"Rate-A-Queen" | |
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RuPaul's Drag Race episode | |
Episode no. | Season 16 Episode 1 |
"Rate-A-Queen" is the first episode of the sixteenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race . [1] [2] [3] [4] It originally aired on January 5, 2024. Charlize Theron is a guest judge. Former contestant Derrick Barry also makes a guest appearance, hosting the episode's main challenge, which is a talent show.
The season's first seven contestants enter the Werk Room. The episode's mini-challenge is a photo shoot in which contestants pose for the Ring camera on RuPaul's porch as he watches. [5] [6]
For the main challenge, contestants are tasked with performing in the "MTV's Spring Break" talent show, hosted by former contestant Derrick Barry. Following are the contestants and their acts:
On the runway, the category is "RuVeal Yourself". In addition to RuPaul and Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley is a judge and Charlize Theron is a guest judge. Dawn, Mirage, Q and Sapphira Cristál receive positive critiques. Amanda Tori Meating, Morphine Love Dion and Xunami Muse receive negative critiques. The queens rank each other using the Rate-A-Queen system. Q and Sapphira Cristál receive the highest placements, making them the top two contestants of the week who will face off in a lip-sync to "Break My Soul" by Beyoncé for the win. Sapphira Cristál is declared the winner, earning her immunity. [6] No contestants are eliminated from the competition.
Reviews noted the Rate-A-Queen ranking format as a triangle-shaped parody of The Circle . [6] [7]
Kevin O'Keeffe of Xtra Magazine opined, "I don't mind the more languid start to the season, but I do wonder why they didn't just keep the incredibly successful premiere format from Season 15." [6] Gay Times included Mirage in a 2024 list of the seventeen best talent show performances on Drag Race to date. [8]
The fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race began airing on January 28, 2013, with a 90-minute premiere episode, and ended on May 6 of the same year. The winner of season five headlined Logo's Drag Race Tour featuring Absolut Vodka, won a one-of-a-kind trip, a lifetime supply of Colorevolution Cosmetics, and a cash prize of $100,000. Santino Rice and Michelle Visage returned as judges at the panel.
Justin Dwayne Lee Johnson, best known by the stage name Alyssa Edwards, is an American drag performer, choreographer, and businessperson. Edwards was known for competing in drag pageantry before rising to international attention as a contestant on the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, becoming a fan favorite during and after her time on the show. Edwards subsequently appeared on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars and starred in her own web series, Alyssa's Secret. She won the first ever season of RuPaul's Drag Race Global All Stars, making her the first queen to be inducted into the "Newly Constructed International Pavilion At the Drag Race Hall of Fame".
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars is an American reality competition spin off edition of the original RuPaul's Drag Race, which is produced by World of Wonder, for Logo TV and later VH1. The show premiered on October 22, 2012, on Logo TV, before relocating to VH1. However, it was announced on February 20, 2020, on the show's official Twitter account that the fifth season would premiere on June 5, 2020, on Showtime. Following the cast announcement on May 8, 2020, producers announced that the show would remain airing on VH1 instead of Showtime due to the COVID-19 pandemic which caused "various scheduling and programming adjustments". On February 24, 2021, Paramount+ announced via Twitter that the streaming service would be the new home to the series for the sixth season.
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