Posted in: TV | Tagged: drag race

RuPaul's Drag Race: Liza Minnelli Set for Season 17 Finale Appearance

Set to air April 18th, the finale of MTV's RuPaul's Drag Race Season 17 will feature an appearance by the icon herself, Liza Minnelli.

Hey RuPaul, it's Liza, with a z! Joining the RuPaul's Drag Race Hall of Fame is Liza Minnelli, the newest "Giving Us Lifetime Achievement" Award recipient. Liza joins prior honorees Bob Mackie and Cassandra Peterson (aka Elvira). The award is a play on the Lifetime Achievement award at the Oscars and similar awards shows, but on RuPaul's Drag Race, it celebrates people who have made a cultural impact on the world of drag and the LGBTQ community.

The season 17 finale was filmed last month but will air on April 18 to cap off the season. The released photo points to a main stage finale this season, as opposed to a live taped show in a theater or other venue. It has also been speculated that with the emphasis on RuPaul's Drag Race Live: Las Vegas and the fact they just celebrated the 1000th show, the finale might be filmed in Las Vegas at the Flamingo home of Drag Race Live or even on the "Werk the World" tour stage, but this photo of RuPaul and Liza looks like it's on the main stage (or a version of it, like the season 16 finale), which points to another "intimate" finale that's contained and free from spoilers being released early.

The "contained finale" format has the downside of having to cast the audience rather than sell tickets in a lottery system; paying generic Hollywood seat fillers who generally don't care about the queens, the show, or drag negatively impacts the audience's energy and vibe.

The season has gone from 14 queens to 5, with the top five being Suzie Toot, Onya Nurve, Sam Star, Lexi Love, and Jewels Sparkles. Speaking of Las Vegas, Friday's episode will be the RuPaul's Drag Race Live: Las Vegas challenge, which will see the queens compete in the last regular format challenge of the season.

The grand prize at stake for the winner of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 17 is a cash prize of $200,000 in addition to a one-year supply of Anastasia Beverly Hills cosmetics and, of course, a sickening crown and the title of America's Next Drag Superstar.

RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 airs on MTV on Friday nights.

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