Wow…who would have thought eight weeks could go by so quickly? We’ve come to the conclusion of the inaugural season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK and crowned the series’ first drag superstar.
In a finale that lacked the pomp and circumstance we’ve come to expect from the US version of Drag Race (is that a good thing or not?), our top three queens – Baga Chipz, The Vivienne and Divina De Campo – were tasked with a songwriting, singing and dancing challenge and delivered their finest drag on the final runway.
Let’s take a look at the most memorable moments from the finale.
Dancing queens
The main challenge for the queens is a singing, dancing number to Ru’s song “Rocket to the Moon.” Each queen has to write a verse, record it and lip-sync to it…with elaborate choreography.
The Vivienne, who had a hard time in the girl group challenge, is understandably worried. AJ Pritchard (Strictly Come Dancing) and his brother Curtis (Love Island) are not taking it easy on the queens, giving each of them a complicated Latin dance routine to learn. Side note, I wouldn’t mind escaping to Love Island with Curtis. He’s a tall one!
When asked about their previous dance experience, Divina does an effortless split and Baga describes her experience as “pissed in the nightclub.” The choreographers assign the tango to Baga, the cha-cha to Divina and the Samba to The Vivienne. As they rehearse, all of the queens appear to be struggling, with Baga having the hardest time.
Baga spills the tea about her mom
Keeping with the tradition of the US version of the show, each of the final three queens does a guest spot on RuPaul’s podcast, “What’s the Tee?” Baga is the first one on the hot seat and Ru makes it a point to discuss what he felt was some “unfinished business” between Baga and her mother, that bubbled to the surface during last week’s makeover challenge.
Baga admits she’s only seen her mother “seven times in ten years” and was raised by his grandmother. Baga goes o to say that her mom wasn’t bad, it was just that between her mom’s new partner and her siblings, there was simply no room for her and that it was a ”mutual decision” for Baga to live with her nana.
Baga says she’s had the best life ever because her gram spoiled her rotten – but she has developed a thick skin and uses her comedy to cope with her life. Baga thanks Ru for introducing her to professionalism and Ru and Michelle Visage tell her how proud they are of her.
Ru then does something we’ve never seen him do, giving Baga a warm hug. It was a really sweet moment.
To the moon
The final three (and sometimes four) performances are always memorable (with”Kitty Girl” from All-Stars 3 still ranking as my personal favorite, but our UK queens did the franchise proud with their version of “Rocket to the Moon”.
Divina was perfection, Baga was having a blast and The Vivienne did more than make up for her lackluster performance in the girl group challenge, especially with her backflip fake-out, which made me laugh out loud. This one is sure to go down in Drag Race her-story.
Side note: if you want to hear the top three version of “Rocket to the Moon”, it’s available wherever you stream music!
Final Three Eleganza Extravaganza on the runway
The final three came out in their finest drag for their last appearance on the runway. Baga came out in a sequined mint green gown with a slit so high that it almost gave us a minge shot.
Her hair was in a Marilyn Monroe-esque blonde bob – a wig, she said was left behind by Cheryl Hole. Ru who looked amazing as always, commented, “Why it gotta be Betty White?” Graham Norton asked if she was “Marilyn Man-roe” and Alan Carr countered with “Marilyn Man-hoe.” (I love these two.)
Divina came out in my favorite dress of the season – a gorgeous, beautifully instructed corseted gown with an obvious nod to the Union Jack. It was positively regal. The Vivienne also wore a dress fit or a royal ball – a nude gown with sparkling embellishments and fabulous Valley of the Dolls-esque blonde hair. She describes herself as “Barbie right out of the box” and she’s kind of right. All three queens turned. It. Out.
Ghosts of drag queens past
Again, another Drag Race tradition where Mark (Baga) Owen (Divina) and James (Divina) give advice to their younger selves and, as always, it’s one of the best moments of the finale (and the kid pics of the queens are always so stinking cute.) #itgetsbetter
The eliminated queens return
Since there is no reunion episode for this series (probably because everyone got along so well), it was so nice to see all of the eliminated queens return – and they all looked amazing.
There were hugs to go around and the best moment of this reunion is when Sum Ting Wong jokes that they are there to pick the top two. Cheryl breaks the immediate tension by declaring, “Just kidding!”
Baga tells Vinegar Strokes that she looks far from “hodgepodge” and tells Cheryl how much she missed and loved her. Blu Hydrangea delivered the mandatory shade, delivering a dig to Baga abut the lip-sync she didn’t want to do but said she truly admired the top three. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t mind seeing a full, drama-free reunion episode with these queens, because they are all a delight.
We also got to see them all sashay down the runway one last time and I am going to miss them all. Let’s bring them to All-Stars! (Especially Blu, Sum Ting, and Crystal.)
The last lip sync
Sadly, Baga didn’t make the top two and it was down to Divina and The Vivienne to lip-sync for the crown. The song was Wham’s “I’m Your Man”, which, although a great song, isn’t really anything you’d hear at a drag show.
Fortunately, both queens tore up the stage and gave it their all. From this supremely entertaining performance, it was impossible to determine who won the thing and it was down to the wire (and Ru’s ultimate decision) to pick the UK’s next drag superstar.
A queen is crowned
In the end, The Vivienne was crowned the first champion of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, and I think Ru made a great choice (although I would have been happy with any of the queens, really. They were all amazing.) I’m looking forward to her WOW Presents Plus show, as long as she rips those eyebrows off at least once per episode. Congrats, Viv!
And so, we have reached the end of one of the best Drag Race series we’ve seen in a while. Fortunately, the second season of Drag Race UK is on the way – and while we’re waiting, we’ve got All-Stars 5 and Drag Race season 12 to keep us entertained until then. Hope you all have a fabulous holiday season and, for the ls time in 2019, everybody say LOVE!
