![]() ![]() ![]() The UK edition, which is produced by BBC Three (and therefore, publicly funded), cannot be sponsored and only offers the winner an all-expense paid trip to Hollywood to film their own digital series. In the US, for example, it’s a one-year supply of Anastasia Beverly Hills cosmetics and a cash prize of 100,000 dollahs (plus “a coveted spot in the Drag Race Hall of Fame” for All Stars). After the third season, when Perez Hilton’s website leaked Raja as the winner, they started filming the three or four finalists’ different crowning moments, so the winner isn’t revealed until the airdate – a strategy that’s still employed. The entire series is also typically pre-recorded within several weeks. Not to mention that unlike in earlier seasons, a maxi-challenge win no longer guarantees immunity for the next episode. Frontrunners who were statistically consistent with their performance don’t necessarily end up with the crown. Queens who have not won a single maxi-challenge already made it to the finale. Does the queen who win the most challenges get crowned? However, in some international versions – such as Spain, for example – the judges vote by ballot.Ĭontestants have played the likes of Adele, Beyoncé, Björk, Cher, Maggie Smith, Margaret Thatcher, Melania Trump (and Donald Trump), Paris Hilton, Sophia the Robot, and even RuPaul himself – each to varied success. These “ squirrel friends” help RuPaul decide on the winner of a week’s challenge, the bottom two, and eventually, the finalists. The show has invited allies and LGBTQIA+ icons to join them as guest judges, too. The judgesĬontestants are critiqued by a panel of judges that include Michelle Visage and either “Style Superstar” Carson Kressley (of Queer Eye fame) or “The Hilarious” Ross Matthews (Jay Leno’s “Ross the Intern”), with RuPaul himself presiding. Other examples include Drag Race España’s Supremme Deluxe and Drag Race Thailand’s Art Arya and Pangina Heals, who are drag legends in their respective countries. Canada’s Drag Race, for instance, is led by Brooke Lynn Hytes, a Canadian who placed second in RuPaul’s Drag Race season 11. There are international versions of the show that do not bear RuPaul’s name, which are instead hosted by prominent figures in the local scenes. The main show transferred to its current home, VH1, in its 9th season. The “original Supermodel of the World,” RuPaul Charles, rose to fame in the early ‘90s with his pop anthem “Supermodel (You Better Work).” The glamazon and trailblazer, ostensibly the world’s most famous drag queen, debuted the nascent TV competition in 2009 with a scrappy setup in the smaller Logo channel. Apart from the long-running US series and its spin-offs, he appears in the UK and Down Under (Australia/NewZealand) editions. RuPaul serves as the show’s presenter, host, mentor, judge, and executive producer. Drag kings, while not on the show yet, are a staple in the wider club and pageant circuits. In the course of Drag Race alone, trans women and non-binary folx have been featured, and recently, a trans man and a cisgender lesbian woman have competed. It’s absolutely not exclusive to gay men. Drag, I say, is the indigenous queer performance form, meaning it is of the people, by the people and for the people.” “In its purest form, drag is when a person goes into a dressing room, they put this thing on, they go out on stage and they perform, and they take it off. “Drag is anytime that someone is putting on clothing that is considered to be not appropriate to them, and then wearing it with some type of ironic distance,” argues drag historian Joe E. Referring to it as impersonation is an oversimplification. It’s not simply men in women’s clothing who embody these hyperfeminine personas. But if it’s your first time, and if you don’t want to go into it blind, here’s a run-through of the basics and what to expect: What is drag?ĭrag is hard to reduce to a single definition. “RuPaul’s Drag Race is a contest where a bunch of queer people and queer allies get together to celebrate a queer art form,” explained columnist and Drag Race alumna Miz Cracker in a Mic featurette.ĭrag Race is an immensely entertaining watch. The show also represents a landmark moment for LGBTQIA+ representation, given the diverse set of artists that have competed. It’s definitely not “ RuPaul’s Best Friend Race,” but it’s not exactly a Hunger Games bloodbath, either. ![]()
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