Top 10 Moments from RuPaul's Drag Race Season 9
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VOICE OVER: Lisa Yang
Script written by Trevor Fonvergne
RuPaul's Drag Race just wrapped up its 9th season and we were all gagging at the finale. Since we have to wait another year for Season 10, and All Stars 3, let's revisit the best moments from the most recent season! From Sasha's fierce lip sync against Shea Coulee, to Valentina's mask lip sync, to Eureka's surprise elimination. We won't be including any moments from Untucked so Aja's Valentina read will not be included hunties, so if you're not caught up stop now to avoid spoilers.
RuPaul's Drag Race just wrapped up its 9th season and we were all gagging at the finale. Since we have to wait another year for Season 10, and All Stars 3, let's revisit the best moments from the most recent season! From Sasha's fierce lip sync against Shea Coulee, to Valentina's mask lip sync, to Eureka's surprise elimination. We won't be including any moments from Untucked so Aja's Valentina read will not be included hunties, so if you're not caught up stop now to avoid spoilers.
h4>Top 10 Moments from RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 9
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Season Nine was one of the fiercest and fishiest yet! Let’s look at all the T, the shade, and the queeniest moments that had us gagging! Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’ll be counting down the top 10 moments from season nine of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” For this list, CATEGORY IS most memorable, shocking, and enjoyable events from the ninth season. We’ll be talking about the whole season excluding Untucked, so Aja’s Valentina read will not be included hunties, so if you’re not caught up stop now to avoid spoilers.
#10: Peppermint vs. Alexis Michelle Sure, this season will go down in HERstory as the year of the lip-sync fails, we’ll be reading that hot mess next… but for number ten we’re celebrating Peppermint the lip-synch assassin. After shooting coo-coo off the runway a few episodes earlier, we didn’t know if our girl Pep could pump it out again… and when Alexis got smirks off the top from the judges with a sight gag we we’re sweating for our sugar-sweet Peppermint… but ultimately she revved up her sickening dance moves and even gave us a Roxy-inspired wig reveal! Alexis sashayed away, sorry ‘bout it, and Pepperment remained to be the first openly transgender finalist.
#9: Trinity Taylor is more than a pageant queen! The body is here! Trinity “the tuck” Taylor already had her reputation as a slaying pageant queen, but took her stint on Season Nine as a chance to expand her brand. Serving plastic injection realness… and comedy? Who knew! Her dirty southern starfish stole the show in the princess challenge, nabbing her first win. Then she won again again channeling Jennifer Coolidge in the 9021-HO challenge. Finally, she stole the show as Sister Mary, ahem, Koont in the pilot challenge. She made us laugh and made her mark, even getting honorable mentions from Chris Pine on SNL.
#8: The Queens Get Real about Pulse Nightclub On June 12, 2016, the Orlando gay bar Pulse was the victim of one of the deadliest mass shootings in American history. Trinity had previously been crowned Miss Pulse, and knew several people who were trapped during the attack. The sisterly conversation really gets emotional when Cynthia points out that she was supposed to perform at the nightclub on the night of the shooting. No other season of the show has been quite this political, particularly with the commentary of Sasha, a Fulbright scholar. This moment of coming together highlights the importance of having queer shows like Drag Race, expanding the platform for marginalized communities, and reminding us why we still need to unify and share our pride.
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#7: Charlie Hides Lip-sucks Okay, the library is officially open! Charlie already faced an uphill battle considering that her opponent Trinity was a considerably talented lip-syncer and booty-shaker. In the interview Charlie says she isn’t into lip-syncs, they sing live in London darling! Fans were shocked when Charlie refuses to even move from where she’s standing, even as Cynthia aggressively eggs her on. Later Charlie would claim, among a list of excuses, she broke her rib, she had diarrhea, and she was trying to master battle subtly to match the theme of the song… umm, okay. Regardless of the real reason, this was a notoriously epic fail that had all the other queens (and die hard fans) reading old Charlie to filth!
#6: Miss Congeniality or Fan Favorite? Drag race followers were obsessed with Valentina from day one of this season, so it was no surprise that she was awarded Miss Congeniality, which is voted on by fans. In what is usually a moment of love, things went a little sour. Sure, audiences love Valentine, but her season nine sisters we’re seriously over it! Aja was the first to throw the shade, and the other queens were quick to pile on. Even though Valentina always had a smile, and turned her defeats into opportunities to learn (Shut up Farrah Moan!), it seems the queens see this (Mexican) sweetheart less as Miss Congeniality and more like the Season 9 Acid Betty.
#5: Lady Gaga’s Entrance The first day entrances are like an Olympic opening ceremony for Drag Race fans, but this year a special guest got a call from Ru on her videophone, and surprised the season nine cast and all the little monsters at home. When Lady Gaga entered pretending to be a sickening female impersonator it didn’t take the queens long to realize… wait a second girl, that Gaga was BORN THAT WAY! As a modern gay icon and advocate for queer rights, having Lady Gaga grace the workroom was an epic moment for the show, you could see the Poker Faces crack and some were even brought to tears (and Moans –show Farrah scream). Later on the Runway the queens presented their best Gaga inspired attire, and it had us at home LIVING with the applause applause applause.
#4: Eureka’s Limps Away This season’s cheerleading challenge was easily one of the most physically demanding moments in Drag Race herstory, and also one of the most entertaining. The girls pulled all the tricks and really popped, but sadly so did Eureka’s knee! Despite the break from the big girl split, Eureka still gave it her all in the Kardashian rusical, looking full glam even on crutches. But sadly, after Farrah and Cynthia fought it out on stage, Ru shocked us all by calling Eureka forward and disqualifying her from the competition. Not since Willam the rule-breaking badass has someone been sent home so unexpectedly. But Eureka was thankfully invited back for Season 10, can I get an amen?
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#3: Top 4 Bring it to the runway! The climax of Season nine came in the final four rap battle performance to the song Category is! We literally need more data on our phones just to re-watch this moment once an hour forever. What can we say except YAAAAAS! Peppermint, Sasha, Trinity and Shea each wrote their own rap verses, and sexiest judge/musician Todrick Hall pushed them all above and beyond expectations while staying true to their own unique brand, cause if you can’t rap yourself, how in the hell you gonna win drag race? After the four untucked, Ru was left with the impossible decision of which three would continue to the finale, ultimately deciding Shantay, you all stay!
#2 - The Lip Synch SMACKDOWN finale For the first time in drag race Herstory, the top 4 queens have to survive a lip sync smack down (show Ross Matthews explaining how it works) Trinity wins the spin and picks Peppermint as her first opponent, and the two flex their drag muscles to Stronger by Britney Spears. Though Trinity and her trademark booty steal the show off the top, Peppermint warms up and takes the win with her unexpected onstage transformation. Up next, besties Shay and Sasha go head to head. Shay brings her sexy sway to the stage, but Sasha has a little more heart, and wins the war WITH the roses. SO emotional. Finally, It's not right but it's okay by Whitney Houston. Pep pumps out all her diva power, but Sasha pulls out all the stops and slays! Winning her spot as the next drag race superstar and ending season nine with a scream! Before we get to our number one pick, here are some honorable mentions Shea as Blac Chyna The Queens Talk Eating Disorders Ru Crew Makeover
#1: Valentina’s Mask Lip-Sync The gag of all gags, the face crack of the century, and possibly the most unexpected moments in the herstory of the show. Fan favorite and competition dominatrix Valentina was well on her way to the finals when, in an unexpected turn, she was forced to lip-synch against Nina Boninina Beyonce Knowles Carter Brown, or at least she was supposed to lip-synch! Valentina wanted to keep her mask on and for the first time ever, Ru had to interrupt a lip-sync, leading to an cringey confrontation between the two. Once the mask was off the cat was out of the bag, Valentina didn’t learn the words and, like a deer in headlights, we had to watch as she faked her way through, and to the disappointment of her loyal fans she was sent packing, but hey there’s always All Stars for redemption! Do you agree with our list? What moments had you gagging this season? For more sickening top 10s published every day, be sure to subscribe to MsMojo.
