RuPaul's Drag Race (season 1)
The first season of RuPaul's Drag Race premiered in the United States on February 2, 2009, on Logo, and ended on March 23 of the same year. Nine contestants were selected to compete in the running of becoming "America's Next Drag Superstar." The first season was filmed during the summer of 2008. The winner of the first season won a cash prize of $20,000, $5,000 worth of MAC Cosmetics, was featured in an LA Eyeworks campaign, and joined the Logo Drag Race tour. One of the nine contestants to compete on RuPaul's Drag Race, Nina Flowers was determined by an audience vote via the show's official website to be the season's Miss Congeniality. The results were announced in early September 2008.
RuPaul's Drag Race | |
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Season 1 | |
Hosted by | RuPaul |
Judges |
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No. of contestants | 9 |
Winner | BeBe Zahara Benet |
Runner-up | Nina Flowers |
Miss Congeniality | Nina Flowers |
Country of origin | United States |
No. of episodes | 9 |
Release | |
Original network | Logo TV |
Original release | February 2 – March 23, 2009 |
Season chronology | |
The theme song playing during the runway every episode was "Cover Girl" from RuPaul's album Champion. This season and season one of All Stars are the only seasons to not feature the "Snatch Game".
The winner of the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race was BeBe Zahara Benet, with Nina Flowers as the runner-up.
In late 2013, Logo re-aired the first season, which was titled RuPaul's Drag Race: The Lost Season, and featured commentary from RuPaul.[1][2]
Contestants
Ages, names, and cities stated are at time of filming.
Contestant | Age | Hometown | Outcome |
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BeBe Zahara Benet | 28 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Winner |
Nina Flowers | 34 | Denver, Colorado | Runner-up[lower-alpha 1] |
Rebecca Glasscock | 26 | Fort Lauderdale, Florida | 3rd place |
Shannel | 29 | Las Vegas, Nevada | 4th place |
Ongina | 26 | Los Angeles, California | 5th place |
Jade[lower-alpha 2] | 25 | Chicago, Illinois | 6th place |
Akashia | 24 | Cleveland, Ohio | 7th place |
Tammie Brown | 28 | Long Beach, California | 8th place |
Victoria "Porkchop" Parker | 39 | Raleigh, North Carolina | 9th place |
Notes:
- Nina Flowers was voted Miss Congeniality by the viewers.
- Jade Sotomayor is referred to as Jade on the show.
Contestant progress
Legend:
Contestant | Episode | |||||||
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1[3] | 2[4] | 3[5] | 4[6] | 5[7] | 6[8] | 8[9] | 9[10] | |
BeBe Zahara Benet | SAFE | SAFE | WIN | SAFE | BTM | WIN | Winner | Guest |
Nina Flowers | WIN | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | Runner-up | Miss C |
Rebecca Glasscock | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | BTM | WIN | BTM | Eliminated | Guest |
Shannel | SAFE | SAFE | BTM | SAFE | SAFE | ELIM | Guest | |
Ongina | SAFE | WIN | SAFE | WIN | ELIM | Guest | ||
Jade | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | ELIM | Guest | |||
Akashia | BTM | BTM | ELIM | Guest | ||||
Tammie Brown | SAFE | ELIM | Guest | |||||
Victoria "Porkchop" Parker | ELIM | Guest |
Lip syncs
Legend:
Episode | Contestants | Song | Eliminated | ||
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1[3] | Akashia | vs. | Victoria "Porkchop" Parker | "Supermodel (You Better Work)" (RuPaul) |
Victoria "Porkchop" Parker |
2[4] | Akashia | vs. | Tammie Brown | "We Break the Dawn" (Michelle Williams) |
Tammie Brown |
3[5] | Akashia | vs. | Shannel | "The Greatest Love of All" (Whitney Houston) |
Akashia |
4[6] | Jade | vs. | Rebecca Glasscock | "Would I Lie to You?" (Eurythmics) |
Jade |
5[7] | BeBe Zahara Benet | vs. | Ongina | "Stronger" (Britney Spears) |
Ongina |
6[8] | Rebecca Glasscock | vs. | Shannel | "Shackles (Praise You)" (Mary Mary) |
Shannel |
Episode | Final contestants | Song | Winner | ||
8[9] | BeBe Zahara Benet | vs. | Nina Flowers | "Cover Girl (Put the Bass in Your Walk)" (RuPaul) |
BeBe Zahara Benet |
Guest judges
Listed in chronological order:
- Bob Mackie, fashion designer
- Mike Ruiz, photographer
- Frank Gatson, director and choreographer
- Michelle Williams, singer and actress
- Howard Bragman, writer and lecturer
- Debra Wilson, actress and comedian
- Gordon Espinet, make-up artist
- Jenny Shimizu, model and actress
- Lucy Lawless, actress and singer
- Robin Antin, dancer, choreographer, and actress
- Jeffrey Moran, Absolut Vodka marketing/branding executive
- María Conchita Alonso, singer-songwriter and actress
Episodes
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
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1 | 1 | "Drag on a Dime" | February 2, 2009 | |
Nine drag queens enter the workroom. For the first mini-challenge, the queens will do a sexy car wash photo shoot. For the main challenge, the queens will design an outfit made from items from the thrift store. On the runway, Nina Flowers and Ongina receive positive critiques, with Nina Flowers winning the challenge. Akashia, Rebecca Glasscock and Victoria "Porkchop" Parker receive negative critiques, with Rebecca Glasscock being safe. Akashia and Victoria "Porkchop" Parker lip-sync to "Supermodel (You Better Work)" by RuPaul. Akashia wins the lip-sync and Victoria "Porkchop" Parker is the first queen to sashay away.
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2 | 2 | "Girl Groups" | February 9, 2009 | |
For this week's mini-challenge, the queens will act out certain emotions. Akashia and Ongina win the mini-challenge. For the main challenge, the queens will do a Destiny's Child girl group battle.
On the runway, Team "Say My Name" is the winning team, with Ongina winning the challenge. Team "Independent Women" is the losing team, with Akashia and Tammie Brown being announced as the bottom two. They lip-sync to "We Break the Dawn" by Michelle Williams. Akashia wins the lip-sync and Tammie Brown sashays away.
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3 | 3 | "Queens of All Media" | February 16, 2009 | |
For this week's main challenge, the queens will channel Oprah Winfrey in various television personality roles. The first role was a newscaster challenge where the queens had to read mock news stories from a teleprompter. The second role was to try and sell products. The final role was to interview Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott. On the runway, category is Dress to Impress. BeBe Zahara Benet, Nina Flowers and Ongina receive positive critiques, with BeBe Zahara Benet winning the challenge. Akashia, Jade and Shannel receive negative critiques, with Jade being safe. Akashia and Shannel lip-sync to "The Greatest Love of All" by Whitney Houston. Shannel wins the lip-sync and Akashia sashays away.
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4 | 4 | "Mac-Viva Glam" | February 23, 2009 | |
For this week's mini-challenge, the queens will pair up and give their partner a 30 minute makeover. Jade wins the mini-challenge. For the main challenge, the queens will write and film a Mac-Viva Glam commercial. On the runway, BeBe Zahara Benet, Nina Flowers and Ongina receive positive critiques, with Ongina winning the challenge. Jade, Rebecca Glasscock and Shannel receive negative critiques, with Shannel being safe. Jade and Rebecca Glasscock lip-sync to "Would I Lie To You?" by The Eurythmics. Rebecca Glasscock wins the lip-sync and Jade sashays away.
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5 | 5 | "Drag School of Charm" | March 2, 2009 | |
For this week's mini-challenge, the queens will try to outlast their opponents in an endurance challenge. Rebecca Glasscock wins the mini-challenge. For the main challenge, the queens will makeover a female fighter. On the runway, Rebecca Glasscock and Shannel receive positive critiques, with Rebecca Glasscock winning the challenge. BeBe Zahara Benet, Nina Flowers and Ongina receive negative critiques, with Nina Flowers being safe. BeBe Zahara Benet and Ongina lip-sync to "Stronger" by Britney Spears. BeBe Zahara Benet wins the lip-sync and Ongina sashays away.
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6 | 6 | "The Absolut Ball" | March 9, 2009 | |
For this week's mini-challenge, the queens will compete in a vogue battle. Nina Flowers wins the mini-challenge. For the main challenge, the queens will create three looks for The Absolut Drag Ball: Swimsuit, Executive Realness and Evening Wear. The flavors the queens were assigned for their outfit inspirations were as follows:
On the runway, BeBe Zahara Benet and Nina Flowers receive positive critiques, with BeBe Zahara Benet winning the challenge. Rebecca Glasscock and Shannel receive negative critiques, and are announced as the bottom two. They lip-sync to "Shackles (Praise You)" by Mary Mary. Rebecca Glasscock wins the lip-sync and Shannel sashays away.
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7 | 7 | "Extra Special Edition" | March 16, 2009 | |
RuPaul takes a look back to the best moments of the season. Including unaired clips, the audition tapes of the queens that did and didn't make it to the show, and the Top 10 most memorable fashion looks of the season.
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8 | 8 | "Grand Finale" | March 23, 2009 | |
For the last challenge of the season, the queens will record a verse and film a spot for RuPaul's music video "Cover Girl (Put the Bass in Your Walk)". On the runway, Rebecca Glasscock is eliminated, leaving BeBe Zahara Benet and Nina Flowers as the top two queens of the season. They lip-sync to "Cover Girl (Put the Bass in Your Walk)" by RuPaul. It is revealed that BeBe Zahara Benet is the winner, leaving Nina Flowers as the runner-up.
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9 | 9 | "Reunited" | March 23, 2009 | |
The queens all return to talk about the season. Discussions include, Victoria "Porkchop" Parker talking about how well she would've done in future episodes, Tammie Brown's quirkiness, Akashia's tearful exit, Jade's frustration with Rebecca Glasscock, Ongina discussing her being HIV positive, Shannel's elimination, Rebecca's fakeness and attitude, Nina Flowers finishing second and BeBe Zahara Benet winning the competition. It is then revealed that Nina Flowers is this season's Miss Congeniality.
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References
- Shumaker, Jason; Jake Slane (August 18, 2013). "Gentlemen, Re-Start Your Engines...and May the Best Woman Win...Again!". Logo Press Room. Logo. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
- "&"set=a.156472877827.118955.31772462827&type=1&comment_id=9992661&reply_comment_id=9992723&total_comments=15 "Callie, dear..." RuPaul's Drag Race Facebook page. September 23, 2013. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
Callie, dear...
- "Drag on a Dime". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 1. Episode 1. February 2, 2009. Logo TV.
- "Girl Groups". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 1. Episode 2. February 9, 2009. Logo TV.
- "Queens of All Media". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 1. Episode 3. February 16, 2009. Logo TV.
- "Mac-Viva Glam Commercial". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 1. Episode 4. February 23, 2009. Logo TV.
- "Drag School of Charm". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 1. Episode 5. March 2, 2009. Logo TV.
- "The Absolut Drag Ball". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 1. Episode 6. March 9, 2009. Logo TV.
- "Grand Finale". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 1. Episode 8. March 23, 2009. Logo TV.
- "Reunited". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 1. Episode 9. March 23, 2009. Logo TV.
External links
- Official website (U.S.)
- RuPaul's Drag Race at IMDb