Usually occurring midway through each Drag Race season, Snatch Game is widely considered among the most important and memorable challenges of the show and, in RuPaul's own words, separates "the basic bitches from the fierce-ass queens."[3] Winners of the show are often amongst the top performers in the Snatch Game,[a] though there are a few exceptions.[b]
The drag queen contestants typically impersonate women, though several contestants choose male celebrities with sufficiently flamboyant public images to fit a drag aesthetic.[4] Several contestants have chosen to impersonate other people directly associated with the show, such as other past or present contestants, Michelle Visage, or RuPaul.[5] Queens cannot choose copyrighted characters,[6] although some celebrity portrayals have been closely based on a specific screen performance.[4]
The challenge often relies on special celebrity guests to participate in game play, who frequently double as the episode's guest judges. Other seasons feature the show's regular production team—Michelle Visage, Ross Mathews, Carson Kressley, Rhys Nicholson, or members of the Pit Crew—in lieu of outside guests.
Ginger Minj (left) won on season 6 for her portrayal of Phyllis Diller (right), becoming the second contestant to win the challenge twice.
Jinkx Monsoon (left) won on season 7 for her portrayals of Natasha Lyonne (middle) and Judy Garland (right), becoming the fourth contestant (tied with Trinity the Tuck) to win the challenge twice.
Trinity the Tuck (left) also won on season 7 for her portrayals of Lucifer (middle) and Leslie Jordan (right), becoming the fourth contestant (tied with Jinkx Monsoon) to win the challenge twice.
Jimbo (left) won on season 8 for her portrayal of Shirley Temple (right), becoming the sixth contestant to win the challenge twice.
Gottmik (left) won on season 9 for her portrayal of Pal (right), becoming the eighth contestant to win the challenge twice.
Nina West (left) also won on season 9 for her portrayal of Liberace (right).
WIN indicates that the contestant won the challenge and, for the All Stars format, the Lip Sync for Your Legacy.
TOP2 indicates that the contestant won the challenge, but lost the Lip Sync for Your Legacy.
RW (Runway win) indicates that the contestant won the runway challenge.
SAFE indicates that the contestant was declared safe by the judges.
BTM (Bottom) indicates that the contestant was up for elimination.
ELIM (Eliminated) indicates that the contestant was eliminated.
WEL (Winner eliminated) indicates that although the contestant won the challenge, they were the worst in the runway challenge and were subsequently eliminated.
DISQ (Disqualified) indicates that the contestant was disqualified after losing a lip sync to stay in the competition.
Tia Kofi (left) also won on series 2 for her portrayal of Anne Boleyn (right).
Most frequent impersonations
Cardi B and Jennifer Coolidge are the most frequently impersonated celebrities, with Coolidge as the only celebrity to be simultaneously impersonated by two competing queens in the same Snatch Game. Both queens who impersonated Mariah Carey and two of the five queens who impersonated Cardi B were eliminated, making them the only choices of impersonation subject to lead to multiple contestants' eliminations. Both of the queens to impersonate Ariana Grande, Celine Dion, Ellen DeGeneres, Nancy Grace, and Rue McClanahan, respectively, and two of the three queens to impersonate Lady Gaga were up for elimination due to their performances, but only one queen was eliminated for each. Two of the four queens to impersonate Eartha Kitt, and two of the three queens to impersonate Cher and RuPaul, respectively, landed in the bottom, but none of them were eliminated. Two of the three queens to impersonate Liza Minnelli won the Snatch Game, making her the first impersonation subject to earn multiple queens a win, while Joan Rivers became the second following season 15 of RuPaul's Drag Race.
Reception
Snatch Game is considered the signature challenge on the show.[15] Kevin O'Keeffe from Into discusses that the challenge isn't only about the celebrity impersonation and RuPaul looks for accuracy, humor, and the idea of the character. He also states that the challenge tests a lot of different skills, such as the queens' ability to put on a different look from their signature one, and also their ability to be "funny on a dime".[16] RuPaul states each year, as the challenge is introduced, that the cardinal rule of the challenge is to make him laugh.[5]
Writing for Vulture, Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers state that "Snatch Game" is "the mother of all comedy challenges on a reality show" despite the varied results over the years.[17] On a more critical reception of the challenge, Josh Lee, for PopBuzz, argues that while the annual challenge has given viewers some of the best moments from RuPaul's Drag Race, it is starting to feel stale overall. He comments that recent celebrity impersonations in the challenge have been lackluster and the show should adapt and retire "Snatch Game" in future seasons of the series.[18]
Notes
^In the 54 seasons to include the Snatch Game, seventeen queens (Jinkx Monsoon [twice], Bob the Drag Queen, Aquaria, Alaska, Trinity the Tuck, Shea Couleé, Natalia Pliacam, The Vivienne, Envy Peru, Sharonne, Blu Hydrangea, Gisèle Lullaby, La Diamond, Ra'Jah O'Hara, Admira Thunderpussy, Jimbo, Cristian Peralta, Captivating Katkat, and Ginger Johnson) who won the Snatch Game went on to win their seasons.
^In the 54 seasons to include the Snatch Game, only five queens (Yvie Oddly, Willow Pill, Trixie Mattel, Priyanka, and Lawrence Chaney) who placed in the bottom for the Snatch Game went on to win their seasons.
^Special guest Vincenzo De Lucia took part in the Snatch Game portraying Barbara D'Urso, intervening in various sketches making parodies about the character and the show Pomeriggio Cinque.
^Credited as Pinguino.
^Guest judge Tiziano Ferro took part in the Snatch Game as the host.
^"Where Are Your Favorite Queens from RuPaul's Drag Race Season 1?". TV Guide. February 2, 2019. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
^Joey Nolfi, "Canada's Drag Race first look serves Canadian bacon with a side of fish". Entertainment Weekly, May 19, 2020.
^"'RuPaul's Drag Race' episode 6 recap: Which queen won Snatch Game?" Archived 2019-04-19 at the Wayback Machine. Mic, April 28, 2017.
^ a b"The 10 Tightest Snatch Game Characters on RuPaul's Drag Race" Archived 2019-03-27 at the Wayback Machine. Vulture, May 4, 2017.
^ a b"Bob the Drag Queen on 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Season 9's Snatch Game". Teen Vogue, May 1, 2017.
^RuPaul, "Characters are copyrighted. RT @SickeningHunty: Why are "characters" not allowed in Snatch Game?". Twitter, April 12, 2015.
^Rezsnyak, Eric. ""RuPaul's Drag Race" Season 5: Snatch Game Wrap-Up". City Newspaper. Archived from the original on 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
^Reid, Alexander Abad-Santos, Joe (2014-03-25). "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Power Rankings: The Snatch Game Edition". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2019-04-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Petersen, Sven (2014-03-25). "'Drag Race' Aired The Best Episode Ever. But Did It Go Too Far?". www.queerty.com. Archived from the original on 2016-04-17. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
^Carpentier, Megan; Rushe, Dominic (2015-04-14). "RuPaul's Drag Race recap – season seven, episode seven: Snatch Game". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
^Megarry, Daniel (April 4, 2019). "Drag Race season 11 is doing Snatch Game with a twist…". Gay Times. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
^"A stellar lip-sync bails out RuPaul's Drag Race's rocky “Snatch Game At Sea”" Archived 2019-04-19 at the Wayback Machine
^"'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 3' Episode 4 Recap: Who Won Snatch Game?". HuffPost. February 16, 2018. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
^Kulzick, Kate (December 29, 2018). "Drag Race's latest twist pays off as the All Stars play the "Snatch Game Of Love"". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
^O'Keeffe, Kevin (September 9, 2018). "What Makes for a Great 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Snatch Game?". Into. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
^"Snatch Game, The Kiki Ep 5". intomore. September 9, 2018. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
^"Every Snatch Game Impersonation on RuPaul's Drag Race, Ranked". Vulture. May 3, 2018. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
^Lee, Josh (September 21, 2018). "I'm Sorry My Dear But It's Time To Retire Snatch Game". PopBuzz. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
