When one recalls the dozens of lip-sync battles that took place on RuPaul's Drag Race, it's often with excitement and fervor. Granted, most of these performances are remembered for being iconic due to breathtaking reveals, such as Sasha Velour's rose petal spectacle in season 9, or Alyssa Edwards and Tatianna's high-energy and chemistry-fueled performance to Rihanna's Shut Up And Drive on All Stars 2.
However, sometimes performances are remembered for being absolutely horrible. Whether the queen lacked energy, didn't know the words to the song, or were already feeling defeated, there are quite a few sad lip-syncs to go around. Here, we take a look back at the top ten absolute worst performances on RuPaul's Drag Race.
Penny Tration vs. Serena ChaCha (Season 5)
The show loves to feature Miley Cyrus songs when the time comes for the queens to lip-sync. They're full of energy and can usually make for pretty memorable performances...if the queens try hard enough.
That was not the case for Penny Tration, the first eliminated queen of season 5, and Serena Cha Cha. Serena's performance was just messy and Penny clearly didn't know the words. Sad to watch.
Nina Bo’Nina Brown vs. Valentina (Season 11)
Valentina had everything it took to win season 9. She was beautiful, charismatic, and her runway looks were always to die for. When she landed in the bottom, audiences were sure she was going to be victorious.
Fans, however, will know she wasn't. Valentina didn't know the words to the song and RuPaul had to stop the music to get Valentina to take her mak off. The best thing to come out of this lip-sync was the iconic sentence "I'd like to keep in on, please".
Nina West vs. Silky Nutmeg Ganache (Season 11)
Silky Nutmeg Ganache had been pretty vocal throughout her entire run on season 11 of RuPaul's Drag Race about the fact that if she had to lip-sync for her life, she would put in quite a show.
But when she did land in the bottom alongside Nina West she...didn't. In fact, none of them did. The whole battle was low-energy, Silky was messy, and Nina looked like she didn't know what she was doing.
Kimora Blac vs. Jaymes Mansfield (Season 9)
A case can be made for the fact that Kimora and Jaymes missing the exact same move at the exact same time could be considered somewhat legendary. But the overall performance was so bad, fans will be forgiven for forgetting that particular moment.
The queens were lip-synching to "Love Shack" in front of the B52s themselves, and yet, they completely failed to impress. None of them knew how to move and it was an overall disappointment.
Mimi Imfurst vs. India Ferrah (Season 3)
RuPaul expects the queens to bring it and leave it all on stage when it's time lip-sync for their lives. And this often means tricks such as wig reveals, crazy splits, and death drops.
But in Mimi Imfurst's case, it was picking up rival and dragging her back onstage as if she were in a wrestling match. Bad move, RuPaul wasn't impressed, and Mimi went home. "Drag is not a contact sport", people!
Charlie Hides vs. Trinity Taylor (Season 9)
This had to be on the most cringe-worthy lisp-syncs in the history of lip-syncs, and not just of the show. Putting on a good performance doesn't have to be about crazy gimmicks, as Latrice Royale proved in the past. It's about embodying the essence of the song.
But when that song is Britney Spears' "I Wanna Go" you have to do something. And Trinity clearly got the memo! Charlie...not so much. She literally didn't move for the entire time. No one really knew what to think - not even RuPaul.
Vivienne Pinay vs. Honey Mahogany (Season 5)
Season five was the season of many firsts - and that included the first double elimination ever. But thinking back at the performance Vivienne Pinay and Honey Mahogany gave, it's not surprising it happened.
This was Britney Spears singing "Oops, I Did It Again" and both queens seemed like they were just woken up from a long nap and were not happy about it. Terrible from every possible angle.
Laila McQueen vs. Dax Exclamation Point (Season 8)
The second double elimination on the show took place three seasons later and, once again, RuPaul was very much justified in her decision to send McQueen and Dax home.
We're talking about "I Will Survive", one of the most iconic pop anthems of all time. And yet, none of the queens bothered to bring a drop of energy and fierceness to their performance.
Six-Way Lip-Sync (Season 11)
The eleventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race wasn't exactly amazing. And the twist RuPaul decided to introduce early in the season where six queens had do lip-sync at once, everyone was shocked.
None of the queens are really at fault here - the concept just didn't make sense. Having half a dozen queens trying to perform on the same stage just paves the way for a terrible mess - which this lip-sync was.
Asia O'Hara vs Kameron Michaels (Season 10)
Asia O'Hara was a strong and consistent competitor throughout the run of season 10, and her charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent granted her a spot in the top four.
When it was time to lip-sync for the crown against Kameron to "Nasty", Asia started releasing butterflies from her outfit for some reason. The twist? The butterflies died, probably from asphyxiation. Overall, it was painful for the audience to watch, and extremely embarrassing for Asia herself.