History Awesome / RuPaulsDragRace

** This season's Lip Sync [=LaLaPaRuza=] once again gave us several great ones especially from queens you would't have expected to turn it out, but these in particular stand out:

*** The final lip sync of the episode saw assassin Morphine go up against an unlikely opponent in Megami who surprised everyone just by being in the finals in the first place, as the two battled it out to "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)". Megami once again knew she wasn't gonna out-dance her opponent so she went full camp by bringing in a hand-puppet to lip sync for her among other things she did to embrace the fun nature of the song. Morphine meanwhile embraced the dancing spirit of the song with voguing, dips, twirls, and shaking her BBL ass so fast. In the end, Morphine comes out on top but both queens really gave their all here.

** The ''Lip-sync Lalaparuza Smackdown'' certainly had its moments, but there is no question that the lip-sync to "I'm In Love With A Monster" by Music/FifthHarmony was the highlight of the night. Not just because it's Sasha Colby's debut lip-sync, but in [[CoolVsAwesome a dream-match scenario,]] it's against ''Anetra,'' both winding up together because no one else wanted to challenge them. Sasha Colby lives up to all her pre-season hype with an absolute whirlwind of hairography, twerking and serving body. Anetra delivers high energy, clean splits, and nearly dislocates her leg with a death-drop. There's so much to take in, one would be forgiven for hoping for a double-shantay, but Sasha gets the win after one hell of a fight.

* Thailand Season 2:
** Throughout the entire season, the queens have been absolutely terrified of Vanda landing in the bottom with them due to her reputation as a FIERCE lipsyncer. When she finally does land in the bottom 3 with Tormai and Genie in Episode 7, she does not disappoint. She hits every beat and does not miss a single word, even though the song is completely in Thai, a language she is unfamiliar with. Expectedly, she is the first to be declared safe.
** Angele vs Kana is a high point in the entire season. Following a heartwarming moment where the judges encourage Kana to give it her all after shes willing to sacrifice herself for Angele after landing in the bottom again, both Kana and Angele put up an amazing lipsync which brings both the contestants and judges to tears. Both queens really go all out, with high energy dance moves, gags, and comedy, it ends up in a very deserving double shantay.
*** With this, Kana Warrior survives her 4th lipsync, a first in the entire franchise.

[[folder: Drag Race Thailand Season 2]]
* Seeing as how runway plays a much larger part in whether or not the queens lipsync, its expected that the queens absolutely turn it for every single runway. And what's more is that, most of the time, the queens garments are constructed before the runway! Not from scratch, but still. Here are some highlights throughout the season:
** Episode 5:
*** Miss Gimhuay and Bandit absolutely DESTROYED the runway. Miss Gimhuay came out in a scooter decorated to look like a bike, and even had and LED fire and smoke reveal underneath her jacket. Meanwhile, Bandit perfectly executed 3 distinct and beautiful looks in 1, with each seamlessly transitioning to the other. Season 1 and RPDR US All Stars 5, who?
*** Even though she landed in the bottom due to her outfit, Maya B'Haro was able to pull off a jaw-dropping stunt where she lit and her hands on fire and even pranced off the stage that way. Now THAT'S how you make an exit.
[[/folder]]

!!'''[=RuPaul=]'s Drag Race UK'''
[[folder:UK Series 1]]
* Scaredy Kat winning the very first mini-challenge. Repeat, ''Scaredy Kat'' - a 19-year-old bedroom queen - winning the very first mini-challenge. Talk about BeginnersLuck!
-->'''Divina:''' Scaredy Kat. Is the winner. She ''just got birthed.'' What is this about???
* The Snatch Game nets Baga Chipz and The Vivienne a rare double-win, for their impressions of Margaret Thatcher and Donald Trump, respectively. Michelle actually called The Vivienne's Trump impression the best Snatch Game performance ''ever.''
* During the girl group challenge, Divina's group is recording their vocals, and on a whim Divina sings the song's main riff in '''''whistle tones.''''' Producer [=MNEK=] completely loses his shit, and in confessionals he compares it to hearing Music/MariahCarey sing. When Divina was talking up her singing range, she was ''not fucking around.''
* Divina gets fed up with The Vivienne not taking her seriously, and goes off on her with an epic NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech during an argument. It instantly became iconic in the fandom.
-->'''Divina:''' You clearly don't value what I do as a drag queen. Tell me anybody else in this Werk Room who has a four and a half octave range! Tell me anybody else who can sing in five languages! Tell me anybody else who can do all that while doing the splits! Tell me anybody else who has fifteen years of directing production shows!

[[folder: UK Series 2]]
* A'whora's "Lockdown Supershero" look in episode 7, easily one of the most polished looks to ever be made entirely in the Werk Room. Her win that episode was no surprise to anyone.
* This season's winner makes history. Lawrence Chaney is not only the first winner from Scotland, but (at least in English-speaking seasons) the ''first plus-sized girl to win!''
** Credit should go to one of the runners-up. Prior to the pandemic break, Bimini Bon-Boulash was usually safe with one bottom placement, fading into the background a bit. ''After'' the break, she came back with a vengeance, got ''four wins'' in rapid succession and became a huge fan favorite. Probably one of the most epic glow-ups in ''Drag Race'' herstory.
** The other runner-up, Tayce, is a rare queen to survive ''four'' lipsyncs, the last of which was a double-shantay, which cemented her as one of the all-time great lipsync assassins in the franchise. It kept her afloat right up till the final three.

[[folder: UK Series 3]]
* For the first time in the entire series of Drag Race, we have a cisgender woman (Victoria Scone) as a contestant. Despite what people's opinions on it may be (and there are many), it's such an incredible progression for the series and she received one of the warmest welcomes yet from her fellow queens after she entered the Werk Room, so her competitors are undoubtedly onboard. Victoria also went on to destroy the premiere episode, losing out on the win only due to a lip-sync twist, but the positive critiques and welcome she got from the judges only showed further why she belongs in this competition, opening the door for countless other talented AFAB queens.
* Krystal Versace, at only nineteen years old, winning the first two challenges back to back with incredibly polished looks, a tight lip-sync, and a hilariously over-the-top performance as a fitness instructor. Considering that most contestants in the franchise who competed under the age of twenty-one end up not lasting more than three episodes, let alone win a challenge, it's pretty amazing to see this teen queen thrive.
** Krystal's eventual crowning only hammers in the fact that she's a true drag prodigy.
* Notably, UK Season 3 is the first season ever to have two different queens (Ella Vaday & Kitty Scott-Claus) reach the finale without ever [[NoDamageRun placing below safe]].

[[folder:UK Series 4]]
* Black Peppa in episode 1, winning both the mini ''and'' maxi challenge, would be impressive in itself, but to top it off, the big chocolate headpiece fell off her chocolate-themed runway, and Peppa still looked ''so'' good and sold it ''so'' well that she won the challenge anyway.
** [[https://mobile.twitter.com/CadburyUK/status/1578067676148252675 And then Cadbury's decided to remake Peppa's headpiece out of REAL chocolate!]]
* The entire cast comes together to put on one of the best, if not ''the'' best, Rusicals ever seen with ''[[Theatre/{{MaryPoppins}} Lairy Poppins]]'': The Rusical, which went on to become the highest-rated ''Drag Race UK'' episode ''ever'' (and one of the top highest across the franchise), with an IMDB user rating of 9.6. Special mention goes to Danny Beard, who, even in a great performance from the whole cast, puts forth a strong, standout performance, and then puts the cap on it with a ''Little Shop Of Horrors''-inspired runway look that's easily one of the most elaborate runways in the entire UK series, easily winning the week.
* When the eliminated queens walk the runway one last time in the finale, Starlet - who went home second, mind you - nearly upstages the finalists with an absolutely ''massive'' ball gown, heavy on tulle and sparkles. It takes up a good chunk of the stage by itself.
* It's understated on screen, but Danny Beard's victory marks the first season win by a bearded queen in any part of the franchise. And it was well-earned - with four wins and never even sniffing the bottom two, Danny had the most dominant run of the UK series thus far. That's saying a lot, considering the other half of the final two was the legendary Cheddar Gorgeous, who had an incredible run in her own right.

[[folder:UK Series 5]]
* The ''Dragiators Roast'' in the penultimate episode was described by Ru as the benchmark on how to do the roast challenge. It's easily one of the best (if not ''the'' best) in the whole franchise. Ginger Johnson's excellent performance alone could win almost any roast, until Michael Marouli pulls an utterly legendary move by [[ThrowingOutTheScript tossing away her cue cards to start,]] almost immediately upstaging Ginger, and then tearing into the cast and judges entirely from memory. Thanks to her incredible showmanship, Michael just barely snatches the win for the week.

!!'''Canada's Drag Race'''
[[folder:Canada Season 1]]
* In episode 2, Anastarzia Anaquway tells a haunting story in the Werk Room, about the struggles of being queer in the Bahamas, who are much less friendly to [=LGBT=] lifestyles than in Canada. More to the point, she's actually lost friends to hate crimes, and was the victim of one herself, [[NearDeathExperience being shot multiple times]] upon arriving home one night. Not only did she survive, ''she drove herself to the hospital.'' After Starzy healed from the incident, she immediately sought asylum in Canada and never looked back. She still has a ''bullet'' in her kidney. This story is a devastating [[TearJerker/RuPaulsDragRace Tear Jerker]], but the fact that Starzy survived to become such a decorated, accomplished queen, cements her as a {{Determinator}}.
* Scarlett Bobo in episode 2, coming out on the runway and accentuating her look with a ''fire-eating routine.'' Holy shit!
* Jimbo [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCNifchlyaY reads Rita Baga into oblivion]] just to blow off some steam. Ilona Verley just ''living'' for it is the icing on the cake.
* Scarlett Bobo proved to be quite a {{Determinator}} this season, going a full eight episodes being safe and never in the bottom, surely a record. In episode 9, she ''finally'' wins a challenge, and it's the ''Ball'' challenge no less.
* Priyanka winning the crown makes her the first queen of Indian descent to win a season. The fact that she won while done up in a traditional Indian look only adds to what a great moment this is. She's also the first Queen who was twice in the bottom to ever win.

[[folder:Canada Season 2]]
* Kimora Amour's Ugly As Sin runway look in episode 6, easily one of the most haunting runways, and runway walks, in the franchise. Whereas the other girls obviously went for tacky and/or hideous, Kimora walked the runway as a ''slave,'' complete with handcuffs and dirt all over her, then finished by breaking the cuffs and running for her life to the back. The judges are in awe and completely silent the whole time, and it's a startling reminder that drag is ''political.''
* Priyanka, returning in the finale to crown this season's winner, upstages the final three with her ''incredible'' "four-armed goddess" look, and then playfully rubs it in everybody's face (in true Priyanka fashion). This dress has been favorably compared by fans to Violet Chachki's famous season 8 finale look, which is saying a lot.

[[folder:Canada Season 3]]
* After Miss Fiercalicious throws a childish tantrum over Vivian giving her the song she didn't want for the dual dancing challenge, Gisèle Lullaby takes it upon herself to [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech tear Fiercalicious a new one for her attitude.]]
* Despite everyone in episode 4 getting the same materials to craft a runway look, Gisèle Lullaby turns in a luxurious, beautifully conceived gown so well-constructed that it's difficult to believe she had the same amount of time as the rest of the cast. Kimmy and Bombae place high, but seem like distant second and third compared to Gisèle, who wins the week easily.
* The Periodic Table runway features some stunning looks. Of special note is Lady Boom Boom's bromide look, which features tubes of running liquid throughout, and Bombae's helium balloon bodysuit which saves her from the bottom two.
* Episode 6's runway theme is simply titled "Paint," and from start to finish it may be one of the most inspired runway segments in Canada's edition altogether. Standouts include Irma Gerd's paint-by-numbers-themed dress, Gisèle's Picasso-esque surrealist piece, Jada's black empowerment look, and Fiercalicious' take on the famous {{painting|s}} ''Art/TheSwing'' by Jean-Honoré Fragonard. In the end, Bombae winds up getting eliminated, but with her dress covered in a dizzying collage of colors, she may be one of the best-looking eliminated queens of all time.

!!'''Other Spinoffs'''
[[folder: Drag Race Thailand Season 2]]
* Seeing as how runway plays a much larger part in whether or not the queens lipsync, its expected that the queens absolutely turn it for every single runway. And what's more is that, most of the time, the queens garments are constructed before the runway! Not from scratch, but still. Here are some highlights throughout the season:
** Episode 5:
*** Miss Gimhuay and Bandit absolutely DESTROYED the runway. Miss Gimhuay came out in a scooter decorated to look like a bike, and even had and LED fire and smoke reveal underneath her jacket. Meanwhile, Bandit perfectly executed 3 distinct and beautiful looks in 1, with each seamlessly transitioning to the other. Season 1 and RPDR US All Stars 5, who?
*** Even though she landed in the bottom due to her outfit, Maya B'Haro was able to pull off a jaw-dropping stunt where she lit and her hands on fire and even pranced off the stage that way. Now THAT'S how you make an exit.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Down Under Series 1]]
* Anita Wig'lit's Snatch Game performance as Queen Elizabeth II was light years ahead of everyone else's performance. Ru begins the critiques by just announcing Anita as the winner right off the bat!
* Etcetera Etcetera in the ''incredibly'' uncomfortable episode 5, chewing out Scarlet Adams for her past use of {{Blackface}} and ''not'' letting her off easily for it.
-->'''Etcetera:''' I've never looked at something like blackface and thought that could be an 'honest mistake.'
* The decision to include Kiwi queens in the cast was allegedly last minute so most of the emphasis is on Australian culture and Kita even comments on the show that them being their may seem like an afterthought. Last minute decision or not, the three Kiwi queens: Kita, Anita, and Elektra quickly became a trio of {{Ensemble Darkhorse}}s and absolute highlight on an otherwise controversial season for being hilarious, extremely likeable, talented, and for their unique dynamic.
** By the end of the season, Kita takes home the crown, Anita Miss Congeniality, and Elektra is easily the fan favorite, trade of the season, ''and'' lipsync assassin, nabbing nearly half of the challenge wins between the three of them, becoming the SpotlightStealingSquad of the season, and doing all of this without a single controversial or negative moment coming their way. Really makes you forget that season the was originally titled ''Drag Race Australia.''
[[/folder]]

[[folder: España Season 2]]
* The ''Supremme Eleganza Talent Extravaganza'' talent show and subsequent ''Day of the Beast'' runway are nothing less than a triumph across the board, arguably among the best yet seen across the franchise, featuring slick, expertly designed showcases from ''every'' queen which fully exhibit their diverse personalities -- even the pair designated the bottom 2, Ariel Rec and Samantha Ballentines, perform to a standard that in any other iteration of the franchise would likely see them safe at a minimum.
** It quickly became ''the'' highest rated episode on IMDB, from ''any'' franchise.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Philippines Season 1]]
* The girl group challenge definitely put a lot of eyes on DRPH as each queen showed why fans have clamored for the Philippines to get its own franchise, with many agreeing the Flexbomb Girls ate up and left no crumbs behind. With some of the smoothest rap lyrics since "I'm That Bitch" and each queen in the group getting to show off their strengths, they helped make a case for this being one of the best challenges of its kind. And props to Viñas' strong vocals giving Pink Pussy Energy a CurbStompCushion to at least soften the blow.
** In a Drag Race first, after both performances both groups got to share the stage for a face-off as the song pumped up, and it was a sight to behold as queens from opposing teams worked almost perfectly in-sync to cap off the challenge.
** Speaking of Viñas, her runway that episode saw her walk as a manananggal (a Filipino vampire) and it was a sight to behold. Similar to Maddy's Marie Antoinette runway, she had to adjust her body in a way that ensured that the illusion of her upper and lower halves being separate was maintained and definitely didn't look comfortable, but it worked wonders even as she turned around and broke the illusion (but made up for it with an ass reveal that would make Detox proud). Many agree that had she been on the Flexbomb Girls or if they were judged individually, she would've won the episode handily.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Canada Vs The World Season 1]]
* For the first time in the franchise, a genuine, currently-serving world leader shows up in the Werk Room. Seriously, how in the hell did they get ''[[UsefulNotes/CanadianPrimeMinisters Justin Trudeau]]'' as a special guest?
* The ball challenge in episode 3 sees Victoria Scone walk the runway as a drag ''king''--or as she puts it, she's now "Victor Stone". For years, fans have been wanting drag kings to have a platform similar to their fellow queens, so Victoria's little stunt was definitely a huge deal. The judges are just ''living'' for it, and it's no surprise when Victoria is in the top two.
-->'''Victoria:''' I don't perform as a drag king in the outside world. But I appreciate the art form so much. It's really a love letter to drag kings.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Lip Sync Performances (Drag Race UK)]]

* UK Series 1:
** The very first episode has Vinegar Strokes vs Gothy Kendoll ([[CatchPhrase Goth-y Ken-doll]]), set to Music/DuaLipa's "New Rules." Vinegar describes her lipsync as "The Vinegar Strokes Show," and she lives up to that boast by jiggling her boobs at the judges, doing ''two'' wig reveals in a row to the beat of the song, nailing the words, serving camp, and generally [[CurbStompBattle steamrolling]] over Gothy.
** Blu Hydrangea vs Cheryl Hole, set to a remix of Music/CherylCole's "Call My Name." Blu gave it plenty of emoting and power - maybe too much - but Cheryl Hole was performing in front of her heroine, guest judge Cheryl Cole herself. As such, Cheryl Hole danced like her life depended on it, up to and including nearly snapping her leg in half with a death drop. See you on All Stars, Blu.
* UK Series 2:
** Bimini Bon Boulash and Joe Black's lip-sync to "Relax" immediately set the bar for the lip-syncs to come and made it clear that the lackluster performances from Season 1 weren't going to be repeated in Season 2, with Bimini sliding into the box splits all while lip-syncing on her head, and Joe giving face and camping the song up.
** Tayce vs Cherry Valentine, to "Memory" from ''Theatre/{{Cats}}''. The music was light years away from the typical songs used for lipsyncs, yet Tayce manages to give a performance full of passion using only facial expressions and limited movements. The shot of her face in full light, with an immaculate mug smeared in fake blood and pulling a KubrickStare, was an immediate reference for fan art.
** Tia Kofi beating dancing queen Asttina Mandella to "Don't Start Now" by Dua Lipa was certainly a moment, especially after Asttina had hyped up her dance skills since the minute she walked into the werkroom, and Tia was being criminally underrated by her fellow contestants.
** Ginny Lemon and Sister Sister's lip-sync to "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by Kim Wilde. Ginny quit the competition in her own classy, yet fabulously punk way by walking off stage as soon as the lip-sync started. As jaw-dropping as that moment was, the best moment goes to Sister Sister continuing the lip-sync all by herself and turning it out as if Ginny was still on stage. Needless to say, Sister earned a lot of respect from the other queens.
** Tayce and Ellie's lip-sync to "The Last Thing On My Mind" by Steps was incredible, with both girls pulling out all the stops, special mention goes to Ellie's cartwheel into a dip. Neither girl ends up eliminated and BOTH move on to the finale, with Ellie managing to claw her way to the end without a win and Tayce surviving her FOURTH lip-sync!
* UK Series 3:
** For the first time in Drag Race herstory, there were two lip-syncs on the premiere, with Krystal Versace and Victoria Scone battling it out for the first win of the season to Bonnie Tyler's classic "Total Eclipse of the Heart". With Victoria serving camp and Krystal serving impeccable emotion and face, it's a close call, but Krystal takes the win.
** The second lip-sync of the premiere is the bottom two - Anubis and Elektra Fence - facing off to Little Mix's chart-topper "Sweet Melody", and when Elektra boasted about her dance skills earlier, she wasn't kidding around. From doing jumping jacks on her ankles, to bouncing into gravity-defying splits and right back up again, Elektra showed that she's a force to be reckoned with and utterly flattened Anubis in the lip-sync.
** The two best dancers, Elektra Fence and Vanity Milan, going against each other to M People's "Moving On Up". Vanity felt the song hard, whipping her updo wig so the hair fell out and flowed down her back, while Elektra showed off even more impressive and energetic dancing than she did in her first lip-sync, unfortunately for Elektra, it may have been too much for the judges.
** The sixth lip-sync pits Vanity against Scarlett. While Scarlett manage to hold her own, Vanity absolutely owns it with various splits and twister-like spins. Vanity slays so much that guest-judge Alesha Dixon, whose Music/MisTeeq track the girls were 'syncing to, gives her a standing ovation, and she of course goes on to win the lip-sync.
** Krystal Versace finds herself in the bottom two for the first time against Vanity Milan, to "Hallucinate" by Dua Lipa. Coming off a pretty rough roast challenge, Krystal reminds us that she can ''perform,'' and her lipsync performance is an impressive burst of energy that finally takes down Vanity, the undisputed lipsync assassin of the season.

* UK Series 4:
** Black Peppa and Jonbers Blonde find themselves in the bottom after 'The Squirrel Games' acting challenge, despite Ru calling both their runway outfits iconic. The song is "Some Kinda Rush" by Booty Luv. Neither queen is going quietly with gymnastics, airtight lip syncing, choreography and even a floor side down the runway to the front of the stage in unison. In the end it's the rare double save and both queens go on to slay another day.
[[/folder]]

%%

Having been on the air for over a decade, gag-worthy moments from epic lip-syncs to insane ruveals and sickening challenge performances have helped make this show what it is, while showing the world how drag is more than just flashy dresses and big wigs.

[[/folder]]

** Kahanna Montrese spent episode 1 showing that her time performing in Vegas paid off, with one hell of a glow-up from her underwhelming season 11 run, resulting in her first ever challenge win. All good things must come to an end, however, when she's faced with the season's first lip-sync assassin -- Aja, who gives Music/{{Beyonce}}'s "Freakum Dress" an absolutely on-point performance from beginning to end, even shaking out a wig reveal almost as an afterthought. Kahanna has some tricks and isn't bad at all, but Aja is just a supernova.

** Jimbo, realizing she can't win if she takes the lip-sync seriously (at least in the way most queens would), decides to just go ham (on in her case go baloney) and brings back [[CallBack the baloney ghost]] for her fourth lip-sync of the season, against none other than the lip-sync guru herself [[TheAce Silky Nutmeg Ganache]]. Despite the odds being against her, Jimbo's weirdness finally pays off as she puts up one hell of a fight against Silky to Midnight Star's "Freak-a-Zoid", playing up her inability to dance for laughs and bringing back the cured meats to throw. Silky being who she is however, isn't intimidated and uses her own dance and comedy skills to good use, flirting with her opponent and using the baloney for her own gags, to the loud approval of everyone watching. In the end it's a close battle but Jimbo finally gets a lip-sync win to her name.

* All Stars 2: Alaska found herself in the bottom for the first time. During a conversation between her and Katya, the latter (who was among the best of the week and could eliminate her) said "Party" and there was a moment of silence. Alaska freaked out in an extremely brattish way.