Here's Your One Chance, All-Stars, Don't Let Me Down

Kennedy Davenport and Miz Cracker lip sync to “Fancy” by Reba McEntire

As a long time RuPaul’s Drag Race fan, and even longer Reba McEntire fan, I was super excited for this week's ‘Lip Sync For Your Legacy’ on RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars 5 (Episode 7, Stand-Up Smackdown).

Let me set the scene: Miz Cracker somehow won this week's challenge, despite wearing an AliExpress bodysuit with one white contact, so she was set to lip sync for a 10,000 dollar tip. But which Lip Sync Assassin had RuPaul brought in? The curtain slowly rose to Ruveal: Newark, LaGuardia, Kennedy Davenport! 

Kennedy is one of my all time favourite queens and has had some of the BEST lip syncs in Drag Race Herstory (See: Her Season Seven lip sync vs Katya). With Kennedy you know you're in for a good show so I was ready! Then it happened, something I’ve always dreamt about but never thought would happen: we hear the chimes, the first chord on the acoustic guitar and Reba McEntire’s Fancy starts to play!

It should be noted that between Kennedy being back, and Fancy playing, I let out a very loud scream. My partner who is BANISHED upstairs while I “watch my stories” texted me “are you okay?”. He didn’t come to check on me which is both respectful and disrespectful, though that is a conversation for another time.  

As the song progressed it was evident that neither Miz Cracker or Kennedy “remembered it all very well.” because they DIDN’T know any of the words. What unfolded was both queens fumbling around the stage and trying to see how long they could keep their backs turned to the judging panel. The most interesting thing about the performance was Kennedy’s Zebra print cape. It was odd to see that no one on the judging panel was singing along either, the only person who knew the words was Blair St Clair. 

Ross Mathews and extra special guest judge Jane Krakowski enjoying the “Fancy” lic sync

So why did the production pick this song? I feel like it was a setup against Kennedy Davenport, a continuation of the shenanigans Ru has plighted this queen with. In a 2019 Logo article ‘What Are the Best and Worst Songs to Lip-Sync?’, Kennedy said “My least favorite is ’Fancy’ by Reba McEntire. It’s too many words to learn. Too many!”. The production team behind All-Stars is just making it clear that Kennedy will never win. Though I won’t agree with people online saying this song was out of her wheelhouse. She is a Lip Sync Assassin for a reason. I would have died if she ‘parked and barked’ the verses and hit a dip or split on the chorus. This song is also MADE for reveals (see any live Reba performance) and as an Assassin she definitely would have had time to make something happen. 

Also Miz Cracker was there and that’s that on that. 

Overall the lip sync wasn’t fancy and it definitely let me down. But Kennedy is still iconic and we can hold hope in the fact that Shea will walk out with a crown! 

The season finale of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars season 5 airs Friday, July 24.
Watch it on OUTtvGO, Crave, or wherever you watch your RuPaul stories.