Who Should Win Season 10? 5 Reasons Aquaria Deserves the ‘Drag Race’ Crown
This piece on why Aquaria should win is the third of a four-part series ahead of this week’s Drag Race finale. You can also check out our pieces on Kameron Michaels, Eureka O’Hara and Asia O’Hara.
Although the final four queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 10 are all fantastic, you’d be bonkers if Aquaria wasn’t high on your list of possible crown-snatchers to win this Thursday’s grand finale. The 22-year-old performer is one of the show’s fiercest competitors (maybe of all time), having earned a spot among its pantheon of glamour queens, and that’s just the start.
Here are five reasons why Aquaria should win the Season 10 crown.
1. Aquaria distinguished herself from her main competitors early on.
At the beginning of Season 10, people spoke as if Miz Cracker and Aquaria were going to be rivals, with the latter being accused of stealing the former’s lewks. And then, guess what? That dumb comparison ended up not mattering at all because Aquaria blew Miz Cracker out of the water by being consistently funnier and more stylish.
Long before Cracker got the chop in Episode 11, Aquaria had already distinguished herself — from Cracker and pretty much everyone else — by winning Snatch Game (no one saw that coming) and always serving it on the runway.
2. Aquaria has shown emotional growth through the season.
When neither Kameron Michaels nor Eureka were eliminated from the bottom two during Episode 9, Aquaria showed her bratty side at the start of Episode 10 by complaining their non-elimination had slowed down her march towards the crown. Many called it an ugly and immature moment.
But after being called out by fellow competitor Asia O’Hara, Aquaria actually became more supportive of her competitors and less conceited. Her improved attitude shows that she knows how to take criticism and grow from it — an important skill for any true queen and one reason why Aquaria should win.
3. Aquaria has won the most Season 10 challenges and has never had to lip sync for her life.
Going entirely by her Season 10 report card, Aquaria has never been in the bottom two, has never had to lip sync for her live and has won three challenges, more than any of her Top Four competitors. Based on this alone she is heavily favored to win.
4. Face it: Aquaria is drop-dead gorgeous.
Before Aquaria ever appeared on Drag Race she had a six-digit Instagram following, had booked performances overseas and had already agreed to appear on magazine covers and in Vogue Italia. She had also made friends with fashion industry movers and shakers like Jeremy Scott and Nicola Formichetti.
Wanna know why? Because Aquaria regularly turns out sickening lewks and face on a regular basis. Her oil spill mermaid, her gender-bent “Hat’s Incredible” top hat bunny and her wild predator-housewife evil twin, Sabatina, all showed off why she’s in Vogue Italia — because she regularly looks amazing. Hell, even RuPaul compared her to Detox, Violet Chachki and Raja, three of the show’s most glamorous queens of all time.
5. Aquaria is an inspiration to young drag queens (who are the show’s future).
The future of drag is in young people’s hands: young DragCon attendees, young people watching the show and young up-and-coming queens who are learning from Drag Race and YouTube makeup tutorials. The winners of Drag Race can spend the rest of their lives as drag ambassadors, inspiring a new generation of performers around the world.
As someone barely old enough to drink in America, crowning Aquaria could ensure that she spends literal decades attracting young audiences to drag and connecting drag with other mainstream brands of fashion. In short, Aquaria is a good investment for Drag Race and the art form’s longevity.
