How Drag Race Changed Picking its Winners 

My guess on how to win is just be Rupaul's favorite

At this point, the biggest, gaggiest of twists would be: there is no twist

Jinkx kinda beat the 3-star twist by not needing to win it to be on the top. (Similarly to Willow not needing the chocolate bar)

I can see jinkx being the one who took most advantage of the twists because she gave a star to someone who didn't get top 4, meaning it was smart choice. She was the only queen blocked twice, meaning she was considered as the biggest competition from the other girls, also one of her blocks stopped a queen getting a star and she was the only girl in the top 4 who got there without any twist helping her. Monet and shea got 3 stars and trinity got invited over jaida

"Given that reason prevailed and Jinkx won the season..." You didn't need to be that savage HAHAHAHAH. I'm honestly pissed off they used a lipsync smackdown for the finals tho, it's tainting Jinkx's fair win for a lot of fans.

Kita Mean won based on the twist that production casted racists or mediocrity for the finale

Honestly I find myself caring less and less about who wins every year. I feel like in the past or early seasons of the show a winner actually felt like they had a reign, now I don't really see it.

I know that someone already won AS7 but personally, I am disappointed that there is no makeover challenge in this season. I mean you have a season celebrating the legacy of the Art of Drag yet you failed to have a challenge exhibiting the transformation that the queens go through.

Thanks for being smart and knowing that Jaida is legend and supreme

Why would you even do a lipsync rulapaloo-whatever if you're gonna crown the best track record?! It makes everyone look bad! You either crown the most deserving winner (as you should), or do your stupid twists and stick with them! Now Jinkx's win, which was 100% deserved, feels bittersweet. Ugh, it annoys me so much that production is fine with trashing some queens' reputations just so the public claims "robbed" and keeps talking about the show.

It could be even argued that Blu and Krystal also won based on their season twists (for Krystal, the top 2 in first episode, and for Blu, the top 2 format)

they could've just awarded two stars on the last episode, that way it would be monet and jinkx definitrly in the finale, and jaida trinity and shea all having equal chances. would've made so much more sense

Definitely a new era of rules when rupaul said based on the final lipsync and your performance on this seasons. You can’t just bag a win when your performance was not good compare to the others even you are great at ruveals

5:37 I’d like to point out that Kylie Sonique Love went from getting eliminated in snatch game in S2 to almost winning it in AS6. Regardless, I agree, rajah still had the most growth in AS6

Since I have mostly stop caring who wins a season, especially before and during this season I didn't care. This season was mostly a service to the fandom and I think it did successfuly what it needed to do and it was edited in away that was mostly complimentary to all queens. I'm not a contestant which would be the only valid reason for me to care because there are stakes that translate into money rewards. So this whole fandom arguing about things that make little to no sense is rather weird to me. This is why I'm happy for Raja, she seemed to be on a similar headspace as I am in my life and how I'm looking at it (the show). Like, I'm gonna go there, show to the world what I can do, what I excell at, re-introduce myself in situations that I haven't been exposed on the show because the oportunity was not given to me back on my season, try my hardest without compromising my integrity as a person and if that pays of in a way of a lipsync win or winning the season then great! She was not there to fully play the game of reality TV to the max, she was there to have fun, show to the world why she is great and enjoy the fruits of her hard work. Before this season I kind of lukewarmy-liked Raja, but this All Stars 7 Raja was a virtual standing ovation for me, I loved her. Any queen that approaches the competition in a similar way to her has immediately my respect.

no wait but having the queen's vote for a top two could be an amazing twist for a future all stars

Also it's good to remember that both Symone and Jaida were on the top 2 and won their lipsync for their legacy on the split premiere, Wich I would say are twists for seasons 12 and 13

I literally am so invested while I clean and stuff and hearing “that’s it that’s the end of the video” always gets me gagged I’m like werk ate it up every time good work on this video 🍿👍🏽

It's an interesting conversation but at this point drag race has become so meta that everyone watching and everyone participating knows it is not an actual competition. Merit is a factor for producers but not a determining one.

Just imagine the fandom's reaction if they crowned Monet...

You should do rupaul favorite and least favorite queen each season if she even remember any of them.

Conspiracy theory: production knew that Jinkx would win this season, but they purposefully made swish swish a top 2 lip sync and edited it the way they did to create a divide in the fanbase: souring their win, no matter which one won. If Monet won, a lot of people would've been upset that the lip sync negated Jinkx' dominance through most of the season. Jinkx won the season, but she absolutely lost the finale. If they wanted Jinkx to look better in a lip sync, they could've easily given them any other out of the 6 songs, but they gave them the one with a 2 minute Nicki verse, where they knew Monet would demolish her.

I think the decision to push Jinkx through the lipsyncs to eventually win (even though I fully think that she won both and deserves the crown) is also to create just the right amount of drama and discussion among the fandom that can convert to anticipation for the next season whenever the announcement drops. I'm sure drama between queens isn't the only drama that WOW wants to fabricate.

“She beat all of the lipsync assassin she went up against” You’re brilliant Uckey 😆

having to pause every second to read what you've written down 😭😭😭

Before the crownings, I ALWAYS watch the video you have posted about that season!!!

Una pregunta, que significa ser “purpled” cuando mencionas a Deja?

nice video as always!

AS7 basically used Gameshow rules. Have you ever watched Family Feud or America Says? The first 20 minutes of the episode don't actually matter because the point totals for the final round absolutely dwarf the possible points for the first rounds. This prevents the episode from seeming like a waste of time if one team just absolutely dominates during the first 2/3 of the episode, which is often possible via pure luck because the challenge content is randomized. Likewise, the 3-star "twist" was thrown in to deal with the specific issue of Shea Couleé somehow Sasha Velouring herself the whole season (i.e. she seemed to do very well but always land just shy of winning challenges). Her actually getting the 3 extra stars and taking a top 4 spot was questionable-I'm at least 75% sure that was a request by the producers or RuPaul's on favoritism because her variety show was just on par with everyone else's-not any particular type of standout like Monet's opera singing.

Honestly these are all great points, but the ONLY thing I really disagree with is Kylie not having any growth. Ra’Jahs only growth is that she held back and was little miss nice. Kylie told it like it was, competed as a full trans woman, did STELLAR in snatch game, etc etc. She and Silky had the biggest growth

This video is super interesting and actually useful! Way more than all that chitchat from Reddit

I guess it's a matter of two factors: Who made it to the final lip sync? Who was better received by rupaul from that top? Yvie, Symone, Willow, Trinity, Shea, Kylie and Jinkx: she was the public's favorite, and she made it to the last lipsync, and they had the most likes on instagram when choosing the winner Monet and Jaida: both were talented, and they were lucky in the format they got (gigi and crystal obviously wouldn't win, and they should have planned to crown two queens on as4 long before)

could someone please explain the track record system used here? I didn't understand the numbers 😅

Is this a reupload because I could have swore I already saw this video from you but it says it was uploaded today???

I think in a weird way Jinkx "won" the "twists". So the actual format as a twist, no one took advantage of as much as Jinkx, no elimination protects them when they are the absolute worst in design challenges while also highlighting how much they stand out in virtually almost anything else. And out of the top 4 they're the only one there that didn't need or even benefit from all the other twists besides format, got blocked the most, one time correctly, didn't get an offered star and offering it instead, which never payed off as the twist never come back (in a design challenge for instance) so Jaida could return the favor. Didn't get the three stars. But by the penultimate episode Jinkx was the only guaranteed spot in the finale although all twists either didn't help or just hindered her. She didn't win the twists, vut she won over them. Almost like the twists were there to level the playing field of everyone next to Jinkx. Monet got 5 Stars, and so would Jinkx if she hadn't been blocked, without any help at all, no offered stars, no wins worth more than one star, getting blocked the most... Powerhouse

My point is (And I made sure two friends of mine knew, plus two guys I barely know, ended up agreeing with me), the 3 stars thing should have been 2 stars and the queen with the most stars would choose go to go to the finale, thus Jinkx (5 wins, 4 stars, blocked once) and Monet (3 wins, 4 stars). And they would choose which queen with 3 stars would join them (Jaida, Trinity and Shea). That reason, would alone save the format and I doubt fans would be mad about that twist. There's a rumour that Shea threatened to quit the season if she was not on the finale, that's why people speculate the 3 stars giveaway. Anyway... It's done, and Jinkx won!

I gotta agree, i realy thought after beating her first lip sync (and seeing how much of a protagonist she was in the lalaparuzza) Willow was the winner of the season, period.

The video has been uploaded 3h, yet I am certain I’ve heard most of it not too long ago. Is it deja vu, a Mandela effect or is it a reupload?

I’m here to say that Jinkx won All Stars 7 and she deserved it.

There has always been one thing extra that would decide on who wins Drag Race. It could be something simple like race or body weight, or more specific like look-aesthetic or just for the ratings/shock-value. Winning from being a consistent competitor alone isn't enough, the deciding factor will always be open for debate.

They should have given a certain amount of stars and midway through the season, the queens can steal stars against each other

Shea definitely should’ve won Girl Group and Branding over Jinkx. This was silly.

Monet won AS4 when Naomi say that the first 3 winners of all stars where white

i like this criteria ‘of winning’ the most.

AKA Producers ex machina 😂😂😂💀

“all of the lip-sync assassin …. (pause) she went up against” JAILLLL 💀

The Show knows who their strongest competitors are. Short of something unexpected like Sh*rry P*e, or Dela eliminating herself, they probably already have the finalists in mind.

How the finale should’ve played out is similar to how the returning queen episode of AS6 played out. They would have a lip sync smackdown, starting with the queens with the fewest stars and working up towards the queen with most stars, eliminating the worst performing (or saving Ru’s favourite) as they progressed. In stead of the ‘She done already done had hersess’ reward, the second place queen should’ve received the $50,000 reward.

we will have soon a season a queen that got horribly beat by the twist and win and that will be the twist she benefits from

The toxic Shea stans complain about rigging until it is rigged for Shea.

12:13 I think only the All Stars winners expected twists (or big one that affected their positions) but no the regular seasons winners.

Trinity and Monet also beat the twist of previous All Stars contestants being there. They were eliminated before the finale

i would add for all stars 7, another twist was the queen having the most stars breaks the tie for the top 4, which was beaten by Trinity by making an alliance with Monet. thus we can theorise that in order to get to the top 4, the queens needed to be the ones who took advantage of the twists. Also didn’t Jinkx blocked The Vivienne right as well?

Yo mirando, cuando vivo súper lejos de allá

Could you make a video of What if Tamisha was casted on season 12, instead of Jaida? (I believe Tamisha was chosen tod be on S12, but due to her illness she couldn't make it, so Jaida was chosen instead)

Hate all the twists maybe except blocking. Shea and Monet were the weakest this season, probably because of the focus on comedy. However, I would grant Shea a win in the sewing challenge where she made her own print. And her looks were always great. The Viv and Raja should be top4. And the lipsync smackdown was a joke, almost all lipsyncs were won by queens who did worst. Shea would have had a chance to win 50 k and would not be hated by haters now, if the judging was fair. Amazing season, with the roast episode being an absolute peak of the franchise, but the last two episodes were very underwhelming to say the least.

There was practically no point in the competition cause of the three stars. It took three stars for one of the top four queens to make it to the finale.

I stopped really caring about who won a season after Trixie was crowned

i think everybody knew that there will be a twist giving certain amount of stars at the end of the season but i honestly thought they were going to give 2 stars wich wouldve been better in my opinion. shea would not be in the finale but it would somewhat rebuild her...? just giving her something so shes not left alone with 1 star. and by giving 2 stars there would be monet in the finale with jaida and trinity being the ones with 3 stars. (i hope it all makes sense) and i really love shea and the work she did on this season but the challenges werent for her to excel..

i agree with another drag race yt-er, they should've went full on mario party on all succeeding episodes after the star gift one

*Idk if you mentioned lip sync song choice as a way to manipulate results in All Stars but that was very obvious is AS6* 🤔 Plus some queens talked about how production would use the briefcase trick to hide that the same song was in both cases for the first picks on one of the seasons

i actually LIVE for that “horrid” thumbnail 🤷‍♀️

12:03 the last part of the comment💀

I argue that Jinx bear the last twist as well as she was the only queen that wouldn’t be affected by the twist

I think that in the All stars 7 the productions in the face of a sort of lose lose situation, the whole point of the zero negative criticisms no one being edit as 'shady' was so no one will receive hate, but on the last episode if they had crown Monet the fandon was going go insane, so they chose Jinkx, and add on post production that lipsync was taken into consideration along side the rest of the season to justify Jinkx winning even tho she lost the lipsync, but Jinkx is receving some hate anyway

not "she beat ALL of the lipsync assassin... she went up against" you are WRONG FOR THIS

all of the lipsync assasin -- i love you

There was another twist, be it a minor one. That is Monet being able to pick the last queen in the Top4, which Trin took "advantage" of. It's hard to even call it her taking advantage of it since it was just by chance that Monet would have the most stars, but still.

Monet the one who took advantage of shangela not being crowned the season before.🍵🍵

A winners season where the contestants choose top two for the week and judges choose who will go home would be COOOL AND DRAMATIC

Tbh its kinda flimsy cuz i don’t think the producers or even the judges are keeping track of who voted correctly or who voted who ngl

I love how you use the purple term without letting non survivor watchers know what it means. Let’s keep them out of the loop!

I dont think there is a way to pick a winner... well... theres no way to create a 'format' to determine who is going to win. There are just way to many variables; fans, production, track record, edits...RU. On top of that every season has its own twists and formats for how the queens perform. Its fun to try and find out whos going to win and who 'deserves' to win but for me its whoever wins..... wins. Good for them. Not hating or anything any drag race content and discourse is good :)

The simple answer is: Paramount doesn't want the AS4 hate so they better please the social media favorite every time and that's right.

At the beginning was pageant, fishy, comedy , freaky, weirds, comedy, blacks, ills ,shy, trans, maybe in the future Latino, chinese, straight queens

I just think on the majority of these recent season the Winner is a queen that the fandom likes.

I couldn't be happier for Jinx and Raja who are two of my favorite queens ever. Not to comment on others comments but it's playing field not plain field.... #justsaying

They choose the winner base on the thing they post on social media

Twists mostly take away...I loved the nobody goes home format because I'm truly interested in seeing the full talent toolbox of each queen, and the consideration of letting them show the runway they paid for or created. Personally, I'm also tired of production manipulation and basically creating emotional rage porn, which by now they gotta know hurts the queens. It's disingenuous for them to, on the one hand, chastise the Fandom for getting angry and talking out of turn, all the while purposely setting up those scenarios knowing the reaction it will cause.

Diabetica did not want to season so I do not know why the winners are in there

Ever since Shea’s win I’ve stopped caring for the winners of the season. It’s just gotten progressively worse and more bland for me, like it’s only this queen wining because of the fans and the competition doesn’t matter. Every season before I was screaming and cheering for the winner, even if my fav didn’t win I could understand why the girl who won deserved it (like I was team KimChi but Bob destroyed season 8 so I didn’t mind) Now though? These crownings range from meh to wtf to UGH because they’re so predictable and aren’t based off of the competition as a whole. Shea’s and Symone’s wins were “whatever of course she was gonna win” and Kylie’s win genuinely made me upset with how mediocre she was in the competition, lacked a storyline and that Rajah was RIGHT THERE with one of the best redemption storylines on drag race and destroyed the competition. The winners lately, even Jinkx, have just felt bland, expected and purely based on the fan base. It feels like there’s no risks being taken and it’s no longer “may the best drag queen win”

I needed to see jaida in that top 4 not shea heck I would of pick the vivienne over shea tbh it’ was so force

Winning isn't the only bottom line. Touring Werk the World and now working the Vas Vegas shows, Pit Stop and Fashion Foto Review. are post Drag Race perks for non winners.

It’s almost like the person who does the best, winning doesn’t make sense unless it’s Jinkx 🤷🏾‍♂️. Rules be damned.

Haven't i watched this video a few days ago?

um beijo só pras tchutchuca

Monet just had Monet stans Period

The twists post season 9 has resulted in the weakest Queens winning (Minus Jaida and Symone and Shea). What’s shameful is this also seems to be the case in the international seasons as well. I don’t blame the Queens, and I don’t even blame the producers, I blame the fans. The inability for the fandom to accept that their favorite Queen may suck at competing has forced the fear of backlash production company from awarding the crown to Queens who objectively did the best…That’s how we get Homeland like conspiracy network plots like what’s explained in this video, where it takes Einstein levels of thinking to determine a winner. “No it’s not that Alaska should AS2 because she had the most wins, it’s because she got the most wins because she eliminated any queens who could vote her out utilizing the twists to her advantage”. WTF?! Where as using the twist to your advantages, NOT voting with the group to assure drama and risk taking like Naomi and Blu in AS4 and Vs the World, YALL “fans” ready to burn down the series. They shouldn’t have to ensure twists to result in outcomes that they’ll think you’ll be ok with, just to ensure a winner that y’all like, that they could live with, over the integrity of just crowning the person who did the best. This shits annoying.

Well it's no longer based on lip syncs apparently

The 3 stars at the end twist was annoying. Tbh, it shouldn’t have happened and with no chance of entering the final Shea should have just been eliminated and then maybe she could have given her star to another queen or something. 🤷🏻‍♂️

🤣🤣🤣 just ask jujube

2:23 ☕

#JusticeForDerrick

Slay

Fierce

But are we gonna talk about the fact that the entire season was rigged for jinx to win from the start the episode that she didn’t win where design to showcase the other queens however other queens were kept from favorability when they could’ve clearly won a challenge and jinx ultimately lost the lip syncs hard this is also the only season that has had this many comedy challenges

I feel like now, Agust 2022 its the moment the brand is going down hill. Now more than ever their an over saturation off queens, AND its so obvious they are just pumping season because off greed. The winning queen doesn't even have enough time to enjoy their win 🤷🏻‍♂️

You said about season 4 « why didnt they just crowned Chad? » Isnt it because Sharon was the fav one AND the best one in the season? She won 4 challenges..

At this point they should just bin the format. Everything should be like AS7, no eliminations only vibes. The last real competitive season was s9. It’s been years, it’s a farce and everybody knows it.. let’s drop the pretence of competition and just have fun, be entertained idk..

I still don’t get why Kylie won 😂😂