RuPaul's Drag Race | Contenders Television 'The Nominees'
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00:00Hello, everyone. I'm Deadline Crafts Editor Ryan Fleming, here today with a fantastic
00:09group of people to discuss RuPaul's Drag Race, whose 16th season has just earned 10 Emmy
00:15nominations, including a first-time nomination for Outstanding Choreography for Variety or
00:20Reality Programming. Here with me today is Executive Producer Mandy Selangsang, Senior
00:27Producer, Host, and Judge Michelle Visage, Judge T.S. Madison, and Choreographer Jamal
00:35Singh. Welcome, everyone.
00:36Hello.
00:37Hi.
00:38Hi.
00:39Hi.
00:40Hi.
00:41Before we get started, let's see a clip.
00:42Join the revolution.
00:43On MTV.
00:4414 bold new queens break through the noise.
00:45Who will seize the moment?
00:46I feel the presence of the Season 16 winner in this room.
00:47I think it's me.
00:48Gag.
00:49Let the game begin.
00:50I lived for her, but I also hated her for it.
00:51I don't want to get in trouble for fighting her bitch ass.
00:52Feel.
00:53This is something big for us, because I believe we're the first dark-up queens on the show.
00:54Finally having a shot to, like, live my dream.
00:55Lux.
00:56If this is just a taste of who you are, I am ready for a buffet.
00:57The sea sweat.
00:58Put your whole body on the line.
00:59I feel the presence of the Season 16 winner in this room.
01:00I think it's me.
01:01Gag.
01:02Let the game begin.
01:03I lived for her, but I also hated her for it.
01:04I don't want to get in trouble for fighting her bitch ass.
01:05Feel.
01:06This is something big for us, because I believe we're the first dark-up queens on the show.
01:07Finally having a shot to, like, live my dream.
01:08Lux.
01:09If this is just a taste of who you are, I am ready for a buffet.
01:10The sea sweat.
01:11Put your whole body on the line.
01:12I feel the presence of the Season 16 winner in this room.
01:13Can I do that again?
01:14Stars.
01:15Bru, I've been slaying bitches forever.
01:16I was seduced.
01:17And so many twists.
01:18This week's winner will receive immunity.
01:19Gag.
01:20Let the game begin.
01:21I lived for her, but I also hated her for it.
01:22I don't want to get in trouble for fighting her bitch ass.
01:23Feel.
01:24This is something big for us, because I believe we're the first dark-up queens on the show.
01:25Gag.
01:26Let the game begin.
01:27I lived for her, but I also hated her for it.
01:28I don't want to get in trouble for fighting her bitch ass.
01:29Feel.
01:30This is something big for us, because I believe we're the first dark-up queens on the show.
01:31Gag.
01:32Let the game begin.
01:33I lived for her, but I also hated her for it.
01:34I don't want to get in trouble for fighting her bitch ass.
01:35Feel.
01:36This is something big for us, because I believe we're the first dark-up queens on the show.
01:37Gag.
01:38Let the game begin.
01:39I lived for her, but I also hated her for it.
01:40I don't want to get in trouble for fighting her bitch ass.
01:41Feel.
01:42This is something big for us, because I believe we're the first dark-up queens on the show.
01:43Gag.
01:44Let the game begin.
01:45I lived for her, but I also hated her for it.
01:46And that's...
01:47And that's...
01:48The tea.
01:49And that's the mother-fucking tea.
01:50This season, it's power to the queens.
01:58Safe queens rarely make her straight.
02:00RuPaul's Drag Race, new season Friday, January 15th.
02:05The future of drag is on MTV.
02:08To start off, I mean, RuPaul's Drag Race has been going on for 16 seasons, and still this
02:15season had some of the best ratings, including the highest rated finale in over a decade.
02:22I mean, Mandy and Michelle, as executive producer and senior producer, I'm curious, what are
02:29those conversations like at the beginning of the season or before a season starts of
02:33how do we keep this fresh and make sure that this season is the most successful season
02:38compared to every other season?
02:42Well, thankfully, we draw upon such...
02:45From such a deep well of queen talent across the country.
02:49So it's very, very exciting to see the casting tape submissions as they come in at the early
02:56and pre-production in each season and just know that every season obviously brings with
03:02it and with these talented queens such variety, such diversity, such unique and new talents
03:10and visions.
03:11So that's one way to keep the stays fresh.
03:13Absolutely.
03:14And then, yes, the producing team, you know, we we've all been on it and on the show for
03:20quite for quite some time and are so, so passionate about the project and want so much to continue
03:27to up ourselves and come up with new twists and turns that keep things fresh and understand
03:32that, you know, the season has been on for a long time, but there's still so much more
03:35that we want to do.
03:37I mean, Mandy pretty much said everything that needs to be said, but I will say that
03:43the talented and twisted minds of these queens can only be topped by the talented and twisted
03:49minds of our creative team, our production, our producers, our execs, our task team, everything
03:58that everybody that's involved, they all want to reach for the stars and they want to make
04:03every single season better than the last.
04:06And just when you think, what else can we do?
04:08Somebody comes up with something to throw in a twist and make everybody go, oh, I didn't
04:13see that coming.
04:15That's the fun of what we do, because we even as judges on the show, we don't know what
04:21each week is going to bring.
04:23And I think that is in a big part to the queens, because when people interview me and they'll
04:27say, well, what makes this different than any other season?
04:30The queens make it different.
04:32Each batch is a new, incredibly talented, gifted group of individuals that bring so
04:37much to this platform.
04:39And we kind of feed off their energy and that's the way it rolls.
04:43We want to evolve.
04:45And I think that's what we continue to try to do.
04:48So speaking of the queens, as judges, both Michelle and TS, can you talk about your approach
04:58to critiquing them on the runway?
05:03How do you critique them in a way that kind of improves their artistry?
05:07Listen, I think my style of critiquing has been critiqued for 14 years now, and I've
05:18always approached it the same way.
05:20Again, I try to evolve as a human.
05:22I'm a mother.
05:23I'm a mother to a queer child.
05:25I'm on this earth as an ally.
05:27It's my platform.
05:29It's what I'm here to do, help make this world a better place for all humans, but mostly
05:32for LGBTQIA plus humans, because they have a harder go of it on this earth.
05:39Let's be real.
05:41So for me, as an ally, advocate, and activist, I want them to be the best that they can be.
05:47So my critiquing, my judging has always come from a tough love aspect, because that's what
05:55this world is.
05:56It's not Skittles and rainbows.
05:58It's really hard out there.
05:59So if they're wanting to be in this game for more than 15 minutes, I want them to show
06:05all of themselves while they have the moment, because you don't know if they're going to
06:09be here for one week or if they're going to be here for 13 weeks.
06:12So I think they should lay it all on the line every single episode.
06:16Well, I mean, for me, when I'm judging the girls, I always judge them from the place
06:21of I'm a self-made star.
06:25And so they have the opportunity to have a stage that reaches the entire world.
06:32And so a lot of them, when they come into this competition, they see Rue as mother,
06:37and they see me as aunt.
06:38And so when they come out, it's like, oh, my God, my auntie is here.
06:42You know, I've watched you.
06:44I've been watching you for so many years, TS Madison, like you've influenced this.
06:47And a lot of these queens I've spoken to either online or I've spoken to them at DragCon and
06:54probably have said to them, hey, you'd be a fierce queen on the show.
06:59Have you auditioned yet?
07:00When I'm in the airport, I'm always stopped by so many adoring fans of the show.
07:06And they say, thank you, TS Madison, for being in the space, because, you know, you're there.
07:13You are who you are.
07:14And you know, you show us that anything is possible.
07:18And thank you for being a part of something that belongs to us.
07:22This show is our show, our queer community show.
07:26And I remember this happening in the airport just recently.
07:29And I got on the plane.
07:31And I thought about it.
07:32I was like, oh, my God.
07:33When I looked around, I was like, there's no other show that belongs to us except RuPaul's
07:38Drag Race.
07:39Yeah.
07:40A lot of stuff happened in airports and teams.
07:46I'm going to hard pivot, because I feel like I just can't not talk about how great it is
07:52that RuPaul's Drag Race got that choreography nomination.
07:57Yeah!
07:58Yeah!
07:59It's strong.
08:01Obviously, we don't see every bit of the choreography lesson as the viewer.
08:10So can you tell us a little bit about how you make it look so effortless when it gets
08:16on the screen, but while also showing the queen's individual style through that movement?
08:24Well, the truth of the matter is, you all do see most of the time that we have.
08:32It is kind of what you see.
08:35There's probably add 40 minutes on to that.
08:39You know what I mean?
08:42And I have to say that this is such an honor, because other dance programs, other Emmy-nominated
08:52dance programs are professional.
08:54These are professional dancers, and we have to remember that we're not working with professional
08:58dancers here on the show.
09:00They're contestants.
09:01And some of them have never had dance training before.
09:05So to me, it feels like I'm a part of the competition.
09:11I actually do want each one of them to succeed when I'm choreographing, and that's what's
09:16so important.
09:17And so when they win, I win.
09:20And it's not just on just being nominated.
09:23It's just in life.
09:24I want to see these queens move forward.
09:27I want to see them succeed.
09:29And I think that that's kind of what comes out when the numbers happen.
09:33You know what I mean?
09:34They feel like they've been taken care of, and yeah, I feel like I won.
09:38I want to just give Jamal his flowers, because he works tirelessly and endlessly with just
09:48about what he was talking about.
09:49Some of the queens that have never done a step in their life.
09:52And he makes sure they have got it down so they're comfortable, and they're showing the
09:59best of what they can do.
10:00He does so much more than he is letting on to.
10:04He is an outrageously gifted person, but he's also an incredibly loving, empathic, kind,
10:12compassionate human being.
10:13Very much so.
10:14He is a light and a love when he joins us on set in a challenge where we were lucky
10:20enough to have him choreograph a number.
10:23He just brings with him an enthusiasm and an energy and instills, again, in these queens
10:30the belief that no matter how daunting the task may be, no matter the fact that they
10:36have maybe not performed dance at the level that this sort of a competition is asking
10:43of them, no matter the fact that they've got such a tight turnaround to learn this incredible
10:46choreography, he helps them believe and know that they can deliver, and boy, do they.
10:57It's really, really a remarkable thing to see, and we're so lucky to have had the opportunity
11:01to work with him for so many seasons, and we're so thrilled that he's nominated for
11:06us.
11:07Congratulations.
11:09Thank y'all.
11:10It means so much to all of us.
11:12You deserve it.
11:13Baby, you deserve all that praise.
11:14You take it in, and you receive it.
11:16It's deserved.
11:18You've been at this grind for a long-ass time.
11:19And you know it, and I know it, because I've been with you.
11:22I've been with you.
11:24It's a special thing to see, truly.
11:25You're amazing.
11:27Sorry about this, y'all.
11:29You deserve those flowers.
11:30We love you, y'all.
11:31You deserve every bit of it.
11:32No, you deserve it.
11:33You absolutely do.
11:35And one of the performances that was nominated is Power, which is all about voter registration,
11:46political participation.
11:48And this is something that I want to open up to the group here, something that's been
11:53important for RuPaul's Drag Race, just as long as the show's been going on, has been
11:59getting the message out there to participate in voting, registration, everything.
12:06As the show goes on, what responsibility do you feel to promote that kind of activism?
12:13Not just in political activism, but just any kind of activism in that kind of community?
12:22The drag, in and of itself, is a form of activism, right?
12:25It is.
12:26It wasn't that long ago, you know, 60 years ago, drag in this country was illegal.
12:34That's not that long ago.
12:35So, you know, it's not so much that we go into any, you know, we go into the seasons
12:41wanting to create the most entertaining, powerful show, the kind of show that we want to, we
12:48would want to watch, the kind of show that is a platform for these extraordinary performers
12:54with their deep and varied stories of being and feeling like others out in the world.
13:03And we create these challenges that truly are meant to just test their drag, to put
13:09them out, to demonstrate what they are able of doing as drag performers and to really
13:15show that they are at the absolute top of their game.
13:19And it's not so much that the challenges themselves are rooted in activism, but what it brings
13:25out in the Queens, the types of conversations that it drives, the moments that they so generously
13:31share with one another and with the viewers is what I think is the result of it.
13:36More than us sort of pushing activism through the show itself, if that makes sense.
13:41And I think Mandy was spot on.
13:43Being in drag alone is the biggest political statement that anybody could make.
13:47But with that said, telling people to vote is just a little dipping the toe in the water.
13:52And to be honest, we are lucky that we have something like this, a platform like this,
13:56that we can do something like that.
13:58We are not here to be preachy or soapboxy.
14:01We're here to educate through entertainment and through love and letting people know about
14:08the struggles and the triumphs within the LGBTQIA plus community, what it's like to
14:13grow up under scrutiny and what it looks like to succeed.
14:18That's right.
14:19Yeah.
14:20And I always say that my presence and my visibility is my advocacy.
14:26And being, you know, standing 10 toes down on that, you know, you have to look at we're
14:31in a time now where our presence and our visibility is being challenged.
14:36We're on.
14:37They want to threaten us and eradicate us.
14:40So why not push the envelope and say, vote?
14:43Because that's our power.
14:44That's the power.
14:45That's what we've got.
14:47Right.
14:48We've got one shot.
14:49Yeah.
14:50And it's voting.
14:51Yes.
14:52Well, that is all the time we have.
14:55I want to thank my panel, Mandy, Michelle, TS, and Jamal.
15:03Thank you so much for joining me.
15:05And thank you, everyone, for watching.
15:08And if you have not checked out RuPaul's Drag Race in 16 seasons, I don't know what's
15:13wrong with you, but definitely start watching.
15:17Thank you, Ryan.
15:19Thank you so much.
15:20Thank you very much.