Mercedes Iman Diamond | |
---|---|
Born | Mombasa, Kenya | December 12, 1987
Other names | Curran |
Occupation | Drag queen |
Television | RuPaul's Drag Race (season 11) |
Mercedes Iman Diamond is the stage name of Curran, [1] a Kenyan-American drag performer who competed on season 11 of RuPaul's Drag Race . Originally from Mombasa, Kenya, Curran relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he created the drag persona Mercedes Iman Diamond and competed in pageants. Diamond was the first Muslim contestant on Drag Race. Internet memes of her on the show went viral, and her lines in a parody film challenge spawned a dance remix by Adam Joseph.
Curran was born on December 12, 1987, [2] [3] in Mombasa, Kenya. [4] He moved to the United States at the age of eleven. He created his drag persona Mercedes Iman Diamond at the Minneapolis club Gay 90s a decade later. [5]
Mercedes Iman Diamond has a background in pageantry. She won the Miss Gay 90s pageant in 2016. [6] Locally, she was also named Miss City of the Lakes, and was the second alternate in the Miss Minnesota Continental. [7]
Mercedes Iman Diamond was the first Muslim contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race , competing on season 11 (2019). [8] On the first episide ("Whatcha Unpackin?"), she performed poorly in the photo shoot mini-challenge, and wore an outfit inspired by former Drag Race contestant Bianca Del Rio for the runway. [9] The acting challenge on the second episode ("Good God Girl, Get Out") required her to dance and recite dialogue inspired by the film Paris Is Burning (1990) in a parody of Get Out (2017). [10] Internet memes of her struggling to pronounce "opulence" went viral, [11] [12] and her vocals received a dance music remix from American singer-songwriter Adam Joseph. [13] During a lip-sync battle to "Work Bitch" (2013) by Britney Spears, Diamond subsequently eliminated her partner in the challenge, Kahanna Montrese, from the competition. [14] [15]
Despite her initial reluctance, [16] on the third episode ("Diva Worship"), Mercedes Iman Diamond described her experience being racially profiled and placed on the No Fly List for years because she was from Kenya. [17] [18] [19] She also revealed that she had suffered from a stroke during a pageant, as a result of demanding travel requirements. [15] [20] On the fourth episode ("Trump: The Rusical"), Diamond portrayed Ivanka Trump in the Grease -inspired Rusical (musical theatre challenge) about Donald Trump and the women in his life and cabinet. [21] [22] Her performance placed her in the bottom two, and she was eliminated from the competition after losing a lip-sync against Ra'Jah O'Hara to James Brown's "Living in America" (1985). [23] [24]
Mercedes Iman Diamond continues to perform in drag shows and has large followings on social media. [25] She and Drag Race contestant Jaidynn Diore Fierce performed at the first drag brunch in Ely in 2022. [26]
Curran lives in Minneapolis. [4] He is gay. [27]
Mercedes Iman Diamond is the "drag daughter" (or mentee) of Prada Diamond. [28]
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Speaking of death, Mercedes Iman Diamond and Kahanna Montrese killed their chances at placing in the top with their monumentally awkward line reading of perhaps the simplest piece of dialogue in Drag Race herstory. In Mercedes' world (which we're not complaining about living in, mind you), 'Opulence! You own everything!' translates to 'Oppalens! You. Earn. Everytheeeeeng!' As is tradition in Drag Race, the flub is now an iconic masterpiece of digital art.