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Over the course of one weekend, the internet was set aflame with a fiery rap beef taking place in real time — and no, it wasn’t the one between Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion. Starting Saturday (Feb. 3), fans of RuPaul’s Drag Race were treated to a deeply entertaining, tongue-in-cheek “feud” between two former […]
If you can’t love (a wax figure of) yourself, then how in the hell can you love somebody else? On Tuesday (Feb. 6), Madame Tussauds London unveiled their new wax figure of drag icon RuPaul. Dressed in a custom-made gown by Ru’s reputable designer Zaldy, the new figure officially debuts as part of the museum’s […]
Queens on RuPaul’s Drag Race “Wannabe” in the top every week — and with the latest episode’s girl group challenge, the contestants had to prove they were “Worth It,” begging the host not to “Say My Name.”
Friday’s episode (Feb. 2) saw the 12 remaining drag stars tasked with writing, recording, choreographing and performing in their own versions of songs off RuPaul’s Black Butta as a series of girl groups. Testing their teamwork and their ability to stand out amongst a crowd, the challenge forced the girls to flex multiple performance muscles at once in order to earn another week in the competition.
With a show-stopping rendition of “A.S.M.R. Lover,” the queens of Thicc and Stick — Mhi’ya Iman LePaige, Geneva Karr, Megami and Nymphia Wind — dominated the challenge and earned themselves a four-way win for the week. As for the bottom two, Ru selected Q, whose dancing left something to be desired, and Amanda Tori Meating, whose pussycat wig runway look fell short in the judges’ estimations.
Lip synching to guest judges Icona Pop’s “Emergency,” Q and Amanda pulled out all of the stops — dancing, emoting and selling every beat of the song to convince Ru that they deserved a second chance. Ultimately, Ru wanted to hear some more A’s from Q, granting her another week in the competition, and determined that Amanda Tori Meating could’ve just been an email, sending her home.
Below, Billboard chats with Amanda about her time on the show, coming out as trans, becoming a meme and why she’s ready for her feud with fellow contestant Plane Jane to end.
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How are you doing after watching your run on Drag Race?
You know, to quote my sister Dawn, I feel so p—y right now!
Love to hear it. Before we get into the episode, I wanted to say I’m so happy for you after talking about your transition this week! How are you feeling after putting that out into the world?
Thank you! Yeah, it’s been a mix — it’s a very personal part of my identity that I have been not necessarily sure of, until coming back from filming Drag Race. That was when I really said, “Oh, I’m trans.” To be on the show and not have a full understanding and acceptance of that, and then gaining that after filming was crazy; I felt like the Amanda that people were seeing on TV was … they were making assumptions about who that is, and what my pronouns are out of drag, so it just felt very nice to just kind of clear it up. The interactions I’ve been having with fans since then, whether it’s online or IRL, it’s just felt a lot more genuine and complete. People can just sort of see me a bit more fully.
I also wanted to talk a bit about the look heard around the world from the premiere episode — I love that you have leaned as hard as you have into meme-ing yourself.
Well, you know what, baby? I was like, “If people are going to clown me for this purple face, then I’d better make some money off of it so I can pay for FFS!”
Period! What’s it been like to watch your face become a meme in real time?
You know, it was something I was kind of expecting after the day on set, and I think I was really dreading to see how it actually looked on camera. All I had were my memories on set, which can get very foggy over the months. But I ended up beating myself up about the whole purple alien situation, and I was expecting it to be so much worse. By the time I actually saw the runway, I was like, “Oh … it’s not good, but it’s not that bad!” At that point, I was like, “People can have their fun and make their jokes — I’m gonna make my coin with this.”
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Throughout this episode, things get pretty heated between you and your “affiliate,” as you called her, Plane Jane. I appreciate that you have kept it 100% real with how you’ve been feeling about it online, because sometimes the on-screen fights spill over into real life. Where are you at with the Plane drama today?
I went into this, before we left for filming, by saying that all I could do was be honest. All I know how to really do is say exactly how I feel. So I said, “If I can do that, I’ll probably be fine.” Plane and I did not really communicate much after filming, to be honest. Through the rest of the summer and the fall, the extent of our relationship was pretty much what you saw on camera. Then, in more recent weeks, we’ve been in talks, we’ve been in negotiations, we’ve been in custody battles offline.
We had a rocky moment with each other in our texts, about two weeks ago. But I do think, after that, we were able to have a dialogue where we were discussing our feelings in an open, honest, genuine way, and not trying to play anything up for cameras that weren’t there.
I also think that the fan base needs to normalize queens on the show being co-workers, not necessarily friends. You don’t have to be friends with everyone!
Yes! It’s interesting because there has been so much discourse around our relationship. There are a lot of fans who think they can just jump online and send a bunch of random hate to people, which is not OK. The response from the girls to a lot of that is usually, “We’re all friends! We all love each other!” And I was sitting in my trailer, reading those tweets going, “Well … I don’t know that we’re all friends!” But, just because we’re not necessarily “friends” doesn’t mean we can’t be co-workers who respect each other.
So, in terms of the relationship with Plane, that’s where she and I have arrived — we might not be “friends” at the moment, though I don’t think either of us has written that off. But, we can be cordial and respectful and mature adults in the workplace, and I’m grateful for that.
I’ll be honest, I have a bone to pick with the judges in this episode, because I loved your robin’s nest look. It was conceptual, the message came across, and it fit the theme — what were you thinking when you were receiving those critiques on the runway?
Can I be honest?
Please be honest.
I was standing there on that stage thinking, “Are they blind? Are they looking at what I’m looking at? This is camp, this is concept, this is cool!” I didn’t necessarily feel very pretty in it, but I thought it was cool! Yeah, I did not agree with them on the critiques. But here we are!
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Before I have to let you go, we’re asking all the girls this season — what music, other than “My Kitty,” have you been listening to in recent weeks?
Well, “My Kitty” is available on Spotify and Apple Music [Laughs]. To be honest, I’m still hooked on Renaissance, I cannot and will not let it go. Because of Drag Race I had to miss the concert this summer, which was one of the devastating losses of my life. I’d give it all back! Take me off the season and put me on season 17 just so I can go see the Renaissance Tour! Every single time I get in drag, I have the album on repeat, and it’s gotten to the point where instead of checking what time it is, I can tell how long it’s been by hearing what song we’re at on the album.
Okay, but importantly, is there any particular song on the album that you find yourself gravitating toward?
“Church Girl.” Now, I love Beyoncé because she’s an album artist, and you know she’s going to give you a body of work that should be listened to in full. Every song on that album is a banger. But there is something about “Church Girl” that just moves my spirit — when I listen to it, I’m crying, and then I am throwing my a–.
As the groundbreaking series celebrates its 15th anniversary, Billboard highlights the greatest lip syncs from each season of the celebrated reality show.
After three episodes filled with about five thousand new twists, RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 finally sent its first queen packing.
On Friday’s episode (Jan. 19), the now-united cast of 14 queens were tasked with throwing The Mother of All Balls on the main stage. Cycling through three looks on the runway, the contestants showed off their best Mother Goose looks (themed after nursery rhymes) and their best Significant Mother (themed after famous moms), before finally revealing their Call Me Mother/Father Eleganza, which they crafted one day prior in the work room out of nothing but menswear.
But of course, in this season of twists, Ru couldn’t just let the girls off that easily — the hostess revealed that the girls would be using the show’s newly-introduced Rate-A-Queen system one last time to determine the week’s tops and bottoms. After 14 rounds of voting from the contestants and classic judges’ critiques, Nymphia Wind was crowned the winner for her inspired look using men’s ties.
The news was not so good for Geneva Karr and Hershii LiqCour-Jeté, who wound up in the bottom for their lackluster looks. Performing in a high-energy, all-out lip sync to Ava Max’s “Maybe You’re the Problem,” both queens gave it their all, but only Geneva was permitted to stay.
Below, Billboard catches up with Hershii about performing in the ball challenge, speaking about being a queer parent on national television, and why she felt that the Rate-A-Queen system lended itself to “more shade than fairness.”
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You made it to Drag Race, queen! How are you feeling after watching your run on the show?
I don’t feel bad at all — I genuinely feel like I gave it all I could, and I did the best that I could, and I did not quit at any point. I feel like nobody wants to be the Porkchop, but the best I could do is what I gave. I’m pleased!
I wanted to say, before we get into the episode, that it was so cool to see you talking about being a parent and how that affects your view on anti-LGBTQ legislation trying to limit children’s interactions with queerness. How have you been dealing with the ongoing release of these bills?
Honestly, I’m queer, so it’s not anything new with everything that’s going on. This has been happening. I do my best to actually try to not focus on it too much, because when I dwell on that stuff, it makes me sad and I don’t want to put that on my children.
I want them to have the most normal life that they could possibly have — whatever you consider “normal” being. They remind me every day that this normal is just fine for them, too; they don’t look at me as a queer person, they don’t look at me as a drag queen, all they see is Baba. They wanna make sure they get their cereal in the morning and their hugs at night. They are my focus; when it comes to everything else, I do my part in the voting booth, and I do my part being as visible as I possibly can. I mean, even just being a parent who is also a drag queen, even just being visible is political for me.
Did your kids get to watch you on the show?
So, they’ve seen it, but I don’t think they realize that it’s actually on TV. As far as they know, that’s just me at work!
Let’s get into the work, then! This season, we were introduced to the new Rate-A-Queen system — what did you think of this twist when it was first introduced to you on the show?
Oh, I hated it! [Laughs.] I did not like it at all! I just knew that, to an extent, it was going to mess up some chances for me. I knew that people were either going to play the game and be shady, or they were going to be fair — and there was going to be a lot more shade than fairness! I feel like I could’ve potentially gone further had a few of the girls played it a little more on the fair side.
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What did you make of Plane Jane’s “best are bottoms, worst are tops” tactics she used in your premiere episode?
Girl, I saw her wheels turning in the work room! I don’t know if the other girls caught it, but the second she said, “I’m going to make sure I play fair,” I gave her a look, like, “Yeah, sure you will, girl.” She turned out being exactly the girl I knew she was. But, that’s part of the game! The fandom wants TV, they want some mess, they want somebody to come in and shake things up — Plane Jane is your girl!
If you had the opportunity to go back, do you think you would’ve done your Rate-A-Queen picks differently?
Absolutely! I went in there trying to be all integral and nice to everybody and fair — no, if I could go back, I would mess everybody’s placement up. [Laughs.]
It’s episode three, and we’re already at the ball challenge, which is easily one of the hardest challenges on the show. What was your immediate reaction when you found out the ball was happening this early in the show?
I love the ball challenge, because it’s the one challenge where you really get to show the most of yourself and your style on the runway, so I actually really like that they put it this early. My problem was with the design element — I can use a machine, but if you’re asking me to be a Q or a Sapphira or a Nymphia, I’m not that girl!
Completely, and I feel like we always have the same discourse around the ball challenges, where people are shocked that some girls can’t sew. Where do you fall on that debate — do girls need to know how to sew when they go on Drag Race?
Oh, interesting. I don’t think it’s about knowing how to sew, because being a designer is a different type of talent. Everyone can know how to sew or not; I didn’t have to ask for any help with the machines, I didn’t need any glue guns, I could put an outfit together. But I’m not a designer, I cannot see fashion in that way. My drag is heavy on the performance side. It’s about being able to design, not being able to sew — like, when I saw what Q had wrapped around her neck, my jaw dropped.
Sadly, you wound up in the bottom this week, lip synching to Ava Max’s “Maybe You’re the Problem” against Geneva Karr, and I was obsessed with the unhinged, church-lady energy you brought to this lip sync. What was your strategy going into that performance?
To be completely honest with you, I already felt like everybody had decided that I was going home. There was no need to ask Sapphira or Jane for immunity, because nobody was coming to save me. Plus, if you know me, you know that Ava Max is so far outside my wheelhouse — I love her as an artist, but that is not my wheelhouse. My thought process was, “If I’m leaving, I’m going to have the best time of my life on that stage.” So, the second the music hit, and that one camera swung in front of me, that was all I needed. I was just living my life on that stage.
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Well, before we let you go, I wanted to ask — is there any music you’ve been obsessing over lately?
Actually, yes there is! I just ran into this artist, his name is Dre Scot, and he is so good. I cannot listen to club music in my downtime, I need some relaxing, good vibe music, and Dre Scot’s voice is so relaxing, I love him. Oh, and Victoria Monét! Both of them are on constant repeat in the Hershii household.
From Lady Gaga to Bonnie Tyler to a “poop mix,” the show’s latest batch of drag stars break down their favorite songs to perform.
After winning over fans’ hearts during her run on RuPaul’s Drag Race season nine and All Stars season four, Farrah Moan is now ready to tell fans the full, unfiltered truth about her journey with her gender identity.
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In the latest episode of fellow Drag Race alum Maddy Morphosis’ interview series Give It to Me Straight, Farrah Moan revealed that she identifies as a transgender woman, and has spent the last four years living as one. “In 2019, unbeknownst to my following, that was when I had made my decision to live my life as a woman,” Moan said.
Speaking with Morphosis, Moan said that she held back on coming out publicly as trans because she feared that doing so would impact her work as a drag queen, or that it could’ve meant that she “would never be on Drag Race,” especially considering that her makeup transformation from “male to female” was part of her brand.
But, Moan revealed that at a certain point in her journey, she knew that something needed to change. “Having a male persona felt more like drag than having to do drag,” she said. “Trying to figure out how to be a cute boy was so much harder for me and came so much more unnaturally, to the point where I was like, ‘I wish I could just go out in drag right now.’ The thought of dressing like a boy was so stressful to me, it stressed me out so much and I resented every masculine feature my whole life.”
Moan says she recognized that she had always felt trans, and that she simply “needed to feel free” when it came to labeling herself. “[Doing drag] was the only time that I could really feel at home in my body.”
After officially coming out as trans to her close friends and family, Moan told Morphosis that, accompanied with all the other changes she’s made in her life — the drag performer recently got sober and started regularly exercising — she feels much better on a regular basis. “My daily anxiety levels are much lower. I don’t feel panicked about it anymore,” she said, before breaking into tears. “I feel proud of who I am, and at 30 years old, I’m actually just so thankful for that, because I really never thought I would.”
Watch Farrah Moan’s full interview with Maddy Morphosis below:
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With a new batch of queens and plenty of inventive twists, RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 is already set to blow fans’ minds — now, all it needs are some sickening celebrity guest judges.
On Thursday (Dec. 14), MTV announced the full slate of celebrity guest judges set to appear on the upcoming season of Drag Race. For the show’s two-part premiere, Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron will join the panel for the first episode (Jan. 5), while Latin superstar Becky G will welcome the second batch of contestants for episode two (Jan. 12).
After the queens enter the workroom, subsequent episodes are set to feature stars such as Icona Pop (Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo), Kelsea Ballerini, Adam Shankman, Isaac Mizrahi, Jamal Sims, Joel Kim Booster, Kaia Gerber, Kyra Sedgwick, Law Roach, Mayan Lopez, Ronan Farrow and Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Alongside the show-stopping roster of celebrity guests, MTV also unveiled the official trailer for season 16. Throughout the minute-long teaser, fans get just a glimpse at some of the runways from the 14 new contestants, with the trailer promising “gags,” “feels,” “looks” and “stars” all throughout the show’s upcoming run.
The trailer also teased a few of the twists set to challenge the contestants. Along with the previously announced “Rate-A-Queen” premiere twist — in which the queens will be forced to rank each other’s performances in the annual talent show to determine the week’s tops and bottoms — Ru also revealed the return of immunity rules, allowing one week’s winning queen to be exempt from elimination the following week. Season 16 promises to be a cutthroat event, with Ru warning toward the trailer’s end, “Safe queens rarely make history.”
RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 premieres Friday, Jan. 5, at 8 p.m. ET on MTV. Check out the official trailer for the season below.
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If new episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race were on your holiday wishlist, then Mama Ru is here with excellent news for you.
On Wednesday (Dec. 6), MTV officially announced the full cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16. Set to air starting Friday, Jan. 5, the new episodes of the Emmy-winning franchise will see 14 new queens enter the werk room and compete for a cash prize of $200,000, as well as the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar.
The new cast features drag performers Amanda Tori Meating, Dawn, Geneva Karr, Hershii Liqcour-Jeté, Megami, Mhi’ya Iman Le’Paige, Mirage, Morphine Love Dion, Nymphia Wind, Plane Jane, Plasma, Q, Sapphira Cristál and Xunami Muse.
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Season 16’s premiere, meanwhile, will be a two-part event with the queens split into two different groups. Performing in their respective talent shows — themed after MTV staples like Spring Break and the Teen Choice Awards — each of the premiere episodes is set to feature a “gag worthy twist,” where the queens will rate each other’s performances to determine who ends up in the top and bottom positions.
In an interview with Billboard earlier this year, RuPaul attributed the ongoing success of the Drag Race franchise to the fabulous performers who come to compete each season. “What makes the show fresh is that each season, we get these fabulous, courageous artists who come on and share their stories with us and the world,” he said. “As producers, we do what we can to create the infrastructure, but the new blood and energy coming from our contestants is what makes the show what it is.”
Season 16 of RuPaul’s Drag Race premieres Friday, Jan. 5, at 8 p.m. ET on MTV. Check out the show’s official “Meet the Queens” video below:
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It’s safe to say that RuPaul Charles is one of the busiest celebrities currently working in the business. Alongside hosting and executive producing his Emmy-winning reality series RuPaul’s Drag Race, the drag icon has spent 2023 overseeing the show’s growing number of international spinoffs, hosting his own game show and writing a book.
Now, RuPaul is revealing yet another project that’s been on his growing checklist. On Friday (Oct. 20), the star unveiled Essential Christmas, his brand new holiday album compiling personal favorites off of his past three Christmas projects, while also giving fans a taste of something new on “Baby Doll,” a doo-wop jam that’s perfectly tailored for the holiday season.
When speaking to Billboard about his new project, even RuPaul is surprised at his prolific career in releasing Christmas songs. “I never set out to put out any Christmas records, yet somehow it’s happened that way,” he says. “And I really do love it.”
Below, RuPaul chats with Billboard about the making of his latest album, his favorite Christmas memories, the evolution of his writing his revealing new memoir The House of Hidden Meanings, and the continuing legacy of Drag Race.
Essential Christmas is your fourth Christmas album and your second album to be put out this year, along with every other career that you are currently juggling. How are you finding time to put these projects together?
Well, all I really do is work at this point. [Laughs.] And I really enjoy working. So I work a lot — I usually don’t enjoy sitting around, just hanging out.
Let’s start by talking about the new single off of this album, “Baby Doll.” I love this ‘50s doo-wop style that you were tapping into here. How did you and Freddie go about conceiving this track?
Well, Freddie and I both love 50s doo-wop. And when I think of Christmas music, I think of that era as really being the sound of Christmas, especially of dance-y, fun Christmas. So we started there, and then looked at some current songs — well, at least in the past 15 years — that have that same ’50s beat. That’s when we landed on the Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies.” So the drum pattern is similar to “Single Ladies,” but it has all of the elements of that 50s doo-wop style.
Much of the rest of the album serves as a greatest hits-style compilation of reworked past Christmas songs — how did you go about picking out which songs were going to make the cut and which ones weren’t?
Well, in the streaming era, it’s really all about curating — and not just with music, but with everything in life. People have so many choices that my job, in part, becomes that of a cultural curator. So because of streaming, I figured I would to put all of the most significant songs that I’ve done in one place so it makes it easier for people. But also, I love a happy, fun, dance-y Christmas party. “Baby Doll,” when we first started working on it, was initially kind of dark and melancholy. And as beautiful as that was, after we made a demo of it, I said, “You know what, let’s change this, let’s make it more happy.” So we ended up scrapping the first rendition of it, and the only thing we kept of the original song was the title.
Anyways, my point with all of this is I like Happy Christmas; I enjoy a melancholy Christmas song every now and then, I just didn’t want to have that for this collection.
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That’s an interesting larger point you made — the streaming era has fundamentally changed the way we consume music, and you have been very conscious of keeping up with new developments in music. How has the sort of shifting focus of the industry at large changed your approach to your music career?
Well yes, there are a lot of changes that have been made, and I’ve adjusted to those changes. There’s a challenge involved there, and I love a challenge. It’s like a puzzle where you think about what the consumer wants, and then you adjust to that without compromising what your artistic vision is. I love the fact that everything is so available to everyone.
The issue then becomes — and this is true with movies, fashion and every form of art — you need a cruise director who’s going to say, “This here is important, go here.” In my case, I’ve been on the planet for a little while, and I have witnessed the history of pop music, the history of movies, and all these things. So it’s my job to pass that on, to mentor and to curate for people who weren’t here decades ago to say, “Hey, that right there, that’s really important.”
That’s part of why I actually appreciate how sampling has become such a staple in modern pop music, because it is allowing newer generations to understand older references that they might not have been there for.
Yes, exactly, as long as they understand the context, as long as they get the full story. When I was a kid, there were four television channels, and I would watch talk shows like Mike Douglas and Johnny Carson. In watching those shows, I was filled in about what happened before I was born. I got to understand who Ella Fitzgerald was, and Sarah Vaughan, and Joe Williams. Those talk shows ended up curating for me what I had missed by not being here.
The concept of the Christmas album itself has become its own staple that many artists put into their repertoire over the last few decades — what do you think it is about holiday music that resonates so much with audiences?
I think people want to conjure up nostalgia and memories of their childhood or memories of joy. There’s so much darkness in the world, and we get this little window of joy and happiness and color and lights and love and gift-giving and happiness. And I think everybody wants a piece of that — I know I do. I never set out to put out any Christmas records. But somehow it’s happened that way. And I really do love it.
Do you have any strong Christmas memories that come up with that nostalgia when hearing Christmas songs?
Well, I have Christmas memories from the past 30 years — in my childhood, we had none because we didn’t have any money and it was pretty sad. But you know, when I met Georges [LeBar, RuPaul’s husband], things changed because he loved Christmas. The fact that we were together made us want to celebrate it. When you have love in your life, and you have something to celebrate, it becomes a joyous thing. So these past 30 years, I have loved Christmas. And we look forward to it, because we get to either have a great Christmas celebration at home, or we get to travel to some fabulous place. Now, Christmas is lovely for me, so I like to pass that joy along through my Christmas music.
I also wanted to chat just a little bit about your upcoming memoir, The House of Hidden Meanings. In your announcement, you made it very clear that this book will see you at your most vulnerable — as someone who has built up a popular persona to protect your private life, what was the experience like deconstructing that persona in writing this book?
It was not easy, because when living a life in public, you have to be very, very careful. But, to do the kind of memoir I wanted to do, I had to be completely open and free to express myself. Now of course, after it’s put on paper, I can pull back and temper some of the more harsh elements of what I said. But it was very cathartic, because I got to go back to the scene of the crime and also celebrate how fortunate I’ve been in my life, and not just in my career.
Part of how I’m able to do all this work is by just steamrolling ahead, and not getting slowed down by past indiscretions. I keep going and juggle a lot of projects going at once; the process of writing this book allowed me to slow down and look through the grocery basket of of my life and excavate these old memories.
That has to be a very healing process, as well, to get to be able to go back through your life like that.
It is! Most of us try to push down some of those memories, but in those memories lies so much hope and strength and courage. When you can walk through the fire, when you can do an inventory like that, you can move yourself forward, you can alleviate some of the baggage. For example, as a kid, a lot of times we think our parents are fighting because of something we did as a child — but as an adult, you can look back and go, ‘Oh, actually that had nothing to do with me.’
It has been wild to see how everything with Drag Race has grown — 27 Emmy wins, multiple spin offs, a dozen or so international versions, hundreds of careers of drag queens launched. Do you often find yourself kind of thinking about your legacy and the legacy of this show?
I certainly was thinking about that while I was writing the book, because the book allowed me to reflect. But usually, I try to be in the moment and deal with what I have to do in order to get through today. It’d be too distracting to always be thinking about that, and you really couldn’t move forward.
As a huge fan of the show and a pop music nerd, I’ve always wanted to ask you about how you kind of go about selecting songs for lip syncs, because the show does a fantastic job of including a good mix of genres, eras, and vibes.
I mean, I worked in nightclubs on stage for over 30 years, so I just kind of know a good lip sync song when I hear one. Not all songs are lip sync songs. But the criteria for the TV show is to find songs that a queen can perform. And really, that’s the only criteria.
With so much evolution over the last 15 years of the show, it often feels like Drag Race has exponential room to grow. Is there anything that you haven’t necessarily been able to accomplish on the show that you’re hoping to achieve in the next couple of years?
Well, it really doesn’t rest in my hands. What makes the show fresh is that each season, we get these fabulous, courageous artists who come on and share their stories with us and the world. As producers, we do what we can to create the infrastructure, but the new blood and energy coming from our contestants is what makes the show what it is.