RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars is an American reality competition television series produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV. The show is a spin-off of RuPaul's Drag Race where RuPaul allows past contestants to come back and compete for a spot in the Drag Race Hall of Fame. RuPaul plays the roles of host, mentor, and source of inspiration for this series, as contestants are given different challenges each week. RuPaul's Drag Race employs a panel of judges, including RuPaul, Michelle Visage and a host of other guest judges, who critique contestants' progress throughout the competition.

Format

Typically, returning contestants consist of runner-ups and popular queens, with a few of them placing either in the top 5 or below in their original season.

Mini challenges

In the mini challenge, each contestant is asked to perform a different task with varying requirements and time limitations. The winner of a mini challenge is sometimes rewarded with some kind of advantage in the main challenge.

Main challenges

The requirements of the main challenge vary across each episode, and can be individual or group challenges. The winner of the main challenge also receives a "special" prize for their win. In the past, challenge winners have been rewarded with prizes including custom designer clothing, vacations, cruises, and quality cosmetic items.

The goal of each main challenge involves a new theme and outcome. Challenges focus on the returning contestants' ability to once again present themselves on camera, perform with music, or perform humorously. Season 1 saw the focus on the groups ability to perform well together, while season 2 is based on more individual challenges where the returning contestant relied on themselves and performance solely. Along with the "special" prizes awarded by winning the main challenge, the top two queens must now lip-sync for the legacy, with the victor being awarded a cash prize of $10,000 and the choice of elimination out of the bottom three queens.

Judging

Untucked

Just like RuPaul's Drag Race, episodes of the first season of All Stars were followed by an Untucked episode each week, giving the viewers a glimpse into the backstage drama and discussions' between the returning contestants. However, no further Untucked episodes have been announced for the second season.

Prizes

Each season, the winner of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars receives a selection of prizes. The prizes won for each season were:

Season 1:

• $100,000 cash prize
• A coveted spot in the Drag Race Hall of Fame
• A supply of MAC Cosmetics
• A vacation trip courtesy of ALandCHUCK.travel

Season 2:

• $100,000 cash prize
• A coveted spot in the Drag Race Hall of Fame
• A one-year supply of Anastasia Beverly Hills cosmetics

Series overview

Season 1: 2012

RuPaul's All Stars Drag Race^[1] is the first All-Star season of RuPaul's Drag Race and premiered on the Logo network on October 22, 2012. Cast members were announced on August 6.^[2]

This season features twelve returning contestants representing all four seasons for a chance to be inducted into the "Drag Race Hall of Fame". This series aired six episodes, each an hour in length.^[3] Contestants were judged on their "charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent" and, since they competed in teams of two, also "synergy". The winner received a supply of MAC cosmetics, a "one of a kind trip" and $100,000.^[4] The theme song playing during the runway every episode is "Sexy Drag Queen" (dootdoot 'doot-swift' remix) and the song playing during the credits is "Responsitrannity" (Matt Pop's edit), the latter of which is originally from RuPaul's album Glamazon. Chad Michaels was crowned the winner in the last episode.

The judges each provide their opinion on the contestants' performances in the main challenge and on the runway before RuPaul announces which 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 by a female artist to which they must learn the lyrics. 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 the 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."^[5] The phrase "charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent" is used repeatedly on the show, the acronym of which is CUNT. On the All Stars season, "synergy" was added to provide an explanation behind the contestants being sorted into teams (expanding the acronym into CUNTS).

Season 2: 2016

A second season of "All Stars" was announced in 2015 and started shooting immediately after Season 8. The show was to begin airing on August 25, 2016. Along with the season premiere's announcement, the cast of All Stars 2 were revealed. The show's upcoming cast will consist of 10 returning contestants, including Adore Delano, Alaska, Alyssa Edwards, Coco Montrese, Detox, Tatianna, Ginger Minj, Katya, Phi Phi O'Hara, Roxxxy Andrews.^[6]

A new twist was revealed for this season changing the format of the show. In previous seasons, the two worst performing queens had to "Lip-sync for their Life" to avoid elimination. This season has the two best performing queens of the challenge "Lip-sync for their Legacy", with the winner of the lip-sync earning $10,000 and choosing which one of the bottom queens gets eliminated. However, RuPaul has stated on the show to the eliminated queens that they will have the opportunity to come back for their "revenge".

On October 13, 2016, Alaska 5000 was crowned the winner of this season, in episode 8.

Contestants

All returning contestants are listed below by season and elimination order.

     The contestant was eliminated earlier in the competition, returned and advanced.

     The contestant quit the competition.

DVD releases

References