RuPaul’s Drag Race (RPDR) has provided us with 14 seasons of drag brilliance (with a fifteenth close to finishing) and more than 100 lip sync battles. At the end of each episode, RuPaul asks queens to lip sync for their lives before choosing a winning queen – “Shantay, you stay” – and a losing queen, asking them to “Sashay away”. Most of RuPaul’s decisions have been lauded, some considered controversial. But what has never been in doubt is the fierceness of these lip sync battles and the lengths the queens will go to impress Mama Ru.

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It should be noted that this article only considers the US version of RPDR, including RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, not the international (Australia/New Zealand, Canada, Holland, Italy, Spain, Thailand, and the UK) members of the franchise. The time has come… to ruveal the fiercest lip sync battles in RPDR herstory.

Season 1, Episode 5: BeBe Zahara Benet vs Ongina – “Stronger”

The lip sync battle between BeBe Zahara Benet and Ongina changed the outcome of the competition

Season 1 is a great place to start (putting to one side its Vaseline-smeared-on-the-camera-lens appearance). The Britney Spears-driven battle between BeBe Zahara Benet and Ongina is iconic because it drastically changed the outcome of the season. Prior to the lip sync, Ongina had two challenge wins under her belt, and it was assumed that BeBe would not last much longer in the competition.

However, never one to be underestimated, BeBe turned it out for the lip sync, clearly outperforming Ongina. BeBe’s routine caused such an upset that RuPaul had to leave the judge’s panel to consider her final decision, a rare event. In the end, BeBe sent the front-runner packing and went on to be crowned the winner of Season 1.

Season 3, Episode 8: Delta Work vs Manila Luzon – “MacArthur Park”

Manila Luzon's kooky rendition of "MacArthur Park" secured her win against Delta Work

It’s fair to say that Manila Luzon wiped the floor with Delta Work with her performance to this Donna Summer classic. No shade to Delta – she tried her best – but there was no competing with Manila’s ability to capture the melodrama of the song. For starters, Manila handles the difficult lyrics with ease. But it’s when the song picks up the pace that Manila – in particular her face – gives us a heavy dose of the high camp kookiness she’s famous for, providing one of the most-loved lip syncs from RPDR’s early seasons.

A testament to her lip sync abilities, Manila is the first queen in RPDR herstory to lip sync on four separate seasons – Season 3 and All Stars Seasons 1, 4 and 6.

Season 4, Episode 10: Latrice Royale vs Kenya Michaels – “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”

Latrice Royale proved you don't need high energy dance moves to win a lip sync battle, taking out Kenya Michaels

If this Lip Sync For Your Life proves anything it’s that you don’t need a slew of fancy dance moves to be told, “Shantay, you stay”. ‘Large and in charge’ Latrice Royale came correct, channeling Aretha Franklin and delivering a grounded, soulful rendition of her famous song (it may have helped that she was wearing a fake pregnancy belly).

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Unfortunately, the pint-sized powerhouse Kenya Michaels failed to read the room. While Kenya moves around the stage with grace and poise, a high energy dance is not what the song calls for. Latrice’s choice of standing still and simply emoting worked in her favor and ensured she stuck around.

Season 5, Episode 7: Alyssa Edwards vs Roxxxy Andrews – “Whip My Hair”

Roxxxy Andrews was the originator of the wig reveal, but Alyssa Edwards was equally fierce in this iconic lip sync battle

The fierceness of this lip sync battle can be summed up in two words: wig reveal. Roxxxy Andrews is credited with showcasing the wig reveal for the first time on RPDR when during her lip sync against Alyssa Edwards she pulls off her wig to ruveal… another wig! In the spirit of the Willow Smith track to which she was performing, Roxxxy proceeds to whip her newly-exposed blonde locks back and forth. Needless to say, we were gagged.

Roxxxy’s wig reveal may have cemented her place in RPDR lip sync herstory but Alyssa, ever the consummate professional, was not giving up without a fight. Pulling off some killer choreography – as she always does, she runs a dance studio after all – her performance was equally outstanding. The result? A double Shantay.

Season 5, Episode 11: Detox vs Jinkx Monsoon – “Malambo No. 1”

Detox thought she would join her Rolaskatox clique in the finale but Jinkx Monsoon had other ideas

Throughout Season 5 Jinkx Monsoon seemed untouchable. After riding high on a record nine consecutive weeks amongst the top queens – thereby avoiding having to lip sync for her life – the bubble burst, and she landed in the bottom two for the first time. Worse still, she was forced to lip sync against her ‘nemesis’, Detox, whose agenda was to advance to the final three along with the other two members of the Rolaskatox clique, Roxxxy and Alaska.

But Jinkx rose to the challenge, throwing everything into her performance of the 1954 tune by Peruvian singer Yma Sumac. Luckily for Jinkx, the Drag Gods were smiling on her. Sumac’s squeals and strange vocalizations fit perfectly with her quirky personality. While Detox played it kind of safe (at times struggling with the Quechuan lyrics), Jinkx proceeded to shimmy, grind and chest pop her way to victory, surprising everyone and foiling Detox’s plan to join her clique in the finale.

Season 7, Episode 11: Kennedy Davenport vs Katya – “Roar”

Kennedy Davenport's lip sync win over Katya polarized viewers

Ru’s decision to choose the Texan dancing diva Kennedy Davenport over Katya, thereby giving Kennedy a place in the final four, polarized viewers. Many thought that the hugely popular Katya – everyone’s favorite Russian hooker – deserved the win. Both queens lip-synced commendably to the Katy Perry number with Kennedy opting for passion over Katya’s more restrained, but no less acrobatic, performance.

The highlight has to be when Kennedy, in a tribute to her late sister Sahara Davenport, performed a jump split off the stage while Katya did a back handspring at exactly the same time. Although RuPaul’s decision to eliminate Katya was controversial, there is no denying that Kennedy brought the fire – and a touch of desperation – to her performance. Condragulations!

Season 8, Episode 7: Chi Chi DeVayne vs Thorgy Thor – “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”

Chi Chi DeVayne channeled raw emotion to win her lip sync against Thorgy Thor

Season 8 of RPDR was chock-full of good lip syncs but the battle between Chi Chi DeVayne and Thorgy Thor stands out because both bottom queens were great. Ultimately, though, Thorgy was no match for the lip sync assassin Chi Chi whose tear-jerking performance of Jennifer Holiday’s version of the Dreamgirls song sent fan favorite Thorgy heading for the door.

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In the song’s emotional crescendo, Chi Chi drops to her knees to deliver a heartfelt lip sync before rising to, in dramatic fashion, rip the beads from her gown. Sorry Thorgy, not even cartwheels were going to save you from this elimination; there was no, no, no, no way Chi Chi was going to lose. Rest in peace Chi Chi, who passed away in 2020 of complications from scleroderma but not before securing her place as one of the fiercest queens to appear on RPDR.

Season 9, Episode 14: Shea Couleé vs Sasha Velour – “So Emotional”

Shea Couleé was not prepared for Sasha Velour's fierce rose petal extravanganza

Performing to the Whitney Houston classic “So Emotional” for the Season 9 finale eliminations, Shea Couleé appeared to be the stronger contender and was expected to win the sudden death lip sync for the crown, having won four main challenges throughout the season.

That was until Sasha Velour pulled a trick out from under her wig, executing the now-famous rose petal extravaganza that secured her win and pitted her against Peppermint in the final showdown (Sasha won that lip sync too, taking home the crown). Like Roxxxy’s Season 5 wig reveal, Sasha’s groundbreaking performance raised the bar for future lip sync battles.

Season 10, Episode 14: Kameron Michaels vs Asia O’Hara – “Nasty”

Asia O'Hara's failed 'butterfly moment' led to Kameron Michaels's lip sync win

Okay, so this lip sync is iconic but for all the wrong reasons. Since Sasha Velour’s bar-raising rose petal move in Season 9, the Season 10 queens knew they had to ramp up the reveals to get a jump on the competition. Enter Kameron Michaels and Asia O’Hara who competed in the first of the season’s finale eliminations, performing to Janet Jackson’s pop treat, “Nasty”.

Asia was dressed in a gorgeous butterfly-inspired outfit that contained actual butterflies. She had planned to release during the number, however, when it came time to release the butterflies Asia discovered – to her horror – that they’d nodded off. She tried blowing on them to wake them up but instead of flying magically into the sky, they dropped lifelessly to the floor. It was a cringeworthy moment, as evidenced by the shocked faces of audience members watching the performance. Asia put on a brave face and soldiered through her performance, but the damage had been done; Kameron won the lip sync.

All Stars Season 2, Episode 5: Alyssa Edwards vs Tatianna – “Shut Up and Drive”

The All Stars lip sync battle between Alyssa Edwards and Tatianna is one for the ages

The rules of the lip sync were altered for All Stars, with queens lip-syncing for their legacy instead of for their lives. That minor modification aside, the lip sync smack down between Alyssa Edwards and Tatianna is often rated the number one lip sync performance in RPDR herstory, and it’s easy to see why. It has everything: a rocking Rihanna track, dance moves that slay (including some contortionism from Alyssa), drama and a twist ending.

The queens are weirdly matched in both the figure-accentuating corsets they wear – Alyssa in black, Tatianna wearing white – and their sickening level of talent. The result is a lip sync for the ages that will have even the straightest of straight men questioning where they sit on the Kinsey scale. It’s RPDR at its finest and both queens absolutely deserved Ru’s decision to reward them with a double Shantay.

Tens! Tens! Tens across the board!

NEXT: 11 Oscar-Worthy Snatch Game Performances on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race