Top 10 Moments from RuPaul's Drag Race Season 11
#10: “Oppalance! You Earn Everything!”
After Season 10 turned Vanessa Vanjie Mateo into an unwitting meme star, Mercedes Iman Diamond stole the spotlight during the parody films challenge. In the scene in question, Mercedes played the maid of a family pretending to embrace drag culture. Her big moment came when she had to vogue alongside Kahanna Montrese while reciting the much-quoted line from documentary film, “Paris Is Burning.” The problem was, Mercedes clearly didn’t have a clue what the reference was and failed repeatedly to get the line right. Luckily for her, fans went wild for the blunder, with different versions of the clip popping up all over the Internet. It even received its own song remix from Adam Joseph.
#9: The Parody Films
Top 10 RuPaul's Drag Race Season 14 Moments
Spoofing popular films has become a “Drag Race” mainstay, and this season excelled itself with two of the show’s best. The queens were split into two teams, one led by Brooke Lynn Hytes and the other by Silky Nutmeg Ganache. Between them, they took on parodies of two of the biggest hits from 2017 and 2018: “Why Gotta Be Black, Panther?” And “Good God Girl, Get Out!” While the former had some stand-out performances from Shuga Cain as Great Auntie Max’ine and Plastique Tiara as the non-politically correct Nails, it was Silky’s team who reigned supreme, thanks to the winning combo of Scarlet O’Hara and Yvie Oddly as the hapless victim and twisted villainess. And we just couldn’t get enough of Vanessa Vanjie Mateo’s “cool dad” character!
#8: Drag Family Make-Overs
Top 10 Moments from RuPaul's Drag Race Season 13
The make-over challenge has caught out many a frontrunner in “Drag Race” herstory. Season 11 added the extra pressure of having the remaining queens style some of the eliminated contestants in their own drag brand. Tensions were high and tea was piping hot! Nina and Silky unfortunately did their drag sisters dirty, particularly poor Soju, who confessed that she struggled to walk in high heels. Unsurprisingly, Brooke Lynn turned it out with her chosen partner, Plastique. In two stunning gowns, the winning duo brought glamor, poise and a touch of comedy to the runway. And though she didn’t snag the win she so desperately wanted, Vanjie’s great work with her partner, Ariel Versace got a special shout-out from Michelle Visage.
#7: Nina West’s “Dragacradabra” Performance
For the tenth episode’s main challenge, the girls had to split into teams and put together a magic show. As well as learning the tricks of the trade with magician, Kyle Marlett, the groups had to come up with their own characters, comedic bits, and a name for their act. Silky, Vanjie, A’Keria Chanel Davenport and Yvie Oddly, aka “The Black Magic” had a few magical moments, but their performance came off as a little sloppy and under-rehearsed. They also had to follow Nina, Shuga, and Brooke Lynn’s team, aka “The Mighty Tucks,” who never missed a beat, and had us laughing and gasping the whole way through. Honestly, we could listen to Nina saying: "magic" over and over again and never get tired of it.
#6: Vanjie’s Campaign To Crack The Final Four
When Miss Vanjie failed to get into the final four, we were heartbroken. Luckily, the queen of the backwards exit still played a prominent part in the live finale. Midway through the show, Vanjie invaded the stage, placard in hand, to demand that her face be added to the lip sync wheel so that she could keep competing for the crown. If that wasn’t enough, she also had a pre-recorded segment of herself drumming up support on the street. This involved her yelling at traffic, carralling random passersby - human or canine to sign her petition- and getting distracted from her mission by a cute guy. She even throws a little shade at Brooke Lynn! While her efforts were in vain, we were still thoroughly entertained.
#5: The Six-Way Lip Sync For Your Life
Top 10 Moments from RuPaul's Drag Race Season 3
Traditionally, a Lip Sync For Your Life is a two-way smackdown. The only exception is the Lip Sync for the crown, but we’ve never seen more than four contenders on one stage. The third episode of Season 11 changed all of that. The main challenge of the episode was to present a “Diva Worship” show about a pop diva of each team’s choosing. Despite knowing almost nothing about her, Ra’Jah O’Hara’s group picked Mariah Carey, leading to a trainwreck so bad, RuPaul put the entire team in the bottom.The six-way Lip Sync was also a hot mess, but one that we just couldn’t take our eyes off of. In the end, Honey Davenport went home, and Ru’s message was delivered loud and clear.
#4: Branjie
While we’re sure that some hook-ups have taken place while the cameras aren’t rolling, “Drag Race” has never had an official on-screen romance. Until, that is, Brooke Lynn and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo laid eyes on each other. Early on in the season, the other queens’ suspicions were aroused by all the cuddling and kissing going on between the pair. And we’re not talking about friendly air-kisses, either. It was only a matter of time before they were interrogated about their budding romance, though both of them were hesitant to put a label on it in case it interfered with their performance in the competition. Though the two eventually called it off due to conflicting work schedules, we ship Branjie and hope they can rekindle their romance in the future.
#3: Plastique Tiara’s Werk Room Breakdown
During the second design challenge of the season, Ru approached Plastique Tiara in the werk room and encouraged her to show more of her personality. Unsatisfied with her response, Mama Ru probed further. Her questions clearly hit an emotional nerve for Plastique, who began to open up about the struggle she’d been going through with keeping her drag life separate from most of her family. It’s hard not to get choked up when the tears start to flow, and there were few dry eyes left in the werk room. This was topped off by Ru pulling the tearful queen into a hug and assuring her that this was the place for her to let it all out.
#2: Yvie Oddly Wins
The grand finale of Season 11 was a four-way lip sync smackdown between top contenders: Yvie, Brooke Lynn, Silky and A’keria. All four offered completely different forms of drag and the crown could have gone any of four ways. Having said that, fans were given the top two that they really wanted: Yvie vs. Brooke Lynn. The latter made us chuckle early on with her tongue-in-cheek wardrobe reference to the clothing reveals that have become a finale staple, which she also delivered on well. But, Yvie soon outshone Brooke’s predictable gimmick simply by turning her head. Her beautifully strange performance was the perfect culmination of weeks of work cementing herself as a loveable weirdo. We couldn’t have accepted anyone else as our reigning queen. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. Nina West And Silky Nutmeg Ganache’s Messy Lip Sync Nina West And Mercedes' Heartbreaking Stories The Draglympics Challenge Silky Nutmeg Ganache as T.S Madison In The Snatch Game RIP Michelle Visage’s Breast Implants #1: Yvie Oddly’s Hot Dad ...Seriously, can we talk about what a DILF Yvie Oddly’s dad was at the grand finale? Just kidding! Onto the real number one.
#1: Yvie Oddly And Brooke Lynn Hytes Lip Sync
After slaying virtually every challenge that came their way, it was the gag of the entire season to see Brooke Lynn and Yvie land in the bottom two. Sadly, their shared fate was completely earned after both of their disastrous performances in the “Snatch Game.” Celine Dion? What was Brooke Lynn thinking! After that, not even her flawless two-for-one runway look could save her. But, as soon as Demi Lovato’s “Sorry Not Sorry” started playing, we knew we were in for something special. In their efforts to outdo each other, there were flips, kicks, spins, shablams, and even an acrobatic wig change from Yvie. It would have been downright criminal for RuPaul to not have kept them both, which of course - she did!
