By Lady Cocotte
This is it, chickadees. The Grand Finale of RuPaul’s Drag Race ! Half the fun of the finale shows is seeing who is in the audience. Tyra Sanchez (S2), looking classy and graceful and not at all like she wants to wring my neck (you’ll understand if you’ve read my story about her here). Sharon Needles (S4) and Detox (S5). Miley Cyrus. I saw her photos from the finale step and repeat but I assumed she was judging or something. Nope. Just another fan. Raja (S3) in boy drag, still rocking the silver fox look. Milk (S6) is sitting next to Tyra. Porkchop (S1)! Jinkx Monsoon (S5). Coco Montrese (S5). Manila Luzon (S3) is wearing Mammoth tusks. The dvr is mad at me so I have to stop pausing every time I see someone in the audience. You’ll have to find them for yourselves (although I think Big Freedia is sitting behind Miley Cyrus… let me know if you see her too).
All of the season 7 Queens get to walk the runway. Tempest Du Jour is dressed as the Madonna. It’s a step up from Mimi Imfurst’s Mary on season 3. I really wished we’d been able to see more of Tempest’s costumes. Jasmine Masters still looks like Porsha Williams. Kandy Ho’s dress is b-i-g. Jaidynn Diore Fierce is wearing a heat sensitive dress (you can see streaks when she runs her hand across her abdomen). Katya gets the loudest audience reaction. Now the top 3 girls get their turn. They all look great. Pearl makes her Pearl face. I love when a Queen gets in on the joke. And finally RuPaul comes out, singing one of her songs (the audience is so loud I can’t even tell which one). Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley and Ross Matthews cheer Mama Ru on. RuPaul estimates there are 60 past and present Queens at the finale. She gives her customary shout out to Pork Chop (if you’re going to be the first girl booted off of season 1, you deserve some extra love). RuPaul claims that she hasn’t made her mind up yet. The audience goes wild. Someone I was watching it with called her a big fat liar for that one. The 3 final Queens are all going to lip-sync to specially chosen songs to help Mama Ru decide the winner. I’m happy about that because when the top 4 performed together they didn’t have enough room to really give it.
Ginger Minj lip-syncs to a gospel-inspired song along with chorus robe clad dancers. “There ain’t no way to pray the gay away!” After her performance, RuPaul sits down with Ginger to talk. Darienne Lake (S6) asks a fan question: is it time for a big girl to win? Ginger thinks it’s time for a big girl to win but she doesn’t want to win because she’s big. Being the showman he is, RuPaul loves to make people cry. He shows videos of support from Ginger’s sister, John Waters and Ginger’s mom. Ginger held it together until they show a clip of her dad (who she talked about being alienated from). Are you happy RuPaul? She cried for your amusement.
Pearl performs to Sleepwalker, a strange song chosen for it’s name and price alone, I’m sure. You can tell she’s trying really hard to not do her “Pearl Smash” dance move. Her back-up dancers are dressed in unicorn onesies. It’s pretty boring but I’m not sure if that’s Pearl’s fault or the song’s. Carson Kressley makes a lame joke about Pearl “coming out of her shell.” RuPaul mentions the “curse of Pearl” where anyone who crossed her went home. They show a cute package of Queens dissing Pearl and Pearl as Big Anj in Snatch Game giving them the “slit your neck” look. Alaska Thunderfvck (S5) asks Pearl a fan question: is it just me or does everybody want to fuck you? Pearl genuinely cracks up and takes the compliment. Pearl gets to see footage of her grandma, her Chicago posse and her mom. To me Pearl will always be “C’mon chinstrap!”
Violet Chachki does a burlesque performance. “Too Many Daddies (And Not Enough Time).” She strips all the way down to nipple tassels. I’m waiting for her to twirl them but she doesn’t follow thru. RuPaul brings up “I hate Michelle Visage” but Michelle don’t care. She loves her some Violet anyway. Gia Gunn (S6) asks Violet a fan question: what would you tell a teen who wants to do drag but is scared of what their family will think? Violet tells them to start sneaking out to do it until they’re strong enough to share. Mimi Imfurst (S3) asks a second fan question: who did you vote for in the shadiest Queen category? Violet laughs and admits that she probably voted for herself. Mimi follows up with: “If you can’t hate yourself, how in the hell are you going to hate anyone else.” Violet gets to see clips from Drag Con fans, Miles Jai, Violet’s mom, Violet’s friends and Violet’s dad. Is Violet’s longer package a sign that she’s the winner?
Reunion time! RuPaul starts with Tempest Du Jour, Sasha Belle, Jasmine Masters and Mrs Kasha Davis. Kandy Ho apologizes to Tempest for calling her old. Tempest’s daughter started crying when her dad got eliminated. Sasha Belle didn’t win even though she “cracked the code” because every season is so different. Ummm, not sure about that one. Jasmine talks about how many years she’s been a fan of Kennedy Davenport and Kennedy jokingly shushes her. Jasmine talks about how Patti LaBelle inspired her to do drag so RuPaul runs a tape of Patti sending love to Jasmine. Very sweet. You can tell Jasmine is truly overwhelmed. And Ru brings up all the hate Jasmine got on social media. According to RuPaul’s mama, “unless those bitches is paying your bills, you pay them bitches no mind.” Amen. Mrs Kasha Davis thought the younger girls had a sense of entitlement. “I’ve only been doing this for 7 months and I’m going to win… and they might.” We finally get to see Mr Kasha Davis and his bow tie. Cute.
Up next is Kandy Ho, Max, Jaidynn Diore Fierce and Miss Fame. Kandy mentions that she’s thinking of leaving Puerto Rico, her home since she was 3. RuPaul asks where she was before PR. Her answer: Connecticut. Kandy only started doing her makeup a month before she auditioned since in PR all the Queens have their hair and makeup done for them. Kind of explains her shading issues in the beginning. Max looks gorgeous and young (even with the grey hair). She explains that she’s not a prude but all the other girls talked about was sex and she needed a break. “Just for a moment.” Max comes across as such a sweetheart. Now I remember why I was such a Max girl. Jaidynn didn’t realize that she was going to be sequestered. She thought she was going to be hanging with RuPaul, dining and shopping. Instead, she was sitting in her hotel room beating herself up and eating Doritos. “And that’s different from your normal life?” RuPaul asks. Cheeky! They show a clip of Jaidynn’s mom talking about how she accepts her and Jaidynn loses it. You know RuPaul loves to make a girl cry. Miss Fame asks RuPaul, “how’s your head?” She finally gets it! Miss Fame talks about how inspiring it is to walk thru addiction and survive. She has a surprise guest for RuPaul: a chicken. She’s holding it awkwardly and when Ru asks why, Miss Fame explains that she’s scared it will shit on her couture. RuPaul warns her to not cluck it up.
Finally, we sit down with Trixie Mattel, Katya and Kennedy Davenport. Trixie gets emotional thanking RuPaul and then turns around and does a funny impersonation of her. RuPaul tells her to sashay away for the third time. Katya is obviously the audience favorite. She tells RuPaul that she was terrified the whole time she was on the show. “RuPaul… I want to tackle you to the ground, I want to stuff your entire wig inside my mouth, and I want you to pee on me.” RuPaul is just calmly saying, “Ok” to each request. Because she’s Katya. If I had to pee on anyone I would want it to be Katya. You know, as long as she was into it. The voices in Katya’s head told her that RuPaul wanted to kill her. “I did want to kill you,” RuPaul informs her. All joking aside, RuPaul wonders if watching the show helped her see how awesome she is and Katya admits it gave her self-esteem. And then she laughs that Katya laugh. RuPaul tells Kennedy that when he started calling her “LaGuardia, Newark, Kennedy” she had no idea that she would actually fly off the main stage. RuPaul wants to know if she ever hurt herself “between me down there”. Kennedy explains that as a trained dancer she knows to properly stretch before attempting anything crazy. My favorite memory of Kennedy was seeing her stretch before a lip-sync and knowing that she was going in for the kill. Also, Kennedy’s birth mom’s name is Chicory, which makes me happy on so many levels.
Latrice Royale (S4) asks Trixie a fan question, “Did Max speak with that accent in college?” Max points out that it’s not an accent, it’s an elocution thing. “Elocution?” Latrice asks. “Is she from Inglewood? I know her!” “I went to high school with her,” RuPaul adds. Delta Work (S3) asks Kennedy a fan question: if there’s an Allstars 2, which season 7 girl deserves to compete. Kennedy chooses Katya. “You guys know something about Allstars 2 that I don’t?” Ru laughs. RuPaul announces BenDeLaCreme to give out Miss Congeniality. She shimmys onto the stage with Michelle Visage, wearing Ginger Minj and Sasha Belle’s Conjoined Queens outfit (you know, connected at the boobs). The winner is Katya, of course. I even voted for her and I don’t usually vote in those kinds of things. Katya definitely deserved it!
And it’s time to crown a Queen! Bianca Del Rio, last year’s winner, comes out covered in gold and silver. She talks about what a great year she’s had and encourages the new winner to respect the title. RuPaul gets right to the matter at hand. “The winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race is…” RuPaul coughs and calls out, “Katya!” Katya wanders onto the stage, utterly confused. The crowd goes wild. RuPaul turns to Katya and asks, “Katya… may I please have a sip of water?” Ru takes a drink while Katya stands there, agape. The crowd is laughing and Violet Chahcki is screaming her approval. Katya leaves and RuPaul actually crowns Violet Chachki. Bianca Del Rio hands Violet the scepter and her parents go wild in the audience. RuPaul asks if she has anything to say and Violet screams, “Come thru!” She walks the runway and RuPaul ends with: “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you going to love anybody else? Can I hear an Amen?” Amen.
That’s it. Season 7 is officially over. If you haven’t had enough, check out the story of my time at the Coronation party. (To be published later) I’ll explain why Violet Chachki wasn’t given a crown and many more fun facts. Thanks for reading! It’s been a lot of fun. Thanks, Tamara, for giving us Drag Hags a forum. See you in season 8…
A big thanks to Lady Cocotte for all her hard work this season! Please give her a big shout out! Her exclusive report from the Coronation party will be up as soon as I attend to some non drag race posts!
Wonderful, wonderful recap! I’m not sure how I felt about Violet taking the whole thing but I really enjoyed this season. Not gonna lie, I shed a few tears this finale.
Thanks so much, Meggie! I surprised myself by being #TeamViolet at the end but I’ve seen lots of unhappy campers on Facebook that think Ginger was cheated out of the crown.
Hey There! Great recap. You have been really busy, I hope you are feeling better, D
Thanks, Dee! I’m doing much better, enjoying my vacay in NYC even though I’m missing my puppy terribly.
I’m glad Violet won, well since Max got eliminated. When he started opening up, I started liking him. All stars would be fun!
I truly love Max. I voted for Katya for Miss Congeniality because she really deserved it but I felt like a bit of a traitor to Max. Seeing her on the reunion reminded me why I fell for her. She’s all heart!
p.s. We really need an Allstars 2. It’s long overdue.
I love Max but honestly I don’t think he was ready to win. However, if there is an all star 2, he’s there…..yaaaasssss!
I’m not going to speak on Drag Race just yet. I do want to say a great big THANK YOU to Lady Cocotte for her wonderful recaps. You’ve taken your time and effort to provide us with your funny and insightful viewpoint. It has made Drag Race fun to watch and discuss and I appreciate you doing it for us. Can’t wait to read your Coronation party story. Hugs Lady Cocotte.
Thanks so much, HKR! It wasn’t the best season but doing the recaps made it more enjoyable for me. Your encouragement meant the world to me. See you in the comments section!
I second that sentiment! I miss being able to watch Drag Race (Grrrrr Suddenlink). But LC’s recaps were so good, I don’t feel like I didn’t miss a thing. I just read LC’s recaps and watched Untucked…Fabulous.
Great recap, thanks!
Thank you Lady Coquette for the recaps. I thought it was an underwhelming season and an undeserved winner, but your recaps were priceless and always fun to read – usually more fun than watching the show itself!
Thanks, Xanadude! I’m touched!
Good news: I’m glad this SHIT season is OVAH!
Bad news: No more Lady Cocotte until next season?
I thought the finale was a mess. It made me miss the Queens of seasons past. The finale had too much filler time and not enoughBianca Del Rio, and not enough time talking to the Queens from season 7 discussing the drama. Oh yeah wait what drama? This was a boring ass season w/ boring ass sleepy queens with the exception of of maybe 4: Ginger, Katya, Jasmine, & Miss Fame.
Sure Violet is a good performer, but she does not have an MC personality like RuPaul or Bianca Del Rio that can engage an audience with conversation & comedy. To me that is what a good Drag Queen is; not one that is just posing to look “fierce”.
Yesterday I could have done without see Violet Chachki’s porn past pictures come through my twitter feed.
Lady Cocotte I can’t wait to read about your experience at the Coronation.
UF, I’m not upset that Violet won but I know I’m in the minority. It’s too bad that the producers thought Ginger Minj was too similar to Bianca Del Rio to get the crown. Katya is definitely my favorite this season even though she didn’t make the top 4. I’ve heard rumblings that she somewhat gave up to support her sobriety. If that’s true then more power to her. Based on the crowd’s reaction at the coronation, Katya will have a long, strong future in drag.
And Bianca Del Rio had a field day at the coronation reading Violet Chachki for her self-pleasuring photos. I wasn’t fast enough to write any of it down (you gotta be quick with Bianca) but the crowd loved it. It was our reward for having seen them…
Thank you for your amazing recaps this season. Going to miss your updates. Your personal experiences added a nice touch. Thank you for sharing! Happy for Violet & Katya for winning Miss Congeniality.
Thanks, cece! I had a really good time. Don’t forget to read my story about the Coronation party (coming soon). >
That was a great finale. I felt like Ginger lists the crown with her weak response to her Untucked behavior. Thought she could’ve cleaned the old vs young thing.
I finally understood the coronation thing. It looked so fun I’m pissed I didn’t get a ticket in time. The pics looked amazing.
I saw Alyssa Edwards, Kelly Mantle with a horrible wig, Laganja, Manilla Luzon,
Loved the Golden Girls throwback. Sophia did the same thing to Rosé at an awards ceremony.
Thanks Lady Coccotte. I’m gonna b all about that cruise.
The cruise was amazing but the travel agency that organizes it are lying liars that lie (seriously). If you book it, be prepared to only get a fraction of what you pay for. The Queens are total sweethearts though. Jujube & Katya are doing a different cruise in Jan 2016 that I’m interested in (I’m just hoping they’ll add more Queens). >
Due to a change in my stupid cable companies line up logo was no longer included in my package. So the last 2 weeks I got my dragrace from your recaps. Thanks so much it was like I was watching. Witch I would be if I were not such a stubborn cheap bitch that does not want to cave in to the cable co. When I’m already paying them a fortune and those channels use to be included. So bitter of me! Oh yea this is not about me, thanks for your time and attention to detail. TT could not have chosen a better writer for this piece.
TT got very lucky with Lady Cocotte (even though she is one wordy bitch!). I will put up her next post tomorrow. My Internet has started going out when it rains, so it has happened like 3 times today. Plus there is something about Kim Richards posts that makes everyone forget the commenting rules and post things from other sites and BOOKS (grrrrrr) that they should not.
I just got back from a grocery shop during the latest downpour and I bought a couple sugary things. That only happens when bitch mode is just around the corner…:) so I’m play whack a troll in the Kim posts and try to get something else up tonight and give you another DR post tomorrow.
On Wed, Jun 3, 2015 at 8:44 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I’ve tried to make them shorter but it’s hard. I need to study from the master… >
Nah, I have sacrificed literacy, spelling and grammar in order to get a recap up before the show ends. I have found that this crew may enjoy my messy recaps, but really, they just want to chime in their thoughts. So for me fast, down and dirty is the way to go. By the next day they have forgotten the whole episode, and really who can blame them? 🙂 And hopefully they have forgotten all my typos.
And I am selfishly saving your well written one to have another great post for Thursdays, when the three day lull starts. 🙂
On Wed, Jun 3, 2015 at 9:42 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Thanks, Cheychey. Glad I could help you in your battle against your cable company. Give ‘em hell! >
With the cast we had this season I would have been thrilled to just extend the TRUE QUEEN Bianca Del Rio extend her reign. I mean the gown alone was worth it.
Now with that out of the way….you my dear Lady Cocotte did an awesome job recapping for us. You Rock and I offer you my services as an Internet dog attorney if any of your four legged friends need one. Banjo has some dog/person issues he needed my help with and am now on retainer.
Thanks, SaraK. Hopefully my Max will never need your services! >
It’s true. I have been spoiling her client. I fear his attorney. He just got a cheese snack. 🙂
On Wed, Jun 3, 2015 at 9:10 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Excellent recap, Lady Cocotte. My favorite didn’t win, but Violet certainly has star quality. I love seeing and hearing the queens from past seasons. That is what was fun for me. I have a feeling RuPaul really heard it about eliminating Katya. I think she has a great career ahead of her even if she was eliminated early. Same with Max.
Great recap! I was wondering if you know the artist of Sleepwalker, the song Pearl lip synced to? I’ve been looking everywhere for this song but I just can’t seem to find it!
Thank you so much!!
I don’t know the artist. I looked too but couldn’t find it. >
aww okays, thanks for looking! :]
Who sings the song “Too Many Daddies, Not Enough Time”?
I’ve spent a lot of time looking & I haven’t found an answer I trust yet. Some say it’s a Dita Von Teese song. Others say it was written expressly for Violet’s performance at the finale (as were Pearl’s & Ginger’s songs). I’m not even sure if “Too Many Daddies, Not Enough Time” is even the name… But it sure is catchy! >