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From assassinations to reveals to a lot of breastplates, the lip syncs of Drag Race season 16 gave audiences everything they could have hoped for.
Q and Sapphira Cristál Courtesy of MTV
After 15 episodes, 11 eliminations and plenty of plot twists, RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 is closing out with a bang.
On this Friday’s episode (April 19), all 14 queens are set to reunite to crown their Miss Congeniality, while the final three contestants — Nymphia Wind, Plane Jane and Sapphira Cristál — will duke it out for the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar and a cash prize of $200,000. As with every finale since season 9, the winner of season 16 will be determined in a final Lip Sync for the Crown, where the top two contestants battle it out in front of Ru and the rest of the world.
It’s tough to say who among the top three will take home this season’s crown, especially when you look back on the lip sync performances throughout this competition. Over the course of nearly two dozen numbers, every queen (save for Nymphia, who managed to make it through the season unscathed by a lip sync battle) showed off their abilities as entertainers by dancing, dipping and serving face up and down the main stage. Breastplates were bounced, wigs were snatched, outfits were revealed and, perhaps most importantly, legendary performers emerged.
So, the question remains — which of this season’s lip syncs stood head and shoulders above the rest? Below, Billboard takes a look back at all 23 lip sync showdowns featured on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 and ranks them from worst to best. Find out where your favorites landed on our list below:
Plane Jane vs. Q: Tina Turner, "Better Be Good to Me"
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If Jimbo proved anything on All Stars 8, it’s that having big boobs doesn’t guarantee a good lip sync. Plane Jane won both of her lip syncs on season 16, in no small part thanks to the way she used her bouncing bosoms. Yet this lip sync showed that jokes using your jugs come with diminishing returns, even if you come at them with the breast — err, best — of intentions. Q gave us a slightly more fired-up rendition of her past lip syncs, strutting around the stage with oodles of confidence. But “Better Be Good to Me,” with Tina Turner’s demanding voice and fiery passion, should have been a slam-dunk lip sync for either of these queens. Instead, Plane and Q simply found their way to the end of this, making for something of an anticlimax in the season’s final elimination lip sync.
Sapphira Cristál vs. Morphine Love Dion: Kelsea Ballerini, "Miss Me More"
It’s a tough sell for a Drag Race queen to survive a fourth visit to the bottom two, no matter how good she is at lip synching. But Morphine Love Dion nearly made it out alive against frontrunner Sapphira Cristál — throughout the pair’s lip sync to Kelsea Ballerini’s breakup anthem “Miss Me More,” Morphine managed to pull focus with a whirlwind of well-timed tricks that added a little extra kick to this country kiss-off. But Sapphira’s sometimes-subtle, sometimes-boisterous, always-hilarious performance had just enough oomph to show the judges that it was not her time to depart. It was the right call from the judges — we just can’t help but think the “Miss Me More” lip sync didn’t quite live up to the standard set throughout season 16.
Watch the lip sync here.
Sapphira Cristál vs. Morphine Love Dion: Meghan Trainor, "Made You Look"
The main crime of this lip sync was the choice of song. In an episode dedicated to funk music, why exactly were the top two queens of the week lip syncing to a once-viral Meghan Trainor song? Pull out some Stevie Wonder! Dust off Kool & the Gang’s “Get Down on It!” Two drag queens lip synching to Rufus & Chaka Khan’s “Tell Me Something Good” would be genuinely iconic! Aside from the baffling choice of song, both Sapphira and Morphine did what needed to be done (shoutout to Sapphira’s Charlie Brown-esque shuffle on the song’s chorus and Morphine’s hilarious claps after the song ended). But when we think of the “Made You Look” lip sync, we can’t help but think of the missed opportunity.
Watch the lip sync here.
Geneva Karr vs. Mirage: Cher, "Dark Lady"
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Mirage could have had it all, but the central tenet of the Lip Sync for Your Life format cannot be ignored: “Don’t f–k it up.” The Vegas queen’s movement, energy and heel-clacking made for a thrilling performance, save for one fact — she simply did not know any of the words to Cher’s “Dark Lady.” Geneva, meanwhile, clearly studied before her performance, nailing each syllable of Cher’s sinister folk track while still giving the audience at home a show. It’s a shame that what could have been an iconic showdown turned into a Shakespearean tragedy, but rules are rules, and Mirage was left on the chopping block.
Plane Jane vs. Geneva Karr: Becky G, "Shower"
When it came to the season’s second premiere, the stage belonged to Plane Jane. Everything the Boston queen presented on the main stage — dance moves, hilarious faces, that shady hair flip in Geneva Karr’s face — served Plane well. But the show-stealing bit, as with her sister Sapphira’s lip sync in the first episode, was her breastplate. Pulling off an “accidental” nip-slip and refusing to tuck her boob back in until the song was nearly over was a smart move for Plane; not only did it fit her heightened bimbo character, but it ensured that the judges’ eyes were fixed solely on her from start to finish.
Watch the lip sync here.
Geneva Karr vs. Hershii LiqCour-Jeté: Ava Max, "Maybe You’re the Problem"
As far as first-elimination lip syncs go, Geneva and Hershii’s rendition of “Maybe You’re the Problem” is solid. Both queens brought plenty of energy to the stage, giving fans a glimpse of their respective capabilities as performers. At one point in the lip sync, the pair even started interacting with one another, insisting that “it’s not me, it’s you.” By the time we reached the end, it was clear that Geneva’s time was far from over, while Hershii’s self-proclaimed “church lady” performance couldn’t save her. While later lip syncs of season 16 would go on to eclipse this performance, “Maybe You’re the Problem” proved that the only “problem” was not seeing more of these queens’ performances.
Watch the lip sync here.
Megami vs. Q: Janet Jackson, "What About"
For storyline alone, the “What About” lip sync gets 10’s across the board. Megami was a criminally underrated queen throughout season 16, and with one lip sync, she showed everyone exactly what they were sleeping on. Her emotion and her movement all embodied the rage behind Janet’s voice on this fiery anthem. Had Q picked another contestant, there’s a good chance she could have won — her performance showed off her own lip synching skills to better effect than any of her other lip syncs on the season. But against a queen with something to prove like Megami, Q got the A she didn’t want to hear after this performance.
Q vs. Amanda Tori Meating: Icona Pop, "Emergency"
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Amanda may have been sent home this episode, but let’s not get it twisted — she certainly did not lose this lip sync. Q gave a serviceable performance, giving some camp and humor where it worked best for her. But Amanda, despite her absolutely wild robin’s egg look, fully committed to the song and served up enough energy to make this performance feel like an “Emergency.” It makes sense why Q stayed in the competition, but that doesn’t change the fact that Amanda handily ate this lip sync up.
Amanda Tori Meating vs. Dawn: Danity Kane, "Damaged"
Fans didn’t expect to see the Battle of the Besties on Drag Race, yet Dawn chose violence in the Lalaparuza when she selected Amanda Tori Meating as her opponent. She’d soon learn that she made a grave error — while Dawn’s wounded, emotional performance certainly stirred our hearts, our eyes remained fixed on Amanda Tori Meating from start to finish. Showing off her fluid floor work and high-class hairography, Amanda turned Dawn into a sunset by the time this lip sync was over. While it certainly wasn’t as grisly as her first lip sync loss (more on that later), Dawn was left asking the audience one question: “Do you got a first aid kit handy?”
Mirage vs. Hershii LiqCour-Jeté: Kim Petras feat. Nicki Minaj, "Alone 2.0"
Talk about a redemption battle. The first eliminated queen Hershii squaring up to the early-out would-be lip sync assassin Mirage is a narrative matchup fans could surely get behind. But by the time the dust settled, it was clear that the Vegas queen was more than just a Mirage — she was the real deal. Redeeming her missed lyrics from the “Dark Lady” face-off in episode four, Mirage made sure to punctuate each of Nicki’s rapid-fire bars as she twirled and kicked her way around the stage. Hershii managed to get more than a few laughs with her performance, but this was simply Mirage’s lip sync to lose — and the heel-clacking queen finally prevailed.
Sapphira Cristál vs. Q: Beyoncé, "Break My Soul"
A good lip sync artist doesn’t let a malfunction get in the way of a performance. That’s exactly the approach Sapphira Cristál had during the first lip sync of season 16 — when her free-wheeling dance moves dislodged her breastplate, she didn’t panic. Instead, she used it for one of the funniest moments of a lip sync in the entire season, letting her synthetic bosoms bounce from the floor back to her chest. Add that together with her unbothered energy towards fellow queen Q, and you’ve got a recipe for a winning performance.
Watch the lip sync here.
Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige vs. Megami: Miley Cyrus, "Flowers"
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You know you’re a good lip-syncer when you can break a cardinal rule of the format and still survive. Mhi’ya Iman Le’Paige knew as well as everyone else that, when battling it out on Drag Race, you never remove your heels. Yet, even with her shoes off, Mhi’ya exuded nothing but pure confidence with this Miley Cyrus hit. Megami’s choice to play the song more like a heartbreaking ballad proved to be the wrong choice — especially while Mhi’ya was right next to her, giving the lyric “I can take myself dancing” a physical manifestation. Without a single stunt, Mhi’ya showed herself to be not just a killer lip sync artist, but a versatile one at that.
Mhi’ya Iman Le’Paige vs. Plasma vs. Xunami Muse: Kelis, "Milkshake"
When performing in a 3-way lip-sync battle, it’s easy to get lost … unless your name is Mhi’ya Iman Le’Paige. Especially when performing to a song like “Milkshake,” the Queen of Flips was well-served to do her thing and, well, flip. Xunami’s model poses certainly allowed her to show off her flawless mug, and Plasma came close to stealing focus with her chaotic, comedic performance choices. But between the handstands, the forward (and backward) rolls and the unparalleled stage presence, Mhi’ya claimed her crown as one of this season’s lip sync assassins handily in this epic showdown.
Morphine Love Dion vs. Mirage: Donna Summer, "This Time I Know It’s for Real"
It’s fitting that Morphine referred to her “This Time I Know It’s for Real” lip sync as the “middle boss” in her video game fantasy. The song is a smidge too slow to pull out any absolutely wild dance moves, while it’s just fast enough to not be qualified as a park-and-bark ballad, creating a serious challenge for two dancing queens. While Mirage occasionally stumbled, trying to find her footing in this mid-tempo disco song, Morphine rose to the challenge. Serving up pure sex appeal and leaning hard into the romantic angle of the track, the Miami queen handily earned her spot in the final lip sync of the Lalaparuza.
Megami vs. Amanda Tori Meating: Cher, "The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss)"
Part of Megami’s incredible triumph throughout the Lalaparuza episode lies in her strategy. There’s no better example of Megami’s tactical acumen than on “The Shoop Shoop Song,” a song Megami chose because she knew she could overact the hell out of this doo-wop Cher cover. Amanda Tori Meating had already shown that she could dance circles around Megami — so the New York queen took Amanda out at the legs, instead picking a song where hilarious faces and an act of simulated salad tossing made for a winning performance. The Meating was properly adjourned, with Megami showing yet again that she not to be overlooked in the competition.
Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige vs. Plasma: Lady Gaga, "Bloody Mary (Wednesday Dance TikTok Version)"
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We’re not crazy about the fact that the producers chose to use the sped-up, Alvin and the Chipmunks-esque version of this classic Gaga track, but that doesn’t change the fact that Mhi’ya Iman Le’Paige absolutely destroyed this number. Between backflipping up the stage (in a full-length gown, mind you), a sequence of low kicks into a twirl into a flawless dip and her Sasha Velour-inspired rose petal reveal, Mhi’ya turned every beat of this track into a delicious circus of chaos — and it paid off. That’s not to say Plasma did poorly; the theater queen clearly put in the work to try and earn her survival, and her performance was certainly entertaining (when you have a second, check out her own interpretation of the number post-elimination). But when stacked against a lip synching legend like Mhi’ya, “Bloody Mary” turned into a bloodbath.
Morphine Love Dion vs. Xunami Muse: Whitney Houston, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody"
When Sugar and Spice attempted to do a collaborative lip sync during season 15, both the number and Sugar fell flat on their faces. Just one season later, though, Morphine Love Dion and Xunami Muse showed how a collaborative lip sync should look. When given a lip sync staple like Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” Morphine and Xunami could have easily just done the same dance moves they’d performed a million times before.
Instead, the pair grabbed each others’ hands and turned this number into a stunning salsa duet, stepping and twirling in tandem, just to make it clear that the “somebody who loves me” was their competitor. Even with Xunami being sent home, there’s just no denying that the “I Wanna Dance” lip sync was as heartwarming as it was impressive — which is a difficult needle to thread on Drag Race.
Watch the lip sync here.
Morphine Love Dion vs. Geneva Karr: Ava Max, "Million Dollar Baby"
The Geneva and Morphine lip sync is a story all about timing. While there’s no denying that both of these queens know how to serve up dance combination or two, Morphine knew the importance of waiting for the right moment to strike. Geneva offered a reveal and a lot of her biggest dance moves before the first chorus was over, immediately wowing the audience. But Morphine pulled off an outfit reveal, a number of sickening dance moves, and a wig reveal over the course of the entire number, all while giving off a calculated, cavalier attitude — she even made sure to check her nails as shadily as possible while mirroring her opponent’s windmill moves. This Ava Max lip sync was a masterclass in the importance of pacing, with Morphine effortlessly nabbing yet another win.
Megami vs. Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige: The Go-Go's, "We Got the Beat"
“We Got the Beat” might not be the lip sync rematch fans were clamoring for, but it ended up being one of the most entertaining lip syncs of the Lalaparuza. Mhi’ya was the clear frontrunner of both this lip sync and the entire episode, but Megami came back for revenge after her “Flowers” lip sync loss, and it shows. While Mhi’ya’s usual tactics of splits and flips certainly served her well throughout the number, Megami saw them coming — so much so that she literally predicted one of Mhi’ya’s drops in the middle of the song, much to the audience’s delight. The Brooklyn queen’s mix of genuinely good dance moves, high-comedy performance and perfectly-timed tactics against a lip-sync assassin resulted in a well-deserved win, sending one of the biggest threats of the episode back to the work room.
Morphine Love Dion vs. Dawn: Megan Thee Stallion, "Body"
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To call this a lip sync “assassination” would be an understatement of some magnitude. Even Dawn herself would tell you that her lip sync against Morphine Love Dion was a massacre, a blood sacrifice, a cataclysm of epic proportions. The elven Brooklynite already had her hands tied thanks to the form-fitting gown she wore down the runway — but by the time Megan Thee Stallion’s first “ahh” was uttered, Dawn was dead on arrival. Morphine knew “Body” so well that every booty bounce, every lyric, every side-eye to her fumbling contestant was another perfectly-placed nail in Dawn’s coffin. The self-proclaimed BBL queen of Miami gave an all-time great performance with “Body,” marking one of the most decisive lip sync wins in the show’s 15-year history.
Morphine Love Dion vs. Megami: C+C Music Factory, "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)"
“Gonna Make You Sweat” is the kind of lip sync the Drag Race Lalaparuza format is built for. An underdog coming out of nowhere to challenge an undeniable lip sync assassin not only serves the show well, but gives the audience a taste of something exciting to latch onto. Megami certainly had us in the first half — her attempt to “out-stupid” her competitor with a hand puppet doing her lip synching for her was genuinely hilarious, and her antics throughout the number felt fresh.
But this was always going to be Morphine’s lip sync. Along with absolutely nailing the room-shaking energy of the song, Morphine managed to pull out tricks that the audience hadn’t seen from her yet — an especially impressive feat considering this was her eighth lip sync of the season. Between her twirling hair, shaking booty and pounding pelvis, Morphine put her whole body on the line to take home the top prize in the Lalaparuza, and she rightly won her coveted cash prize.
Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige vs. Geneva Karr: Janet Jackson, "Control"
Leading up to episode six, Mhi’ya Iman Le’Paige waxed poetic time and time again about her lip synching abilities, both to the other contestants and to the audience at home. So, when she finally took to the stage for this smackdown against Geneva Karr, fans were ready to watch her put her money where her mouth was — but they weren’t ready for her to tear up the stage quite like this. Geneva did what she could in her third visit to the bottom two, but against Mhi’ya’s backflips, splits, kick-ups, spins, twirls, dips and every other acrobatic feat known to mankind, she didn’t stand a chance. With “Control,” Mhi’ya established herself early on as the one to beat in a Lip Sync For Your Life by putting on a killer show for everyone watching.
Watch the lip sync here.
Morphine Love Dion vs. Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige: Donna Summer, "Dim All the Lights"
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Out of every lip sync in season 16, the showdown in episode 11 best evokes a paradox pondered by philosophers for millenia; what happens when an unstoppable force (Mhi’ya Iman LePaige) meets an immovable object (Morphine Love Dion)? The two lip sync assassins of season 16 proved to be nothing less than titans of the art form with this unbelievable performance. The Queen of Flips continued her reign through an increasingly impressive number of acrobatic stunts, while her Miami sister flexed her versatility with a mixture of stunts, comedy gags, and one never-ending split that bridged the gap between the two.
The girls got so caught up in the moment, that they literally started throwing things at one another — that’s the kind of petty drama and absurdity that we’ve all come to love on Drag Race. While only Morphine managed to survive the carnage, there’s no question that both of these stars made Donna Summer’s “Dim All the Lights” the best lip sync of season 16.
