After one of its slickest-ever runs, RuPaul’s Drag Race has finally crowned its season 10 winner.
After 12 weeks of fierce and fabulous competition, viewers saw Aqauria snatch the crown during Thursday night’s grand finale to earn the title of ‘America’s Next Drag Superstar’, a cash prize of $100,000, and become the youngest winner in Drag Race herstory.
There were plenty of twists and turns before we got there though: During a spectacular finale at The Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles, the fourteen season 10 queens were reunited as they put on a lipsync extavaganza with the original contestants of the show’s first season.
The finale then followed the set-up of season 9 as the Final Four were forced to face off in a brutal lipsync knock-out battle.
After being randomly selected to go first, Kameron opted to lipsync against Asia O’Hara, whose performance to Janet Jackson’s ‘Nasty’ failed to take off (literally) when a stash of real butterflies hidden within her dress refused to fly away, instead falling to the stage where the prospect of an impending insect bloodbath kept the audience on the edge of their seats.
Lip-sync legends, @AsiaOharaLand and @KameronMichaels are FIERCE Queens who have slayed this competition. So proud of the both of them and love them so much! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/5IMPUM78YC
— RuPaul’s Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) June 29, 2018
Alas, Asia was eliminated by Ru, who sent ‘bodybuilder Barbie’ Kameron the the final showdown.
Aquaria and Eureka were the next to face-off to another Janet Jackson number, ‘If’ – and the result was quite possibly the season’s closest battle yet, with more flips, kicks and costume reveals than you could shake a stiletto at.
Ru agreed, clearly, and in a shock twist decided to send BOTH queens into the final showdown to take part in Drag Race‘s first ever three-way lipsync. Yes gawd.
We are GAGGED! @aquariaofficial @eurekaohara #DragRace pic.twitter.com/7zY1uQ8dHO
— RuPaul’s Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) June 29, 2018
Kameron, Aquaria and Eureka’s final performance to ‘Bang Bang’ by Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj was another spectacular affair, and ultimately it was runway queen Aquaria and her perfectly-timed confetti cannons who took home the title.
This is going to be a tough decision, these queens are FIERCE! Who do you think slayed that lip-sync?! #DragRace pic.twitter.com/Su0nPue959
— RuPaul’s Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) June 29, 2018
Speaking after the show, Ru said: “This season will go down as one of the most competitive in Drag Race herstory. And still, Aquaria’s many talents distinguished her from the field of amazing queens.
“This is the dawning of the Age of Aquaria. I can’t wait to see what she does next.”
Aquaria, who started watching the show at the age of 10 at at just 22 becomes Drag Race’s youngest ever winner said: “Finally making it to the top of the most influential drag platform of today is proof that no dream is ever unachievable if you have the passion, resilience, love, and work ethic to devote your life to that dream.
“Drag will always be a dynamic and powerful art form and it is my duty now to honor the artists who have come before me while continuing to pioneer my own path and history by being open to growth and change as a human and a drag superstar.”
So there you have it, the first decade of Drag Race has come to an end. What will the next ten years hold? We’ll find out when season 11 debuts on VH1 next year – so keep those engines purring…