‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’: The 5 Best Lip-Syncs from Season 12, Ranked
It’s time to revisit the lip-sync performances from season 12 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. From the season’s resident lip-sync assassins to our future winner, a lot of queens delivered great, memorable performances.
For the purpose of the list, we will not be included the lip-syncs from the season finale:
5. Tie: Heidi N Closet vs. Jackie Cox – ‘Kill the Lights’ or Widow Von’Du vs. Jackie Cox – ‘Firework’
These two lip-syncs are two that Jackie Cox probably should have gone home for. Still, she lasted up until the top 5. “Kill the Lights” is an interesting one because it served so much fun energy. It also introduced, to most people, this amazing song by Alex Newell that you likely never heard of before this. But despite how great it was, it was also mismatched. While Heidi actually performed the song with a little bit of animation, Cox only delivered cooky camp. This was the first double shantay of the season.
It was a bit controversial, as many fans thought that Heidi should have won it by herself and the double shantay should have been used the week prior with “Firework.” Won’Du was great as usual for that one and Cox gave a powerful performance while in a garment to represent her culture.
4. Widow Von’Du vs. Jan – ‘This Is My Night’
Though Jan didn’t do that bad, she was just out of her league when, in the words of Jackie Cox, Widow Von’Du literally had the soul Chaka Khan put in her body. As much as we don’t want to say it, this gave us season 4 flashbacks from when Kenya Michaels head-to-head against Latrice Royale. Von’Du quite literally slayed this song in every aspect. The great part about this lip-sync in particular is that we all know that Widow Von’Du is an excellent dancer, but she didn’t even need to utilize any of these skills to win this one handily.
3. Jaida Essence Hall vs. Heidi N Closet – ‘1999’
You know that one Lip Sync for Your Life that a winner that they have to get out of the way on their journey to the crown? This was it for season 12’s eventual winner, Jaida Essence Hall. Thought Heidi was one of the lip-sync assassins for the season, she stood no chance against Hall the moment she headed toward the back of the stage and kicked her leg up. It was over then! Heidi held her own, but it just wasn’t enough.
2. Jaida Essence Hall – ‘Call Your Girlfriend’
In one of the first two lip-syncs in which the top two performers went head-to-head instead of a Lip Sync for Your Life, Hall showed us in the second episode that was literally on the level of a winner. She effortlessly performed the Robyn number giving you performance, camp, theatrics, dance moves…everything!
1. Widow Von’Du vs. Gigi Goode – ‘Starships’
The very first lip-sync of the season, with guest judge Nicki Minaj, was the best one. For the second lip-sync in which the top two performers battled each other, Von’Du may have perhaps given one of the single-best lip-sync performances in the whole franchise. This says a lot, given how many times the Kansas City queen appears on this list. Eventual runner-up Gigi Goode gave a solid performance but relied too much on funny antics. She wasn’t any
