This week, in a spectacularly well-timed episode, RuPaul’s Drag Race was all about lip synching—both the normal kind, and the kind where you lip synch to spoken dialogue, like dubbing a movie in reverse. If you thought, “Ru made that up—no one does that,” then join me in being wrong, because he also told us about performance artist Lypsinka, whose act consists of lip synching to audio clips of people like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. The more you know! Now join me in falling into a Lypsinka YouTube k-hole.
For the mini-challenge, the queens had to lip synch to a few of Ru’s songs using only their mouths, meaning that they lip synched behind giant photos of Ru with mouth holes cut out (see above). They were awesomely creepy, and I want one for my apartment. The three winners became team leaders for the main challenge, which involved recreating dramatic moments from earlier seasons. Even for Drag Race, this was super meta, especially because all of the “herstory” came from Untucked, which if I understand correctly is just a half hour of the contestants getting drunk in the Absolut Lounge and throwing serious shade (and occasionally vodka) at each other. Wait, am I recapping the wrong show?
Anyway, two queens were having an extra rough go of it on this episode. First, Serena. Everybody hates Serena, for reasons that aren’t quite clear. She even went so far as to ask everyone if they wished she had been kicked off last week instead of Penny Tration, and of course they said yes. To quote one of their Untucked clips, this isn’t RuPaul’s Best Friend Race! But still, why do they hate Serena so much? Is it really only because she’s young and inexperienced? She should change her name to Lena Dunham and tell them all to suck it.
Secondly, Monica Beverly Hillz. She seemed down for most of the show and alluded to a major secret she had been keeping from everyone. On the runway, Ru got her to spill, and Monica admitted that she’s not a traditional drag queen but a transgendered woman. Ru then gave her an amazing pep talk that actually made me tear up: “I invited you here because you were fierce. You deserve to be here, and that’s why you’re here. You have to believe in yourself. The only person who does not believe is you! Stay strong, Monica Beverly Hillz!” Repeat to yourself as needed during times of distress.
Unfortunately, an emotional outpouring was not enough to save Monica from the bottom two. After Ivy Winters’ team won, with Lineysha Sparx taking home the top prize of immunity and a couture latex outfit, Monica and Serena lip synched for their lives to Rihanna’s “Only Girl (In the World).” Everyone with eyes could see that Monica killed it, so Ru told Serena to sashay away and get some lip synching lessons from Beyoncé. Just kidding about the second part, but seriously, Serena should watch and learn.
RuPaul’s Drag Race airs Mondays at 9/8c on LOGO
Photo via LOGO
