The recent call to “sashay away” for Scarlet Envy in her lipsync against Ra’jah O’Hara sparked one of the biggest ‘you got it wrong’ controversies in recent Drag Race history. When I first watched the episode, I certainly couldn’t take my eyes of Scarlet, but overall Ra’jah did a good enough performance that I can’t exactly say that Scarlet was robbed. There have been plenty of other performances where RuPaul’s decision was questionable, so I decided to come up with my list of Ru’s 10 wrongest ‘lipsync for your life’ decisions.

Scarlet Envy bringing a tearful premonition to her upcoming eliminating.

10) Monet X Change v. Dusty Ray Bottoms (S10) — “Pound the Alarm” by Nicki Minaj

Let’s be real, Monet killed this lipsync. Her death-drop fake-out became one of the all-time most iconic Drag Race moments of herstory. But Dusty held her own on that stage, and [almost] as memorable was her manic vibratic interpretation of a pounded alarm. If there ever should have been a “shanté you both stay” moment, it was this. Not Alyssa v. Tatianna (Tatianna alone should have been the winner), and not Roxxxy v. Alyssa (Roxxxy alone should have stayed), but this one.

Joslyn Fox, ready to accept the cards that had already been dealt for her.

9) Joslyn Fox v. Adore Delano (S6) — “Think” by Aretha Franklin

Here’s a case that’s similar to Scarlet & Ra’jah’s lipsync. Adore, like Scarlet, was actually more entertaining in the lipsync. Their performances were more innovative and eye-catching; yet Joslyn, like Ra’jah, did better at actually embodying the song. And isn’t that what it’s supposed to be about? Not just letting rose petals fall out of your wig or unleashing dead insects from your jewelry. What Joslyn did up there was much more Aretha than all the flailing and bug-eyeing that Adore did, but clearly the producers had already decided that Adore was their bigger star, and part of a story they wanted to push. I can understand this, but Joslyn Fox is one of the most surprisingly solid queens to re-watch on Drag Race. Certainly one of the biggest goals of S6 was to make the audience not root for Courtney Act, and Joslyn was perhaps the biggest key in making us hate Courtney. Yes, Ms Act’s Aussie humour and sarcasm were often misunderstood, but she also was genuinely arrogant and blatantly condescending toward Joslyn, one of the sweetest wouldn’t-hurt-a-butterfly queens ever to be it on Drag Race.

8) Jaidynn Diore Fierce v. Kandy Ho (S7) — “Break Free” by Ariana Grande ft. Zedd

Once again, we’re in another one of those situations where you have to decide if Drag Race is a reality TV show or a competition, but not both. Kandy Ho had been circling the drain for weeks and it was definitely her time to go, so it was really unfortunate that they had to send her home to an Ariana Grande song where she looked exactly like Ariana Grande. This is maybe the best instance of a queen embodying the performer of a song. Ariana actually was up on that stage that night, yet they chose Jaidynn to stay anyway. It wasn’t the wrong decision overall, but it was nothing to do with that lipsync.

Detox v. Jinkx in the lipsync that was chosen for Jinkx alone

7) Jinkx Monsoon v. Detox (S5) — “Malambo no.1” by Yma Sumac

Perhaps this is an odd choice, because this performance is one of the most iconic moments of the cult of Jinkx Monsoon. It was where she finally showed us what she could do on stage and proved that she could (and would) be a crown winner. But Detox was also wonderful. No where else was Detox’s signature lip-tremble as effective as with this song, but maybe by this point in the show, Ru had seen enough of it. I love Jinkx, she’s one of my all time favourite winners of the show, but if they’d given her any other song, Detox probably would have beaten her. Detox on the other hand could have beaten Jinkx on any song but this one. Sad but true. Facts are facts.

6) Monet X Change v. Trinity ‘the Tuck’ Taylor (AS4) — “Fighter” by Christina Aguilera

We all know that the decision to crown two winners in AS4 was not about this lipsync, but I’m not going to get into that here. It’s just a shame that in this instance that decision had to look so horribly baffling because of Monet’s wipe-the-floor performance. Trinity so clearly lost this lipsync that when they crowned her the [dual] winner of AS4 immediately after, the audience couldn’t get behind her. If they refused to give Monet a win on her own, then why not just call Manila Luzon on the phone and leave her a “you’re the winner” voicemail? Trinity is great, don’t get me wrong, but watching her win $100,000 right after being destroyed on the stage was an embarrassment.

Tammie Brown giving Ethel Merman realness

5) Tammie Brown v. Latrice Royale (AS1) — “There’s No Business Like Show Business” by Ethel Merman

We all know that Tammie Brown is pretty unbendable and isn’t about to perform some song by some ex Destiny’s Child singer just for some god-damn TV show… but this song was actually in Tammie’s wheelhouse. And she killed it. But it didn’t matter what she did up there, Ru was going to keep Latrice, someone who was at the time just coming off a Miss Congeniality win from S4 and was one of the most popular queens to ever come off Drag Race. Tammie on the other hand was a cult favourite, but not just mainstream enough for the producers to get behind. Ultimately this show, like most US reality TV programming, prefers making money to showing integrity. Too harsh? Maybe, maybe not.

4) Trixie Mattel v. Pearl (S7) — “Dreaming” by Blondie

Pearl was a ‘hot boy’ and that’s why RuPaul kept him on the show so long. This is common knowledge now, and something admitted by Ru himself, but at the time of airing S7 it was baffling. Why Pearl got to “shanté you stay” after standing in one place on the stage and punching invisible pokemons in the air is madness. Ironically this was Trixie Mattel’s best ever lipsync performance, yet she got sent home for it. Of course, she did come back a few episodes later after the ‘Conjoined Twins’ challenge, but when that happened it was actually Mrs Kasha Davis who should have stayed. But you know, who’s the hotter boy there — Trixie or Kasha? And so the choice was made. (By the way, Kasha actually is hotter if you want to go down that road.)

Katya roaring and Kennedy dying

3) Katya v. Kennedy Davenport (S7) — “Roar” by Katy Perry

I don’t think the show had any idea that Katya would have resonated so strongly with the public or else they wouldn’t have made this epic blunder. I do enjoy Kennedy Davenport, and I, like most people I know, would have preferred her to take the AS3 crown over Trixie Mattel, but her performance in this lipsync was a mess. She did way too much. She pounded that stage like a freshly guillotined chicken, pulling out every trick under her wig while Katya did a properly faithful and compelling performance. If Alyssa Edwards was forced to apologise to Katy Perry for her Snatch Game impersonation, then surely Kennedy should have also had to beg Katy for forgiveness for this abomination. #JusticeForKatya

Darienne Lake walking it with ease, and BendelaCreme out of his element

2) BendelaCreme v. Darienne Lake (S6) — “Point of No Return” by Exposé

BendelaCreme emerged as a real fan favourite when S6 aired, and perhaps the show predicted that would happen. So when they set up this lipsync, they surely expected to happily sacrifice Darienne Lake, but they didn’t know that Darienne would assassinate Ben up there. In order to fix their blunder, they decided to do a “sashay you both stay”. The viewing public was relieved to see Ben stay, even the girls at the back of the stage seemed relieved, but Darienne and Darienne only won this lipsync. Ben’s an amazing talent, but let’s be real, she wasn’t at her best in S6. Only when AS3 came around could we bow down and see the majesty of BendelaChrist. But even today Darienne Lake would beat Ben in a lipsync.

Jade never had a chance against the incredulous Rebecca Glasscock

1) Jade v. Rebecca Glasscock (S1) — “Would I Lie to You?” by The Eurythmics

Yes, this is it. If you are surprised then it’s probably just because you haven’t actually watched S1 yet. This really is the clearest case of Ru sending the wrong girl home. Or rather, sending a girl home based on a false premise. This lipsync would have been comparable to pitting Coco Montrese against Kim Chi in a fast-paced dance number and then telling Coco to sashay away. Jade was a seasoned queen and a professional dancer. She also was the girl everybody liked, who was talented, beautiful, but also kinda boring for TV. Rebecca Glasscock on the other hand was a classic Drag Race villain. All the girls hated her and so did the public. It makes sense that they kept Rebecca from a reality TV point of view, but it’s just a shame that she had to so clearly get destroyed on that stage by Jade. But ultimately who would I rather see on a future All Stars, Jade or Rebecca? Ongina actually.

Liam Campbell is editor of Elska Magazine, a publication about travelling the world, meeting local guys, and getting to know them through personal stories and intimate photography. It’s not about drag queens in the slightest, though a few guys-who-do-drag have appeared on its pages.