Tuesday, Oct. 22, 8 p.m.
Sound Board at the MotorCity Casino & Hotel
soundboarddetroit.com
When it first debuted on Logo in 2009, "RuPaul's Drag Race" was a pretty low-budget novelty. At the end of the first season, winner BeBe Zahara Benet received a grand prize of $25,000 and was crowned America's Next Drag Superstar. But like RuPaul himself, the show persisted. Production quality improved, prizes got better and by season four, the winner Sharon Needles took home a prize of $100,000, which remains the amount winners receive to this day.
Drag Race has inspired the spin-offs "RuPaul's Drag U," "Untucked" and "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars." The highest-rated show on Logo, Drag Race switched to the more mainstream VH1 for season nine in 2017. And as if that weren't enough, RuPaul would go on to win three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program from 2016 to 2018. "Drag Race," as a show, won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program in 2018.
Through the show and a keen knack for self-promotion, RuPaul has built an empire releasing books, fragrances, dolls and music, much of which is played on the show and, as RuPaul reminds each week, is available on iTunes. RuPaul also produces RuPaul's Drag Con, the largest drag convention in the world. And for several years now, winners and popular contestants on the show have gone on tour during the off season.
For this Werq the World Tour 2019, entertainers include Aquaria, Asia, Detox, Kameron, Kim, Money, Naomi, Plastique, Vanessa aka Miss Vangee, Violet and Yvie. The show is hosted by longtime Drag Race judge Michelle Visage. So far, the tour is scheduled to make nearly 90 stops around the country as well as in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Europe.
