The Worst Lip Syncs In RuPaul's Drag Race History
"RuPaul's Drag Race" has countless seasons under its belt, especially when you tally up all of its franchises. The reality series is known to have its fair share of dramatic eliminations and even some secrets. After contestants complete their weekly challenges, which can range from acting to performing in a music video and anything in between, two queens are chosen to lip sync for their lives. This means that they performed the worst in the challenge that week, but it also means they must perform well to whichever song the producers have chosen if they want to stay in the competition. Ultimately, one queen is told to "sashay away" while the other is told "Shantay, you stay."
The first lip sync we must mention before fully diving into this is the six-way lip sync of Season 11. RuPaul was not pleased with one team's performance and subsequently had the entire team lip sync for their lives. With six queens dancing at one time, though, all blood-thirsty to stay in the competition, there was a lot of movement and not a lot of time for the viewer to see each queen. It was a mess of a lip sync, but it did make for good television (via Entertainment Tonight).
Keep reading for our full guide on the worst lip syncs in "Drag Race" history.
Some lip syncs have us seeing double
Every once in a while, RuPaul will put two queens in the bottom to lip sync for their lives and the results are underwhelming. In these instances, RuPaul declares a double sashay: a double elimination in which both queens go home. As of this writing, this has only happened twice in "Drag Race" history but both times were a shock to the viewers and queens alike.
In Season 5, a few queens were underperforming compared to their fellow contestants. Then, when contestants Honey Mahogany and Vivienne Pinay landed in the bottom and still didn't perform like they had a fire under them, Ru took the opportunity to send them both home. This was the first double elimination in the show's history, and it's still a jaw-dropping moment to rewatch years later. How can you not slay a performance to Britney Spears' "Oops!... I Did It Again"?
Then, in Season 8, RuPaul did something similar. When she was not impressed with Dax ExclamationPoint and Laila McQueen's performance of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive," Ru sent both of the hopeful queens home, shocking the other contestants and audiences alike.
A bad performance doesn't always mean it's a shocking one
There doesn't always have to be a shocking element for a lip sync performance to be considered "bad." Sometimes they're just not up to par with the others. There are many reasons for this, from nerves taking over to not preparing because you don't think you're going to be in the bottom that week. Either way, a bad performance is a bad performance.
Some of the most lackluster lip syncs can be awarded to Penny Tration versus Serena Cha Cha in Season 5 and Naysha Lopez versus Laila McQueen in Season 8 (via The Spinoff). These performances fell short of energy and charisma, and it's surprising that they weren't double eliminations.
Of course, none of the aforementioned contestants are bad performers or bad queens (everyone has a down day or a bad performance). They just happen to be responsible for some of the biggest lip sync misses featured on the show.
These queens march to the beat of their own drums
In this batch of worst lip syncs, we have some, well, interesting performances. For example, we have Mimi Imfurst versus India Ferrah in Season 3, in which Mimi picks up India and totes her about — a big no-no. India couldn't perform while in Mimi's arms, and Mimi wasn't really performing. She was simply carrying her competitor to deter her from performing.
And then there's Valentina versus Nina Bo'nina Brown in Season 9. Valentina wore a look that included a mask for the runway that week and refused to take it off when it came time to lip sync. RuPaul even had the song restarted after realizing Valentina hadn't taken her mask off. The starlet told Ru, "I'd like to keep it on please," after Ru requested she remove it. It quickly became clear that Valentina didn't know the words to Ariana Grande's "Greedy." Nina still put on a show, but Valentina floundered and it was hard to watch, to be honest.
What are your favorite lip sync performances, and which do you think are the worst? There are countless to choose from, but one thing is for certain: This show definitely brings people together.