RuPaul’s Drag Race‘s grand finale was bursting at the seams with goopery: Runway lewks from legendary queens of yore, a well-deserved Miss Congeniality win for Nina West, and Vanjie’s last-minute bid to re-enter the competition. But in the end, it was all about the Lip Sync Smackdown for the Crown between A’Keria C. Davenport, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Silky Nutmeg Ganache and Yvie Oddly
Round 1: “Bootylicious”
The wheel landed on Silky, who (for some reason?!) chose to lip sync against Brooke Lynn. Brooke was then tasked with picking the song and landed on Destiny’s Child. An en pointe Brooke came out on top with a gag-worthy shoe reveal, while Silky and her wigs on wigs on wigs were sent packing.
Round 2: “SOS”
A’Keria and Yvie were left to lip sync for their lives to the song enclosed in *stage whispers* Box 96: Rihanna’s “SOS.” A’Keria shimmied and shook and had her own sequined wig reveal, but it was Yvie’s oddly approach, full of her signature bending and twisting, that earned her a spot in the final two.
Round 3: “The Edge of Glory”
Season 11 started with Miley Cyrus and ended with Lady Gaga, as Brooke Lynn and Yvie delivered two drastically different approaches to their final performance. Both were worthy of being crowned, but (this time) there could only be one winner.
And America’s Next Drag Superstar is…
Yvie Oddly. The Denver queen, who notched an early victory in week two’s “Good God Girl, Get Out” acting challenge and slayed the “Queens Everywhere” music video in the penultimate episode, was anointed this season’s winner, baby.
“It would be really validating, because a lot of what I do and a lot of what my art stands for isn’t about perfection and polish,” Yvie told ET of what the win would mean to her when we caught up with her at RuPaul’s DragCon LA 2019. “I feel like it would really show — not only the kids, but more importantly, show me — that you don’t always need to have the most connections, the most money. You just need to have a really strong, clear point of view and be authentic to who you are.”
Which is to say: Yvie got the last laugh — as she predicted she would. When ET’s Brice Sander spoke with the season 11 queens ahead of the premiere, Yvie said she didn’t see any of her fellow queens as competition. “I knew just by looking at all of them, all of their sparkly bodysuits and boring jewelry, none of them do the drag I do,” she said.
ET: When this season is all said and done, what do you hope the fans walk away thinking of Yvie?
That I was the best, hopefully. [Laughs] No, I actually just hope I challenged more people to break out of their comfort zones and to try experimenting with different things, to let the walls down, get a little bit dirty. And just feel what we’re human for, to actually feel what you’re feeling in the goddamn moment and let it be. Don’t try to over produce yourself. That’s all I am hoping.
If you had to boil down your Drag Race experience in just a few words, how would you sum it up?
Odd. It was definitely odd.
Living up to the name.
Odd and loud. That’s basically it. It was a lot of loud oddness. Like, cover your kids eyes. Turn your TV down.
