Grand Finale (RuPaul's Drag Race season 17)

"Grand Finale"
RuPaul's Drag Race episode
Episode no.Season 17
Episode 16
Presented byRuPaul
Original air dateApril 18, 2025 (2025-04-18)
Guest appearances

"Grand Finale" is the sixteenth episode and finale of the seventeenth season of the American television series RuPaul's Drag Race. It originally aired on MTV on April 18, 2025. During the episode, the four finalists perform songs with original vocals. Onya Nurve is crowned the season's winner after defeating runner-up Jewels Sparkles in a lip-sync contest to "Abracadabra" by Lady Gaga. Additionally, Liza Minnelli receives the Giving Us Lifetime Achievement Award.[1][2][3][4]

Episode

The season's contestants appear on stage, then RuPaul performs the song " Good Luck and Don’t F%k It Up".[5] The final four contestants perform individually to original songs.[6]

Sapphira Cristál and Xunami Muse, who were voted Miss Congeniality on the sixteenth season, returned to reveal Crystal Envy as this season's title holder.[7] Liza Minelli receives a lifetime achievement award.[8]

Jewels Sparkles and Onya Nurve are declared the two finalists. They face off in a lip-sync contest to "Abracadabra" (2025) by Lady Gaga. Onya Nurve is deemed the winner,[9] making Jewels Sparkles the runner-up.[10][11]

Production

The episode originally aired on MTV on April 18, 2025.

Jewels Sparkles performs "Ding" and Onya Nurve performs "It Do Take Nurve".[12][13]

Minelli's younger brother Joey Luft also appeared on the episode.[14]

Alastair James of PinkNews said of the final lip-sync contest: "While Sparkles brought several reveals, an element Drag Race fans have come to expect from lip syncs, especially in the final, Nurve notably did not. That has sparked some strong reactions from the Drag Race fandom, a notably opinionated crowd."[15] Joey Nolfi said Onya Nurve's performance "might be one of the only recent finale lip-syncs that didn't include reveals". In his interview with Onya Nurve, the contestant recalled: "I did have a couple of reveals I was working on, but I’ve never been a queen of reveals. I don’t do tricks, gags, and goops in my regular life. It came to be about what type of queen I am. I figured if I never did reveals before I got on Drag Race, why would I do them now? I’m a great performer, and I put all my bets on that."[16]

Fashion

Suzie Toot wore an outfit inspired by Audrey II from the musical Little Shop of Horrors.[17] Jewels Sparkles wears a wide pink dress. Autostraddle describes Lexi Love's look as "a full Victoria’s Secret angel in flowers fantasy".[8] Onya Nurve's brown-and-gold dress has a honeycomb pattern. Sam Star wears a white dress with gold fringe, white gloves, and a large cowboy hat.[8]

Reception

Jason P. Frank of Vulture rated the episode three out of five stars.[18]

Jewels Sparkles took a break from social media "after experiencing the intense discourse surrounding the grand finale", according to Bernardo Sim of Out.[12][19][20]

See also

References

  1. ^ Robledo, Jordan (2025-04-02). "Gay icon Liza Minnelli to make Drag Race debut during season 17 finale". Gay Times. ISSN 0950-6101. Retrieved 2025-04-03.
  2. ^ "'Drag Race' adds Liza Minnelli for historic season 17 finale appearance". Entertainment Weekly. People Inc. OCLC 21114137. Archived from the original on 2025-04-12. Retrieved 2025-04-12.
  3. ^ Tangcay, Jazz (2025-04-01). "Liza Minnelli to Appear on 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Finale and Receive Lifetime Achievement Award". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. ISSN 0042-2738. OCLC 60626328. Archived from the original on 2025-04-12. Retrieved 2025-04-12.
  4. ^ "Liza Minnelli, 79, Makes Rare Appearance for 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Season 17 Finale as New Winner Is Crowned". People. People Inc. ISSN 0093-7673. OCLC 794712888. Archived from the original on 2025-04-19. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  5. ^ Garner, Glenn (2025-04-19). "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Crowns Season 17 Winner & Honors Liza Minnelli". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on 2025-08-20. Retrieved 2026-02-15.
  6. ^ Guzzo, Bianca (2025-04-19). "RuPaul's Drag Race Season 17 Episode 16: Grand Finale Extravaganza". IN Magazine. Archived from the original on 2025-09-16. Retrieved 2026-02-15.
  7. ^ "'RuPaul's Drag Race' season 17 winner, Miss Congeniality revealed: See who won". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2025-04-19. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  8. ^ a b c Gregory, Drew Burnett (2025-04-19). "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Episode 1716 Recap: Come to the Cabaret". Autostraddle. Archived from the original on 2026-01-08. Retrieved 2026-02-15.
  9. ^ Remington, Kaylee (2025-04-19). "Cleveland's Onya Nurve crowned winner of 'RuPaul's Drag Race' season 17". Cleveland.com. Archived from the original on 2025-04-20. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  10. ^ "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Season 17 finale recap: America's Next Drag Superstar XVII is …". Xtra Magazine. Pink Triangle Press. 2025-04-21. ISSN 0829-3384. Archived from the original on 2025-04-21. Retrieved 2026-02-15.
  11. ^ Swift, Andy (2025-04-19). "RuPaul's Drag Race Finale: Did The Right Queen Win Season 17?". TVLine. Static Media. Archived from the original on 2025-08-20. Retrieved 2026-02-15.
  12. ^ a b Sim, Bernardo. "Jewels Sparkles quits Twitter amid Drag Race finale discourse". Out. ISSN 1062-7928. Archived from the original on 2025-10-17. Retrieved 2026-02-15.
  13. ^ Sim, Bernardo. "Watch how the Drag Race top 4 queens reacted to S17 finale". Out. Archived from the original on 2025-10-05. Retrieved 2026-02-15.
  14. ^ Tangcay, Jazz (2025-04-19). "'Drag Race' Producer Explains How They Got Liza Minnelli to Join the Season 17 Finale: 'I Bow to the Drag Gods'". Variety. Archived from the original on 2025-04-22. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  15. ^ James, Alastair (2025-04-22). "Drag Race season 17 winner addresses divisive finale lip-sync". PinkNews. Archived from the original on 2025-11-17. Retrieved 2026-02-15.
  16. ^ "'Drag Race' season 17 winner Onya Nurve didn't need lip-sync reveals: 'I am the gag!' (exclusive)". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2025-06-19. Retrieved 2026-02-15.
  17. ^ Duncan, Charlie (2025-04-17). "RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 finale looks - a review". PinkNews. Archived from the original on 2025-04-18. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  18. ^ Frank, Jason P. (2025-04-19). "RuPaul's Drag Race Season-Finale Recap: Winner Winner". Vulture. Vox Media. Archived from the original on 2025-04-20. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  19. ^ Robledo, Jordan (2025-04-22). "Drag Race season 17: Jewels Sparkles leaves social media due to toxic finale discourse". Gay Times. Archived from the original on 2025-11-10. Retrieved 2026-02-15.
  20. ^ Duncan, Charlie (2025-04-22). "Drag Race runner-up quits social media over finale fan reaction". PinkNews. Archived from the original on 2025-04-23. Retrieved 2026-02-15.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.