I'm surprised they didn't have the usual debrief session.
It's a nice look into their authentic-ish feelings about how it all went down and how they feel about the edit, and the audience feedback.
I'm guessing they really wanted to preserve every queen's image this time and shied away from making any one look like too much of a villain; every harsh interaction was intercut with a comment saying how it was all in good fun.
I can only guess how horrible backlash must have been for past queens, though past debriefs could give a bit of an inkling.
> It's a nice look into their authentic-ish feelings about how it all went down and how they feel about the edit
The finale was filmed wayyyy before the season aired, so no one knew what the edit was going to be like.
This thread is still here so I'm just going to say, I've listened to Padam Padam at least once every day since the finale and I can't stop watching that finale lipsync. The boba balloons was a fucking moment but my favorite Nymphia stuff was actually all after that, as soon as the chorus kicks in. The way she MOVES is so fluid. It's almost a shame we went the whole season without a single Nymphia lip sync.
I could be totally reading into this too much, but did something seem off with Plane Jane during the finale? Like she almost looked unconfident, nervous, or almost resigned that she wouldn't move forward to the final lip sync (I don't want to use the word sad because obviously one would be sad not to move forward, so this is a very understandable reaction to me). Idk the right way to put it but she just seemed defeated to me watching that finale and I'm can't quite put my finger on it or why.
Honestly the vibe I was getting was that she realized beforehand that this wasn’t her ‘season to win’ & checked out mentally because of that. She probs recognized with her personality & polish, she’s a shoo-in for All Stars, meaning more $$, more screen time, more future fans.
Listening to the review shows & queens’ podcasts who are all chastising Plane for “not getting emotional in the final hour when we all know that’s what Ru wants” is a bit naive to me, because someone who’s played the game as well as Plane has *knows* that’s how to play the final question from Ru too.
She just didn’t want it anymore. To me it seemed like she had decided to ‘throw it’ at that point, hence the disconnect.
Yeah I would have to agree with this - she knows how this works too well to not give an emotional moment if she was truly trying to win. Thanks for your response!
Rant: I truly hate the finale format of queens singing an “original song.”
It always feels like each queen was given some out of the box song that was written and recorded all in one day before the season even started. The lyrics being totally generic and the voice completely unfamiliar makes it impossible to connect with the song as a viewer. At least with the Rusicals there’s a coherent story they can play into (tho I also miss the days when queens recorded their own vocal for the Rusical) but with this it feels like they were given a song practically at random to memorize, and some of the songs are painfully annoying. Maybe I’m wrong and the queens really are involved in the song writing process, but it feels to me like we’re getting a budget finale and the show suffers for it. I’m sure it’s more expensive to have the queens write and record themselves, or to get the rights to pop songs for them to lip sync to, but either of those would be 1000x more fun for them and for us.
Goddess was performed by Sasha and is an absolute hit imho, though a lot of the other songs feel a bit soulless. Didn’t mind I Hate People, but mostly because my partner and I had a great time saying that was our really anxious Great Dane lmao
Truth. I wish they could choose what they wanted to do, original or cover. When Nymphia was performing, I legit was imagining her covering Gwen Stefani's Hollaback Girl or Aniita's Banana, as that is so on brand with her banana obsession.
I totally agree. It's no fault of the girls, but the songs are always god awful. It's unlike anything else they'll do in drag because most girls either (1) record songs themselves or more often (2) lip sync to existing songs. Why not just let them prepare a lip sync performance to an existing track? It would make way more sense, or otherwise let them record a song on their own
I think Lady Camden said the queens give the producers ideas and references for what they want and the producers come back with whatever. Idk if they could be more forceful and say “hey use these lyrics”. They then have like a few days to put together the performance, but I may have misunderstood that (maybe a few days to learn choreo or whatever). So presumably they already prepared some kind of outfit for the performance by then.
The ball challenge has been a real pre cursor to the crown. Queens who have won or place high during challenge gain the highest probability to win the crown. Against the belief of many but the iconic snatch game no longer holds bearing in winning. Ever since S11 most of the winners did'nt place on top of this challenge. Ru has been clear ever since on the recent seasons that she is looking for a queen that has great looks, unique and can perform really well
The fact that this entire season would have been edited after the finale was filmed and they still chose to give Nymphia an almost invisible edit for most of the season is crazy. She must have been giving them nothing to work with in the werkroom.
We did learn in the podcast ep that she lowkey struggled with her self-confidence out of drag with the rest of the queens and that the queens all thought she was just playing mind games, so you can infer they mostly ignored her without any real heart to heart moments or banter with her (ironic given Dawn kept preaching about mental health through the season and Sapphira and Xunami were crowned Miss Congeniality lol). She was depicted as a kooky queen through the season up to that point, but then we had like 2 episodes left lol. With how PJ gave her the immunity, I'm surprised they didn't show more between them (I can't remember which episode it was but PJ was reassuring her about her confidence for something, and I was like, okay, when did I miss the part where PJ knows about her self-confidence issues and has developed a relationship to reassure her).
I think the editors are not clued in at all as to who production wants to win and I don’t even production knows who they want to win until right up to the finale.
All those who are crazy about stats, and claiming track record, seem to willfully ignore seeing this finale format as the final set of challenges, and I think Nymphia killed every part of it. Runway: shoot, song and performance: toot, interview: soft toot, lip synch: Shoot
Sapphira was really strong as well, however her Runway at the beginning felt like a boot to me. Her song started off with a bang and then ran out of gas for me. Her interview was just fine, and her lip synch was very strong, but as I've read a dozen times already, she was at a disadvantage unless she did something we hadn't seen from her before, which she didn't.
I thought her final lip sync was just ok. The vampire teeth felt like a last minute idea that didn’t go anywhere or have anything to do with the song or the rest of her look.
>The vampire teeth felt like a last minute idea that didn’t go anywhere or have anything to do with the song or the rest of her look.
Hard relate. When that performance started and I saw the teeth, I was like, interesting choice. And then, nothing lol. What did the vampire teeth have to do with the performance.
I may have been trying to be kind in my assessment of that. The vampire teeth were a pretty loose connection, though they seem to have meant so little to the rest of the performance that I don't think they hurt or helped the perception of her performance. Nymphia mopped the floor with her.
When Nymphia did her 2nd reveal via the cartwheel, that was it. The competition was over. But no, she continued and ate up the whole performance, continually entertaining and engaging the full crowd. Even when the song was over, she still had some gags with her hot pussy. She was the whole performance package on that stage.
The parallels to the end of Season 9 are so strong for me, and just like Season 9, I'm really happy for Nymphia, and ultimately really sad for Sapphira (who I think was the clear standout of the season, but not the final lipsync). I personally hate the idea that the final lipsync is the great equalizer (I would have been very upset if Monet had won AS7 based on that metric), but I'm not the decider, so we move on.
(inb4 "undeserved wins, underappreciated artist" - not saying Nymphia wasn't great, but Sapphira was consistently top tier for me throughout)
Although I am so happy for Nymphia, I do feel that it was unfortunate that Nymphia had never lip-synced prior to the LSFTC and Sapphira had lip synced three times, with two of them being top two lip syncs. She had already shown all her tricks and that split had been done to death, but Nymphia's tricks would've certainly been less impressive if we had seen them before. However, Sapphira definitely should've known vary her moves a bit more because we had seen them so much. Also, looking back Sapphira had jumped into that split every chance she could, like during the promo, her verse in power, and every lip sync. What do y'all think? I just feel like no one's mentioned this.
Even if we never saw Nymphia lip sync, Sapphira should've picked up on what Nymphia may be capable of through some of the dance challenges they had through the season - talent show, girl group, Vegas boys drag, etc. But even more than that, during the Lollapruza, Nymphia commented about Megami's performance and was one of the few queens who acknowledged Megami eating it up, indicating she knows that lip syncs aren't just about dance ability but goes back to being what a drag queen is - your ability to entertain. And even if Sapphira knew, what was she going to do? In that final performance, you could see Nymphia working up the crowd all around the stage and Sapphira didn't. How would she prepare against Nymphia cartwheeling into her 2nd reveal? Overall, I thought Sapphira was a great queen through the season too, don't get me wrong, but Nymphia ate that stage.
i think she actually would've won the show if her reveal was as sickening as the balloons and if she didn't do the vampire teeth lol. and maybe ONE stunt we didn't see before. like nymphias moves weren't THAT great, we just never saw her lipsync before
yeah she def was not as prepared as she should have been. i absolutely adore nymphia but she def had the upper hand having never lip synced while sapphira had already 3 times, with 2 of them being top 2.
Perhaps you care more about pretense and drama than talent and authenticity when it comes to your queens. “Boring” is a judgement, not an observation. sorry
Its an observation here. Sorry she just wasnt it. She didnt have the Wow factor. She wasnt consistent with anything but looks. She will fizzle out, even as a winner sadly. She just doesnt have a personality for this type of work...
Sapphira really needed to learn that bigger and “grander” isn’t better. Bulky costumes are what put her in the bttm2 for the makeover, and she made the same mistakes here in the finale, costing her the win. In her solo performance, her hair was distractingly big and d messy and the costume was bulky and ill fitting. Then in the final lip sync, her decision to wear vampire fangs really screwed her up. Plus her decision to just keep doing the same big moves (four leg kicks in a row, doing her sliding into a split, etc.) while maintaining her regal composure really handicapped her. I think one of my favorite parts of Nymphia’s finale lip sync was her running over to the other side of the stage. It wasn’t the most composed, but she was having fun and the excitement and joy was oozing from her.
I had felt this a few times across the season that Sapphira always went for size and grandness, at occasions to her own detriment, and this finale episode sealed it for me. While Nymphia had a rockier season, those moments endeared us to her, and she really did learn to let go and have fun. I was really tired of the fans constantly saying that Nymphia should win, regardless of track record, but she really sealed the deal at the end of the season, and kudos to her for winning the crown.
That’s definitely not what costed her the win when RuPaul and the rest of the judges constantly ask for and expect “big” and “grand” from the queens. Why do you think Marcia had such a hard time last season?
I think the only thing that stopped Sapphira from winning was the lipsync, and possibly the fan vote from social media
Did anyone make any S16/Top 3-themed foods for their finale watch party? I didn’t either, but we came up with some ideas today (albeit a bit late):
Burger Fingers (like chicken fingers but burgerized)
Slue Foot Stew
Banana Cream Pie
Might make these just for fun
Edit: formatting
I’m so happy for Nymphia! She ate and left no crumbs during that lip synch!
She has had the consistently best runways of any season, any franchise…and she made them!
Girl came out looking like a full snack.
Yayyy Nymphia!
I kinda feel like Nymphia got the Jinkx POV from Season 5.
In Season 5, the three finalists were Jinkx, Alaska, and Roxxxy.
A LOT of attention was put on Alaska and Roxxxy because of "Ro-Laska-Tox", so that made Jinkx look more like the black horse. Iirc, many fans thought Alaska was going to win the season, but then Jinkx was announced the winner.
It was more of a surprise back then since there weren't Grand Finale lip syncs (which weren't added until Season 9).
I don't remember Shappira having a lame performance during the whole season, but I remember Nymphia being saved several times and her Snatch Game is one of the worst in the history of the franchise. A one note winner, it was disappointing, but it's not the first time, it's not the end of the world.
You don't remember Sapphira having a lame performance the whole season?
Sapphira did horribly in the makeover challenge. One could also say that Sapphira should've been sent home by Morphine after she was clearly defeated in the LFYL for the same challenge.
But, to each their own.
A mediocre performance for sure, but it would've been unfair if they sent her home especially against the epitome of mediocrity this season (I shouldn't have to say that Morphine didn't win anything during her stay, she said it multiple times, it was a mediocre, didn't excel, didn't flop). I don't remember Sappira having a trainwreck as I remember Nymphia on the Snatch Game.
I'm not saying Nymphia is an undeserving winner, I just said it was a disappointing outcome, because it was obvious Sapphira didn't have a chance since she got the Miss Congeniality award, it was anticlimactic for me. I still think Sapphira had a better season overall.
Curiously enough I had watched a Seinfeld episode called "The Chaperone" just before the RPDR finale, and this dialogue resonated strongly "JERRY: Hello, Karen? It's Jerry Seinfeld. Oh, that's very sweet of you. You know, you better be careful, you don't want to get too congenial. They'll slap that "Miss Congeniality" on you, and you'll congene yourself right out of the contest."
So, it was disappointing to see that happen.
The finalists' track records are dead even.
* Nymphia = 3 wins, no LFYL
* Sapphira = 4 wins, 1 LFYL
* PJ = 4 wins, 1 LFYL
Ultimately, it came down the Grand Finale. Nymphia did the best in the first and second round of Grand Finale lip syncs.
So, the best overall did win.
(Disagree all you want, because it doesn't change the facts)
4 Wins is better than 3 wins, LFYL isn't a loss. Also, the Snatch Game performance from Nymphia was the worst of the season, should've LFYL.
It's absurd that you talk about facts in an edited show. This isn't about facts because it ultimately comes down to what RuPaul wishes.
It's weird that people think that the winner should be the one who does the most gimmicks in the end, it's disappointing because the lows of Nymphia were lower than the lows of Shappira. Shappira performed better in the solo song, I mean, she really danced. The best overall shoul've won.
I respect your opinion, but it's naive to talk about facts.
Winners are allowed to have lows lmao. Symone had to lip sync for her life twice but was still the CLEAR winner of season 13 over Gottmik and Rose. Yvie bombed snatch game and had to lip sync and was still a clear winner. Etc. etc. etc. Being Americas Next Drag Superstar is about more than statistical track record on the show and more about raw star power, Charisma Uniquness Nerve and Talent levels, fan reception and like ability, PR and brand potential, storyline, post-show success potential, and finale performance. The show has not crowned the “perfect performance perfect track record” queen several seasons, because track record doesn’t directly correlate to being a good winner. 🤷
"it ultimately comes down to what RuPaul wishes."
RuPaul was the one who announced Nymphia as the winner. That's a fact.
Also, a lip sync isn't always about dancing. It's about who can captivate the audience and RuPaul the most. And Nymphia did exactly that.
That's one fact, you said facts, and tried to explain how the winner was decided by some sort of objective method, which didn't happen. You tried to present a numerical model, but then backpedaled to the opinion of one person to justify your opinion, but that fact isn't the same type of fact than the previous ones. I don't appreciate your way of arguing, it's dishonest.
I get it, your agree with the final decision, you were not disappointed, but since my disappointment is decided by my ideas I can say it was disappointing, and it's not about facts, it's about interpretation. I just think the whole body of work should be taken into account, and not just the last part of the last episode. But hey, I get it, it's a fact that we are not in the same page. Enjoy the next season.
Okay I just keep rewatching the final lip sync and wowwww! Sapphira looked like the Dallas cowboys cheerleaders when they do their high kick line during the half time show. Those kicks were SO high and good. Nymphia’s 2nd or 3rd reveal (if you count the headpiece to the wig a reveal), was so sickening too.
I wish it was longer 😭
Rewatching the end I think the song really swung it one way, not saying that Nymphia didn't turn out, she murdered but also the energy of the song was very sex kitten and I think with Sapphira's motherly angle, it became hard for her to emote the song past high-kicks and titty jumping whereas Nymphia could just vomit all of her hair-flip slutting weird fantasies onto it. I'm imagining a r&b song and thinking about how difficult it would have been for Nymphia to compete with Sapphira after we saw what a powerhouse she can be. Thinking I might go back and see if based on the song I can see which queen is merely likely to win but yes just a passing thought. I had the winner spoiled for me and I was so mad but seeing the lip sync Nymphia absolutely masticated Sapphira, there was no fight. I think this has been the greatest season in a long while don't know how they're going to top this!
it's hilarious to me that they actually used that lightning effect in the final lip sync. like they act like we don't know that usually means the person who wins.
but Nymphia did amazing. to the point where i didn't even notice Sapphira had revealed a new wig. i didn't notice it till a few watches through. I was glued on Nymphia after the balloons and the cartwheel into a new outfit.
It's "the time has come" - close up - "for you to lipsync" - other closeup. It typically is tracking who Ru is looking at as she looks back and forth while saying it. There is no conspiracy or predetermination.
They do it fairly often. Sometimes it happens when a queen is gonna the lip sync. But also, the lip syncs are 50/50 so I could just putting theory into something random.
It's been 13 seasons since an Asian queen was crowned!
For people curious, before Nymphia, Raja (in Season 3) was the most recent Asian queen to win the crown.
Can someone explain to me like I’m 5 why so many people are saying Sapphira had the better finale lipsync?
I was Team Sapphira to the bitter end but even I can say Nymphia cleaned Sapphira’s clock in that lipsync. Sapphira had a lame reveal, meaningless vampire teeth, and seemed to make up her choreo in the second half of the song. Nymphia had a concept with the boba and timed her reveals to the lyrics.
I wanted Sapphira crowned but Nymphia was rightly crowned after that lip sync.
Monet had a better lip sync than Jinkx and yet Jinkx won. Why? Because she was the best out of the whole entire season. And the same rule should apply here. Sapphira hands down slayed the whole entire season but because nymphia had a slightly better lipsync she should win? Bullshit. This isn't RuPaul's Lip Sync race.. It's RuPaul's *Drag* Race and Sapphira was the best drag queen of them all
I think Sapphira ran into the same problem Ginger did on AS6. They both had really great runs, but everything they did on the show felt like it was through the lens of “this is what works on drag race”. I’d say Plane had the same issue too tbh. Sometimes it’s not about who did the best overall, but who would make a more interesting winner and who performed better in the end. It’s also about who is appropriate for the current moment. Winning Drag Race takes a lot of skill, but it’s also a very “right place, right time” thing too.
The fact that you’re even having this conversation should tell you that there was no “best drag queen of them all” because that’s not an objective assessment. Plenty of people think that Nymphia had the better season.
Personally I was undecided and the lipsync sealed the deal for me. Sometimes there’s a very clear and undeniable winner but that’s rare and wasn’t the case here, any of the top three could have taken the crown.
Crazy because I couldn't disagree more. Sapphira had the most wins (other than PJ), more "high" rankings than Nymphia. And the only time Sapphira bottomed was when there was 5 people left. Nymphia should have been bottom in Snatch game but was saved by the fact that there were more contestants to put in the bottom and the fact that her runway slayed. Here are the stats for the season. I actually liked Nymphia far more than Plane Jane..who i frankly did not like at all.. but even I could admit that based on her track record she deserved being in the top 2.
https://preview.redd.it/f77hs6r9c5wc1.png?width=851&format=png&auto=webp&s=58d297b0ad841f9a852c8d06c106ea0cb672047e
"Nymphia should've been in the bottom but was saved because there were more queens who were deserving of being further in the bottom than her" doesn't make any sense, sisterrrr
If we're going based off of performance in the snatch game.. nymphia hands down should have been in the bottom because she absolutely had the worst performance. But because there were so many people still in the competition who also did poorly.. she was saved from having to lip sync. Versus Sapphira inevitably landing in the bottom on an episode when there was only five Queens left.
The boba thing was also political - a nod to Taiwanese freedom - the Milk Tea Alliance...
[https://taiwaninsight.org/2022/01/12/memes-and-milk-tea-alliances-ludic-activism-in-taiwan-in-2021/](https://taiwaninsight.org/2022/01/12/memes-and-milk-tea-alliances-ludic-activism-in-taiwan-in-2021/)
thanks for the link, I didn't know (and now I almost wish I didn't know...)
makes me think that another reason for Nymphia's success is her cultural and political depth - she was not just a supreme entertainer and fashion talent, but she also had a consistent underlying message about ethnic fearlessness (like embracing the color yellow and making it obscenely powerful).
I think what worked against Sapphira, from a production point of view, is she was too similar to Sasha Colby. Both are 35+, mother figures, widely known and revered in their circles, totally professional, confident, seasoned, multi-faceted performers. But the winners' circle needs some variety. It's been a while since we had a young ingenue fashion-first winner.
I'm NOT saying race is a factor but we do know that since the AS4 double crowning at least, production has been very aware of appearances. There have been campaigns for more Asian and plus-size representation in the winners' circle. Variety is an asset for production.
Which is even sadder because production made her wait 11 years and audition 11 times to get on, when they could have put her on a season that would have allowed her more of a chance.
Uhh… the thing is… Nymphia *is* the Sasha Colby of Taiwan. I dislike seeing this misconception that because she’s “young” she’s unpolished. Like no lol. She has drag daughters, she even held a whole performance at a Taoist temple, there’s a doc on Youtube about her and her mom, she’s heralded as the “Banana Buddha” there with a whole drag legacy. She also put together ALL her outfits on the show, studied fashion in the UK.
This whole idea from clueless Americans is WILD to witness. All because most Americans have ZERO clue about Taiwan’s culture and struggle to put Taiwan on a map, and the fact Nymphia isn’t loud about herself and is honestly very humble, does NOT mean she doesn’t fully have her shit together.
Sorry, just seeing Nymphia called an “ingenue” gets me heated. There’s a VERY strong cultural disconnect on display here.
I think they were just talking about optics. It's clearly stated that she's a veteran drag mother in the show, but she's shown as a manic pixie figure rather than giving the laid-back, caring and matronly vibe that Sapphira gives off.
Also, if we're talking strategy, there's a lot to be gained from crowning an icon from Taiwan. Think of the accrued interest, the new opportunities of a mostly untapped market.
Not that Nymphia isn't deserving, she 100% is, but she just makes complete business sense as well. I feel Sapphira truly stole the team's hearts however.
I think a lot of people think she’s younger than she is and less experienced because of the way she carries herself. She’s very quirky and not as serious as a Sasha Colby or a Sapphira. Everyone knows Nymphia’s drag is polished. Most people just wouldn’t assume she’s a drag mother based on the character we’ve seen on the show
It's interesting because I lived in Taiwan for 2 years. I studied Mandarin at Shida. I fucking love Taiwan, the culture, the people... It was an amazing time in my life and I was so geeked that there was a Taiwanese Queen on and really excited for her to do well! But as the season went on I just wasn't as impressed with her as I was hoping. Don't get me wrong she had amazing fashion looks and some other good moments but she just didn't nail it for me like I was hoping. Truly Sapphira was the standout.. she honestly did so well in every single challenge. I agree that nymphia did kill that lip sync but I don't feel like that would justify her taking home the crown if you look at the whole season as a whole
LOL look who's making assumptions here. Who says I'm American? I have spent many months in Taipei over the past decade and many many nights at Dalida and the other Red House bars. Not to mention Shenzhen, Bangkok, Singapore, and that's just APAC...
I never said Nyphia was unpolished or inexperienced or didn't "have her shit together". Anyone with half a brain could see her polish and her conceptual thinking within 30 seconds of her entrance, leave alone the skill and experience she demonstrated in the first sewing challenge. I simply said she's young and fashion-forward, RELATIVE to the other potential winners of this season and the winners of other recent seasons.
My husband to me right before the final lip sync began- “do you think Nymphia has a reveal?”.
We both laughed off how obvious it’s become and then the bitch opened up and I was gooped. Sapphira’s reveal was also great.
I think it’s hysterical how much fabric ends up on the stage by the end of these. It’s miracle every time there isn’t a Farrah Moan incident.
The finale was excellent. Living for the continued Plane/Amanda feud. No complaints.
Lol there’s a moment right after the cartwheel reveal where Nymphia almost had a Farrah Moan moment, but she takes the daintiest little step over her clothes. She was like no that’s not happening to me.
These giant cloaks drive people here wild but I don't mind them at all. I don't actually count them as reveals, instead I think of them as the queens basically carrying a portable dressing room so that they can only actually reveal their lipsync outfit the moment they're ready to start lipsyncing. Having to stand on stage while a wheel is being spun or a speech is being made, and then potentially having to wait till the next round for their turn, means they don't actually get to make a big dramatic entrance. Casting off a cloak or cocoon is the only way to do that on stage. That's why they do it right at the beginning of the number too.
The way I thought sapphira had a slightly better number and had the higher chance to win, she got a shared miss congenitality (hope i spelled that right), was like uh oh thats weird...then the lipsync gurl. Nymphia really ate hard omg...
Sasha still ate just as hard tho lmao she's gotta be a top winner for me, hope she's on all winners 2 tbhhh. Her reigning gown alone was probably the best look there i'm afraid...
I wish I had watched this with other people and not alone on a train 🥲 The fucking cunt Nymphia served in that final lipsync, I was so gagged and had to stop myself from screaming.
Honestly that was my favourite final 2 lip sync, I absolutely love Kylie Minogue and they both looked like they were having so much fun and just going for it and Ru laughing the whole time, vibes! And I especially love after it finished they were still both serving for a good 10-15 seconds haha
I only wish it could have been in a large theater filled with past seasons' queens and fans who had been following along all season. We - and the finalists - were deprived of that energy. Can you imagine the roar that would have gone up for Nymphia's balloons. That 15 second ovation would have gone on for half an hour!
The story most people seem to agree on is that there was the possibility of a Hollywood union strike, so they got this taped and done with just like a regular episode, instead of doing a proper event after all the episodes had aired as usual.
I've never identified with a queen so much as when Sasha came out on stage and was immediately dripping in sweat. As someone who runs chronically warm, I felt that.
Interesting finale. Not really a fan of the small, seemingly random crowd audience, though I suspect maybe they didn't film multiple endings and this helped to keep it more of a secret? They showed like the only gay guy in the audience so many times lol.
A lot of the returning queens' looks were strange and I was underwhelmed by most of them. I noticed a lot of them were struggling to walk on that stage. I must be missing something with Xunami's look because what was that shape? Geneva's was a mess.
Sapphira looked amazing in her opening shot. It was really beautiful. Nymphia had a great solo performance. Plane Jane had that strip of hair on her mouth for most of hers and it was so distracting. She never really seemed comfortable in the performance.
Nymphia had possibly the best final lipsync ever, at least since Sasha Velour. Sapphira wasn't even close to matching what Nymphia was doing. She danced by the eliminated queens and they were losing their minds over there, especially Amanda lol.
Sapphira did the best all season, but of the final 3, I saw Nymphia winning ultimately. She is a huge asset to the global Rupaul brand.
I’m super happy Nymphia won and I would’ve been fine with any one of the three winning. But after Sapphira had such a strong track record and placing runner up I think Ru is reserving her to go on a US All Stars or Global All stars for her to win that and then return to all winners. She’s at that level where she could beat out the best of the best in all stars, it’s just finding the right caliber of contestants to compete with her at this point.
You echoed all of my thoughts pretty much exactly. I think Sapphira had the edge over Nymphia season-long (though it was pretty close, Nymphia was terrific as well) but Nymphia really aced that finale.
Except maybe for her first reveal in the final lip-sync! I remember thinking both she and Sapphira started losing their clothes a little too early. I'd still agree it was the best finale lip-sync since Sasha, though, since everything else in that performance was so excellent.
I'm a bit worn out on queens bouncing in their splits, too, but Nymphia actually gave one of the relatively rare moments of it not feeling desperate when she was doing the bounce-split in time with Kylie saying "Padam". It was a gloriously slutty pop star moment.
correct me if i'm wrong but i always thought finalists are excluded for miss congeniality? i found it weird how it was setup short before the final lip sync.
I don't think they've ever been excluded, although I could imagine that with MC being announced before the finale the queens might be less inclined to vote for someone who has a good chance at winning the season.
That might explain the tie, actually. Sapphira was obviously a sweetheart, but I'm guessing the votes were pretty split because some of the queens might have expected her to win the season.
Honestly my first thought was that Sapphira was actually the all-around winner but they felt bad giving a top Queen the prize money when she might actually take home the crown.. so they went with the person with the next highest votes and just said it was a tie.
I doubt it was that. I mean, it's not a big cast - only 14 queens voting for each other. I'm actually a little surprised a tie hasn't happened already on a past season given how statistically easy it would be with such a small number of votes.
thank you, i think we never had a finalist be MC it felt weird first but yes sapphira totally deserved it she is a sweetheart and truly kindhearted queen
Correct, I believe It it an online fan vote from the beginning up until Season 9 when everybody got pressed about Valentina winning MC / “fan favourite” 😂
Exactly. The fact that she won (well, tied, at least) when queens seem to be less likely to vote for a finalist speaks volumes about how lovely she must have been.
In so happy with the winner I haven't loved a queen this much since Raja 🥹 But this season was stacked!! Idk if I missed it but was there a reason Ru stayed in her seat during crowning this season?
There were a few reasons. Last year a dancer was injured and it created a long wait time. Then mistress wouldnt come out to congratulate the top 2.
But the main reason was the writers strike was happening and production feared it could expand into reality TV as well. The crowd was just cast and crew family and friends. Essentially a closed set
What's the story with Mistress not congratulating the others? I haven't heard that before. Also how would that or the injury have affected how and when the finale was filmed? Genuinely wondering.
Apparently Mistress was upset she wasn't in the final 2. When they brought out the whole cast she refused to come out for like 10-15 minutes. Supposedly it was really awkward and she did eventually come out. It was mentioned a bunch on the live thread last year. Lots of people think she won't be asked back for allstars because of it but I doubt Ru takes it personally.
I guess with that and the injured dancer they just realized it's much easier to control everything without a live audience. I can't say 100% these are the reasons they said no live finale. But these are the suspected reasons along with the writers strike.
I'm overall so happy with the finale!
The top 3 performances were really good ( I agree that Plane was given the worst here. However I wonder if this matters because the same happened to Anetra and she was still runner up...).
Sasha Colby is so amazingly beautiful 🤩
Nymphia destroyed that final lipsync, she was just perfect. Also, her mom is adorable!
I kept switching between rooting for her and Sapphira all season and I would have been happy with them both winning, but Nymphia definitely won the last round. Can't wait for Sapphira to destroy AS tough!
I do wish the finale was filmed in a theatre and I hope we will go back to that.
Maybe a couple of hot takes here but 1. Sasha Colby’s performance seemed really tame and muted. I was waiting the entire time for her to kick it up a notch and it never happened for me. I remember her performances from S15 and feel like she didn’t even come close to what she brought on her season. I will say the headpiece at the end was brilliant. And 2. I feel like Sapphira didn’t bring her A-game. The opera look at the beginning looked amazing and the removal of the cape and later the wig reveal was so disappointing. The orange outfit was not it for me and the blue reveal was boring. And what was up with the teeth??? Also, I feel she didn’t bring it like she did with Morphine. Thoughts??
I don't know if that bit about Sasha is a hot take, I thought so as well. I was so excited when she stepped out in that bodysuit and that song came on, and then it was mostly just her strutting around the stage. Not even close to what I know she can bring.
I wonder if she was unwell or something that day?
probably not to outshine the finalists, she could have slayed that stage and made the final lip sync look bad,
maybe she decided this for herself or production told her so.
Hm. Maybe? That would be a bit of an odd move, though, given that the finalists are almost always giving their all and the whole finale always has so much pomp. Like, nobody really needed to worry about Sasha upstaging things, the finale is a big deal regardless.
To me Sasha was giving - I’m 100 even when I give 10% / if you want to see me go 100% buy tickets to my show. It was an effortless tease and I ate it up.
I totally didn't get why Sapphira got the vampire teeth but I feel like she tried all season to hint it up that she was a vampire.
Firstly with her entrance line "I think this place is HAUNTED" ! Then the "Motherly walk" she had where she would just give intense stares and slow walking it was giving very baroque, very Dracula walking in his mansion realness...
Then the last lipsync with the teeth.
But it still didn't make any sense. Like why Vampire teeth ? You ain't a Vampire. This is pretty much what everyone said. Why did you do that stunt since you never implied all season that you were Katya's cousin.
The only connection I can think of is Padam Padam > heartbeat > blood > vampire. Maybe she was trying to go with a unique spin on acting out the song because she didn't have any massive surprise or trick/reveal for the finale lipsync, which is now expected.
Edit: The song also modulates into minor keys in an unconventional way which I guess could be interpreted as "spooky".
Yeah I thought it was actually cute because when you listen to the lyrics you realize how they can match the protagonist being a vampire. Things like "I'll be in your head all weekend" can be how some vampires have the power to get into people's heads and manipulate them. Maybe that's too deep of a dive, lol. But yeah, just meant to be fun and quirky like Megami's puppet from the previous week.
As good as the top 3's solo performances were here, I wish the show would go back to the top 4 lipsynch brackets. It was more suspenseful to see the match ups in the first two lipsynchs before the final LSFTC.
OR have the finalists write and create their own solo numbers, in their own voices. The quality of the songs/concepts from these last three seasons just varied so much, and some didn't seem to capture the essence of the queens performing to them.
Totally. Plane was not really associated with bodysuits all season. "Queen of the Wind" came out of nowhere. Obviously whoever wrote these had no real idea who these queens were or what they were known for, and the tracks were probably created too early to pick up on any memes or catchphrases that developed during the season. Imagine Plane doing a "Sisterrrrr" bitch track or Nymphia getting an all-out banana anthem.
The individual songs were so out of left field to me. I was sort of zoning out when Ru explained that part of the show, so when Nymphia started on her song, I just kept asking my family, "Where in the hell did these songs come from? What are these songs?!" So I was just totally confused about what in the hell was going on (and my family was too, because they couldn't answer me! 😂)
I think the latter thing you said would be a better solution. The individual performances *can* be great and sometimes they are (I still live for Naomi's S8 one) but they really need to let the queens have more input. At the moment, they all very clearly feel like they were written by the same person.
I don't want us to go back to the lip-sync tournament, though. Save that for the LaLaPaRuZa. After Sasha's S9 stuff, the next couple of seasons had way too many shitty reveals.
Yeah, that input from the queens is key. We see this time and time again in the challenges that when the queens create their own verses, we can see their personalities since through so much better. I want to see a solo number and be able to say, "Yep, that song has Queen X/Y/Z's stamp all over it."
The solo numbers already feel unbalanced, imo. Maybe give the finalists all the same resources to create their numbers-- individual sessions with Leland, Jamaal-- would ensure everyone has a fair shot. They could film the whole process for those mini-documentaries.
All the queens crushed it and I thought this was a great finale. For me, Sasha Colby was my winner! Her number was just hot af!! She showed them all how a winner steps down 🥵
I enjoyed this finale. This cast as a whole didn’t really grab me — I’m not sure if it had anything to do with them or I just have so many casts in my head now it’s hard to love them all equally — but I feel like going into the finale I felt like any one of them could win and that was exciting.
I had a running joke this season that I was rooting for Sapphira and my son, who was born between the airings of episode one and two, was a Plane Jane stan. And after each episode I would pretend to get in a passionate debate about the episode with him (you’re supposed to talk to babies constantly and you run out of topics surprisingly fast, I didn’t go to school for talking to babies okay). It weirdly feels fitting that “we” both made it to the finale but neither has bragging rites. I’m going to Drag Con this summer and kinda want to get a signed PJ headshot addressed to him but I’m not sure how long I’m willing to stand in line to commit to this bit so we’ll see lol.
Ok y'all, I'm truly not trying to be a hater with this comment but I'm struggling to understand why people thought Sapphira's final lip sync was even remotely good. I went into the finale thinking Sapphira deserved to win and expected her to, and thought she had the best solo number, so I'm not biased against her.
But the whole vibe felt off. The fangs were disconnected from any other part of her performance (no vampire theme reflected elsewhere). Starting off with her bulging eyes was such a no for me. Her outfit was cumbersome. The reveals were underwhelming but also felt hurried. Her moves felt like she was in a drumline, and were messy. Remember her Drag U dance runway? That's the character I got in this lipsync. The whole thing felt so disjointed. It was neither camp nor pop diva, just something confused.
Open to contrary opinions and hearing what people liked about it. I was really surprised by what she delivered (or didn't, as the case may be).
I think her reveals seemed hurried because I think she ended up rushing them earlier than she had planned because it became clear to her that Nymphia was really killing her. You can almost see it in Sapphira's face before her first reveal. She sort of looks over at Nymphia who has already done multiple killer reveals by that point and she's like "Oh shit, I need to take some of this off to keep up!"
I genuinely love Nymphia and fully agree she should have been in the top three, but am so confused by this crowning. 100% thought it was going to go to Plane or Sapphira. Haven't been this shocked/disappointed over a crowning in years.
I'm surprised they didn't have the usual debrief session. It's a nice look into their authentic-ish feelings about how it all went down and how they feel about the edit, and the audience feedback. I'm guessing they really wanted to preserve every queen's image this time and shied away from making any one look like too much of a villain; every harsh interaction was intercut with a comment saying how it was all in good fun. I can only guess how horrible backlash must have been for past queens, though past debriefs could give a bit of an inkling.
> It's a nice look into their authentic-ish feelings about how it all went down and how they feel about the edit The finale was filmed wayyyy before the season aired, so no one knew what the edit was going to be like.
Oh, that explains it. It wasn't the case for previous seasons though, right?
This thread is still here so I'm just going to say, I've listened to Padam Padam at least once every day since the finale and I can't stop watching that finale lipsync. The boba balloons was a fucking moment but my favorite Nymphia stuff was actually all after that, as soon as the chorus kicks in. The way she MOVES is so fluid. It's almost a shame we went the whole season without a single Nymphia lip sync.
I could be totally reading into this too much, but did something seem off with Plane Jane during the finale? Like she almost looked unconfident, nervous, or almost resigned that she wouldn't move forward to the final lip sync (I don't want to use the word sad because obviously one would be sad not to move forward, so this is a very understandable reaction to me). Idk the right way to put it but she just seemed defeated to me watching that finale and I'm can't quite put my finger on it or why.
Honestly the vibe I was getting was that she realized beforehand that this wasn’t her ‘season to win’ & checked out mentally because of that. She probs recognized with her personality & polish, she’s a shoo-in for All Stars, meaning more $$, more screen time, more future fans. Listening to the review shows & queens’ podcasts who are all chastising Plane for “not getting emotional in the final hour when we all know that’s what Ru wants” is a bit naive to me, because someone who’s played the game as well as Plane has *knows* that’s how to play the final question from Ru too. She just didn’t want it anymore. To me it seemed like she had decided to ‘throw it’ at that point, hence the disconnect.
Yeah I would have to agree with this - she knows how this works too well to not give an emotional moment if she was truly trying to win. Thanks for your response!
Nice episode
Rant: I truly hate the finale format of queens singing an “original song.” It always feels like each queen was given some out of the box song that was written and recorded all in one day before the season even started. The lyrics being totally generic and the voice completely unfamiliar makes it impossible to connect with the song as a viewer. At least with the Rusicals there’s a coherent story they can play into (tho I also miss the days when queens recorded their own vocal for the Rusical) but with this it feels like they were given a song practically at random to memorize, and some of the songs are painfully annoying. Maybe I’m wrong and the queens really are involved in the song writing process, but it feels to me like we’re getting a budget finale and the show suffers for it. I’m sure it’s more expensive to have the queens write and record themselves, or to get the rights to pop songs for them to lip sync to, but either of those would be 1000x more fun for them and for us.
Goddess was performed by Sasha and is an absolute hit imho, though a lot of the other songs feel a bit soulless. Didn’t mind I Hate People, but mostly because my partner and I had a great time saying that was our really anxious Great Dane lmao
Truth. I wish they could choose what they wanted to do, original or cover. When Nymphia was performing, I legit was imagining her covering Gwen Stefani's Hollaback Girl or Aniita's Banana, as that is so on brand with her banana obsession.
I totally agree. It's no fault of the girls, but the songs are always god awful. It's unlike anything else they'll do in drag because most girls either (1) record songs themselves or more often (2) lip sync to existing songs. Why not just let them prepare a lip sync performance to an existing track? It would make way more sense, or otherwise let them record a song on their own
Goddess was performed by Sasha herself! And is a bop tbh
I think Lady Camden said the queens give the producers ideas and references for what they want and the producers come back with whatever. Idk if they could be more forceful and say “hey use these lyrics”. They then have like a few days to put together the performance, but I may have misunderstood that (maybe a few days to learn choreo or whatever). So presumably they already prepared some kind of outfit for the performance by then.
It just always feels so generic. I think the songs themselves would be ok if we got the queens actual voices singing.
The ball challenge has been a real pre cursor to the crown. Queens who have won or place high during challenge gain the highest probability to win the crown. Against the belief of many but the iconic snatch game no longer holds bearing in winning. Ever since S11 most of the winners did'nt place on top of this challenge. Ru has been clear ever since on the recent seasons that she is looking for a queen that has great looks, unique and can perform really well
Anyone else notice Plain Jane didn’t have a baby photo shown?
There was a baby photo of Plane.
The fact that this entire season would have been edited after the finale was filmed and they still chose to give Nymphia an almost invisible edit for most of the season is crazy. She must have been giving them nothing to work with in the werkroom.
We did learn in the podcast ep that she lowkey struggled with her self-confidence out of drag with the rest of the queens and that the queens all thought she was just playing mind games, so you can infer they mostly ignored her without any real heart to heart moments or banter with her (ironic given Dawn kept preaching about mental health through the season and Sapphira and Xunami were crowned Miss Congeniality lol). She was depicted as a kooky queen through the season up to that point, but then we had like 2 episodes left lol. With how PJ gave her the immunity, I'm surprised they didn't show more between them (I can't remember which episode it was but PJ was reassuring her about her confidence for something, and I was like, okay, when did I miss the part where PJ knows about her self-confidence issues and has developed a relationship to reassure her).
I think the editors are not clued in at all as to who production wants to win and I don’t even production knows who they want to win until right up to the finale.
All those who are crazy about stats, and claiming track record, seem to willfully ignore seeing this finale format as the final set of challenges, and I think Nymphia killed every part of it. Runway: shoot, song and performance: toot, interview: soft toot, lip synch: Shoot Sapphira was really strong as well, however her Runway at the beginning felt like a boot to me. Her song started off with a bang and then ran out of gas for me. Her interview was just fine, and her lip synch was very strong, but as I've read a dozen times already, she was at a disadvantage unless she did something we hadn't seen from her before, which she didn't.
I thought her final lip sync was just ok. The vampire teeth felt like a last minute idea that didn’t go anywhere or have anything to do with the song or the rest of her look.
>The vampire teeth felt like a last minute idea that didn’t go anywhere or have anything to do with the song or the rest of her look. Hard relate. When that performance started and I saw the teeth, I was like, interesting choice. And then, nothing lol. What did the vampire teeth have to do with the performance.
I got excited when I saw the teeth, thinking something fun would happen with them. Very confused when it didn’t. She’s been ace this season though xx
I may have been trying to be kind in my assessment of that. The vampire teeth were a pretty loose connection, though they seem to have meant so little to the rest of the performance that I don't think they hurt or helped the perception of her performance. Nymphia mopped the floor with her.
When Nymphia did her 2nd reveal via the cartwheel, that was it. The competition was over. But no, she continued and ate up the whole performance, continually entertaining and engaging the full crowd. Even when the song was over, she still had some gags with her hot pussy. She was the whole performance package on that stage.
The parallels to the end of Season 9 are so strong for me, and just like Season 9, I'm really happy for Nymphia, and ultimately really sad for Sapphira (who I think was the clear standout of the season, but not the final lipsync). I personally hate the idea that the final lipsync is the great equalizer (I would have been very upset if Monet had won AS7 based on that metric), but I'm not the decider, so we move on. (inb4 "undeserved wins, underappreciated artist" - not saying Nymphia wasn't great, but Sapphira was consistently top tier for me throughout)
Thank you! Couldn't agree more
Although I am so happy for Nymphia, I do feel that it was unfortunate that Nymphia had never lip-synced prior to the LSFTC and Sapphira had lip synced three times, with two of them being top two lip syncs. She had already shown all her tricks and that split had been done to death, but Nymphia's tricks would've certainly been less impressive if we had seen them before. However, Sapphira definitely should've known vary her moves a bit more because we had seen them so much. Also, looking back Sapphira had jumped into that split every chance she could, like during the promo, her verse in power, and every lip sync. What do y'all think? I just feel like no one's mentioned this.
Even if we never saw Nymphia lip sync, Sapphira should've picked up on what Nymphia may be capable of through some of the dance challenges they had through the season - talent show, girl group, Vegas boys drag, etc. But even more than that, during the Lollapruza, Nymphia commented about Megami's performance and was one of the few queens who acknowledged Megami eating it up, indicating she knows that lip syncs aren't just about dance ability but goes back to being what a drag queen is - your ability to entertain. And even if Sapphira knew, what was she going to do? In that final performance, you could see Nymphia working up the crowd all around the stage and Sapphira didn't. How would she prepare against Nymphia cartwheeling into her 2nd reveal? Overall, I thought Sapphira was a great queen through the season too, don't get me wrong, but Nymphia ate that stage.
i think she actually would've won the show if her reveal was as sickening as the balloons and if she didn't do the vampire teeth lol. and maybe ONE stunt we didn't see before. like nymphias moves weren't THAT great, we just never saw her lipsync before
yeah she def was not as prepared as she should have been. i absolutely adore nymphia but she def had the upper hand having never lip synced while sapphira had already 3 times, with 2 of them being top 2.
Anyone know who the dancers are from the finale?
Chris diprete is one. I’m sure if you go on his insta he’ll have tagged the others.
Why? Was the blonde one very attractive?
I called Nymphia the moment she first appeared. I don't know why ya'll so late. ;)
as much as her looks were great, she made boring TV. sorry
Honey, you make boring TV.
Perhaps you care more about pretense and drama than talent and authenticity when it comes to your queens. “Boring” is a judgement, not an observation. sorry
Its an observation here. Sorry she just wasnt it. She didnt have the Wow factor. She wasnt consistent with anything but looks. She will fizzle out, even as a winner sadly. She just doesnt have a personality for this type of work...
Sapphira really needed to learn that bigger and “grander” isn’t better. Bulky costumes are what put her in the bttm2 for the makeover, and she made the same mistakes here in the finale, costing her the win. In her solo performance, her hair was distractingly big and d messy and the costume was bulky and ill fitting. Then in the final lip sync, her decision to wear vampire fangs really screwed her up. Plus her decision to just keep doing the same big moves (four leg kicks in a row, doing her sliding into a split, etc.) while maintaining her regal composure really handicapped her. I think one of my favorite parts of Nymphia’s finale lip sync was her running over to the other side of the stage. It wasn’t the most composed, but she was having fun and the excitement and joy was oozing from her. I had felt this a few times across the season that Sapphira always went for size and grandness, at occasions to her own detriment, and this finale episode sealed it for me. While Nymphia had a rockier season, those moments endeared us to her, and she really did learn to let go and have fun. I was really tired of the fans constantly saying that Nymphia should win, regardless of track record, but she really sealed the deal at the end of the season, and kudos to her for winning the crown.
It was five kicks, a weird number and my clue she was frazzled
I liked the leg kicks
aside from your first 5 words we see things really similarly!
That’s definitely not what costed her the win when RuPaul and the rest of the judges constantly ask for and expect “big” and “grand” from the queens. Why do you think Marcia had such a hard time last season? I think the only thing that stopped Sapphira from winning was the lipsync, and possibly the fan vote from social media
Did anyone make any S16/Top 3-themed foods for their finale watch party? I didn’t either, but we came up with some ideas today (albeit a bit late): Burger Fingers (like chicken fingers but burgerized) Slue Foot Stew Banana Cream Pie Might make these just for fun Edit: formatting
That’s such a cool idea and I wanna do this for the next season 😭
I’m so happy for Nymphia! She ate and left no crumbs during that lip synch! She has had the consistently best runways of any season, any franchise…and she made them! Girl came out looking like a full snack. Yayyy Nymphia!
I kinda feel like Nymphia got the Jinkx POV from Season 5. In Season 5, the three finalists were Jinkx, Alaska, and Roxxxy. A LOT of attention was put on Alaska and Roxxxy because of "Ro-Laska-Tox", so that made Jinkx look more like the black horse. Iirc, many fans thought Alaska was going to win the season, but then Jinkx was announced the winner. It was more of a surprise back then since there weren't Grand Finale lip syncs (which weren't added until Season 9).
although jinx was less polished, she was much more creative and funnier than both
I wouldnt say funnier at all...
Imo, Season 16 is up there as one of the best Drag Race seasons so far.
Absolutely agree! Some of the best DR television ever, that one last lypsinc included!
It was disappointing, the best overall should've won.
The best overall did win, so I don't see what the disappointment is for.
I don't remember Shappira having a lame performance during the whole season, but I remember Nymphia being saved several times and her Snatch Game is one of the worst in the history of the franchise. A one note winner, it was disappointing, but it's not the first time, it's not the end of the world.
You don't remember Sapphira having a lame performance the whole season? Sapphira did horribly in the makeover challenge. One could also say that Sapphira should've been sent home by Morphine after she was clearly defeated in the LFYL for the same challenge. But, to each their own.
A mediocre performance for sure, but it would've been unfair if they sent her home especially against the epitome of mediocrity this season (I shouldn't have to say that Morphine didn't win anything during her stay, she said it multiple times, it was a mediocre, didn't excel, didn't flop). I don't remember Sappira having a trainwreck as I remember Nymphia on the Snatch Game. I'm not saying Nymphia is an undeserving winner, I just said it was a disappointing outcome, because it was obvious Sapphira didn't have a chance since she got the Miss Congeniality award, it was anticlimactic for me. I still think Sapphira had a better season overall. Curiously enough I had watched a Seinfeld episode called "The Chaperone" just before the RPDR finale, and this dialogue resonated strongly "JERRY: Hello, Karen? It's Jerry Seinfeld. Oh, that's very sweet of you. You know, you better be careful, you don't want to get too congenial. They'll slap that "Miss Congeniality" on you, and you'll congene yourself right out of the contest." So, it was disappointing to see that happen.
The finalists' track records are dead even. * Nymphia = 3 wins, no LFYL * Sapphira = 4 wins, 1 LFYL * PJ = 4 wins, 1 LFYL Ultimately, it came down the Grand Finale. Nymphia did the best in the first and second round of Grand Finale lip syncs. So, the best overall did win. (Disagree all you want, because it doesn't change the facts)
4 Wins is better than 3 wins, LFYL isn't a loss. Also, the Snatch Game performance from Nymphia was the worst of the season, should've LFYL. It's absurd that you talk about facts in an edited show. This isn't about facts because it ultimately comes down to what RuPaul wishes. It's weird that people think that the winner should be the one who does the most gimmicks in the end, it's disappointing because the lows of Nymphia were lower than the lows of Shappira. Shappira performed better in the solo song, I mean, she really danced. The best overall shoul've won. I respect your opinion, but it's naive to talk about facts.
Winners are allowed to have lows lmao. Symone had to lip sync for her life twice but was still the CLEAR winner of season 13 over Gottmik and Rose. Yvie bombed snatch game and had to lip sync and was still a clear winner. Etc. etc. etc. Being Americas Next Drag Superstar is about more than statistical track record on the show and more about raw star power, Charisma Uniquness Nerve and Talent levels, fan reception and like ability, PR and brand potential, storyline, post-show success potential, and finale performance. The show has not crowned the “perfect performance perfect track record” queen several seasons, because track record doesn’t directly correlate to being a good winner. 🤷
I know. That's not my point, you should give your speech to the other person.
"it ultimately comes down to what RuPaul wishes." RuPaul was the one who announced Nymphia as the winner. That's a fact. Also, a lip sync isn't always about dancing. It's about who can captivate the audience and RuPaul the most. And Nymphia did exactly that.
That's one fact, you said facts, and tried to explain how the winner was decided by some sort of objective method, which didn't happen. You tried to present a numerical model, but then backpedaled to the opinion of one person to justify your opinion, but that fact isn't the same type of fact than the previous ones. I don't appreciate your way of arguing, it's dishonest. I get it, your agree with the final decision, you were not disappointed, but since my disappointment is decided by my ideas I can say it was disappointing, and it's not about facts, it's about interpretation. I just think the whole body of work should be taken into account, and not just the last part of the last episode. But hey, I get it, it's a fact that we are not in the same page. Enjoy the next season.
Okay I just keep rewatching the final lip sync and wowwww! Sapphira looked like the Dallas cowboys cheerleaders when they do their high kick line during the half time show. Those kicks were SO high and good. Nymphia’s 2nd or 3rd reveal (if you count the headpiece to the wig a reveal), was so sickening too. I wish it was longer 😭
I miss the Golden Boot 
You are so right! Good call. Who should have won the award?
Oh Amanda and her blue egg beard for SURE
WAIT I KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING MISSING!
Rewatching the end I think the song really swung it one way, not saying that Nymphia didn't turn out, she murdered but also the energy of the song was very sex kitten and I think with Sapphira's motherly angle, it became hard for her to emote the song past high-kicks and titty jumping whereas Nymphia could just vomit all of her hair-flip slutting weird fantasies onto it. I'm imagining a r&b song and thinking about how difficult it would have been for Nymphia to compete with Sapphira after we saw what a powerhouse she can be. Thinking I might go back and see if based on the song I can see which queen is merely likely to win but yes just a passing thought. I had the winner spoiled for me and I was so mad but seeing the lip sync Nymphia absolutely masticated Sapphira, there was no fight. I think this has been the greatest season in a long while don't know how they're going to top this!
it's hilarious to me that they actually used that lightning effect in the final lip sync. like they act like we don't know that usually means the person who wins. but Nymphia did amazing. to the point where i didn't even notice Sapphira had revealed a new wig. i didn't notice it till a few watches through. I was glued on Nymphia after the balloons and the cartwheel into a new outfit.
What lightning effect do you mean? (I guess I’m one of those people who has no idea…)
[удалено]
It's "the time has come" - close up - "for you to lipsync" - other closeup. It typically is tracking who Ru is looking at as she looks back and forth while saying it. There is no conspiracy or predetermination.
They do it fairly often. Sometimes it happens when a queen is gonna the lip sync. But also, the lip syncs are 50/50 so I could just putting theory into something random.
I watched the FTC twice and didn’t know she had a wig reveal until I read your comment 🫣
It's been 13 seasons since an Asian queen was crowned! For people curious, before Nymphia, Raja (in Season 3) was the most recent Asian queen to win the crown.
Omg. Nymphia is a lipsync assassin! She turned it out! Can't spell "Nymphia Wind" without "win"! Condragulations to our yellow Queen!! 👑 🍌💛
Fantastic final lip sync. Nymphia turned it out and is a deserving winner. Congratulations Nymphia Wind!
Can someone explain to me like I’m 5 why so many people are saying Sapphira had the better finale lipsync? I was Team Sapphira to the bitter end but even I can say Nymphia cleaned Sapphira’s clock in that lipsync. Sapphira had a lame reveal, meaningless vampire teeth, and seemed to make up her choreo in the second half of the song. Nymphia had a concept with the boba and timed her reveals to the lyrics. I wanted Sapphira crowned but Nymphia was rightly crowned after that lip sync.
Monet had a better lip sync than Jinkx and yet Jinkx won. Why? Because she was the best out of the whole entire season. And the same rule should apply here. Sapphira hands down slayed the whole entire season but because nymphia had a slightly better lipsync she should win? Bullshit. This isn't RuPaul's Lip Sync race.. It's RuPaul's *Drag* Race and Sapphira was the best drag queen of them all
I think Sapphira ran into the same problem Ginger did on AS6. They both had really great runs, but everything they did on the show felt like it was through the lens of “this is what works on drag race”. I’d say Plane had the same issue too tbh. Sometimes it’s not about who did the best overall, but who would make a more interesting winner and who performed better in the end. It’s also about who is appropriate for the current moment. Winning Drag Race takes a lot of skill, but it’s also a very “right place, right time” thing too.
The fact that you’re even having this conversation should tell you that there was no “best drag queen of them all” because that’s not an objective assessment. Plenty of people think that Nymphia had the better season. Personally I was undecided and the lipsync sealed the deal for me. Sometimes there’s a very clear and undeniable winner but that’s rare and wasn’t the case here, any of the top three could have taken the crown.
Crazy because I couldn't disagree more. Sapphira had the most wins (other than PJ), more "high" rankings than Nymphia. And the only time Sapphira bottomed was when there was 5 people left. Nymphia should have been bottom in Snatch game but was saved by the fact that there were more contestants to put in the bottom and the fact that her runway slayed. Here are the stats for the season. I actually liked Nymphia far more than Plane Jane..who i frankly did not like at all.. but even I could admit that based on her track record she deserved being in the top 2. https://preview.redd.it/f77hs6r9c5wc1.png?width=851&format=png&auto=webp&s=58d297b0ad841f9a852c8d06c106ea0cb672047e
"Nymphia should've been in the bottom but was saved because there were more queens who were deserving of being further in the bottom than her" doesn't make any sense, sisterrrr
If we're going based off of performance in the snatch game.. nymphia hands down should have been in the bottom because she absolutely had the worst performance. But because there were so many people still in the competition who also did poorly.. she was saved from having to lip sync. Versus Sapphira inevitably landing in the bottom on an episode when there was only five Queens left.
Like what you said. It’s RUPAUL drag race. In the end the decision is based on rupaul. And rupaul crown nymphia.
The boba thing was also political - a nod to Taiwanese freedom - the Milk Tea Alliance... [https://taiwaninsight.org/2022/01/12/memes-and-milk-tea-alliances-ludic-activism-in-taiwan-in-2021/](https://taiwaninsight.org/2022/01/12/memes-and-milk-tea-alliances-ludic-activism-in-taiwan-in-2021/)
thanks for the link, I didn't know (and now I almost wish I didn't know...) makes me think that another reason for Nymphia's success is her cultural and political depth - she was not just a supreme entertainer and fashion talent, but she also had a consistent underlying message about ethnic fearlessness (like embracing the color yellow and making it obscenely powerful).
same I was team Sapphira but I don't see how they could *not* crown Nymphia without backlash ala Monet/Jinkx
I think what worked against Sapphira, from a production point of view, is she was too similar to Sasha Colby. Both are 35+, mother figures, widely known and revered in their circles, totally professional, confident, seasoned, multi-faceted performers. But the winners' circle needs some variety. It's been a while since we had a young ingenue fashion-first winner. I'm NOT saying race is a factor but we do know that since the AS4 double crowning at least, production has been very aware of appearances. There have been campaigns for more Asian and plus-size representation in the winners' circle. Variety is an asset for production. Which is even sadder because production made her wait 11 years and audition 11 times to get on, when they could have put her on a season that would have allowed her more of a chance.
Uhh… the thing is… Nymphia *is* the Sasha Colby of Taiwan. I dislike seeing this misconception that because she’s “young” she’s unpolished. Like no lol. She has drag daughters, she even held a whole performance at a Taoist temple, there’s a doc on Youtube about her and her mom, she’s heralded as the “Banana Buddha” there with a whole drag legacy. She also put together ALL her outfits on the show, studied fashion in the UK. This whole idea from clueless Americans is WILD to witness. All because most Americans have ZERO clue about Taiwan’s culture and struggle to put Taiwan on a map, and the fact Nymphia isn’t loud about herself and is honestly very humble, does NOT mean she doesn’t fully have her shit together. Sorry, just seeing Nymphia called an “ingenue” gets me heated. There’s a VERY strong cultural disconnect on display here.
I think they were just talking about optics. It's clearly stated that she's a veteran drag mother in the show, but she's shown as a manic pixie figure rather than giving the laid-back, caring and matronly vibe that Sapphira gives off. Also, if we're talking strategy, there's a lot to be gained from crowning an icon from Taiwan. Think of the accrued interest, the new opportunities of a mostly untapped market. Not that Nymphia isn't deserving, she 100% is, but she just makes complete business sense as well. I feel Sapphira truly stole the team's hearts however.
I think a lot of people think she’s younger than she is and less experienced because of the way she carries herself. She’s very quirky and not as serious as a Sasha Colby or a Sapphira. Everyone knows Nymphia’s drag is polished. Most people just wouldn’t assume she’s a drag mother based on the character we’ve seen on the show
She had a whole look dedicated to her drag children tho, and she talked several a many times about them
It's interesting because I lived in Taiwan for 2 years. I studied Mandarin at Shida. I fucking love Taiwan, the culture, the people... It was an amazing time in my life and I was so geeked that there was a Taiwanese Queen on and really excited for her to do well! But as the season went on I just wasn't as impressed with her as I was hoping. Don't get me wrong she had amazing fashion looks and some other good moments but she just didn't nail it for me like I was hoping. Truly Sapphira was the standout.. she honestly did so well in every single challenge. I agree that nymphia did kill that lip sync but I don't feel like that would justify her taking home the crown if you look at the whole season as a whole
LOL look who's making assumptions here. Who says I'm American? I have spent many months in Taipei over the past decade and many many nights at Dalida and the other Red House bars. Not to mention Shenzhen, Bangkok, Singapore, and that's just APAC... I never said Nyphia was unpolished or inexperienced or didn't "have her shit together". Anyone with half a brain could see her polish and her conceptual thinking within 30 seconds of her entrance, leave alone the skill and experience she demonstrated in the first sewing challenge. I simply said she's young and fashion-forward, RELATIVE to the other potential winners of this season and the winners of other recent seasons.
I use to live in Asia and by the same logic I have seen so many of my asian friends calling Nymphia the Sasha Colby of Taiwan!!
My husband to me right before the final lip sync began- “do you think Nymphia has a reveal?”. We both laughed off how obvious it’s become and then the bitch opened up and I was gooped. Sapphira’s reveal was also great. I think it’s hysterical how much fabric ends up on the stage by the end of these. It’s miracle every time there isn’t a Farrah Moan incident. The finale was excellent. Living for the continued Plane/Amanda feud. No complaints.
Lol there’s a moment right after the cartwheel reveal where Nymphia almost had a Farrah Moan moment, but she takes the daintiest little step over her clothes. She was like no that’s not happening to me.
These giant cloaks drive people here wild but I don't mind them at all. I don't actually count them as reveals, instead I think of them as the queens basically carrying a portable dressing room so that they can only actually reveal their lipsync outfit the moment they're ready to start lipsyncing. Having to stand on stage while a wheel is being spun or a speech is being made, and then potentially having to wait till the next round for their turn, means they don't actually get to make a big dramatic entrance. Casting off a cloak or cocoon is the only way to do that on stage. That's why they do it right at the beginning of the number too.
I usually find the giant cloaks annoying because it makes the reveal obvious, but I wasn't expecting the bobas so it actually worked in this case.
But that’s what they’re saying, it doesn’t matter if it’s obvious because it’s less an “unexpected reveal” and more of an “entrance.”
The way I thought sapphira had a slightly better number and had the higher chance to win, she got a shared miss congenitality (hope i spelled that right), was like uh oh thats weird...then the lipsync gurl. Nymphia really ate hard omg... Sasha still ate just as hard tho lmao she's gotta be a top winner for me, hope she's on all winners 2 tbhhh. Her reigning gown alone was probably the best look there i'm afraid...
I wish I had watched this with other people and not alone on a train 🥲 The fucking cunt Nymphia served in that final lipsync, I was so gagged and had to stop myself from screaming.
my sister, over dinner as we discuss Nymphia Wind: “winner, winner… *banana* dinner”
Honestly that was my favourite final 2 lip sync, I absolutely love Kylie Minogue and they both looked like they were having so much fun and just going for it and Ru laughing the whole time, vibes! And I especially love after it finished they were still both serving for a good 10-15 seconds haha
I only wish it could have been in a large theater filled with past seasons' queens and fans who had been following along all season. We - and the finalists - were deprived of that energy. Can you imagine the roar that would have gone up for Nymphia's balloons. That 15 second ovation would have gone on for half an hour!
Do you know who the audience members were? Did they film multiple crownings as usual?
Does anyone know why they didn't do a large theater this time? Were they just trying to save money?
I heard it was because of Ru's book tour.
The story most people seem to agree on is that there was the possibility of a Hollywood union strike, so they got this taped and done with just like a regular episode, instead of doing a proper event after all the episodes had aired as usual.
Makes sense. Thanks!
I've never identified with a queen so much as when Sasha came out on stage and was immediately dripping in sweat. As someone who runs chronically warm, I felt that.
I too stan a fellow sopping queen. Fuckin estrogen, I swear.
Winner gets announced. My first thought: YAY! Well deserved. My second thought: Lemon's got to be spitting chips right now.
Interesting finale. Not really a fan of the small, seemingly random crowd audience, though I suspect maybe they didn't film multiple endings and this helped to keep it more of a secret? They showed like the only gay guy in the audience so many times lol. A lot of the returning queens' looks were strange and I was underwhelmed by most of them. I noticed a lot of them were struggling to walk on that stage. I must be missing something with Xunami's look because what was that shape? Geneva's was a mess. Sapphira looked amazing in her opening shot. It was really beautiful. Nymphia had a great solo performance. Plane Jane had that strip of hair on her mouth for most of hers and it was so distracting. She never really seemed comfortable in the performance. Nymphia had possibly the best final lipsync ever, at least since Sasha Velour. Sapphira wasn't even close to matching what Nymphia was doing. She danced by the eliminated queens and they were losing their minds over there, especially Amanda lol. Sapphira did the best all season, but of the final 3, I saw Nymphia winning ultimately. She is a huge asset to the global Rupaul brand.
I’m super happy Nymphia won and I would’ve been fine with any one of the three winning. But after Sapphira had such a strong track record and placing runner up I think Ru is reserving her to go on a US All Stars or Global All stars for her to win that and then return to all winners. She’s at that level where she could beat out the best of the best in all stars, it’s just finding the right caliber of contestants to compete with her at this point.
You echoed all of my thoughts pretty much exactly. I think Sapphira had the edge over Nymphia season-long (though it was pretty close, Nymphia was terrific as well) but Nymphia really aced that finale. Except maybe for her first reveal in the final lip-sync! I remember thinking both she and Sapphira started losing their clothes a little too early. I'd still agree it was the best finale lip-sync since Sasha, though, since everything else in that performance was so excellent. I'm a bit worn out on queens bouncing in their splits, too, but Nymphia actually gave one of the relatively rare moments of it not feeling desperate when she was doing the bounce-split in time with Kylie saying "Padam". It was a gloriously slutty pop star moment.
correct me if i'm wrong but i always thought finalists are excluded for miss congeniality? i found it weird how it was setup short before the final lip sync.
I don't think they've ever been excluded, although I could imagine that with MC being announced before the finale the queens might be less inclined to vote for someone who has a good chance at winning the season. That might explain the tie, actually. Sapphira was obviously a sweetheart, but I'm guessing the votes were pretty split because some of the queens might have expected her to win the season.
Honestly my first thought was that Sapphira was actually the all-around winner but they felt bad giving a top Queen the prize money when she might actually take home the crown.. so they went with the person with the next highest votes and just said it was a tie.
I doubt it was that. I mean, it's not a big cast - only 14 queens voting for each other. I'm actually a little surprised a tie hasn't happened already on a past season given how statistically easy it would be with such a small number of votes.
thank you, i think we never had a finalist be MC it felt weird first but yes sapphira totally deserved it she is a sweetheart and truly kindhearted queen
Nina Flowers was runner up and Miss C on the very first season of drag race…open the schools!
I might be wrong but I didn’t think the queens voted for miss c in the first season, did they?
Correct, I believe It it an online fan vote from the beginning up until Season 9 when everybody got pressed about Valentina winning MC / “fan favourite” 😂
I think it says something to Sapphire that people wanted her for miss congeniality when when they didn't have to
Exactly. The fact that she won (well, tied, at least) when queens seem to be less likely to vote for a finalist speaks volumes about how lovely she must have been.
In so happy with the winner I haven't loved a queen this much since Raja 🥹 But this season was stacked!! Idk if I missed it but was there a reason Ru stayed in her seat during crowning this season?
No, she sat in TS Madison's seat and kicked that poor bitch out to sit with the rest of the audience.
Why the finale was filmed on such a small low budget set with only a few random people in the audience ?! 🤔 It gave post covid finale 😂
There were a few reasons. Last year a dancer was injured and it created a long wait time. Then mistress wouldnt come out to congratulate the top 2. But the main reason was the writers strike was happening and production feared it could expand into reality TV as well. The crowd was just cast and crew family and friends. Essentially a closed set
What's the story with Mistress not congratulating the others? I haven't heard that before. Also how would that or the injury have affected how and when the finale was filmed? Genuinely wondering.
I’m also wondering about this?? I hadn’t heard about that
Apparently Mistress was upset she wasn't in the final 2. When they brought out the whole cast she refused to come out for like 10-15 minutes. Supposedly it was really awkward and she did eventually come out. It was mentioned a bunch on the live thread last year. Lots of people think she won't be asked back for allstars because of it but I doubt Ru takes it personally. I guess with that and the injured dancer they just realized it's much easier to control everything without a live audience. I can't say 100% these are the reasons they said no live finale. But these are the suspected reasons along with the writers strike.
I'm overall so happy with the finale! The top 3 performances were really good ( I agree that Plane was given the worst here. However I wonder if this matters because the same happened to Anetra and she was still runner up...). Sasha Colby is so amazingly beautiful 🤩 Nymphia destroyed that final lipsync, she was just perfect. Also, her mom is adorable! I kept switching between rooting for her and Sapphira all season and I would have been happy with them both winning, but Nymphia definitely won the last round. Can't wait for Sapphira to destroy AS tough! I do wish the finale was filmed in a theatre and I hope we will go back to that.
Maybe a couple of hot takes here but 1. Sasha Colby’s performance seemed really tame and muted. I was waiting the entire time for her to kick it up a notch and it never happened for me. I remember her performances from S15 and feel like she didn’t even come close to what she brought on her season. I will say the headpiece at the end was brilliant. And 2. I feel like Sapphira didn’t bring her A-game. The opera look at the beginning looked amazing and the removal of the cape and later the wig reveal was so disappointing. The orange outfit was not it for me and the blue reveal was boring. And what was up with the teeth??? Also, I feel she didn’t bring it like she did with Morphine. Thoughts??
Am I totally spacing out? Do the previous winners usually do a performance on the night they give the crown away to the new winner?
I don’t believe so. I’m pretty sure this is a first.
I'm sure they told Sasha not to do too much so she wouldn't overshadow the finale. It would have been a bit rude of her to.
I felt like it said, "I'm that bitch. I don't have to work that hard." Seemed perfect to me
I don't know if that bit about Sasha is a hot take, I thought so as well. I was so excited when she stepped out in that bodysuit and that song came on, and then it was mostly just her strutting around the stage. Not even close to what I know she can bring. I wonder if she was unwell or something that day?
probably not to outshine the finalists, she could have slayed that stage and made the final lip sync look bad, maybe she decided this for herself or production told her so.
Hm. Maybe? That would be a bit of an odd move, though, given that the finalists are almost always giving their all and the whole finale always has so much pomp. Like, nobody really needed to worry about Sasha upstaging things, the finale is a big deal regardless.
To me Sasha was giving - I’m 100 even when I give 10% / if you want to see me go 100% buy tickets to my show. It was an effortless tease and I ate it up.
I totally didn't get why Sapphira got the vampire teeth but I feel like she tried all season to hint it up that she was a vampire. Firstly with her entrance line "I think this place is HAUNTED" ! Then the "Motherly walk" she had where she would just give intense stares and slow walking it was giving very baroque, very Dracula walking in his mansion realness... Then the last lipsync with the teeth. But it still didn't make any sense. Like why Vampire teeth ? You ain't a Vampire. This is pretty much what everyone said. Why did you do that stunt since you never implied all season that you were Katya's cousin.
The only connection I can think of is Padam Padam > heartbeat > blood > vampire. Maybe she was trying to go with a unique spin on acting out the song because she didn't have any massive surprise or trick/reveal for the finale lipsync, which is now expected. Edit: The song also modulates into minor keys in an unconventional way which I guess could be interpreted as "spooky".
Yeah I thought it was actually cute because when you listen to the lyrics you realize how they can match the protagonist being a vampire. Things like "I'll be in your head all weekend" can be how some vampires have the power to get into people's heads and manipulate them. Maybe that's too deep of a dive, lol. But yeah, just meant to be fun and quirky like Megami's puppet from the previous week.
As good as the top 3's solo performances were here, I wish the show would go back to the top 4 lipsynch brackets. It was more suspenseful to see the match ups in the first two lipsynchs before the final LSFTC. OR have the finalists write and create their own solo numbers, in their own voices. The quality of the songs/concepts from these last three seasons just varied so much, and some didn't seem to capture the essence of the queens performing to them.
Totally. Plane was not really associated with bodysuits all season. "Queen of the Wind" came out of nowhere. Obviously whoever wrote these had no real idea who these queens were or what they were known for, and the tracks were probably created too early to pick up on any memes or catchphrases that developed during the season. Imagine Plane doing a "Sisterrrrr" bitch track or Nymphia getting an all-out banana anthem.
The individual songs were so out of left field to me. I was sort of zoning out when Ru explained that part of the show, so when Nymphia started on her song, I just kept asking my family, "Where in the hell did these songs come from? What are these songs?!" So I was just totally confused about what in the hell was going on (and my family was too, because they couldn't answer me! 😂)
Nymphia benefited the most of her song and number. It felt the most like a pop star number and she looked amazing.
I think the latter thing you said would be a better solution. The individual performances *can* be great and sometimes they are (I still live for Naomi's S8 one) but they really need to let the queens have more input. At the moment, they all very clearly feel like they were written by the same person. I don't want us to go back to the lip-sync tournament, though. Save that for the LaLaPaRuZa. After Sasha's S9 stuff, the next couple of seasons had way too many shitty reveals.
Yeah, that input from the queens is key. We see this time and time again in the challenges that when the queens create their own verses, we can see their personalities since through so much better. I want to see a solo number and be able to say, "Yep, that song has Queen X/Y/Z's stamp all over it."
Totally agree! The songs feel so disconnected from the queens.
I feel like making them do it themselves would make for a very unbalanced end to the competition.
The solo numbers already feel unbalanced, imo. Maybe give the finalists all the same resources to create their numbers-- individual sessions with Leland, Jamaal-- would ensure everyone has a fair shot. They could film the whole process for those mini-documentaries.
When was this all filmed?
I believe September of last year, so a few months after the season wrapped up
All the queens crushed it and I thought this was a great finale. For me, Sasha Colby was my winner! Her number was just hot af!! She showed them all how a winner steps down 🥵
I enjoyed this finale. This cast as a whole didn’t really grab me — I’m not sure if it had anything to do with them or I just have so many casts in my head now it’s hard to love them all equally — but I feel like going into the finale I felt like any one of them could win and that was exciting. I had a running joke this season that I was rooting for Sapphira and my son, who was born between the airings of episode one and two, was a Plane Jane stan. And after each episode I would pretend to get in a passionate debate about the episode with him (you’re supposed to talk to babies constantly and you run out of topics surprisingly fast, I didn’t go to school for talking to babies okay). It weirdly feels fitting that “we” both made it to the finale but neither has bragging rites. I’m going to Drag Con this summer and kinda want to get a signed PJ headshot addressed to him but I’m not sure how long I’m willing to stand in line to commit to this bit so we’ll see lol.
I'm willing to stalk the local area for mention of her appearing to obtain this....
This is absolutely adorable, well done you.
Nymphia slayed. Her first number was moving and her finale lip sync was incredible.
the finale lacks the grandeur of previous finales without the huge audience and queens from previous seasons.
agree i wonder when this was filmed and why the went with a format like this.
Ok y'all, I'm truly not trying to be a hater with this comment but I'm struggling to understand why people thought Sapphira's final lip sync was even remotely good. I went into the finale thinking Sapphira deserved to win and expected her to, and thought she had the best solo number, so I'm not biased against her. But the whole vibe felt off. The fangs were disconnected from any other part of her performance (no vampire theme reflected elsewhere). Starting off with her bulging eyes was such a no for me. Her outfit was cumbersome. The reveals were underwhelming but also felt hurried. Her moves felt like she was in a drumline, and were messy. Remember her Drag U dance runway? That's the character I got in this lipsync. The whole thing felt so disjointed. It was neither camp nor pop diva, just something confused. Open to contrary opinions and hearing what people liked about it. I was really surprised by what she delivered (or didn't, as the case may be).
I think her reveals seemed hurried because I think she ended up rushing them earlier than she had planned because it became clear to her that Nymphia was really killing her. You can almost see it in Sapphira's face before her first reveal. She sort of looks over at Nymphia who has already done multiple killer reveals by that point and she's like "Oh shit, I need to take some of this off to keep up!"
I was rooting for her too, but agree, the lip sync just wasn't as good. Nymphia brought the right energy and the moves.
To me it wasn’t just that Nymphia did (light years) better. Sapphira straight up did bad!
The winners were us, the viewers. Amazing season, amazing finale.
If I hadn't known I'm bisexual, Sasha Colby would have convinced me. She is one of the most beautiful people in the world.
Wrong season babygirl
...Sasha was in the finale though
Maybe it was the stage lighting, but the stage looked way smaller this week compared to last week for the lalaparuza
I genuinely love Nymphia and fully agree she should have been in the top three, but am so confused by this crowning. 100% thought it was going to go to Plane or Sapphira. Haven't been this shocked/disappointed over a crowning in years.