And the newly crowned winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race is…
On April 23, the finale of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 14 aired, crowning the new reigning drag superstar. It was the end of what some fans thought was a never-ending season, marked by coming out, chronic illness, lip-syncs and chocolate.
Warning: spoilers ahead!
On April 8, after over three months since the season premiere aired in early January, viewers found out that all final five remaining queens would move onto the finale to compete for the crown. Fans took to all social media platforms to support their favorite from the final five: Lady Camden, Willow Pill, Daya Betty, Angeria Paris VanMichaels and Bosco. It was unsurprising to many viewers that there was not a queen eliminated, as almost half of the episodes this season did not have an elimination. However, this was the first finale in Drag Race HERstory to have five remaining queens.
After three years without a live audience, the finale returned to normal and was filmed at the Flamingo Las Vegas. This stage is also where RuPaul’s Drag Race Live Vegas residency show is performed. Queens from all past 13 seasons gathered on the pink carpet in their most glamorous drag. Two queens who stuck out were Kerri Colby, dressed as TRANos as a play on Thanos, and Kornbread “the Snack” Jeté, in a yellow Belle dress with beastly makeup. The five finalists also took to the carpet, Lady Camden in a horse and chariot hybrid outfit, Willow Pill dressed as a flaming phoenix, Daya Betty looking like a pink feathered showgirl, Angeria in an over-the-top pageant-style blue gown and Bosco in a devilish blue ensemble.
The season 14 queens were introduced on stage and the audience was given a recap of the season. This season, there was a split premiere where half of the queens competed in episode one and the other half competed in episode two before combining in episode three, which had been done in previous seasons. However, the first two eliminated queens were brought back in episode three, which had never been done before. Additionally, this season introduced the elusive chocolate bars, which offered redemption to one eliminated queen, as one was gold while the rest were chocolate. The golden chocolate bar finally appeared in episode 12 when Bosco opened her bar after being asked to shantay away.
In the Werkroom after the critiques in episode seven, queens Bosco and Jasmine Kennedy revealed that they were transgender, with Bosco identifying as non-binary and Jasmine identifying as a transgender woman. Coming out as non-cisgender is not new on Drag Race, but this season had a record of five transgender queens, also including transgender women Willow Pill, Kerri Colby and Kornbread. Daya Betty and Willow Pill chronicled their struggles with chronic illness in their personal lives and in drag this season, Daya Betty dealing with type 1 diabetes and Willow Pill having the rare genetic disorder cystinosis. The two use their chronic illnesses as motivation to elevate their drag.
After the season recap, each of the five finalists performed an original song on stage, complete with a dance number full of costume RUveals, sparkling signs and plenty of backup dancers. Each song paid homage to the individual queens’ personalities and drag styles, just like the original songs of Drag Race finales past. Instead of choosing a winner herself, RuPaul announced that the two finalists would be chosen by two roulette wheels on the stage backdrop. Willow Pill and Lady Camden were chosen and lip-synced to “Gimme! Gimme!” by Cher. Before the lip sync, the next Miss Congeniality of the season was crowned. Season 13 Miss Congeniality LaLaRi announced that Kornbread would be season 14’s Miss Congeniality.
During the lip sync, Willow Pill had not one but two outfit RUveals. Lady Camden did a wig RUveal, faking a fall and coming up with a new wig on, just as she had done in episode seven when she won the 60s girl group challenge. Following the lip sync, tensions in the theater were high. At last, the next drag superstar was going to be announced. With a resounding reaction from the audience and all of the season 14 queens, Willow Pill was crowned the winner of Rupaul’s Drag Race season 14. Check out The Pit Stop for further review of season 14 and check out season 7 of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, premiering May 20 on Paramount Plus.
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