Heading into the 15th episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18, Juicy Love Dion had just been eliminated, leaving Darlene Mitchell, Myki Meeks, and Nini Coco as the Top 3 finalists to compete for the crown. But Juicy’s run had not come to a complete end because this week she returned along with the other eliminated queens to compete for a $50,000 cash prize in the Lalaparuza lip sync smackdown featuring all RuPaul songs.
Read on for our recap of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18, Episode 15, titled “All RuPaul-A-Paruza Smackdown,” which aired Friday, April 10 on MTV, for a breakdown on the head-to-head matchups featuring eliminated queens Juicy, Jane Don’t, Discord Addams, Kenya Pleaser, Athena Dion, Mia Starr, Vita VonTesse Starr, Ciara Myst, Briar Blush, Mandy Mango, and DD Fuego.
Jane Don’tMTV
“Carrie White was a high schooler who had telekinetic powers, you just did a bad poem.” — Jane Don’t
In the brief prelude to the start of the Lalaparuza when all 14 of the girls were reunited in the Werk Room, we learned that Ciara (drenched in rhinestone blood à la Carrie) was still very much in her feelings about being ranked the lowest in Rate-a-Queen and that, following her faint on the Main Stage, Briar was diagnosed with sepsis and therefore had made the choice to not compete in the lip-syncs. For the other 10 preparing to compete, it was common thought around the room that Juicy, Mia and Kenya were the biggest threats to win and it became apparent that tension between Jane and Ciara had reached a fever pitch all because Jane didn’t believe Ciara that she didn’t intend sabotage when packing the suitcase that Jane chose and subsequently won a design challenge with.
For this season’s Lalaparuza, Michelle Visage and Jamal Sims joined RuPaul on the dais as judges through three rounds and final to determine the winner. In the first round, the first six eliminated queens competed in three head-to-head matchups. In the second round, Discord, Kenya, and Jane competed in head-to-heads against the three first-round winners. And for the third round, Juicy entered the competition against the three queens who won in the second round. Then, the final two would compete in the fourth round to determine the “Queen of She Already Done Had Herses.”
Ciara MystMTV
“Some queens can give tricks and flips. I give concepts and substance.” — Ciara Myst
Round 1 Matchups
Ciara Myst vs. Athena Dion
Song: “Born Naked”
Ciara’s ball was chosen from the hopper and so she chose to compete against Athena who in turn fulfilled Ciara’s hope that she’d pick “Born Naked” as their song. In the lip-sync, both queens left everything on the stage — like, literally because of their bulky costumes being stripped down during reveals that overshadowed their equally humorous takes on the ’80s rock vibe track.
Winner: Ciara
Mia Starr vs. Mandy Mango
Song: “Just What They Want”
Mia’s ball was chosen from the hopper and chose Mandy as her opponent. When Mandy chose “Just What They Want” as their song, the gallery of queens thought Mia was in trouble because of how wordy the song is and figured that Mandy was probably very confident with it. During the performance, Ru’s eyes were darting between both queens, but Mia maximized her timing of wig reveals and a showering of (real!) dollar bills in Mandy’s direction to full effect.
Winner: Mia
Vita VonTesse Starr vs. DD Fuego
Song: “Main Event”
As the last two in the round, the matchup was set, but the hopper determined that Vita was able to choose the song. Of all three lip-syncs in this round, this one brought the lowest energy from the queens (in part because the song hits more like a ballad than anything else) so it came down to Vita’s intent to “emote the true feeling of the song” instead of the wig and costume reveals that DD showcased.
Winner: Vita
Discord AddamsMTV
“There is $50,000 on the line. It would buy so many safety pins.” — Discord Addams
Round 2 Matchups
Vita VonTesse Starr vs. Mia Starr
Song: “Call Me Mother”
Unlucky for Vita that the hopper chose her to compete back-to-back in the next round, which may have clouded her decision to go against such a big threat. Mia then chose another wordy song in “Call Me Mother,” hoping to capitalize on the fact that she’s choreographed to the song in the past. Sure enough, Mia proved her knowledge of the song, including a full Coco Montrese point to the lips moment during the rap, even if Vita held her own, too, especially in the more sensual bridge of the song.
Winner: Mia
Kenya Pleaser vs. Ciara Myst
Song: “Pretty Gang”
When Kenya’s ball was chosen from the hopper, she took the opportunity to even the score on Ciara for defeating her in a design challenge during the season. Ciara wanted to defy expectations by going with a “wordy rap,” but in the end she just set Kenya up for success to bring the appropriate attitude to the thumping confidence-booster anthem.
Winner: Kenya
Jane Don’t vs. Discord Addams
Song: “Sissy That Walk”
When Jane got the chance to the pick the song, she opted in for the most hilarious matchup of the day: giving “Sissy That Walk” to “one of the greatest walkers” in Discord. Even though it could have been an error in judgment setting Ru up to get from Discord exactly what she loves about Discord, Jane was able to truly embody the spirit of the song from top to bottom and rightfully squeaked through.
Winner: Jane
Kenya PleaserMTV
“Get your popcorn, bitch!” — Kenya Pleaser
Round 3 Matchups
Jane Don’t vs. Juicy Love Dion
Song: “Cha Cha Bitch”
Given the choice of competitor, Jane was caught between going against Juicy (who she said she can’t dance better than) and Kenya or Mia (who were both on record for wanting to do “Peanut Butter,” a song Jane didn’t want to do). In the end, she went with Juicy who chose the preferable song, but even if Jane thought there was a slim chance that she could defeat Juicy, that hope was ended the second Juicy did a back handstand costume reveal from her starting dress with a perfectly timed “cha-cha bitch.” At one point toward the end, Jane even openly acknowledged in her own performance that she, too, was bowing down to the power of Juicy.
Winner: Juicy
Kenya Pleaser vs. Mia Starr
Song: “Peanut Butter”
Ru knew exactly what was up when the last lip-sync came down to Kenya and Mia and she asked “Do you like it creamy or crunchy?” In their in-season matchup, Kenya was the one that sent Mia home, but the queens backstage acknowledged that in that instance the song was not in Mia’s favor and “Peanut Butter” was at least in both of their wheelhouses. Naturally, both queens emphasized the booty shaking that the song demands, but this time Mia shook it better (according to Ru).
Winner: Mia
Final Lip Sync
Juicy Love Dion vs. Mia Starr
Song: “Cover Girl”
In the rematch everyone (yes, everyone) was hoping to see, Juicy and Mia were able to settle the score after they tied in their first matchup Lip-Sync for the Win to “Pretty Ugly” in Episode 5. As they did in that instance, the auntie and niece played off one another gracefully throughout the performance, showcasing each of their strengths as dancers. But after all the sweat, only one could be declared the winner and Ru decided that it was time the “She Done Already Done Had Herses” crown returned to the Love Dion family, naming Juicy the winner.