The “Night of 1,000” runways challenge has notoriously been hit or miss for the queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race. In recent seasons, the group of remaining competitors receive an assignment to dress as their favorite version of an enigmatic celebrity on the main stage. They’re then graded on their references, construction, and ability to sell the garment as a drag-ified version of a queer icon.
From its first official appearance in Season 8’s “Night of 1,000 Madonnas,” which sparked Kimono-Gate (a scandal far more impactful on American politics and social culture than anything Richard Nixon ever did), this runway theme has made loyal fans hold their breath.
In that season, four of the eight remaining queens wore kimonos inspired by the ones worn in Madge’s “Nothing Really Matters” music video—leaving both the judges and fans furious. Decades of looks to choose from, and we landed on four kimonos? Sorry, four kimonos, two of which were worn by white people, one of whom already had dreads! Chaos ensued. History was begrudgingly made.
In the years since (perhaps thanks to producers’ intervention), the “Night of 1,000” runways have only suffered one instance of repeat offenders. But there have been plenty of suspicious interpretations. I’m still not sold on Kimora Blacc’s spin on “Lady Gaga on the go,” for example.
So, when RuPaul announced that the runway theme for Friday’s episode would be “Night of 1,000 Beyoncés,” I approached with what I believe to be an appropriate amount of trepidation. Would the remaining queens give us eight “Single Ladies” leotards? Perhaps eight trench coats and high-ponytails, à la “Ring the Alarm”? And god forbid any of the white contestants strut down the runway in “Formation” drag, pausing in front of the judges to pluck some hot sauce from their bag. I could see this recap title already: “Night of 1,000 Twitter-Canceled Drag Queens.”
Luckily, the queens of Season 15 are too smart to traverse into the predictable or problematic. But even before these queens strutted down the runway, we were faced with a surprising question: Was it Beyoncé who was the one paying homage to one of Drag Race’s own this entire time?
While the girls got into their best Bey Day drag in the workroom, we avoided any of the usual producer-prodded questions about childhood traumas or harrowing coming out stories in favor of some scintillating speculation. While beating her mug, Sasha Colby volunteered a perplexing thought.
“Everytime anybody asks me, ‘What’s your name,’ I’m like, ‘Sasha,” she began. “And they’re like, ‘Oh, Sasha Fierce!” Well, I was Sasha before the album came out.” Next, Sasha delved into what actually seems like a pretty plausible conjecture.
“I have a conspiracy theory that, because I knew some of the dancers back when she did [I Am… Sasha Fierce], and they’re good friends of mine…maybe Beyoncé may have seen one of my performances and thought, ‘That was fierce, Sasha.’ I’m gonna just say it, and until Beyoncé tells me to my face that it’s a lie, I’m gonna keep it.”
Immediately, there’s a cut to Mistress Isabelle Brooks in her confessional, ready to call bullshit. “What a lovely fairytale,” Mistress says, blinking hard into the camera. It’s a truly hilarious aside, but is it really so impossible that Beyoncé could’ve borrowed a bit of onstage persona from Sasha Colby? Let’s examine the evidence.
In a 2008 Oprah interview promoting I Am… Sasha Fierce, the talk show host asked Beyoncé about the inspiration for her newly minted alter ego. “Once you put on the wig and once you put on the clothes, you walk different,” Beyoncé said. “It’s kind of this character that I’ve created over the years.”
Hmm, who else do we know that takes on a different persona when they put on a wig, lashes, and different clothes to perform? Sounds like a drag queen to me. Sasha Fierce was, after all, essentially the drag-ified version of the real Beyoncé, which she used to create a duality between sides of that album.
Curiously, there’s no record of the Sasha Fierce alter ego prior to the I Am… Sasha Fierce promotional campaign in 2008. And if you know Beyoncé, you know she’s no stranger to randomly popping up at bars with the rest of us peons. She and her mother Tina Lawson aren’t exactly unfamiliar with drag culture, either. Perhaps Tina stumbled home after a night out at the Sasha Colby show, whipped up the latest House of Deréon original before her buzz wore off, and texted a photo of the black leotard to her daughter with a captioned report on her night: “Sasha? Fierce.” The rest was history.
But I digress! Whatever the level of veracity is behind Sasha Colby’s half-joking assertion, it doesn’t distract from the fact that she murdered the challenge and runway alike. Colby strutted out on the main stage paying tribute to Beyoncé’s 2006 BET Awards performance, where Bey performed “Déjà Vu,” all the way down to her custom body jewels. The movement, attitude, and execution was pitch perfect (much like Beyoncé’s live vocals). Leave it to Sasha Colby to match the excellence of Beyoncé’s best single—and no, that’s not up for discussion! Sasha Colby-Fierce deserved this week’s win, no question.
Each of the remaining queens brought a distinct Beyoncé look to the runway as well. Tonight, no one faltered in their choices, least of all Luxx Noir London, who looked so gorgeous in a recreation of Beyoncé’s Bob Mackie dress from 2006 that they could’ve crowned her right there and I wouldn’t have complained.
Even the queens who chose to give a bit of dragged-up camp to their looks succeeded. Mistress Isabelle Brooks’ choice to throw a muppet-y version of Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland onto her shoulder pads was inspired. And Salina Estitties swapping out Bey’s five Grammys in her iconic press room photo for five RuPaul Chia Pets was gonzo genius.
Even the queens I didn’t expect much from brought their A-game tonight. Marcia Marcia Marcia chose a more demure side of Beyoncé at a TIDAL event that perfectly encapsulated her own style of drag, while highlighting the fact that even Beyoncé’s press appearances are uniquely recognizable.
My only complaint from the Night of 1,000 Beyoncé’s runway is that Lucy LaDuca’s “Love on Top” VMA’s performance look should’ve come with the historic baby bump! Lucy unbuttoned her sequined blazer to reveal…nothing? It ended up looking more like the regional manager of an Old Navy, giving herself some room to breathe after one too many cookies at the company holiday party. More Becky than Beyoncé!
One of the other fun things about these celebrity-themed runways is that they inevitably tee up a lip sync one of the singer’s most famous hits. It was Salina EsTitties and Malaysia Babydoll Foxx who landed themselves in the bottom this week. Malaysia hadn’t yet been up for elimination, while Salina had already lip synced twice, as recently as last week’s episode. So, when Malaysia said she was ready to fight, and I heard the opening notes of “Single Ladies,” I expected a blood bath.
What we got was startling. I’ve watched it a few times and I’m still a bit gagged. Immediately, Salina opted to do the iconic “Single Ladies” choreography, nearly beat for beat. That’s a decision that could easily lead to an elimination—we want to see the queens perform, not recreate a video that has been burned into our brains. But Salina managed to inject such an intense energy to the moves that it felt almost frightening. She didn’t stop moving for one second, which made Malaysia fade entirely into the background.
Shockingly, it paid off. Neither I nor the judges could take our eyes off Salina. And in the end, it was enough to keep her around for another week, despite this being her third time in the bottom. I couldn’t be happier to say that the lip sync and the wonderfully successful Night of 1,000 Beyoncé’s certainly proved that all of my trepidation was for naught. Leave it to these stunning alien superstars to surprise us at every turn!
Sign up for our See Skip newsletter here to find out which new shows and movies are worth watching, and which aren’t.
