From Z to APT: Here's who won the 'Drag Race' S17 Lip Sync Smackdown
| 04/11/25
simbernardo
A new Queen of She Done Already Done Had Herses has been crowned!
Michelle Visage; RuPaul; Onya Nurve on RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 episode 15.
MTV
Editor's note: This article contains spoilers for episode 15, titled "LalapaRuza Smackdown Reunited," of RuPaul's Drag Race season 17.
The time indeed came for season 17 of RuPaul's Drag Race to feature its very own Lip Sync LaLaPaRuZa Smackdown (instead of a reunion episode) with all of the eliminated queens from the season. The episode started with RuPaul throwing her coat to the floor, doing her favorite Blair St. Clair move, saying hi to mainstay judges Michelle Visage and Ts Madison, and announcing the new WOW Presents Plus series hosted by Pit Crew legend Bruno Alcantara, cheekily titled Happy Endings with Bruno.
The top four queens of the season — Jewels Sparkles, Lexi Love, Onya Nurve, and Sam Star — came in looking absolutely stunning just to say a brief hello to the queens they had beat in the competition. A special shoutout goes to Onya Nurve for referencing the instantly iconic Thom Browne outfit worn by Doechii at the 2025 Grammy Awards. The NURVE to pull this off with such great execution… you have to stan.
As the top four finalists left the Drag Race stage, Ru announced the beginning of this Lip Sync LaLaPaRuZa Smackdown.
Hormona Lisa vs. Lydia B Kollins (Lip Sync 1)
Hormona Lisa and Lydia B Kollins on RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 episode 15.
MTV
The very first ball drawn by Bruno was marked with Hormona Lisa's name. Following that announcement, a new reveal was announced: the queen whose name was drawn had the option to pick which queen she wanted to go up against… or pick the song she wanted to lip sync to.
Hormona exercised her choice in the lip sync song: "Say Liza (Liza with a 'Z')" by Liza Minnelli. Bruno went on to draw another ball, which was marked with the name Lydia B Kollins.
The expectations were high for Lydia who — despite the failed reveal involving scissors — had been one of the strongest lip sync performers of the season. Hormona had the potential to surprise the judges with new tricks… and though she tried to pull off some goops and gags, she just wasn't able to outperform Lydia.
As the lip sync ended, Lydia moved onto the next round.
Joella vs. Suzie Toot (Lip Sync 2)
Joella and Suzie Toot on RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 episode 15.
MTV
If you've ever forgotten the Ella, you're doing not drag.
A ball with Suzie Toot's name was drawn by Bruno, and the tap-dancing queen chose Joella as her opponent. In turn, the Slaysian Diva of Los Angeles picked "Training Season" by Dua Lipa as their lip sync song.
As expected, Joella served her pop star fantasy on the stage and paid no mind to her opponent. But that turned out to be quite a big mistake given that Miss Suzie was gagging the entire room (queens and judges alike) with a performance that drew people in, allowed her to show off new moves, and culminated in a post-reveal look that might as well have been a character in Love Lies Bleeding.
Suzie got a SHOOT from Ru and moved on to her next lip sync. Unfortunately, judges and fans had to bid goodbye to Joella (ella, ella) once more.
Acacia Forgot vs. Lucky Starzzz (Lip Sync 3)
Acacia Forgot and Lucky Starzzz on RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 episode 15.
MTV
Lucky Starzzz was determined to prove herself in this Lip Sync Smackdown after being the first-eliminated queen of the season. Instead of picking her opponent, Lucky chose to lip sync to "Step By Step (Remix)" by Whitney Houston. So Bruno drew another ball, and this one had Acacia Forgot's name marked on it.
Both queens did well in the lip sync, but Lucky's frenetic boobs jiggle — while looking like a chaotic video-game character — helped her stand out even more to the judging panel. Ultimately, Ru determined that Lucky won this round, and Acacia was a bit disappointed to learn she wouldn't be moving forward in the Lip Sync Smackdown.
Arrietty vs. Kori King (Lip Sync 4)
Arrietty and Kori King on RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 episode 15.
MTV
The lip sync between Arrietty and Kori King was fun, but certain elements surrounding the performance were even more interesting.
This lip sync round started with RuPaul, seemingly out of nowhere, intensely encouraging Arrietty to really think before making a decision to pick a song or an opponent… And then reiterating that Arrietty should make sure that she thought things through. Though it's possible — and very likely — that this was just some silly banter between RuPaul and a queen, it did feel like Mother Ru was making a kind suggestion, and sharing some wisdom, about the importance of thinking about one's choices.
Arrietty picked "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)" by P!nk as the lip sync song, and a ball marked with Kori's name was drawn. Before the lip sync, however, Michelle Visage remarked on being disappointed that Kori wasn't dressed like Michael Jackson for the lip sync, or even dressed as Suzie Toot.
Michelle, as the Cool Mom of the panel, was clearly making references to Kori's viral Cameo videos dressed as different characters (with MJ and Suzie being the two most iconic ones). RuPaul, who creates some of the funniest social media content on the internet but definitely doesn't scroll through Instagram very often, agreed that the idea of Kori dressed as Suzie "would be hot"… a hilarious and endearing reaction from Ru probably having no clue about any Cameo videos, and thinking that Michelle had just come up with those wild ideas during the episode.
Crystal Envy vs. Lana Ja'Rae (Lip Sync 5)
Crystal Envy and Lana Ja'Rae on RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 episode 15.
MTV
Crystal Envy and Lana Ja'Rae faced off against each other in a new lip sync to "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" by Sylvester.
While it is always (theoretically) exciting to think of Sylvester lip syncs on the show, it's shocking how hard it is to divorce that song, if played within the realm of Drag Race, from the legendary lip sync from Bob the Drag Queen sending Derrick Barry home in season 8.
Lana defeats Crystal again in the lip sync, moving forward to the next round.
Lucky Starzzz vs. Suzie Toot (Lip Sync 6)
Lucky Starzzz and Suzie Toot on RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 episode 15.
MTV
The Florida girls — Lucky Starzzz from Miami and Suzie Toot from Fort Lauderdale — went up against each other in a lip sync to "We Found Love" by Rihanna (produced by Calvin Harris).
There was clearly a lot of love between Lucky and Suzie, even as they went head to head in this Lip Sync Smackdown. In a way, a boobs-jiggling reveal can be a crutch as it tends to get old rather quickly. It only took one more lip sync for the judges to feel like they had just seen Lucky do basically the same number a few lip syncs before. On the other hand, Suzie had the nerve to start doing the "Stanky Legg" toward the end of the song, which had queens, judges, and fans screaming.
Suzie won another round, but Lucky put up a great fight nonetheless.
Lana Ja'Rae vs. Kori King vs. Lydia B Kollins (Lip Sync 7)
Lana Ja'Rae, Kori King, and Lydia B Kollins on RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 episode 15.
MTV
Bias check: It is objectively harder to review any — and we do mean any — lip sync with more than two drag performers on the Drag Race stage. This is necessary, at times, when Lip Sync Smackdown brackets are designed that way. And we have seen certain three-way lip syncs that were better than others. Generally, though, one walks away feeling dizzy and unsure of what just happened. In the spirit of fairness and trying to show what each queen is doing, viewers end up not being able to tell what any of them did (and if anyone did anything well).
On that note, the series got a very Brat lip sync to "360" by Charli XCX between Lana Ja'Rae, Kori King, and Lydia B Kollins. The queens kept joking that Lana was "a third" for the Drag Race showmance couple, but Kori and Lydia did not go for a kiss this time. In the end, Kori did outperform her opponents and moved forward to the final lip sync.
Suzie Toot vs. Kori King (Lip Sync 8 — Final)
Suzie Toot and Kori King on RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 episode 15.
MTV
Fort Lauderdale queen Suzie Toot and Boston queen Kori King went head to head in the final battle in this Lip Sync LaLaPaRuZa Smackdown.
Both of them lip synced for their lives to "APT." by Rosé and Bruno Mars — with Suzie pulling out new moves and Kori revealing a breastplate.
This was a very tight lip sync — perhaps the tightest battle of the episode! — and things could've arguably gone either way.
In the end, though, Mama Ru only crowned one new Queen of She Done Already Done Had Herses who took home the cash prize of $50,000.
And the winner is… Suzie Toot!
