Last week, RuPaul’s Drag Race’s 16th queen was crowned America’s Next Drag Superstar. Con-DRAG-ulations to Nymphia Wind!
Drag Race combines the non-stop drama and unique storytelling of reality TV with the fierce fashions and jaw-dropping talent of drag artistry. Season 16 was no exception with viewers glued to the screen, gobbling up every moment.
The first episode aired on January 5th, which was part one of what is known as a split premiere. This means that half of the contestants would be introduced in the first episode and the second half in the second episode, with all the queens coming together to form the full cast in the third episode. This allows the judges, and the viewers, to look critically at each queen, under a glittery, rhinestoned microscope.
The host and main judge is RuPaul Charles, the world’s most famous drag queen. Alongside RuPaul sits Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley, Ross Matthews, and TS Madison as regular judges. Celebrity guest judges also appear throughout the season, including the likes of Charlize Theron, Isaac Mizrahi, and Kelsea Ballerini.
Each week, the queens compete in mini and maxi challenges that involve, and this is not an exhaustive list by any means, sewing and design, modeling, dancing, lip-syncing, singing, acting, or improvisation. After the challenges, the queens strut the runway in a look that corresponds with the week’s runway category.
The contestants are then judged for their performance and runway with one queen selected as the challenge winner and two of the weakest queens are placed into the bottom two. The bottom two queens lip-sync for their lives in a nail-biting battle where only one queen survives, save for the premieres which were non-elimination episodes.
Season 16’s cast was stacked! Some of the stand-out queens include Mirage, the early out Vegas queen who mesmerized viewers with her dancing, Morphine Love Dion, the Miami queen whose makeup skills are unmatched and who snatched the title of top lip-syncer of the season, and Q, who almost made it to the finale with her sublime fashions.
The season was littered with countless meme-worthy moments and dramatic fights. Amanda Tori Meating, the lovable yet unpolished queen, found herself at odds with Plane Jane, the often labeled “villain” of the season. Plane Jane had no qualms about letting Amanda know her drag was not up to snuff. In a vulnerable, heartfelt moment Q revealed that she is HIV+ to which Plane Jane replied “Mama, kudos for saying that, for spilling.”
“Mama, kudos for saying that, for spilling.”
Plane Jane
After many weeks, the original cast of 14 queens has been whittled down to just 3 queens who will head into the Grand Finale.
Plane Jane, a Russian queen from Boston, a supremely confident all-around talent with a sharp tongue.
Sapphira Cristal, a seasoned Philadelphia queen who is an Opera singer with the voice of an angel.
Nymphia Wind, a Taiwanese queen whose banana-themed branding is realized through her gasp-invoking runway looks.
In the finale, Plane Jane was eliminated leaving the top two as Sapphira and Nymphia. The two lip-synced for the crown to Kylie Minogue’s “Padam, Padam”. Both queens were at the top of their game with their costume and hair reveals, gymnastics, and high energy dancing.
In the end, RuPaul declared Nymphia Wind as the winner.