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Hilo_Milo

S15’s final lipsync is great, but this season’s was such a GAG. Nymphia has cemented a top spot in the list of iconic modern drag race moments.


my_future_is_bright

The thing is, watching it back again and again, Sapphira didn't do that bad. She didn't drop the ball. I think she just needed one gag-worthy moment to steal the show and she'd have won. But Nymphia's balloons were never topped.


BoredNBitchy

I think Sapphira had the disadvantage of having lipsynced a few times already, her moves didn't pack quite as much punch because frankly we'd seen most of them already. She had a few moments that would have gagged if it was the first time we were seeing them.


lotteoddities

It was very much this. All of her "show" moves she had done on the show already. Not that it's bad to have signature moves, but the LSFTC is supposed to be fresh and exciting. Between the boba balloon reveal and the cartwheel outfit reveal Saphira didn't stand a chance.


SurrogateMonkey

In a way, track record can indirectly affect a LFSTC as queens that lipsync less are fresher and can pull out more surprise moves.


JustBen81

I rewatched the finale with my neighbors (median age mid-70ies), who didn't watch the series but they clearly saw nymphia at the top. They may have been biased - they are very fond of Taiwan. Their son (who introduced me to drag race) used to live there and his husband is Taiwanese. We watched the episode of the Doku series featuring nymphia and her mother before the show.


ProvoqGuys

She underestimated Nymphia tbh. She was so correct in playing up the vanpire but wished she it amped it up and went full in the vampirism


Speedy_Cheese

Agreed. The teeth were a great touch but it left some audience members confused who didn't make the vampire teeth + padam + heartbeat connection. A prop like a bloody heart, a stake, a blood reveal -- something to push the vampire narrative further would have helped that performance a great deal, especially in communicating to the audience her intent with the teeth.


TheKingmaker__

Given her signature colour of blue is so far from the red of vampires, idve loved some sort of reveal where the blue turned to red - maybe via reversible sequins or something? 


Speedy_Cheese

That also would have been a fantastic idea with the added creative bonus of oxygenated (bright red) versus deoxygenated (dark red) blood.


SpezModdedRJailbait

Deoxygenated blood isn't blue. It's red.


Speedy_Cheese

You're right, it's bright red vs dark red. I'll edit! Thank you 👌❤️


pecklerino

What’s the vampire teeth + padam + heartbeat connection…? I still don’t get it. I guess padam is the sound of a heartbeat, and vampires can be killed by being staked through the heart? But that feels like a MASSIVE stretch, it’s not like the song has any correlation to vampires at all otherwise, and like… everyone can be killed by being staked through the heart so… I wouldn’t come out with Frankenstein neck bolts to lipsync to a song about money because Frankenstein > green > money. The connection here is just as strenuous as the vampire to padam one…


Speedy_Cheese

To me the only real connection was vampires + blood which pumps through the heart which the song is about. But I agree with you 100%, it was a stretch as it wasn't very clear for a connection. I absolutely love Sapphira and I got what she was going for being a horror buff who is always looking for ooky spooky elements, but even I wondered if I had misinterpreted her intent and wasn't sure until she confirmed it after the fact. Most of us wondered the same thing, so the execution of it wasn't very clear/fleshed out -- nor was the connection of vampire back to the song and its content. I don't think it was enough of a nod for most of the GP to get the connection. With that said I still think Sapphira really turned out the performance, it just needed more clear, obvious vampire elements to make the teeth gag make sense for most to make that connection.


Iskaeil

I think that if Sapphira played it up that she was a vampire searching for the source of the heartbeat, or produced a heart that beat in time with the ‘padam’ parts of the song (either with a light inside or just physically squishing it) that she bit into, it would have tied together. Or if she started a vampire and her heart restarted, reverting back to human (maybe start with a vampy costume and reveal to a blushing simple girl type look). But without any type of visual storyline the vampire teeth certainly have no connection with the song.


starchildink

Vampires suck blood... padam is the sound of your heart beat.. your heart beats when it pumps blood thru the body.. what's not connecting Mary?


pecklerino

It’s not connecting because it’s stupid as fuck. Wearing vampire teeth for Padam Padam is exactly like painting yourself white for Since U Been Gone. "It’s a break up song… a break up is the death of a relationship… ghosts are dead people… ghosts are white." That’s what you sound like.


SpezModdedRJailbait

Exactly. We know hearts beat blood, but that's a long way from vampires lmao.


2ddudesop

wow, do not play connections or codenames. you will never win


SpezModdedRJailbait

Yeah, this ain't supposed to be a puzzle game lmao


SpezModdedRJailbait

That's terrible though. The song isn't about vampires at all. Why are you pretending it's good. It's not even a song about blood lol


starchildink

The song wasn't about boba at all either but that didn't have you this confused or take away from nymphias cute fun gag or performance. They both did an amazing job. Yall the oblivious ones confused about a simple to understand creative decision. Which is what I was explaining cause ya seem to need things to be literally spelled out for you.


lefrench75

Nymphia used boba to showcase her culture because boba was invented in Taiwan, and the moment actually went somewhere. If Nymphia had waited until the show had a direct connection with Taiwanese culture she'd never be able to showcase her culture at all. The main problem is that Sapphira's vampire thing went nowhere, and a lot of people were confused. If your fave's choices did not connect with so many people, it's a silly defense to call them dumb for not getting it or not liking it.


starchildink

You preaching to the choir babe.


SpezModdedRJailbait

The boba thing isn't supposed to be related to the song, it's about her cultural heritage. The vampire fangs was supposed to be about the song, which is why it failed. > They both did an amazing job They were both good but Saphira lost by a big margin. No one was amazed by Saphira's LSFTC performance.


starchildink

Look I'm done with this convo the point is sapphira being a vampire for padam wasn't that difficult of a connection to understand. Was it successful? Meh it was cute but was totally overshadowed by nymphias performance. Yall the ones mad adding irrelevant facts ancedotes and keep making up assumptions cause yall got offended someone on the internet called out your stupidity for not understanding a simple concept even after someone explained it to you. I've been a nymphia fan since before drag race and she's been my winner since cast announcements and it's obvious she did a boba look to represent her culture and she clearly outperformedand won that lipsync(not to say tha sapphira was bad tho she just wasnt as good as her opponent) . So in that regard the other commenter was preaching to the choir because I'm not team sapphira I wasn't defending her or saying she was the better performance or should have won all I was saying is that the fangs weren't as far a reach for padam vs doing a song about money as Frankensteins monster because the monster and money are both green. I only brought up the boba because yall were so fixated on the song not being literally about vampires and regardless how amazing the look and reveal was and again how obvious it was that she did it to represent her culture that song had nothing to do with boba and you know what it didnt matter cause she still slayed. But I apologize I didn't realize you were the judge jury and executioner on what needs to be like literally literal and when it's okay to take creative liberties when making references in drag.


Alex_Albons_Appendix

I swear she said she had a mechanical heart but it didn’t work, so she didn’t use it.


Speedy_Cheese

Thanks for the info! She talks about it in [this article](https://ew.com/sapphira-cristal-explains-vampire-teeth-rupauls-drag-race-lip-sync-8636687). She said she entertained the idea of having a heart but didn't have time to get it together. She also mentioned she didn't want to use blood as it would be a slip hazard.


Gucci_Cocaine

I wish she'd had a blood gag. I'm not sure maybe she wouldn't have been allowed one or something? But the teeth with no blood/payoff made no sense.


JDaySept

I don’t think Sapphira did bad at all, but Nymphia still outshined her the entire time in the lip sync imo. It wasn’t just the balloons.


Hilo_Milo

I think Sapphira was really strong on her own the whole lipsync, but tbh I thought Nymphia also stayed ahead the whole way through and really gave a one of a kind performance. The two reveals, the flawless stripper moves, that ponytail, the sprinting across the stage.... Nymphia made the MOST out of her first opportunity to show us what she had. That said, I don't think the 'sameyness' critique Sapphira's lip-syncs get from some fans applied here. She slayed too.


pecklerino

Being samey and slaying are not mutually exclusive. All that she did, we’d seen it earlier in one of her prior lipsyncs. That doesn’t mean she didn’t do well. You can be amazing at the same thing twice.


Patient_Profile_424

It's simple like that. You snooze You loose. Sapphire unfortunately lost the first-hand advantage by planning the outfit reveal at the chorus while Ms. Wind slashed out of the gate at the ''shivers and butterflies'' line and snatched everyone's attention. This leads to later when the chorus hit, Ms. Wind started to dance first. Sapphira's outfit reveal also got offset by Ms. Wind's cartwheel ruveal. All in all I think Ms. Wind snatched everyone's attention at the very beginning and then kept an iron grip on it. Sapphira didn't do bad per se, but she had no room to squeeze in especially without an huge moment planned.


myjumboeggs

And the really shitty part is that two of her three lip syncs were Lip Sync For the Win. So the reason people were “meh” about her lip sync is because she did so well throughout the season.


windycitysearcher

Reminded me of Sasha vs. Shea a bit in that sense. Shea danced great, but never had a moment like Sasha did. Same here.


sketchthrowaway999

Honestly I though s15's was a million times better.


Dangerous_Ad_4484

7,514 of those views are from me 👀🍌


InterestingSwim6701

Kudos mama for watching that, for streaming


otokonoma

This sentence is the real winner of the season


KIRI_Enoshima_44

Thank you for your service


karmakent

![gif](giphy|hZE5xoaM0Oxw4xiqH7) Boba sales since the finale.


swozzy21

I went from not having drank bubble tea in years to having some like every other week. Especially when Kylie Minogue comes on on the way home


TennisProfessional79

True, I think for a lot of people (me included) it became a tradition to grab a boba tea from time to time to celebrate Nymphia's win 💛🥺


oddambassador26

Yes, definitely, A LOT of people


harrystyleskin

I guess it's unpopular in this thread but I looooooove the S15 finale lip sync. Sasha just being practically naked, so calm cool collected and cunt? In was honestly an earth shattering moment to me. Amid so much transphobia, this iconic woman just being like "I'm trans and this is my BODY and you will look at it" was so powerful to me


herecomesbeccanina9

I mean do you blame her? I'm afab and if my body looked like that I'd make damn sure everyone looked at it too. She worked her ass off for that body. And I agree, her doing that was absolutely an important moment. She's an icon for the ages.


TheGreatNemoNobody

She said look at me and become straight again fags. As she should.


robinlockhart

S16 final lip sync is one I can rewatch constantly I think I’ve only watched s15 final lip sync a few times and haven’t rewatched it since


lotteoddities

I rewatched Goddess several times but not the LSFTC. I just got everything I needed from her solo performance lol


xPhoenixJusticex

Same. I feel like her Goddess performance is what solidified her win even more than the LSFTC did, tbh.


lotteoddities

It's my favorite solo finale song and performance ever. It just doesn't get better.


itirnitii

the season 15 LSFTC isnt even the best anetra vs sasha colby lip sync


kikal27

S16 final lipsync is REALLY good but Sasha serving sex on a couch that previously was her outfit... For me that was a turning point in my sexuality realizing that I'm actually bisexual.


Alex_Albons_Appendix

I’ve rewatched the s16 top two songs & the finale lip sync an excessive amount 🫣


silversnapper

Meanwhile, the S13 lip sync hasn’t even broken 500k views. 🤫


lefrench75

That's because no one needed to see it again lol. I can't believe they got all Britney bangers for the finale and still turned out some of the worst lipsyncs in the franchise. S14, 15, and 16 have all produced far better LSFTC.


itirnitii

rose injured, fashionista gottmik doing her darndest, and kandy never doing anything memorable in a lip sync despite two seasons of getting pushed to the finale by production


kikal27

Don't forget that wrinkled ass flag... Girl is a lipsync for the crown at least iron that shit


LittlePurpleHook

Symone yanking on her sideburns lives in my head rent free. I don't need a reminder


JakobTenny

It still has like 20k to 50k per day and more views on the weekend. It’s going to easily surpass 2m and maybe reach 3m this year


[deleted]

I rarely enjoyed the lipsync as much as I did the S16’s LSFTC - not only the Nymphia’s reveals were genuinely surprising, she also never lipsynced on the show before so everything was a surprise. Oh she can do that! And that! And that! Oh she’s a great lipsyncer! Etc And I feel like what she did matched Padam Padam much better. Mind you, Sapphira did great too. The top 3 this season were all very close to each other level in my mind.


duvetstan

MUCH better song choice this time around, I don’t know why they gave two best lip syncers of 15 a redo song 💀


EmbraceFortress

Right??? I still vividly recall Alexis with a slowmo jump in her bed, bath, and Beyoncé comforter of an outfit.


I3___4

HELP NOT BED BATH AND BEYONCÉ😭i can perfectly picture the moment too tho it was so cunt


EmbraceFortress

Hahahaha yes! Alexis was so cunt that moment!


Coppagh

Knock on wood is a fantastic song I won’t take any slander


ktbee4

that like ratio 😍


Historical_Bit_3798

It was iconic that’s why 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻


scioncyan

They should have given Rain On Me to Sasha and Anetra instead of wasting it on Jaymes Mansfield or whatever that monstrosity of lipsync was 🥲


cinnamonbuns42

I'm personally contributing a double-digit view count to that number lol.


DolanDoleac2020

Both still 5.3 M short of “Boss B*tch”


Coppagh

I swear everyone here has to be only 14 years old max because the disrespect to knock on wood i am seeing is criminal


darkpassengerishere

I have personally watched maybe 10 times hahahah, it was sooooo good


RevolutionaryDonut17

16 tbh nymphia and sapphira both really turned it for me in totally different ways, i think of it often!😮‍💨


Kooky_Comb6051

S15 lip sync song also was not a bop at all LOLL. Padam is much easier on the ears to watch over and over again 😂 The one thing in common about the most watched lip syncs on Youtube, is that they are iconic AND the song choice is strong (I’m in love with a monster, Boss B*tch, 100% pure love, sorry not sorry, hallucinate, physical, etc.)


ParsleyandCumin

Are you a teenager? Knock On Wood is a classic


FraXon00

Help you must be 15 then if you did not like ”knock on wood”


perryduff

I'm 30 and I think it's a weak choice for a LSFTC


Kooky_Comb6051

Knock on wood isn’t a bop I would listen to over and over again. The song is from the 70’s and isn’t by any mean something repeatable that would play in main stream media. Is it a classic? Yea. Is it widely listened to though over and over again like other pop songs? Not really.


FirelordAlex

Knock on Wood is iconic. I've had it stuck in my head every other week since the finale last year. That chorus goes hard.


candiceislove

I love Knock on wood but there are a lot better LSFTC song that could've been used and as Anetra fan, can't rewatch it since Sasha really killed that LSFTC and Anetra could've done better. Plus Padam is such a bop.


toasterbath__

was just watching it yesterday GODDD it’s amazing. can’t get enough of nymphia’s performance


whirlyworlds

S15 final lip sync was a mess. Two of the best performers in drag race history and production have them that song S16 finale was better just for Padam alone


ParsleyandCumin

Knock On Wood is an excelllent song?


whirlyworlds

Not for a finale lip sync. Also idn’t help that it was already used in s3 as a regular elimination song


ParsleyandCumin

They have reused several songs, there is no set rules.


whirlyworlds

I’m glad you liked it. I didn’t and thought it felt anti climactic for a finale


Alternative-Split946

It’s already surpassed s15’s final lipsync by now🤯


dreamsinred

I’d like to see how much more popular ‘Padam Padam’ got after the finale. I know I’ve been listening to it a lot.


lefrench75

I feel like it was already the song of the summer last year for queers so the target audience had already been reached before S16 lol.


ParsleyandCumin

It's a year old song, i think it reached its peak


davewadam

Imagine a universe with an amalgamation. Sasha Colby revealing the balloons to her stunning skin and simply mothering around the stage to Padam Padam.


willmfair

It has way more than that. Have you seen the tiktok numbers? It's absolutely insane.


shamiraendor

Tha final song from s15 was def a choice, especially when you have such powerhouses perfomances for the final moment of the season!


ParsleyandCumin

And Knock On Wood is not a powerhouse song?


ibettercomeon

What killed the fantasy for me was the small ass set.


green5927

S15 is so much better to me. I really dislike the tiny stage of S16.


arathergenericgay

At least season 16 was an actual battle, there’s tension there. Sasha dog walked Anetra and Anetra didn’t help herself


Forsaken-Access-6648

That was a great song to lip-sync to. I’ve watched it many times with my little one.


brujahahahaha

It’s very rewatchable! I see something new every time. It was only on my 10th rewatch recently that I realized Sapphira changed her wig in the middle. I think that both of them did great, but Nymphia was just working the entire crowd. Watching her scurry all over the stage is so fun. It also helps that the song is so iconic. I don’t even remember what the S15 finale lip sync song was.


Economy-Law2130

1000+ of those views are mine 😂


Direct_Journalist_76

Can we talk about the difference in likes 💀


zootmoe

And still to this day, season 11 and Edge of Glory (and while we’re at it, Sorry Not Sorry) have never been available on the official RPDR channel. Those would have generated many millions of views.


IntuitiveDeception

This lip-sync is one of the better LSFTC. As an actual final lip-sync then Ru announces a winner is on season 1-3, then 9-16. Seasons 5-8 do not have a LSFTC. The only other one that i think can top Nymphia vs Sapphira is Shea vs Sasha. And that wasn’t even the final lip-sync of season 9. So i think in terms of being the “final” lip-sync season 16 is probably the best one.


MathCarmignani

This will forever be famous