Drag

“They ate so hard”: Drag Race fans react to All Stars 9’s sickening LaLaPaRuza

By Jordan Robledo

13th July 2024

This week’s episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 9 featured another show-stopping Lip Sync LaLaPaRuza Smackdown.

Spoilers ahead

Following Shannel and Jorgeous’ win last week, which saw the pair obtain two Beautiful Benefactress Badges, the ladies returned to the werkroom to decompress.

“Bitch, in five minutes, I went from zero badges to two badges. So you can’t tell this bitch shit,” Shannel said in a confessional.

“And I’ve won $5,000 for the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, which is everything.”

After getting comfy on the couch, Roxxxy Andrews celebrated the two talents before welcoming Jorgeous into the four-badge club, consisting of herself and Plastique Tiara.

“Shannel basically put me into the lead. It just feels, like, so good, and I’m like, thank you, bitch. I don’t know if you knew what you were doing, but thank you,” Jorgeous gagged in a confessional.

When asked why she gave her badge to the season 14 queen, Shannel reiterated that Jorgeous was the only one to offer up her badge if she were to win last week’s challenge.

“For me, it was an absolute no-brainer. I was like, ‘Well, bitch, why would we want one when we could have two?'” the Drag Race season one talent said.

In a confessional, Nina West didn’t agree with Shannel’s decision, describing it as a terrible play.

“Shannel giving her badge to any one of us with two badges – Gottmik, Vanessa Vanjie, me – would be a smarter move because now, the rich get richer, the poor stay poor,” she explained. “I mean, that doesn’t make any sense.”

Toward the end of their conversation, Roxxxy opened up about feeling nervous for the rest of the competition despite being in the lead with four badges.

“I’ve been at four [badges] for two weeks now, and I don’t feel safe at all because you don’t know what they’re going to twist and what they’re going to turn,” the Florida-based queen exclaimed.

“You can’t slow down for any moment at a time at all.”

The next day, the queens strutted into the werkroom refreshed and ready to tackle the new day.

While waiting for Ru to announce their 10th maxi-challenge, the ladies gushed about developing a close bond over the last few weeks.

However, things took a spicy turn when Vanjie spilt the tea on her former non-platonic relationship with Roxxxy.

When asked to elaborate, Roxxxy exclaimed that she was the original Brooke Lynn Hytes – who also had a romantic bond with Vanjie in the past.

“We didn’t date-date. I just remember text messages and pictures,” the season 11 queen coyly admitted, to which Roxxxy added: “We’ve been to the gallery. We didn’t taste nothing.” 

Midway through the queens’ conversation, a riddled-filled RuMail came through before RuPaul entered the workroom to reveal their 10th maxi-challenge.

“For this week… Mama Ru is throwing a Lip Sync LaLaPaRuza. Now, the top two All Stars will each receive one Beautiful Benefactress Badge. And then they’ll lip sync for the chance to win $10,000 for their charity,” Ru explained.

After reviewing the number of badges each queen has, Ru reiterated that anyone can make it to the top three.

With the Lip Sync LaLaPaRuza Smackdown around the corner, the ladies wasted no time preparing for the high-energy challenge.

“With this group of girls, it depends on the song because if it’s some kind of Disney Frozen, probably Nina. If it’s some kind of slutty song, probably Roxxxy,” Vanijie theorized in a confessional.

“If it’s some kind of dancing, twirling, maybe Jorgeous or maybe Miss Vanjie. Y’all don’t sleep on the girl. This is something I excel at.“

Nina also expressed her excitement for the lip-sync despite not having the best track record this season.

“I have 18-plus years rooted in a lip-sync career. It’s just my lip-sync style is very different than a lot of the other girls,“ she explained to Shannel.

When Nina asked Shannel if there was somebody she didn’t want to go up against, the latter said that she would take on anybody before acknowledging Roxxxy as huge competition.

Things got a little tense when the conversation transitioned to lip-sync etiquette due to Jorgeous calling out Angeria for blocking the girls on stage.

“Because I remember the first episode of this season, you completely blocked me. I said, ‘Oh, this f**king bitch,’“ Jorgeous said.

In response, Angeria said: “I mean, am I supposed to stay on the other side of the stage? That’s not being shady, I’m just asking.

“We still got to manoeuvre around each other in some kind of way. I don’t think we should just stay one on the left and one on the right the whole time.“

With their hair laid, fierce body suits assembled and faces painted, the queens headed to the main stage for the Lip Sync LaLaPaRuza Smackdown.

“For tonight’s smackdown, you’ll face off in a series of lip syncs. If you win your lip sync, you’ll continue to the next round. If you lose, you’ll return to the werkroom,“ Ru explained.

“In the end, the top two All Stars of the week will receive a Beautiful Benefactress Badge. Then, the top two will lip sync to win $10,000 for their charity.“

Ru went on to explain that the lip sync order would be decided by the golden hopper – which contained balls with each of the queens’ names on it.

After a little spin, Pit Crew member Bruno pulled out Gottmik as the first queen to hit the stage, resulting in her picking Angeria as her opponent.

Ru then listed ‘Groove Is In The Air‘ by Dee-Lite, ‘Holding Out For A Hero‘ by Bonnie Tyler, ‘I’m Every Woman‘ by Chaka Khan, ‘My Lovin’ by En Vogue, ‘When I Grow Up‘ by Pussycat Dolls and ‘You Spin Me Round‘ by Dead or Alive as the song catalogue of the night.

Ultimately, Angeria chose ‘My Lovin’ before Ru cleared off the stage.

At the start of the performance, the two queens oozed charisma, with Angeria bringing to life the song’s passionate lyrics and Gottmik channelling its sex appeal.

However, it didn’t take long for the Atlanta-based queen to deliver comedic moments that were an instant hit with the judges’ panel, resulting in Ru naming her the winner.

For round two, Vanjie was chosen as the first queen of the batch. The Los Angeles-based talent then selected Plastique as her opponent.

Plastique went on to announce ‘When I Grow Up‘ as their lip-sync song, which excited Vanjie.

Of course, the pair’s lip-sync was full of dips, turns, dazzling hairography, and fierce reveals. However, Vanjie was announced as the winner, with Plastique heading back to the workroom to join Gottmik.

The next queen selected to lip-sync was Nina, who chose Shannel as her competitor.

To the beat of Dead or Alive’s ‘You Spin Me Around,‘ the queens got down to business, with Shannel and Nina delivering high energy, drama and campy greatness.

In the end, Ru announced Shannel as the winner of the lip-sync.

The first round of the Lip Sync LaLaPaRuza ended with Roxxxy and Jorgeous taking the stage.

After Burno selected Roxxxy’s name from the golden hopper, the Floridian queen selected ‘Holding Out for a Hero‘ as their track.

Unsurprisingly, the two lip-sync assassins turned it out on the main stage. Roxxxy showcased a beautiful costume change and passion while Jorgeous hypnotized the judges with her hair flips and dips.

Following their electric performance, Ru named Roxxxy the winner, which resulted in an emotional response.

“That was a song my drag mother and drag grandmother did for talents when I saw it on the list; I knew that there was nothing else I wanted to choose but to honour them,“ she said in-between tears.

With four queens left, Vanjie was chosen to lead the third-to-last lip-sync, which saw her competing against Shannel.

Following a magnificent performance of Chaka Khan’s ‘I’m Every Woman,’ Shannel was crowned the winner and recipient of her third Beautiful Benefactress Badge.

Roxxxy and Angeria then hit the stage to perform ‘Groove is in the Heart’ by Dee-Lite, which saw the former secure the win and her fifth Beautiful Benefactress Badge.

For the last performance of the evening, Roxxxy and Shannel tapped into their inner EDM queen in a sickening rendition of Ariana Grande’s track ‘Break Free’.

After the pair’s iconic performance, Ru named Roxxxy the winner of the LaLaPaRuza and $10,000 for her charity Miracle of Love.

At the end of the episode, Mama Ru teased that the top three queens of the competition will not be revealed until the final moments of the grand finale, so it can still be anyone’s game.

On next week’s episode of Drag Race All Stars 9, the queens will take part in the first half of the grand finale, which is set to feature the return of the iconic lipstick format.

See below for fan reactions to the recent Lip Sync LaLaPaRuza.