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Condragulations, you're number one!
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Editor's note: this post contains MAJOR spoilers for the season 16 finale of RuPaul's Drag Race.
Top 3 queens Nymphia Wind, Plane Jane, and Sapphira Cristál came ready to slay at the grand finale of RuPaul's Drag Race season 16 — each of them fighting to become America's Next Drag Superstar, win the grand prize of $200,000, and follow in the footsteps of Supreme Mother Superior Sasha Colby.
This year, the Drag Race finale took place in a slightly different location than what we've gotten used to see since season 4. Instead of a theater with a studio audience, the grand finale was shot in the same sound stage as the "Lip Sync LaLaPaRuza Smackdown - Reunited" episode, which featured a more limited audience.
Meanwhile, the finale format of seasons 14 and 15 (the top queens performing solo numbers of original songs made for them) was brought back for season 16… and we are living for it!
Nymphia Wind's solo performance
Nymphia kicked off the performances as the queen of wind, giving us floating fairy realness and graceful acrobatics.
Plane Jane's solo performance
Next up was Plane, who gave us straight-up pop star energy while preserving her sense of humor and calling back to her love of bodysuits.
Sapphira Cristál's solo performance
Last but certainly not least, Sapphira's majestic number took us on a journey from opera royalty to groovy baby.
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Following their solo numbers, Mama Ru summoned the top 3 queens back to the main stage to announce that the season would be going down to a top 2. After a few very dramatic pauses, Ru announced that Sapphira and Nymphia were the two queens picked to lip sync for the crown.
Plane seemed disappointed that she didn't get to compete in the final lip sync. However, her journey on the show didn't end without a few last shady moments that had Ru and the audience cracking up.
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And then we got into lip sync for the crown mode, with Sapphira and Nymphia looking like they came prepared to give each other a run for their money. The lip sync for the crown is revealed to be "Padam Padam" by Kylie Minogue, a song that became an instant queer anthem upon its release in the summer of 2023.
We've seen Sapphira lip sync a few times on the show, but we've never seen Nymphia lip sync. Needless to say, the tension is in the air! We have no idea what we're about to witness.
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Nymphia has a balloon reveal right away that has literally everyone GAGGING. And as she unpeels (pun intended!) her outfits even further, Nymphia reaches her final form in a lip-sync battle outfit that allows her to pull all the stunts and the moves to potentially beat Sapphira.
Sapphira takes a different approach. She is more dramatic and theatrical at first: serving face, vampire teeth, and all. But it also doesn't take long for Sapphira to have a reveal of her own as she undoes her gown and reveals a dazzling bodysuit that gives her more movement.
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Between dips and tricks and spins and stunts… mama, this is a LIP SYNC FOR THE CROWN like we haven't seen in a very long time. It is also noteworthy that these two queens eventually come down to outfits in their fiercely-branded colors: Nymphia in yellow, Sapphira in blue.
It all ends with the top 2 queens doing a synchronized dip to the floor and looking straight at the judges…
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…and then, the suspenseful Drag Race finale speech begins.
RuPaul reminds the queens that they just lip synced for the grand prize of $200,000 and the title of America's Next Drag Superstar. But there's more!
Mama Ru declares that the runner-up of season 16 will receive a cash prize of $25,000, and it bears repeating that this doesn't happen every season. In fact, most Drag Race runners-up go home without earning any prize for getting second place.
After all is said and done, Mama Ru announces that the winner of RuPaul's Drag Race season 16 is… Nymphia Wind!!!
Nymphia Wind is America's Next Drag Superstar!
With a track record of three maxi challenge wins and not a single time lip syncing for her life, Nymphia was a mighty contender and a fierce fan-favorite throughout the season. While some fans wondered if she'd be able to lip sync her way to the crown, guess what? She pulled through! Nymphia Wind is America's Next Drag Superstar, and we love the sound of that!
Condragulations to all of the queens from season 16, and a special shot-out to the top 3 queens who delivered one of the most exciting finales in Drag Race herstory!
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 9 premieres Friday, May 17 on Paramount+.
