You may have noticed the TV show Rupaul’s Drag Race is one of the most successful shows on television. It is one of the most important experiences a drag queen can face. According to IMDB the show has won 3 Emmy awards in the past 3 years. The show has just finished its 3rd All Star season and will be began it's 10th season on March 22, 2018. The show airs on VH1 at 8/7c every Thursday.
The show has been increasing in popularity over the past couple of years. The rules of the show are simple. Each week the Queens will be given a challenge. After each challenge there is a themed runway to show off the queens’ fashion skills. After each queen has walked the runway RuPaul, the host and creator, determines which queens are in the top and bottom and which Queens are safe. The safe Queens head backstage for “Untucked” while the other Queens are given the judges critiques. They are judged on their performance in the challenge and how well they presented themselves on the runway. After each Queen has been judged they join the other Queens backstage to “Untuck” which is a 30 minute extra show of the queens gossiping and chatting backstage. The show takes place while RuPaul and the judges Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley, Todrick Hall, Ross Mathews, and many guest stars determine who were the best and worst. The Queens are then called back and RuPaul announces who won the challenge for the week and the bottom two queens. Those two bottom queens must “Lip Sync for their Life” where they lip sync against one another at the same time to the same song. RuPaul then decides who did the best and tells them; “Shantay you stay”. Whoever does the worst is eliminated and is told to “Sashay away”. This goes on until there is a top three that compete in extravagant finales for the crown. The winner receives a lifetime supply of whatever makeup brand chooses to sponsor that season, $100,000, and a crown and sceptor from fiercedragjewels.com.
Drag Race is one of the most important opportunities for a drag queen. When you get a chance to be on the show you are no longer a nameless unpopular Queen that performs in small clubs. You become world known and your career skyrockets. You don’t have to do well for your career to improve but your career becomes even better when the audience loves you or you do really well on the show. Some queens who did not do well on the show moved on to become popular in the outside world. Some were presented even bigger opportunities after the show. There have been queens who have modeled for Marc Jacobs and performed live with Miley Cyrus.
RuPaul’s Drag Race has been influencing audiences and Queens for almost 10 years. Not only is the show extremely entertaining but it is also becoming more and more popular as the years go by. The show is a great platform for different Queens to share their artform and styles of drag. The show is not planning on stopping anytime soon and is only getting better. Tune in on Thursday nights on VH1 at 8/7c to experience the magic.