals and allies. In the very first episode, Blu confronted Mo about her attitude at a previous gig. Mo apologized, but the difference in their attitudes was clear. As things went on, Blu became the more savvy strategist, while Mo opened her heart to her British sisters.
This culminated in their deal that kept Blu and Mo safe over the last two weeks, and has positioned them for the finale. I previously thought the final two might be Blu and Juju, owing to how much narrative both have had all season (Blu as the rising threat, Juju as having to reclaim her power). But looking back at it, I think Blu and Mo were the correct final two considering the many twists and turns this season has taken.
Baga, on the other hand, can’t help but feel like the odd woman out in this episode. She has some good moments, including a pretty great ’60s Elizabeth Taylor-inspired look (one with a better mug and headpiece than dress) and an emotional final speech to Ru. But despite her decent track record, Baga just hasn’t lit up the stage the way she did in UK Season 1. Her winning would feel unsatisfactory, especially after the edit she was given for the first half of this short season. It’s a relief in some ways to see the Lip Sync for the Crown finale format announced, because it’s a clear sign that she won’t be victorious.
Credit: Courtesy World of Wonder
In addition to the lip syncs, we get a Finale Eleganza Extravaganza runway, which the other three all ace. I do think Mo’s bodice and skirt don’t quite go together, but each piece individually is stunning. Juju’s wine-colored dress is gorgeous, and her mug has never looked prettier. Blu goes with very much what you’d expect of a Blu finale look, and it befits the evolution of her drag. The eliminated queens get to walk the runway, too; among them, my favourites are Lemon’s maple leaf Canadian couture and Pangina’s Thai take on Elizabeth I.
The bulk of the episode, however, is just window dressing. The chats with the judges are heartfelt and nice. The runways look great. The banter between the queens shows that, despite some of them playing this season like Drag Survivor, they all do love each other. But this finale is about three lip syncs. And after Mo handily beats Baga and Blu shines next to Juju, we’re left with just one final battle.
Blu versus Mo is to the tune of Kylie Minogue’s “Supernova” off her (excellent!) Disco album, and it’s a great finale song. Both queens positively explode with energy during their lip sync, and they make it a real battle. They don’t have stunts or reveals: they’re just dedicated to the song and dancing their hearts out. I could make an argument for either to win, but for how well she moves around the stage, I oh-so-slightly give the edge to Blu.
And indeed, in the battle between the U.K. and the world, the U.K. has won. Blu Hydrangea’s victory marks the fourth Drag Race UK queen to take home a crown after The Vivienne, Lawrence Chaney and Krystal Versace. Blu was a favourite back while watching that first season, so it’s lovely to see her take the crown back to Northern Ireland with her. Did I personally prefer a Mo victory coming into this finale? Sure. But Mo continues to get closer and closer to the crown. If she ever wanted to come back and do this all again, I’d put all the Mo-ney in the world on her.
Credit: Courtesy World of Wonder
Overall, I would call UK Versus The World “messy but interesting.” There’s been a lot that’s kept me invested, from the strategic gameplay to a genuinely wide-open final four. And while she wasn’t my personal favourite (that was Pangina all season, and Mo at the end), Blu makes for a fitting first champion in this format. She opens the door to further cutthroat eliminations in a way that no previous All Stars winner has. And cynically, I think the idea that the BBC would ever crown someone besides a U.K. queen on UK Versus The World was unlikely. Of the three options (Baga, Blu, Cheryl), Blu was the best.
I do hope that we see future iterations of this format, especially in other countries. Rumours abound online about a Canada Versus The World in the mix, but always best to take those with a grain of salt. I’d personally love to see an España Versus The World, with Spanish-speaking queens from across the franchise. Killer Queen! Alexis Mateo! Jessica Wild! Adriana! Choriza May! Envy Peru! The opportunities are vast, to say the least.
In terms of fixes for the next round: the season should absolutely be longer. Not 12 episodes like All Stars 6, but eight feels like a better fit. I’d keep the top two lip sync format—it found a better home here than on American All Stars—but dump the “if you’re not in the top, you’re in the bottom” twist. It makes it too easy for someone to be taken out for doing otherwise solid work. A bottom two every week would be the most consistent and fair, while still allowing for queens to take frontrunners out when they stumble.
In terms of the toxicity of the conversation around the show this season: I’m at a loss, honestly. It feels like the show will never go as far as it needs to in condemning online hate. (When Pat Sajak of all people is doing more to combat online bullying of Wheel of Fortune contestants than Drag Race is its queens, you know there’s a problem.) And if the fans are going to get this incensed about eliminations in a season in which the prize is a remix of an old RuPaul song, I can’t imagine how bad things are going to get in seasons with more stakes. Nothing is ever worth sending a queen online hate over—and the fact that we’re still having this conversation makes me wonder if the lesson will ever be fully learned.
What will I remember most about this season upon reflection? Pangina Heals: she was the star, and in a less cutthroat group of queens, the rightful winner. Her runways, her talent show performance and her “We Like to Party! (The Vengabus)” lip sync are among my favourite moments of the last six weeks. Other highlights: Mo’s “Living My Life in London” Rumix verse and her runways all season long; Jujubee’s Cher-on-a-budget Snatch Game (“Cher-cuterie” still makes me howl); Blu’s elimination of Pangina; Jimbo’s talent show act and so on.
But if there’s one thing I liked that I’d most want to see replicated on the main show, it’s that against all odds, Ru’s judging—give or take some protecting Baga from the bottom—was at its most fair and balanced all season. It felt like he was genuinely responding to what was happening, not working along pre-decided production narratives. How refreshing to see the show let the chips fall where they may! The results may have been wild sometimes, but as a result, this felt like a real competition. And because of that, I was ready to accept whatever the result. Blu may not have been my pick, but I can’t deny that she fought hard to get the win. All hail our new Queen of the Mothertucking World!
Untucking our final thoughts:
✨There are some wild celebrity messages in this finale: Billy Porter and Naomi Campbell (!) recorded short videos, while Alan Carr (who had to miss the finale) also makes a short appearance. Later, to explain the rules, Ru has Elton John of all people take the reins. A nice reminder that Drag Race UK is a pretty huge deal across the pond.
✨Michelle Visage and Graham Norton are, in lieu of a Pit Crew, assigned to open up the boxes with each song for the Lip Sync for the Crown semifinals. “I feel like Meghan Markle in Deal or No Deal,” Graham says as he opens his.
✨We get a final instalment of mini-Untucked with the eliminated queens, and naturally there’s an attempt to sort out the drama of the shock eliminations with Jimbo, Pangina and Blu. Honestly, it’s all a bit moot, since they’ve given so many interviews post-show making clear that they’re all cool (jokes from Jimbo aside), and have warned against sending their sisters hate for their decisions. It’s a flaw of having an in-show reunion: we don’t get any kind of hindsight, and there’s not enough time to really dive deep. Still, it’s nice to see everyone once more.
✨“Jujubee, or not to be: that is the question!” A great exit line from Jujubee. If this winds up being her final appearance on the show, it’s a lovely way to go out. (Though her saying “See ya later!” after indicates that no, it probably won’t be her last time on Drag Race.)
✨As Blu notes, Canada is the only country to not receive a gold RuPeter badge this season. At least Jimbo has those two top challenge placements to take back home!
✨Interested to hear how you all feel about the highly X Factor-esque intros that Drag Race UK uses for the finales. I get that they’re appropriate for British reality television, but they seem so tonally dissonant with the rest of the show. After we’ve had three now (they started in earnest with UK Season 2), I’m ultimately deciding I don’t feel them. But I’m interested to know if I’m alone in that.
✨“It’s the U.K. versus the U.S., and this special relationship is about to turn very sour!” Blu says this at the top of the episode, but by the end, she’s the one reigning supreme. A final congrats to her: she’s come a long way in just a few short years, and I’m thrilled for her.
✨Thanks to all of you for joining us for this short season! We’re still motoring onward with Season 14 coverage, with about two months left to go. It’s not the cutthroat affair that UK Versus The World was, but it’s a pleasure all its own. Looking forward to breaking down the rest of it through this spring!
The next episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14 will air Friday, March 11, at 8 p.m. EST on VH1 in the U.S. and on Crave in Canada. Check back every Monday and Tuesday after new episodes for our recaps and power rankings, and subscribe to our drag newsletter Wig! for exclusive Drag Race content delivered straight to your inbox every Tuesday afternoon.
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