The "RuPaul's Drag Race" Season 7 Queens Put On One Sickening Show At Last Night's Finale Party
Photo: Brittany Travis
The house was packed and the vodka was flowing like water at the RuPaul's Drag Race season 7 finale viewing party in New York City last night, where some of this season's most gag-worthy queens assembled for a meet-and-greet with fans and a night of jaw-dropping performances.
Kennedy Davenport and Ginger Minj arrived together sporting matching silver sequin gowns and hair for days. Katya, Mrs. Kasha Davis and "proud two-time loser" Trixie Mattel followed shortly behind — Katya in a lacy red carpet-ready gown and Trixie, towering a foot above her companions in a neon spandex gym outfit, came flying out of the elevator and around the room on roller blades.
Photo: Brittany Travis
Fame was next to arrive with gay porn stars Boomer Banks and Rocco Steele as well as two more studly, shirtless men in chaps who tagged along behind her throughout the night. Wherever she was, the production followed.
Violet Chachki arrived last, wearing lingerie fit for a dominatrix and a pair of Louboutin heels that were so tall, everyone in the room would not stop talking about them.
Trixie was the first to dish on how her life has changed since being sent home from Drag Race twice (a fact she was eager to tell everyone she met). "I've made so much more money. Now I can go to Taco John's instead of Taco Bell, I can buy things like clean tights, hairspray, new contacts lenses," she told us. "And I get to go all over the world and meet people who think I'm as stupid as I am, so it's great."
Ginger Minj, sipping a vodka drink on a plush couch near the bar, told us her life post-Drag Race has changed in a different way. "It feels amazing," she said of the support she's received from fans and, more importantly, the letters she's received from fans who've felt supported by her.
"I never set out to be a role model, but I've been getting letters and messages from kids all over the world saying, 'I'm overweight, I'm from a small town, I don't feel like I can do anything. I was ready to die and I saw you having fun and being confident in yourself and because of you I want to achieve major things,'" she told us.
Photo: Brittany Travis
Asked about her role in creating "the bitter old lady brigade," the group of seasoned contestants who distanced themselves from this season's younger queens, Ginger told us it was all in good fun.
"There was a definite divide this season because Kennedy and I — and Kasha and even Katya — came up through the ranks, we have the battle wounds to prove it and we were doing drag before Drag Race was even a thing," she said. "We had those older seasoned queens that were giving us tough love and kicking our asses all the time saying, 'If you don't do this you're not going to get better. And that's what made us what we are today.'"
"We loved these other girls so much, it was just a lot of tough love when we said things like, 'girl stop doing that, stop acting like that and get your head in the game.'"
90 minutes later, the final episode of RuPaul's Drag Race season 7 finished airing on giant screens at the helm of the packed club. Each of the queens received applause throughout the finale, though the constant and thunderous standing ovations for Katya were by far the most deafening.
The season's winner Violet Chachki was crowned to much fanfare and awarded a giant check worth $100,000. After being read for filth by the night's hostesses, season 6 winner Bianca Del Rio and the legendary Lady Bunny, she delivered an uplifting acceptance speech.
Photo: Brittany Travis
Said Violet: "I want to dedicate this moment to every queer individual out there. And I want every gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, and transgender person to love who you are even if you're a rotten bitch who speaks her mind and is a god damn diva. If you want something, go fucking take it!"
Eight of the season's top queens gave incredible performances after the winner was revealed, including Mrs. Kasha Davis, Fame, Trixie Mattel, Kennedy Davenport, season 7 Miss Congeniality Katya, and of course, the final three, Ginger Minj, Pearl, and Violet Chachki.
Notable moments from the night of performances include Katya collecting handfuls of dollars in tips during the short course of her song — people from the back of the house were furiously clawing through the crowd to be able to throw dollars at their queen.
Photo: Brittany Travis
Kennedy Davenport had the entire crowd slayed with her signature high-energy performance, throwing kicks so high we were sure her damn legs would fly off her body and out through the ceiling.
But it was Violet Chachki who stole the show, performing last and serving some serious acrobatic realness on a cloth hanging from the ceiling.
Check out photos and videos from the wild night below and, now that another season is behind us, mark your calendars for the sickening new season of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 4: RuVealed, starting July 26.
Photo: Brittany Travis
Photo: Brittany Travis
Photo: Brittany Travis
Photo: Brittany Travis
Photo: Brittany Travis
Photo: Brittany Travis
Photo: Brittany Travis
Photo: Brittany Travis
Photo: Brittany Travis
Photo: Brittany Travis
Photo: Brittany Travis
Photo: Brittany Travis
Photo: Brittany Travis
Photo: Brittany Travis
Photo: Brittany Travis
Photo: Brittany Travis
Photo: Brittany Travis
Photo: Brittany Travis
Photo: Brittany Travis
Photo: Brittany Travis
Photo: Brittany Travis
Now watch the final three gag when they find out who took the crown.