Interview
Start your Engines! RuPaul’s Drag Race Returns for Season 2 By Jason Clevett RuPaul is back, baby! Season 2 of RuPaul’s Drag Race kicks off on OUTtv starting April 12th. 12 new queens compete with charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent to be the next top drag superstar. “I kinda knew that it would be renewed. Around the world in 20 different countries it was a hands down hit across the board,” Ru told GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine on the phone from Los Angeles. “The biggest challenge for us was how to top last season. Honestly it is not even a concern because you get a new group of kids in there and they are the place and thing. That is why it is different and continues to be invigorating, because we get new blood in there.” The girls this year are fierce, and the clashes are epic. This season features an additional show Untucked which goes behind the scenes to the Interior Illusions lounge where the girls talk while awaiting their fate. “Oh child we have bumped it up! It’s like the show is on steroids now! The first season was lovely and sweet, cordial, diplomatic. All of that’s gone. The kids figured it out, they cracked the code and are not there to make friends or be diplomats. They have come to win! I was surprised at how many punches they didn’t pull. Even watching the shows, you hear things in their pieces to camera later and go, oh my god! I can’t believe she said that!” The queens are much younger as well. Their influences are different, which shows in some of the challenges. For example, a challenge in which they have to impersonate a celebrity results in a panel that includes Britney Spears, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, and Pink. “The average age this time around is much younger. It is like a new drag esthetic, one that is younger and not pulling inspiration from the usual places that people from my generation had. We are getting people who are inspired by Beyonce and Britney and that whole thing. Not much Madonna, Cher, Diana Ross or Barbara Streisand. So it is ... refreshing to watch too,” she explained. “The challenges is one of my favorite parts of the show because they are all based on things I’ve done in my own career. I needn’t look further than my own experiences. It is fun to see how they
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GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #78, April 2010
execute them. These are some of the most creative people in the world - even the young ones. We had a Gone with the Wind challenge and they had no idea what that movie is! They rose to the challenge and they made it work for themselves. People forget these are performers; people who have been ostracized by society and their families, and through it all maintain their love for beauty, colour, music and art. They show that creativity in the show and it is beautiful to watch. At its core, our show is about the tenacity of the human spirit and I think that is why people tune in.” While it is very obvious that the girls idolize RuPaul, she admits the feeling is mutual. “The girls are, I wouldn’t say educating me, but inspiring me. So much so that I wrote a book taking that drag esthetic to another level. The book is a great companion piece to the show in taking the drag philosophy and really dissecting and deconstructing it.” The book - Workin It! RuPaul’s Guide to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Style is available now. Last season she released an album. It almost seems as if the plan for RuPaul is to release something awesome to coincide with each season of the show. “This business has changed over the years. As a performer you have to be adaptable and flexible, as a business person. In today’s market you have to brand yourself and sell things in different venues. They don’t have record stores anymore. You want to create a lifestyle and aesthetic the way Apple computers have. That is what I am doing on a much smaller level of course. These are things that also inspire me, the philosophy in writing this book was very cathartic for me to actually find out where I am with all of this, 30 years into it.” The album Champion remains a great pleasure for me. On days when I may be feeling down I play a song like Champion or Destiny Is Mine and feel invigorated and inspired. Drag Race, a remix album has just been released online. “I absolutely love it! I am making a new album now and it is interesting because approaching the new album and writing the songs, it is daunting to try and top or even come close to that. It defines my career for me. We have a remix of the Champion album coming out and some of the remixes on there are out of this world! We have a remix of Main Event which will blow your socks off! I wish you could see the smile on my face when I heard this remix and how excited I was by it. There are remixes of Lets Turn The Night that are absolutely spectacular and marvelous. Some of the best remixes of my whole career are on this record.” RuPaul’s Drag Race is an odd contrast to society today, especially in America. On the one hand we have a show that takes an often misunderstood lifestyle and adds humanity and opens doors to acceptance. At the same time, Mississippi teens can’t take their girlfriend to the prom. Even in light of the steps that the LGBT community has made, there is still a long way to go. “The acceptance that we are all looking for comes from the inside out. You are never going to get acceptance from the principal of that school, or Washington, or whatever municipality is calling the shots. Gay rights, human rights is an inside job, it comes from the inside out. That is where people need to start. Raising awareness is fantastic but you can never look outside of you to make you feel whole. It will never work. It’s an inside job.” It is statements like that which show a depth to RuPaul that people may not grasp. Behind a fabulous drag diva exterior is someone whose inner beauty matches her glamorous look. “People have their own agendas. The bottom line is it is really none of my business what they think. I just need to make sure I get enough dancing and laughing and going. Today I am wearing yellow pants, an orange shirt, and white shoes and I am having a great time. I can’t even begin to figure out what other people are doing. I could, and have dissected why people do the things they do. They are either coming from a place of love, or a place of fear. Most are coming from a place of fear and that is their own business. If anyone wants to jump on the love train, you know