S17.E15: The Lipsynch LalapaRuza Smackdown!

[davidcalgary29]

Our four finalists return to the Werkroom, delighted that the end of their marathon is now in sight, and that they can now send out the formal invitations for Onya's Coronation Ball. Just kidding -- ANY ONE of them can still win, right? RIGHT?

The next morning, Ru announces that it's time for the lipsynch smackdown, and a parade of familiar faces enter the sound stage. It's great seeing most of them, but I actually did a double take at Crystal, thinking -- "wait, was she even on this season?" She was! And won two challenges and was even in the Top 2! Guys, this season has been going on so long I've started to conflate different seasons in my mind.

The queens prepare for the Main Stage, applying paint and providing us with a few updates on their lives, giving viewers a key clue that this episode was filmed relatively recently, and long after the rest of the season was taped. Kori and Lydia announce that they have graduated from Showmance to Romance, with Lydia claiming that she has given Kori "the keys to the kingdom". I like her alliterative announcement! They hug and the other queens claim that they want in on the action. Because this is Drag Race, there's an awkward product placement for "Anastasia...of Beverly Hills!" I would totally use Anastasia products if I did drag. And if they were free. Suzie acts as Host and Emcee of the LalapaRuza Meet and Greet by interviewing each of her competitors for the viewers. She's kind and considerate, and prompts her interviewee to open up to the audience. Hm. Suzie then provides a number of additional confessionals throughout this segment, and provides thoughtful and interesting comments on the competition. Double Hm. Is this, perhaps, the long-awaited Redemption of Suzie Toot? SPOILER:

Spoiler

Yes

We segue to the Main Stage, where Ru trots down the runway in a gold catsuit, shimmying and giving a callback to Blair St. Clair. Well, that was random. From the neck down, she looks great, but I can't get over her makeup and weird contacts, which make her like The Head GameMaker for the 17th Hunger Games. Wait -- she is! I take my criticism back. She announces her panel of fellow executioners, who tonight are Michelle and the always-welcome TS Madison. TS looks excited to be back. Why can't she be a permanent member of the judging panel?

Ru announces the rules -- and a twist! -- unfortunately, the twist is crap, and ruins a lot of the fun. Just stick with the Canadian rules, people! Here, Bruno (also on the panel, at times) chooses a queen, who can either choose their opponent -- or the lipsynch song! While this seems great in practice, it also means that, if the first chosen queen chooses the song, then the second-picked queen doesn't get any power at all. How is that fair? Why not let the remaining, unchosen queens get to have their choice of opponent instead of leaving it up to "chance" by "Bruno" picking the opponent? Why, indeed.The eliminated queens line up on stage for The Reaping.

First up is Hormona, who decides to pick her song. She chooses "Liza with a "Z", a smart choice for a queen whose references seem dated. "Suzie must be DYING inside", Michelle mouths at Ru. Shut up, Michelle.  Lydia is chosen as her opponent, and sulks at the thought of having to perform camp from 1972. Hormona decides to turn the number into a lazy striptease, shedding parts of her costume as Lydia channels personality into her performance. Lydia wins! Hormona is catty on her third departure and really, her best line of the night was when she bitchily filled in an expected platitude at watching Suzie's elimination episode with the comment that it "made sense". Hormona gets sent back to the Loser's Lounge to sulk and/or drink with the Finalists.

Suzie smartly chooses a cocky Joella for her opponent, thinking that there's really nothing to lose now that "Liza with a "Z" has been taken off the table. Joella chooses "Training Day", claiming that she'll be able to beat Suzie easily with a song that isn't in her wheelhouse. She's wrong! Joella prances off to the Loser's Lounge, where she's greeted by the other queens just as she was during the regular season: with zero actual warmth. There's always tomorrow, Joella!

Lucky is chosen next, and she's up against Acacia for "Step by Step" by Whitney Houston. Acacia looks awful at the beginning of her lipsynch -- I wrote down "Busted Dolly Parton, as played by Dee Snider", but she does a quick reveal partway through the number, revealing a more polished look with long, blonde hair and a bodysuit. She actually does all right, but can't beat Lucky's comic beats as she bounces her basketboobs around the stage. Ru cackles, ensuring her win. Lucky gets to stay! For a minute.

Arrietty, parading around yet more unflattering Nose Artistry, and Kori, in one of her better (but still bad) costumes, are up next. The song is "Blow Me (One More Time)" by Pink, and Kori is distracting all throughout the song with a manic, jittery energy that doesn't jibe with the song. Kori wins! This, my friends, is pure Production Riggory. Triple Hm.

Crystal and Lana round out the first group stage, with Lana choosing Sylvester's "You make Me Feel (Mighty Real)", a banger from 1979, well before either queen was born. Will either queen do it justice? SPOILER: No. They're both perfectly fine here, and it would be fun to watch at a club, but neither of them bring any Realness to the song. Lana wins! Crystal sputters, hilariously, on her way out, leaving Ru to cackle "how white of you!" while making fun of her. Aw, Crystal is actually a good performer.

Round two begins with Lucky, who chooses "We Found Love by Rhianna". Lucky probably should have won this one, but she lays on the same schtick that she spread around in the first around, and seeing her play with her basketboobs this time isn't nearly as much fun. You also can't see much of her face through her makeup, while Suzie enunciates the lyrics clearly and is pretty good at conveying the song's emotion. Suzie wins! I was not expecting this.

We're then cursed with a leaden three-way lipsynch between Kori, Lana, and Lydia to "360" by Charli XCX. It doesn't matter what the song is, because this idea is terrible, and it's impossible to get a good read on anything that any of the queens are doing. Kori is awful, and has way too much energy for the beat of the song. Lana isn't much better on the other side of the stage. I'm most taken by Lydia, who takes her time to find the emotional heart of the song and turns in an effective performance. Kori wins! Quadruple Hm.

Suzie and Kori meet at the finale! The song is one I haven't heard before: "Apt" by Rose and Bruno Mars. It's a lot of fun, and we see a lot of the same moves from both queens because they've just lipsynched for us twice before in this episode, and they really can't change their routines. In the end, Suzie, who is an effective, if not brilliant, lipsyncher, takes out Kori, who remains a limited presence on the stage. And I'm going to have to eat my own words from last week, when I predicted that there was no way, no how, that Suzie was going to win this. What! Suzie walks off with a cool fifty thousand dollars and the last word, telling all the haters who thought that she was "cocky, deluded, and over-confident...I'm better than all of you!" Maybe Ru did like Suzie after all!

Next week: it's the end of the road for our Showmance with S17, as the remaining queens battle it out for the win! Will our plucky Tribute from District 12, with the season's worst drag, be able to take down the remaining members of the Career Pack? Time. Will. Tell!

 

Edited April 12 by davidcalgary29

[Starchild]

So I also was not expecting Suzie to win, but no one can say she didn't earn it, even if she was "cocky, deluded, and over-confident." She watched the season, learned from her mistakes and switched it up to give Ru what she wanted. 

As for the others:

• Joella out-deludes even Suzie
• Lucky's one trick annoyed me
• Like Suzie, Acacia also stepped outside her comfort zone and I think she should have won her lipsync.
• Meh girls
  • Hormona
  • Arietty
  • Kori
  • Lydia
  • Lana
  • Crystal (although I think she edged Lana) (not like that)

Overall, I'm pleased with the outcome.

[violet and green]

That was remarkably unpleasant.

[janeyjay]

11 hours ago, Starchild said:

So I also was not expecting Suzie to win, but no one can say she didn't earn it, even if she was "cocky, deluded, and over-confident." She watched the season, learned from her mistakes and switched it up to give Ru what she wanted. 

Brava for Suzie for taking the notes she received and changing up her schtick to be more accessible and less niche. This is the most likable I've found her all season -- that's not saying a lot but at least I didn't want to yank her ridiculous wig off her head. 

[TiffanyNichelle]

I was really happy that Suzie won but even happier that Lana didn't make it to the final because every time they called her a lip sync assassin I was so confused. Assassin where? She did the same thing every time and it wasn't that impressive.

Also that was the best look Suzie has worn and I wish she did something like that more often. That hair length looks great on her, she looked softer.

Lucky doing the ball boobs things twice was overkill. I understand why she kept going back to it though. Ru seems to love crazy boob stuff (it's why I thought Kori's reveal during the battle with Suzie was going to get her the win) but it was she didn't do anything new the second time.

[davidcalgary29]

39 minutes ago, TiffanyNichelle said:

I was really happy that Suzie won but even happier that Lana didn't make it to the final because every time they called her a lip sync assassin I was so confused. Assassin where? She did the same thing every time and it wasn't that impressive.

Also that was the best look Suzie has worn and I wish she did something like that more often. That hair length looks great on her, she looked softer.

Lucky doing the ball boobs things twice was overkill. I understand why she kept going back to it though. Ru seems to love crazy boob stuff (it's why I thought Kori's reveal during the battle with Suzie was going to get her the win) but it was she didn't do anything new the second time.

Look, I really like Suzie, but this entire episode was grabbed by the scruff of its neck and frog-marched down the Plank of Predictability by the Heavy Hand of Production, from the initial suspect matchups, to a dumb three-way free-for-all that was guaranteed to trip up all the participants and make no one look good,  and to a finale that featured an okay lipsyncher miraculously beating out a seasoned dancer who also seemed to be mysteriously coked out for the entire episode. Just sayin' that I wouldn't be at all surprised if the PAs whispered a few choice suggestions to some of the cast members at certain points of this venture to -- shall we say -- stack the deck for a certain outcome. I still have no idea what they did with Suzie's edit this season, but at least it ended on a happy note.

Edited April 12 by davidcalgary29

[Kaboom 2.0]

I was glad to see some of the eliminated queens again, some more than others. I felt bad for my Jersey girl Crystal fumbling her exit line. Still love you, girl! 

Toot toot for Suzie Toot! Along with a few of the other queens she took Ru and other judges' notes to heart and steamrolled her way to the win. 

Always love seeing Bruno at the judges' table, I just heart him. 

Now onto the finale! Congrats, Onya! 😏

[Keywestclubkid]

Suzie Is amazing lip syncer .. her whole presence just changes.. seeing her do training season with the face and the beat and the .. yesss girl we lived for it .. 

[SemiCharmedLife]

Now who would have thunk it?  Suzie winning the Lalaparuza!  I'm pretty gobsmacked, but happy for her.  I would have chosen Arriety over Kori, and I was hoping Crystal would go farther, just because I think she is a great queen who didn't get to stay long enough. I enjoyed seeing the returning queens, particularly Lucky Starzz.  There were some glow ups!