Top 10 Moments from RuPaul's Drag Race Season 10

In the words of All Stars 3 Winner Trixie Mattel: “Gay culture is exiting a room backwards and saying “Miss Vanjie…Miss Vanjie…” First to go but definitely not forgotten. Vanessa Vanjie Mateo sashayed away in the very first episode but her presence was felt throughout the season. Her name was mentioned in almost ever episode; whether it was used as a “safe word” in Blair and Monique’s acting challenge or simply a verb in a sentence,it’s safe to say that Miss Vanjie’s name will live on in ‘Drag Race herstory.’

From the moment The Vixen entered the workroom, it was clear that she would not mince words. With Eureka also having a much different - but just as big - personality, the two were bound to butt heads. In “Untucked,” the two had one of the most heated arguments in the history of the show, and the vitriol didn’t stop there. Throughout the rest of The Vixen’s time on the show, the two would remain at each other’s throats. This all came to a head at the dramatic reunion, where Ru pressed The Vixen about the feud until she left the stage. The whole ordeal caused an emotional reaction from Asia and sparked an important but complicated conversation about race and sisterhood in the community.

Season ten provided us with not one, but two separate rusicals: one lip-synced, the other a live performance. First up was “PharmaRusical,” a bizarre but entertaining musical series of pharmaceutical ads. Here, The Vixen, Blair, Cracker and Dusty really got a chance to shine and show off their musical comedy chops. Next up was “The Unauthorized Rusical,” a retelling of the life of Cher. This time, Kameron finally got to show off after struggling to stand out previously. It also avoided a cultural appropriation controversy by turning it into a great joke for Monét.

tThis challenge had the queens putting on informational and entertaining panels in the style of DragCon. To no one’s surprise, the dream team of Monét, Kameron, and Eureka stole the show and invented a new catchphrase with “proportionizing.” Monique, Aquaria and Asia also managed to stand out with their makeup tutorial, which gave Monique a chance to show off her improvisation skills. Even the “losing” team of Blair, Vixen and Cracker managed to be pretty funny, if a bit awkward.

Snatch Game is a “Drag Race” staple, always filled with soaring highs and unfortunate lows, and the queens of season ten definitely didn’t disappoint in that regard. A disastrous idea to portray Blue Ivy and Beyoncé as entitled bullies sunk Asia and Vixen’s performances, while Monét made the brilliant decision to play a bitchy Maya Angelou. Eureka’s pitch perfect Honey Boo Boo also impressed, though Monique’s Maxine Waters lacked depth. The highlight of the challenge, though, was Aquaria’s surprisingly hilarious Melania Trump. A surprise cameo from Alex Trebek completed the challenge, and cemented it as one of the most entertaining Snatch Games so far.

With a certain controversial figure in the White House, season ten proved to be very political. In the final four challenge, each queen wrote a verse to a remix of RuPaul’s song “American.” Given the subject matter of the original song, the queens got personal, crafting rhymes that spoke to the gay experience. The moving lyrics only highlighted the spot-on performances and choreography of each queen. This challenge proved the strength of the season by highlighting its fierce finalists.

It was bittersweet to see two of the season’s best lip-syncers go head-to-head, but boy did they serve up an iconic duel. The elephant queen held her own over her competitor, feeling every word of “New Attitude” with her whole body. Kameron, meanwhile, energetically slayed the stage in full old-lady drag, equal parts hysterical and exceptional. The pure joy on the faces of the judges is how every fan watching at home felt. Better still, the lip-sync resulted in an emotional and well-earned double save, with both queens making it to the finale to lip sync each other one last time.

Last season’s finale lip-sync smackdown provided several iconic moments, but this battle was memorable for all the wrong reasons. Asia had hoped to release butterflies throughout the “Nasty” performance, but the gag didn’t work out quite as expected. This misfire was followed, however, by an epic final struggle by the top three. Kameron, Aquaria and Eureka faced off to “Bang Bang,” with Aquaria ultimately coming out on top as the well-deserved winner of the season. What’s even more impressive is that Aquaria is also the youngest winner to date.

Though Miz Cracker was a fan favourite, she often had trouble impressing the judges. With a little help from YouTuber Chester See, that finally changed. The queens were tasked with making over internet celebrities, and Eureka partnered Cracker with Chester; thus, Miz Cookie was born. From the moment Cracker revealed Cookie’s face to her, we knew we were in for the comedy queen’s highest point. The two had an indelible chemistry, playing up their mother/daughter dynamic to hilarious effect. Cookie strutted down the main stage better than some competitors, and delivered one-liners worthy of her drag ancestry. Maybe we can hope to see Miz Cookie in season eleven?


Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions



Aquaria’s Runway Looks

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Asia’s “Madame Butterface”





Blair Reveals She’s a Survivor

Nobody wanted to see Dusty or Monét in the bottom, but after their so-so ball looks failed to impress the judges, this is what it came to. Fortunately for us, both queens brought out their A-game in a lip-sync battle of “Pound the Alarm” that was fierce, funny, and frantic all at once. It may have been one of the most neck-and-neck eliminations in the show’s history, with Monét debuting her iconic death drop fakeout, and Dusty appearing to become downright possessed by the song. It’s a shame that this was Dusty’s final moment on the show, but way to go out with a bang!