[music: “Sissy That Walk” by RuPaul]
Buckle up and start your engines—the 16th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race is underway, bringing memorable challenges, breathtaking runways, and gagworthy drama.
The season premiered on MTV on Jan. 5, introducing the world to a brand new group of talented queens—all vying for the title of “America’s Next Drag Superstar” and a grand prize of $200,000.
With six episodes already behind us, I talked to three Northwestern Drag Race fans to hear their thoughts on the season so far:
MISTY ROE: I’ve seen an embarrassing amount of Drag Race, honestly. I watched seasons four through seven, like, three, four years ago. And then I didn’t watch anything until last summer. And since last summer, I’ve watched 10…15 seasons.
That’s Weinberg junior Misty Roe. They said the diversity of queens and their styles has made season 16 a great watch.
ROE: I’ve been enjoying it for sure. I like the kind of variety of queens that there are, there’s like, the kind of more left field queens like Dawn, and everything. And there’s some more, I don’t want to say typical, but more like, like, right field, or I guess, more expected drag styles. I like the personalities on the season as well. I like how ridiculous they all are.
Medill senior Yiming Fu had similar praise.
YIMING FU: I think it’s a fun season. I feel like everyone is good, the talent is high. And the talents are diverse too—there’s people who can dance, who can sew, who are funny, who can act, who can sing, and you have that whole spectrum and it feels pretty evenly distributed.
For Bienen sophomore Casey Weisman, he says the versatile group of queens are promising a season full of entertaining moments.
CASEY WEISMAN: I think it’s shaping up to be really good. There’s a lot of shade, there’s a lot of personality right off the bat. And so far, everyone’s doing pretty good. There’s not really much flops.
The season features 14 queens from cities all across the United States. In terms of favorites, Weisman has a handful.
WEISMAN: Well, my favorite is definitely Sapphira Cristál. I think she’s the mother of all queens. I really like Nymphia, I really like Morphine. I like Xunami actually…oh, I love Mhi’ya Iman Le’Paige… “the queen of flips” and I love Geneva “Vroom Vroom” Karr because she’s La Diva Más Latina.
Every episode, the queens compete in challenges with the hopes of accruing enough wins to snatch the crown at the end of the season. Typical challenges range from sketch comedy to fashion design to songwriting.
FU: I’ve liked the challenges a lot so far, because my favorite two challenges usually are the talent show and the ball. So to have them back to back, I really was like, oh, hey those are my favorite challenges.
Each episode of Drag Race also features a runway segment where the queens get to show off a look based on a specific theme. For Fu, he says he’s been impressed by what he’s seen so far.
FU: The looks for the most part have been strong this season. And I think it also does come back to the 16 seasons aspect and queens being very self aware of what they need to bring to make it either in the competition or to make it online. And, I feel like the budget is just higher, and people are really committed to pushing it and having those big moments.
Every season of Drag Race always comes with its fair share of drama and shade. With season 16, particular attention has been drawn to Boston’s Plane Jane, who, throughout the first couple of episodes, seemed to be at the center of it all. For Roe, Plane’s antics have been a consistent source of entertainment.
ROE: I love it. I’m obsessed with Plane Jane. I am here for it. I want her to win. I understand where the other people are coming from because Plane is objectively being incredibly mean. However, I feel like they need to stop taking her so seriously because they know she’s just there to pick a fight.
At the end of every episode, the two bottom queens who perform the worst in that week’s challenge must then “lipsync for their life” to prevent themselves from “sashaying away.” For Weisman, the first couple of eliminations seemed justified.
WEISMAN: Lowkey… I’m fine with them all. The first one was Hershii. Yeah, I think she kind of sent herself home. And then Mirage also kind of set herself home even though I liked Mirage and I was sad to see her go.
In terms of who might be the top contenders for the win, all three fans were in general agreement.
WEISMAN: I think it’s definitely between Sapphira and Nymphia.
FU: I love Nymphia Wind. I don’t know if she’s gonna win. I hope she does, but I would also be equally as happy if Sapphira Cristál won.
ROE: I think it’s going to be Nymphia or Sapphira.
For those looking to get into Drag Race, Roe says that getting together with friends can be a great way to break into it. They also recommend exploring the world of drag outside of the show.
ROE: I think watching with people can be fun. I think that’s a big part of it is discussing it being like I like this, I don’t like this. I would also say branch out of drag race, find other queens, go to local drag shows, support local drag. That’s really important.
For WNUR News, I’m Bazil Frueh.
[music: “Cake & Candy” by RuPaul]
