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RuPaul's Drag Race is an American reality television series produced by World of Wonder for Logo. RuPaul plays host, mentor and inspiration for this series, which details RuPaul's search for "America's next drag superstar."

The show was greenlit in May 2008, according to a press release by MTV Networks. It premiered in the U.S. on February 2, 2009 on Logo. It premiered in Canada on the MuchMore network on February 15, 2009. The show also airs at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the VH1 network.

The show was marked as the most watched series on Logo in its first season, and it became the most streamed series ever on LogoTV.com during its second. The title of the show is a play on drag queen and drag racing, with the title sequence and theme song "Covergirl (Put the Bass in Your Walk)" both having a drag racing theme. Both the contestants and fans are affectionately referred to as "Racers."

The series was renewed for a fourth season on April 18, 2011, along with its companion series Untucked; both are scheduled to be broadcast in January 2012.

Format
Casting calls are announced online, where perspective contestants submit audition tapes in hopes of being cast. All contestants selected must be 21 years of age or older at the time of taping, and all contestants must be biological men. While sexual orientation is not important, to date, all contestants have been gay men. Transgender women, faux queens, and drag kings are ineligible. Sonique, a season two contestant, is the series' only transgender contestant; having entered the competition as a biological male, she eventually began transitioning after her elimination.

RuPaul plays dual roles in the show. USA Today's Lifeline explains: "RuPaul the drag queen will be the final word in judging and eliminations, while RuPaul the man will offer guidance to contestants for each challenge." RuPaul's Drag Race uses progressive elimination to reduce the initial field of drag queens (which has been established as including thirteen in the third season) down to three before the final challenge. Each episode (with the exception of the casting special, "recap" episode, and reunion special) follows a format consisting of a mini challenge, a main challenge, a runway walk (where the contestants model fashion on a runway, usually in a theme based on the main challenge), and the judging panel.

Mini challenges
In the mini challenge, each contestant is asked to perform a different task with varying requirements and time limitations. Special mini challenges sometimes repeat themselves across seasons. For instance, the first mini challenge of each season is a photo shoot with photographer Mike Ruiz that includes some kind of special twist (such as being doused with water while in full drag, having a high-powered fan turned on during the shoot, or needing to be photographed while jumping on a trampoline). A mini challenge is also dedicated to "reading," which is a drag term referring to insulting one's peers based on observation for comedic effect. The winner of the mini challenge is sometimes rewarded with some kind of advantage in the main challenge. Preceding the "make over challenge" (where contestants must put a random individual with characteristics atypical of a drag queen in drag), the winner of the mini challenge gets to choose the guest they'll be making over first, and also gets to pair the other contestants with who they'll be working with.

Main challenges
The requirements of the main challenge vary across each episode, are usually individual challenges (though group challenges do occur in each season), and initially grant immunity to the winner (until RuPaul announces the discontinuation of that policy mid-season). The winner of the main challenge receives a special prize for their win. In the past, challenge winners have been rewarded with custom designer clothing, trips on cruise ships, and quality cosmetic items.

RuPaul has jokingly said of the show: "Tell Tyra [Banks] that the Queen has returned, and while you’re at it have Heidi [Klum] clear the runway. I’m going to pump some ‘realness’ into reality. To be a winner on this show the contestants need to be a fashion designer, an American Idol, and a top model all rolled up into one. And they definitely have to be smarter than a fifth grader.” The goal of each main challenge involves a new theme and outcome. Contestants are often asked to design and construct a custom outfit, sometimes incorporating unconventional materials. Other challenges focus on the contestants' ability to present themselves on camera, perform with music, or perform comedically. Some challenges become a tradition across seasons. For instance, "The Snatch Game" is a challenge where the contestants re-enact Match Game. The drag queens impersonate celebrities of their own choosing, RuPaul stands in as host, and two celebrity guests stand in as Match Game contestants.

Judging
As of season three, Santino Rice and Michelle Visage are the staple judges alongside RuPaul (Visage replaced fashion journalist Merle Ginsberg, who was a regular judge in the first two seasons). Prior to the grande finale, the two are joined by a celebrity guest judge and an extra-special guest judge each week. Celebrity judges have included Kathy Griffin, Henry Rollins, Jackie Collins, Sharon Osbourne, LaToya Jackson, and Eliza Dushku. In certain instances, Rice has been absent and replacement judging has been provided by make-up artist Billy Brasfield, Mike Ruiz, or Jeffrey Moran (Absolut Vodka marketing executive).

The judges each provide their opinion on the contestants' performances on the runway and in the main challenge before RuPaul announces which drag queen is the episode's winner and which two had the weakest performances. The day before judging, the contestants are all provided with a song that they must learn the lyrics to. The contestants deemed as being the bottom two must "lip sync for their lives" to the song in a final attempt to impress RuPaul. After the lip-sync, RuPaul alone decides who stays and who leaves. RuPaul describes the qualities the contestants must have to be crowned winner of the show as "charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent... These are people who have taken adversity and turned it into something that is beautiful and something powerful." The phrase "charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent" is used repeatedly on the show.

RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked
During the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race, an online video segment called Under the Hood was posted on LogoOnline following each episode. The companion content depicts behind-the-scenes footage not shown on Drag Race. Starting with the release of season 2, a new televised show with behind-the-scenes content similar to Under the Hood began airing directly after each Drag Race episode in a half-hour format. Titled RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked, the show is hosted by RuPaul (in mens wear) who also narrates the footage through voice-overs. The majority of the show depicts what happens in the "Interior Illusions Lounge" and bar backstage where the contestants wait while the judges are deliberating. On occasion, scenes that didn't make it into the main episode are also shown as exclusive unaired footage.

Music
Almost all music used comes from RuPaul's albums. More specifically, RuPaul's recent albums, Champion and Glamazon.

Seasons 1 and 2
The Drag Race theme, as well as the song "Cover Girl (Put the Bass in Your Walk)" both appear on RuPaul's 2009 album Champion. In addition, a new mix of "Cover Girl" featuring a rap by contestant BeBe (which was the focus of an episode of the show) was included on the RuPaul single "Jealous of My Boogie".

Essentially, Champion is the series soundtrack, but an EP album called Drag Race, was also released to iTunes and other digital markets. Composed of remixes from RuPaul's Champion album, it also serves as a soundtrack.


 * 1) Main Event (Matt Pop 80's Tribute) (4:16)
 * 2) Let's Turn the Night (Matt Moss' Vidon Remix) (5:11)
 * 3) Never Go Home Again (Moss Moss' Vidon Remix) (3:20)
 * 4) J.O.M.B.2.0. [Jealous of My Boogie] (RevoLucian's Redux) (3:35) - featuring Tilly Key
 * 5) Destiny is Mine (Matt Moss' Vidon Remix) (3:35)
 * 6) Hit the Floor (Matt Moss' Vidon Remix) (3:20)
 * 7) Champion (DJ BunJoe's Olympic Mix) (3:42)
 * 8) LadyBoy (DJ BunJoe's Bangkok Booty Mix) (3:08)
 * 9) Main Event (Joe Carrano's TKO Mix) (3:41)
 * 10) Let's Turn the Night (Matt Pop Bootleg Mix) 6:43)
 * 11) Never Go Home Again (Matt Pop Amsterdam Jam) (4:01)
 * 12) Main Event (Matt Pop 80's Tribute Extended) (8:37)
 * 13) Cover Girl (Matuchi's Taterz Deep Edit) (4:49)
 * 14) Main Event (Chris Thomas' Hi-NRG Mix) (5:07)

Season 3
The song, Champion (DJ BunJoe's Olympic Mix) was used during the show and was the basis for the final video challenge. After the closing of the third season, the album, Glamazon was released through iTunes. Songs from that album were used in the season were:
 * 1) Superstar
 * 2) Glamazon
 * 3) The Beginning

DVD releases
DVDs for both seasons 2 and 3 are only available in Region 1 and are produced on demand by Amazon.com.

Criticism
RuPaul's Drag Race has been criticized for appearing to favor glamorous drag queens over comedic or camp queens. For example, Entertainment Weekly cited the elimination of comedienne and eventual season two fan favorite Pandora Boxx as the season's most controversial. In response, RuPaul has said, "What we're looking for is someone who can really follow in my footsteps: Someone who can be hired by a company to represent their product, someone who can put together a sentence on television and present themselves in the most incredible way."

International airings

 * The series airs on OUTtv in Canada at the same time as the US airing. MusiquePlus is also airing the first two seasons.
 * During Summer 2009, TIMM - a gay television channel from Germany - aired the first season every Friday night.
 * The first season was also aired in Australia on cable television channel LifeStyle YOU.
 * RuPaul's Drag Race has also been aired in Denmark, on the channel TV2-zulu, where the two first seasons have been aired in the time-frame of a couple of weeks, including the "extras" of the show.
 * In Summer 2010, the season aired on yes stars Next, an Israeli satellite channel.
 * In Finland the programme started airing on TV Viisi as Huippu- drag queen haussa ("Searching for the Top Drag Queen") on Thursday, 18 November 2010 at 20.00.
 * In Hungary the show aired on FEM3 channel as RuPaul - Drag Queen leszek! ("RuPaul - I'll be Drag Queen!").
 * In Latin America, Season 2 made its premiere in January 2011 on VH1 Latin America and the first season premiered in May 2011.
 * Season 1, immediately followed by season 2, started airing in Sweden on TV11 early 2011.
 * In honor of Manila Luzon, the Philippines aired season 3 on Velvet every Tuesday at 11pm with RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked, airing directly after the show. Sometimes, the show is shown uncensored.
 * In Italy, the third season began airing as "America's Next Drag Queen" on FOXlife on July 13, 2011 at 21.55 with dialogue dubbed in Italian.

Former airing

 * The show was also first aired on E4, a UK entertainment channel, in September 2009, with the first episode airing on Wednesday 9 September 2009 at 11:00pm. E4 announced through Twitter that it would no longer air the show.

Spin-offs
RuPaul's Drag U is a spin-off, where biological women compete to unleash their drag potential. They are counseled, mentored and given makeovers by Drag Professors, who are contestants from Drag Race. Since the series is filmed in Los Angeles over a month, majority of the professors are those queens that reside in Southern California.