“RuPaul‘s Drag Race All Stars” season 8 came to a close on July 21 with the twelfth episode streaming on Paramount+. For the first time ever, RuPaul Charles announced a “second way to win” in addition to earning the coveted crown and $200,000 prize given to the traditional winner. In “Grand Finale,” either Jimbo or Kandy Muse entered the “Drag Race Hall of Fame” as the AS8 champion and a second queen banked $60,000 as the “Queen of The Fame Games.”
The queens up for the consolation “Fame Games” prize were the eliminated queens: Monica Beverly Hillz, Naysha Lopez,Mrs. Kasha Davis, Darienne Lake,Jaymes Mansfield, Kahanna Montrese,LaLa Ri,Alexis Michelle, and Jessica Wild. Heidi N Closet opted out of competing for the second prize when she quit earlier in the season.
Check out our full recap of episode 12 below to see which two queens earned the coveted cash tips in “Grand Finale”:
Following their “Variety Extravaganza,” all of the queens returned to the Werk Room with congratulations for Jaymes Mansfield and LaLa Ri topping the competition with their talent performances. Jaymes, who was eliminated first in her previous season, was simply excited to have won a challenge and a lip sync for the first time. The lip sync tie between her and LaLa resulted in both of them getting multipliers in the “Fame Games” vote that will determine the winner of the cash prize.
The next morning, the queens were a bit less cordial with one another as reality set in that Jaymes and LaLa had an advantage. Naysha Lopez told Jaymes that while she liked her talent show, she thought there were better performances. Instead of taking offense to the comment, Jaymes used it as an opportunity to point out that drag is subjective and there are many styles of it that not everyone is going to enjoy. Before the conversation could go deeper, Ru popped in to disclose that Kandy and Jimbo had “one last chance” to prove that they deserve to take the crown.For the final maxi challenge, Ru tasked the finalists with performing original solo numbers written by resident songwriter and producer, Leland.
But first, Jimbo sat down for her TicTac Chit Chat with Ru and Michelle Visage. In the conversation, Jimbo described growing up in a “tumultuous” home with two alcoholic parents that was always under the veil of a beautiful facade. She said that the “dysfunction and pain” allowed her to lock it in a safe place where she could “choose joy and choose light” through the clownery of drag. As a winner, Jimbo hopes to inspire people to “own their joy” in their own way.
Meanwhile, the eliminated queens remained in the Werk Room with the Furry Pink Box. Inside the box was a set of questions to get the girls to engage with one another in a funny, but loving way. Monica Beverly Hillz said that Naysa is the most likely to steal her man, Jaymes said Monica’s face andKahanna Montrese‘s body would make the perfect drag queen, and Mrs. Kasha Davis pulled out a $1,000 cash tip and gave a second tip to Monica. There were additional tips in the box as well, including one that said all queens won $500 and others won high valued trips to premiere destinations.
In Kandy’s TicTac Chit Chat she admitted to Ru and Michelle that the thought of coming to All Stars so soon after her original season was terrifying. Michelle wanted to know about her strategy, which Kandy said was about building friendships because friends won’t send you home. At the end, Ru said that she may actually be Kandy’s “biggest fan.”
Later, all of the queens made their way to the Main Stage to learn choreo with Miguel Zarate. He explained that they have two full numbers to work through, starting with Kandy who first worked with him on season 13. Kandy recalled how difficult the choreo was then and how it landed her in the bottom two, but feels more confident now. Jimbo was worried about her lack of strength as a dancer, but Miguel catered the dancing to her storytelling nature and injecting a lot of humor into it. Jimbo was relieved that the choreo and the song felt true to what she represents as a drag performer.
The next morning, Jimbo and Kandy got ready for their big performances while the eliminate queens hung out in the Werk Room. Jimbo told Jessica Wild that she has a secret look to unveil in her performance, hoping that pulling out all the stops will put her over the top with the judges. Alexis Michelle found a moment to tell everyone that it was an honor to be on the show with all of them and Darienne Lake thanked Jimbo and Kandy for supporting her through the season.
On the Main Stage, Ru and Michelle were joined by both Ross Mathews and Carson Kressley. Before we got down with the festivities of Jimbo and Kandy’s new songs, Ru performed her own original song “ASMR Lover.” First up with their performance was Jimbo with “I Remember Being Born,” a theatrical rock opera track, followed by Kandy with “Pay Me with Money,” a pop rock track in the style of Lady Gaga. And after both, the eliminated queens joined both the finalists for a gospel-styled remix of “I’m a Winner Baby.” Then, on the runway, all of the queens walked the catwalk for one last time in the “Finale Fabulosity” category.
The judges offered their final critiques to the final two. Michelle told Jimbo that she’s had an amazing journey throughout the season, culminating in a perfect final performance that showed her strength in storytelling. Ross likes that Jimbo is a “twisted” original and that there’s no one like her. Carson called her Net Gala look one of his favorite in the competition. Ru added that Jimbo reminds her of how drag can be a “middle finger” to everything, like the queens she grew up with. Ross said he had “love at first sight” with Kandy from season 13 and that now she’s “world class” in All Stars. Carson told Kandy that she has the gift of charisma and uniqueness that can only come from The Bronx and Michelle liked that this season she did things they didn’t expect from her, like winning the makeover challenge.
After further deliberation from the judges, Ru brought the eliminated queens to the stage to announce who the fans voted as “Queen of The Fame Games.” The lucky winner of the $60,000 cash prize and first ever crowned Fame Games queen is LaLa!
Last, to settle the crown on a head once and for all, Ru asked Jimbo and Kandy to go head to head in one final Lip Sync for the Crown to “Do Ya Wanna Funk?” Jimbo began the performance in a full pink cat suit with over exaggerated breast plate and a pink boa while Kandy was sleeker in an all silver, floor-length cape with high shoulders. It was obvious that both had planned reveals with their costumes. Jimbo ripped off the boa and front of her catsuit to reveal her larger-than-ever breasts and the return of her butt boobs. Kandy ripped off her cape to reveal a silver catsuit with cutouts. In the performance, Kandy got more physical than Jimbo with her trademark high kicks and an awkward slide down the runway while Jimbo relied on bouncing her assets around from one side of the stage to the other.
After thoughtful deliberation and based on their performance in the lip sync and throughout the entire competition, the winner of AS8 is Jimbo!
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