Fun Trivia » Television » Television Q-T » RuPaul's Drag Race

Although other seasons in not-too-distant years past featured a split premiere in which half of the queens debuted in the first episode and the other half debuted in the second, this season revised the format, giving eight queens their introductions and a photoshoot, giving eight more the same, then uniting them to practice for a One-Night-Only Talent Show on the main stage where one queen would be sent home. In addition to this season seeing a record-breaking sixteen queens in one go, it was also the first season to feature twins-- Sugar and Spice were introduced as two queens entering at the same time, but both going for the crown individually. Difficulty: Hard.

During the 4th season of "Drag Race", contestants Phi Phi O'Hara and Sharon Needles didn't get on at all. Phi Phi was a very successful pageant queen. Sharon, on the other hand, sported a style very new for "Drag Race"; one gothy-macabre look after another. The two fought repeatedly, and a number of their clashes were aired on the show, including Phi Phi's hollering her memorable 'Party City' line in episode 4. A lot of memorable queens participated in that season, including Chad Michaels, Manila Luzon and "May I call you Jiggly?" Caliente. Willam was disqualified in the 8th episode for sneaking his boyfriend into his hotel room.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was a guest judge on season 10 of "Drag Race". When Conservative critics howled, she snapped back with the Tweet "Go back to Party City where you belong!" Difficulty: Easy.

 

Season 2, Season 6, Season 10

While seven queens appeared in the first episode, seven more showed up in episode two in a split premiere. Although season 13 featured early lip syncs for all the queens, this one put the newbies through the wringer to show off their abilities in a talent show (not unlike the early episodes of the "All Stars" seasons. Although Daya Betty and Orion Story were eliminated at the end of episodes one and two, respectively, they were both brought back into the competition in episode three as the queens were united. Difficulty: Hard.

Although queens generally entered the workroom and met each other in a single sequence, season 13 changed the game a little bit, bringing in racers as duos and asking them to head directly to the main stage to lipsync for their lives. The queens who impressed Ru on first impression alone would head into the Winner's Circle and remain in the competition while the losing queen would be sent directly to the 'Porkchop Loading Dock', named after the show's first-ever eliminated contestant back in season one. The seven queens sent there were later asked to vote someone amongst them out-- permanently-- and after a vote and re-vote, they unanimously sent Elliott with Two Ts away. The joke was on them; she was sent to the Winner's Circle instead. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Bebe Zahara Benet, Shangela, Vanessa 'Vanjie' Mateo

Performed during the third-to-last week of the competition, "Stronger" was one of the more memorable lipsyncs of the inaugural season because it featured an emotional turn from both Bebe and Ongina. The latter, a bald queen, wasn't able to keep up with the almost emotional reveal that occurred when Bebe removed the wig right off her head.
Interestingly, the song "Stronger" returned in the season nine live finale when Peppermint and Trinity Taylor went head-to-head. Peppermint turned out a wig reveal herself, clinching the victory. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Shannel, Rebecca Glasscock, Tammie Brown

After being the first eliminated in Season 10, 'Miss Vanjie' was the first to return to "RuPaul's Drag Race" in Season 11, walking backwards into the workroom at the start of the competition as though she'd been making her exit to make an entrance the whole time. Vanjie was hardly the first queen to reappear in a subsequent season-- Shangela returned in Season 2, Cynthia returned in Season 9, and Eureka returned in Season 10. Difficulty: Average.

 

Eureka O'Hara, Shangela, Cynthia Lee Fontaine

Much like a number of the earlier seasons and season 9, this tenth season of the show saw a single returning queen since Eureka O'Hara took her open invitation from her withdrawal from the previous year. Also, similarly to the previous year (during which the show moved from Logo to VH1), the show started with fourteen queens total (up from ten in season 8). After their introductions to the workroom in episode one, all fourteen were tasked with walking the runway for queens from the previous nine years of the show. Difficulty: Hard.

In the first episode, thirteen new queens walked through the workroom doors and introduced themselves. After the competition field was narrowed to twelve queens in season 8, this ninth season marked a return to the expanded pool as the show moved from the Logo Network to VH1, increasing the budget. A fourteenth queen was introduced at the end of the first episode to round out the group. Difficulty: Hard.

This season, less queens and less weeks of competition ended up rounding out a shorter game, though it would also end up being the show's final season on the Logo network before it was picked up by VH1 and granted a larger production budget, so this oddity of a season ended up seeing only a dozen competitors enter the workroom and hit the runway. While this did mean less time with the queens, it also meant for a much more refined competition where any wrong move could send them home. Difficulty: Hard.

In the first episode, RuPaul introduced the contestants to the new, rotating, permanent judges: Carson Kressley of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" fame and "Tonight Show With Jay Leno" personality Ross Matthews. Although the first episode featured both on the panel, they would take turns with judging duties, appearing in weeks that better-suited their skill sets. Season 6 marked the departure of judging panel mainstay Santino Rice. Michelle Visage remained in her seat. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Three, None, One

To the queens' surprise, upon arriving in the work room, competitors realized that they would be competing in a group of seven. This meant that in the first episode, the first seven queens would compete against each other and in the second, the remaining seven would be going head-to-head. Both groups needed to participate in a photo shoot with Mike Ruiz and RuPaul as per premiere tradition before diving into a maxi-challenge involving a runway look (the first was themed around TV and the second was themed around party supplies). Kelly Mantle was eliminated in the first group and Magnolia Crawford was eliminated in the second. Difficulty: Hard.

This fifth season brought out the fishiest queens yet with contestants ranging from pageant queens to Miss Gay America contestants to Puerto Rican and Panamanian representatives and more. In addition to thirteen hand-selected by RuPaul to jump into the thick of things, one queen-- Penny Tration-- was brought into the competition by online fan voting. But being a fan favourite couldn't save her from being cut in the first week. After a water-logged photo shoot with Mike Ruiz and a dumpster-diving challenge that culminated in a red carpet trash-for-fashion runway walk, Penny was asked to lipsynch for her life and was sent packing. Difficulty: Hard.

Keeping with the same total as the third season of the show (as opposed to the lower totals in the first two), RuPaul brought a baker's dozen of new queens and threatened the return of Shangela (before promptly tossing her out to the dumpster, thankfully). After the first impressions were put across in the work room, the thirteen had to go head-to-head in challenges revolving around the RuPocalypse, forcing them to face their zombified drag predecessors and create couture looks. After a first lip-sync in front of Elvira, Mistress of the Night, Alisa Summer was told to sashay away. Difficulty: Average.

To make every drag queen stand out more, RuPaul had two "Big Openings". This resulted in two queens being eliminated before the two groups eventually united at the end of the second episode. Difficulty: Easy.

 

No one got eliminated, Two contestants got eliminated, RuPaul did not feature in this episode

Shangela, relatively new on the drag circuit, ended up getting eliminated first in the previous season of "RuPaul's Drag Race". In this season, however, she made a bold reappearance, surprising many of the new contestants and emerging as a front-runner as the show went on.
In the first week of the competition, the contestants were asked to pose in a Christmas-themed photo shoot before constructing outfits from $75-worth of thrift store materials, all themed around couture garments for the holidays. The Lip-synch for their Lives involved an awkward dance to a Vanessa Williams classic, but ultimately Shangela won out over Venus D-Lite (though not before both of them stripped off most of their clothes and wigs). Shangela was asked to stay (mostly because she actually lip-synched) while Venus tried to fight. Difficulty: Average.

 

Nicole Paige Brooks, Jujubee, Pandora Boxx

In the first week of the competition, twelve new drag queens got together to compete in RuPaul's race to become the next drag superstar. For their first challenge, they had to pose in a photo shoot with Mike Ruiz inspired by "Gone with the Wind" before making dresses out of curtains with unique prints. It was ultimately 'curtains' for Shangela Laquifa Wadley who had only been performing in drag for less than half a year. Morgan McMichaels won the first challenge and only eleven were asked to stay. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Breakfast at Tiffany's, Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, The Wizard of Oz

Victoria 'Porkchop' Parker was the first ever eliminated contestant, being eliminated in the very first episode of the first season. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Shangela, Alisa Summers, Venus D Lite

"Throwing shade" is the drag art of sarcasm. Poking fun, insulting, or "reading" as it is also known is a huge part of drag culture. You gotta be able to take some shade, and be ready to throw it right back. It is a regular challenge on "Drag Race" to see who can throw shade best. Difficulty: Hard.

 

"When I'm done throwin' shade on my face I'll be ready to perform.", "The crowd gave me so much money tonight. My performance had them throwin' shade.", "What have I told you about tossing umbrellas in the house?! Stop throwin' shade!"

Mimi Imfurst was Season 3's controversial contestant who literally tried to walk away with her competition. She was eliminated in the third episode. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Willam, Sharon Needles, Ongina

In Season 1, Akashia beat Victoria Parker in "Supermodel", while Bebe Zahara Benet won the crown lip-syncing "Covergirl". Season 2's finale used "Don't Be Jealous of My Boogie". Difficulty: Hard.

 

Supermodel, Covergirl, Don't Be Jealous Of My Boogie

In the first episode of the race, nine drag queens gathered and met one another in their backstage workshop before meeting with Ru in person. All nine, dressed in outfits showcasing their personas, were then told that they would begin with a sexy photo shoot, soaking wet and atop a car. The major challenge of the week was to create outfits using dollar store items and thrift store clothing. Nina Flowers ended up winning with an inspiring design while the judges thought that Victoria 'Pork Chop' Parker's costume was too tacky (and looked like it did, indeed, come from a dollar store). 'Pork Chop' and Akashia were told to lipsynch for their lives to RuPaul's own "Supermodel" and the former was asked to sashay away. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Newspapers, Pieces of their old outfits, Egg cartons

Jade was originally from Chicago, Illinois. She was hoping to showcase her skills as a dancer on the shower, but was eliminated 4th. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Rebecca, Akashia, Nina Flowers

As late as 2018 in an interview with 'The Guardian', Ru Paul stated that she wouldn't allow transitioning queens on her show. "You can identify as a woman and say you're transitioning, but it changes once you start changing your body" she argued. Those comments caused quite a furor and she rethought her position on gender identity.

Many drag race alumnae have come out after their seasons, but it was only in season 9 that Peppermint to come out as trans on air. Gottmik, on season 13, was the first trans man. Kylie Sonique Love, who'd competed on "Drag Race" season 2 and had since transitioned, took the "All Stars" season 6 crown. Since then a cis (gender identity and gender at birth are the same) woman, Victoria Scone, competed on "Ru Paul's Drag Race UK" season 3, and a straight man, Maddy Morphosis, competed on "Drag Race" season 14. At least a third of the cast of "Drag Race" season 14 identified at some point during the season as well.

Not-so-fun fact: There are a lot of trans people who aren't so happy. Says one, "Drag makes a lot of trans women extremely uncomfortable. It feels like a bunch of gay men dressing up as us... for fun". Difficulty: Hard.

 

Season 4, All Stars, UK vs. The World , Season 10

Though queens were split up through episodes 2 and 3 to create group numbers and original lines for separate RuPaul tracks ("Condragulations" for the Winner's Circle and "Phenomenon" for the Porkchop Girls), they never united in the workroom until episode 4 after a season 12-esque introductory period. This meant that in episode 4, when the queens were asked to join teams to create RuPaulMark Holiday Specials, they would be bringing their best to avoid getting the actual chop. The bottom two during this week ended up being Denali and Kahmora Hall and, after a high-energy lipsync to "100% Pure Love", the latter went home. Difficulty: Hard.

 

3, 2, 1

Considered a classic by fans, this season five lipsync proved to be somewhat of a turning point in the competition as inevitable four-time lipsyncer Alyssa Edwards was pitted against emotional bus-stop queen Roxxxy Andrews onstage. At the start of the song-- 'Whip My Hair'-- Roxxxy pulled off her long wig to reveal an even longer one underneath, all the better to literally whip her hair back and forth. The theatrics and hairography were strong enough from both queens that RuPaul saw no other option but to let them both stay in the competition. Roxxxy would subsequently make it to the finale. Difficulty: Hard.

 

'Hair' by Lady Gaga, 'Good as Hell' by Lizzo, 'Shake it Off' by Taylor Swift

At the start of March 2020, shortly before the airing of the show's second episode, victims of Sherry Pie's sexual misconduct stepped forward and the resulting information led to the queen's immediate disqualification from the competition. Since the show was filmed in 2019, World of Wonder opted to show the season in its entirety. What they did do, however, was opt to remove Sherry Pie from the yet-to-be-filmed live finale (regardless of placement, though she was in the final four), match her winnings as donations to The Trevor Project, and re-edit the show on the fly to reduce the queen's airtime. Difficulty: Hard.

During the first episode of the season, the queens threw back to the first-ever "RuPaul's Drag Race" task, 'Drag on a Dime', where they had to use materials from an assortment culled from a dollar store to make their runway looks for the week. Mayhem Miller won the challenge, but Kalorie Karbdashian Williams and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo were sent to the bottom for their poorly-executed looks. Both performed Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man" in front of the judging panel (including Christina herself) and Vanjie was sent home. On her way out, however, she decided to repeat her own name several times ("Ms. Vanjie! Ms. Vanjie!"), leading social media to have a bit of a field day. Queens throughout the season (including RuPaul and Michelle Visage) continued the line as a running gag. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Kalorie Karbdashian Williams, Yuhua Hamasaki, Dusty Ray Bottoms

After the thirteen new queens were introduced, Lady Gaga also followed them into the workroom, sparking the challenge for the week to have the queens not only devise a look inspired by their home state, but to also walk the runway in a Lady Gaga look to compete in the Miss Charisma Uniqueness Nerve and Talent pageant. The queens were also encouraged to be bold without fear since no one was to be eliminated following the first challenge. In fact, after Nina Bo'Nina Brown won the crown, Ru stopped the ceremony to introduce the fourteenth competitor. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Cher, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears

The first episode of the season wasn't only the 100th episode of the show, but it saw the 100th queen enter the workroom for the competition. To celebrate, RuPaul asked the new drag racers to stand out in a photo shoot with the past seven reigning champions (plus Chad Michaels). Bianca Del Rio has a prior engagement, so they replaced her with a hired clown. Additionally, the queens needed to create outfits based on past "Drag Race" challenges. Kim Chi won with an outfit celebrating Season 3's 'Hair Ball' while Naysha Lopez was eliminated for failing to 'Drag on a Dime'. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Tyra Sanchez, Raja, Violet Chachki

While season 6 experimented with its queens in early episodes by splitting them into two groups before merging them after an elimination in each, season 7 was a return to form, melding together its fourteen contestants in the first episode and asking them to create a series of runway looks (one spring and one fall) before a final 'nude illusion' runway show for the judges on the main stage. Kathy Griffin, who reappeared as a mentor later on in the season, was featured as a special guest judge in this week. Difficulty: Hard.

With an interesting, new start to the competition, Ru also told this season's queens that they would need to step up their game to succeed and prove their worth. With many queens referring to "RuPaul's Drag Race" as 'The Olympics of Drag', it made sense for Ru to do away with individual immunity which would carry over to subsequent rounds (or any immunity at all). She claimed that it would require people to work hard every round if they truly valued their spot in the game. Difficulty: Hard.

 

No one would be eliminated, No one could lipsync more than twice, No shade allowed

During week two, the queens split off into groups of two to dress smutty Barbie dolls and the winners, Pandora Boxx and Sahara Davenport, were able to create teams for the next challenge-- they would be creating a burlesque performance as a group and performing it in front of their judges and a crowd of heterosexual men. While one group performed, the other would need to try and hand out tickets for cherry pie, dressed in their burlesque drag, on the streets outside. Sahara's team was declared the winner while Nicole Paige Brooks failed to wow the judges during both her burlesque and the lipsynch-for-her-life that followed; she also earned the least money for her performance. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Polka, Broadway, Ballet

The first contestant Sahara sent home was Shangela. It was in her second LSFYL that she sent home Morgan McMichaels. She was never in a LSFYL against Sonique and Jujubee sent her home in her third and final LSFYL. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Shangela, Sonique, Jujubee

"Mopping" is synonymous with "stealing". We learned in the Season 3 premiere when queens were told they could get bonus materials for their dress challenge by "mopping" it from the store. Difficulty: Hard.

 

"Now that the show is over, I can't wait to mop my make-up off", "Sorry, but you know the rules. Last queen to perform has to mop up the bar.", "Tonight I'm mopping my hair higher than its ever been."

Raven decided on her name by first deciding that she did not want to be named after a girl. She then decided it would be a bird of some kind and chose "Raven" over her other choice, "Phoenix". Difficulty: Hard.

 

Nina Flowers, Tyra Sanchez, Phoenix

Raja and Jujubee both ousted Manila in their lip-syncs. Juju is Laotian while Raja is Indonesian. Difficulty: Hard.

 

They both originate from West Hollywood, They were both on season 3, They were both taller than Manila

Coming into week two with only eight queens, everyone was asked to convey emotion with digital photos. Ultimately, Ongina and Akshia won this mini-challenge and got to pick teams for the subsequent major event. Both teams would need to organize choreography, hair, make-up, and costumes to perform one of two Destiny's Child hits on the main stage (with Michelle Williams as a guest judge). The team consisting of Ongina, Nina Flowers, Shannel, and Rebecca Glasscock took the win singing "Say My Name" while the other team (Akashia, Tammie Brown, BeBe Zahara Benet, and Jade) lost singing "Independent Women Pt. 1". The lipsynching in this episode was to Michelle Williams' own "We Break the Dawn" and Akashia was asked to stay since Tammie Brown gave up on the competition, opting not to fake-sing. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Spice Girls, Bananarama, The Pussycat Dolls

The main challenge was to shoot a country cooking commercial. RuPaul asked for the ladies to wear their best country attire. Mystique wore the same outfit for both occasions, which was the main reason for her elimination. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Raven, Jessica Wild, Jujubee

It was the Covid lockdown that shut down production on the last two episodes of "Drag Race" season 12. The queens were sent home and the reunion episode was all done on "Zoom". For the finale the finalists, Crystal Methed, Gigi Goode and Jaida Essence Hall, all lip synced three times from their living rooms. Production worked from home, as did Ru Paul. Despite the restrictions, both episodes showed great fun and creativity.

The following seasons of both "Drag Race" and "Drag Race UK" were filmed under extremely strict conditions. "Rupaul's Drag Race: Corona Can't Keep a Good Queen Down" (2021) documents the measures taken to keep everyone safe. The finale of the 2021 series was held in an empty Las Vegas theatre and the audience watched it from a drive-in across town. In 2022, the season 14 finale was back to normal, in a Vegas theatre playing to a full house.

Season 12 also saw Sherry Pie's elimination for extreme misconduct off the show. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Season 13, Season 11, "All Stars" season 6

At the start of episode 5, the queens were told that they had to create a public service announcement for the Save a Queen Organization, supporting first-eliminated queens from past seasons. Before this, however, eleven queens returned to the workroom to find one amongst them missing from the group. They were soon told, via video message from Kornbread, that she would be leaving the competition on doctor's orders, having rolled her ankle and been requested to keep off it for six to eight weeks. She was the first queen forced to withdraw on the U.S. version of the show since Eureka O'Hara in season 10. Difficulty: Average.

 

DeJa Skye, Alyssa Hunter, Orion Story