RuPaul's_Drag_Race_(season_8)
RuPaul's Drag Race season 8
Eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race
The eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race began airing on March 7, 2016. Returning judges include RuPaul and Michelle Visage, along with Ross Mathews and Carson Kressley, who shared judging responsibilities on an alternating basis. Twelve drag queens competed for the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar". The prizes for the winner are a one-year supply of Anastasia Beverly Hills cosmetics and a cash prize of $100,000. The full list of contestants was revealed during the NewNowNext Awards on February 1, 2016.[1] The song "U Wear It Well" from RuPaul's album Butch Queen was featured in promotion for the show. On March 31, 2016, it was announced LogoTV renewed the show for a ninth season.[2] It was the last season to solely be played on Logo, as the show moved to VH1 for its ninth season.[3]
| RuPaul's Drag Race | |
|---|---|
| Season 8 | |
Promotional poster for season eight | |
| Hosted by | RuPaul |
| Judges | |
| No. of contestants | 12 |
| Winner | Bob the Drag Queen |
| Runners-up | |
| Miss Congeniality | Cynthia Lee Fontaine |
| Companion show | RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked! |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Logo TV |
| Original release | March 7 (2016-03-07) – May 16, 2016 (2016-05-16) |
| Season chronology | |
| List of episodes | |
The theme song played during the runway segment every episode was "The Realness", and the song played during the closing credits was "Die Tomorrow", both songs from the album Realness.
The winner of the eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race was Bob the Drag Queen, with Kim Chi and Naomi Smalls being the runners-up, and Cynthia Lee Fontaine being crowned season 8's Miss Congeniality.
On August 20, 2020, Chi Chi DeVayne died after battling scleroderma and pneumonia.[4]
Ages, names, and cities stated are at time of filming.
| Contestant | Age | Hometown | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bob the Drag Queen | 29 | New York City, New York | Winner |
| Kim Chi | 27 | Chicago, Illinois | Runners-up |
| Naomi Smalls | 21 | Redlands, California | |
| Chi Chi DeVayne[lower-alpha 1] | 29 | Shreveport, Louisiana | 4th place |
| Derrick Barry | 32 | Las Vegas, Nevada | 5th place |
| Thorgy Thor | 31 | New York City, New York | 6th place |
| Robbie Turner | 33 | Seattle, Washington | 7th place |
| Acid Betty | 37 | New York City, New York | 8th place |
| Naysha Lopez | 31 | Chicago, Illinois | 9th place[lower-alpha 2] |
| Cynthia Lee Fontaine | 34 | Austin, Texas | 10th place[lower-alpha 3] |
| Dax ExclamationPoint | 31 | Savannah, Georgia | 11th place |
| Laila McQueen | 22 | Gloucester, Massachusetts | |
Notes:
Legend:
| Contestant | Episode | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1[5] | 2[6] | 3[7] | 4[8] | 5[9] | 6[10] | 7[11] | 8[12] | 9[13] | 10[14] | |
| Bob the Drag Queen | SAFE | SAFE | WIN | SAFE | WIN | SAFE | WIN | BTM | SAFE | Winner |
| Kim Chi | WIN | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | WIN | SAFE | Runner-up |
| Naomi Smalls | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | BTM | WIN | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | Runner-up |
| Chi Chi DeVayne | SAFE | WIN | SAFE | BTM | SAFE | SAFE | BTM | SAFE | ELIM | Guest |
| Derrick Barry | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | BTM | WIN | ELIM | Guest | |
| Thorgy Thor | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | ELIM | Guest | ||
| Robbie Turner | SAFE | SAFE | BTM | WIN | SAFE | ELIM | Guest | |||
| Acid Betty | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | ELIM | Guest | ||||
| Naysha Lopez | ELIM | SAFE | ELIM | Guest | ||||||
| Cynthia Lee Fontaine | SAFE | SAFE | ELIM | Miss C | ||||||
| Dax ExclamationPoint | SAFE | ELIM | Guest | |||||||
| Laila McQueen | BTM | ELIM | Guest | |||||||
Legend:
| Episode | Contestants | Song | Eliminated | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1[5] | Laila McQueen | vs. | Naysha Lopez | "Applause" (Lady Gaga) |
Naysha Lopez |
| 2[6] | Dax ExclamationPoint | vs. | Laila McQueen | "I Will Survive" (Gloria Gaynor) |
Dax ExclamationPoint |
| Laila McQueen | |||||
| 3[7] | Cynthia Lee Fontaine | vs. | Robbie Turner | "Mesmerized (Freemasons Radio Edit)" (Faith Evans) |
Cynthia Lee Fontaine |
| 4[8] | Chi Chi DeVayne | vs. | Naysha Lopez | "Call Me" (Blondie) |
Naysha Lopez |
| 5[9] | Acid Betty | vs. | Naomi Smalls | "Causing a Commotion" (Madonna) |
Acid Betty |
| 6[10] | Derrick Barry | vs. | Robbie Turner | "I Love It" (Icona Pop ft. Charli XCX) |
Robbie Turner |
| 7[11] | Chi Chi DeVayne | vs. | Thorgy Thor | "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" (Jennifer Holliday) |
Thorgy Thor |
| 8[12] | Bob the Drag Queen | vs. | Derrick Barry | "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" (Sylvester) |
Derrick Barry |
| 9[13] | Bob the Drag Queen vs. Chi Chi DeVayne vs. Kim Chi vs. Naomi Smalls | "The Realness" (RuPaul) |
Chi Chi DeVayne | ||
Listed in chronological order:[15]
- Nicole Richie, television personality
- Ester Dean, singer/songwriter
- Jamal Sims, choreographer
- Lucian Piane, music producer
- Faith Evans, singer
- Tasha Smith, actress and comedian
- Chris Stein, musician
- Debbie Harry, singer
- Chanel Iman, model
- Gigi Hadid, model
- Marc Jacobs, fashion designer
- Todrick Hall, singer and internet personality
- Thomas Roberts, journalist
- Vivica A. Fox, actress
- Amy Sedaris, comedian and actress
- David Sedaris, writer
Special guests
Guests who appeared in episodes, but did not judge on the main stage.
Episode 1:
- BeBe Zahara Benet, winner of Season 1
- Tyra Sanchez, winner of Season 2
- Raja, winner of Season 3
- Sharon Needles, winner of Season 4
- Chad Michaels, runner-up of Season 4 and winner of All Stars Season 1
- Jinkx Monsoon, winner of Season 5
- Violet Chachki, winner of Season 7
- Shannel, contestant on Season 1 and All Stars Season 1
- Latrice Royale, contestant and Miss Congeniality of Season 4 and contestant on All Stars Season 1
- Raven, runner-up of Season 2 and All Stars Season 1
- Morgan McMichaels, contestant on Season 2
Episode 2:
- AB Soto, musician
Episode 4:
- The Vivienne, RuPaul's Drag Race UK Ambassador[16]
Episode 5:
- Charo, musician and comedian
Episode 6:
- Marc Snetiker, Entertainment Weekly journalist
- Cast of Little Women L.A.
Episode 7:
- Andrew Christian, fashion designer
Episode 9:
- Jayson Whitmore, director
- Bianca Del Rio, winner of Season 6
Episode 10:
- BeBe Zahara Benet, winner of Season 1
- Tyra Sanchez, winner of Season 2
- Raja, winner of Season 3
- Sharon Needles, winner of Season 4
- Chad Michaels, runner-up of Season 4 and winner of All Stars Season 1
- Jinkx Monsoon, winner of Season 5
- Bianca Del Rio, winner of Season 6
- Violet Chachki, winner of Season 7
- Shangela, contestant on Season 2 and Season 3
- Trixie Mattel, contestant on Season 7
- Katya, contestant and Miss Congeniality on Season 7.
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 94 | 1 | "Keeping It 100!" | March 7, 2016 (2016-03-07) | |
|
Twelve new queens enter the workroom. For the first mini-challenge, the queens do a photoshoot with past winners. Robbie Turner wins the mini-challenge. For the main challenge, the queens create an outfit based on a design challenge from a past season.
On the runway, Acid Betty, Derrick Barry and Kim Chi receive positive critiques, with Kim Chi winning the challenge. Laila McQueen, Naomi Smalls, Naysha Lopez and Robbie Turner receive negative critiques, with Naomi Smalls and Robbie Turner being safe. Laila McQueen and Naysha Lopez lip-sync to "Applause" by Lady Gaga. Laila McQueen wins the lip-sync and Naysha Lopez is the first queen to sashay away.
| ||||
| 95 | 2 | "Bitch Perfect" | March 14, 2016 (2016-03-14) | |
|
For this week's mini-challenge, the queens have a Latin dance-off to "Cha Cha Bitch". Chi Chi DeVayne and Cynthia Lee Fontaine win the mini-challenge. For the main challenge, the queens team up and perform in a collegiate a capella sing-off called "Bitch Perfect".
On the runway, category is Movie Premiere Realness. Acid Betty, Chi Chi DeVayne and Thorgy Thor receive positive critiques, with Chi Chi DeVayne winning the challenge. Dax ExclamationPoint, Kim Chi and Laila McQueen receive negative critiques, with Kim Chi being safe. Dax ExclamationPoint and Laila McQueen lip-sync to "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor. After the lip-sync, RuPaul decides to eliminate both Dax ExclamationPoint and Laila McQueen from the competition. At the end of the episode, RuPaul calls a queen to join the competition.
| ||||
| 96 | 3 | "RuCo's Empire" | March 21, 2016 (2016-03-21) | |
|
For this week's mini-challenge, the queens drag up a supreme court judge robe. Naomi Smalls wins the mini-challenge. RuPaul then announces that Naysha Lopez will be returning to the competition. For the main challenge, the queens team up and star in two Empire-inspired acting scenes.
On the runway, category is Roller Girl Realness. Acid Betty, Bob the Drag Queen and Thorgy Thor receive positive critiques, with Bob the Drag Queen winning the challenge. Cynthia Lee Fontaine, Derrick Barry and Robbie Turner receive negative critiques, with Derrick Barry being safe. Cynthia Lee Fontaine and Robbie Turner lip-sync to "Mesmerized (Freemasons Radio Edit)" by Faith Evans. Robbie Turner wins the lip-sync and Cynthia Lee Fontaine sashays away.
| ||||
| 97 | 4 | "New Wave Queens" | March 28, 2016 (2016-03-28) | |
|
For this week's main challenge, the queens write, record, and perform verses in ‘80s style New Wave girl bands.
On the runway, category is Neon Queen Realness. Team Les Chicken Wings is the winning team, with Robbie Turner winning the challenge. Team Dragometry and Team Street Meatz are the losing teams. Chi Chi DeVayne, Derrick Barry and Naysha Lopez receive negative critiques, with Derrick Barry being safe. Chi Chi DeVayne and Naysha Lopez lip-sync to "Call Me" by Blondie. Chi Chi DeVayne wins the lip-sync and Naysha Lopez sashays away.
| ||||
| 98 | 5 | "Supermodel Snatch Game" | April 4, 2016 (2016-04-04) | |
|
For this week's main challenge, the queens play the Snatch Game. Gigi Hadid and Chanel Iman star as the celebrity contestants. The cast consisted of:
On the runway, category is Night of a Thousand Madonna's. Bob the Drag Queen, Derrick Barry and Thorgy Thor receive positive critiques, with Bob the Drag Queen winning the challenge. Acid Betty, Naomi Smalls and Robbie Turner receive negative critiques, with Robbie Turner being safe. Acid Betty and Naomi Smalls lip-sync to "Causing a Commotion" by Madonna. Naomi Smalls wins the lip-sync and Acid Betty sashays away.
| ||||
| 99 | 6 | "Wizards of Drag" | April 11, 2016 (2016-04-11) | |
|
For this week's mini-challenge, the queens read each other to filth. Bob the Drag Queen wins the mini-challenge. For the main challenge, the queens give Wizard of Oz themed makeovers to cast members of Little Women L.A..
On the runway, Kim Chi and Naomi Smalls receive positive critiques, with Naomi Smalls winning the challenge. Chi Chi DeVayne, Derrick Barry and Robbie Turner receive negative critiques, with Chi Chi DeVayne being safe. Derrick Barry and Robbie Turner lip-sync to "I Love It" by Icona Pop. Derrick Barry wins the lip-sync and Robbie Turner sashays away.
| ||||
| 100 | 7 | "Shady Politics" | April 18, 2016 (2016-04-18) | |
|
For this week's mini-challenge, the queens play a true or false guessing game with the pit crew. Derrick Barry wins the mini-challenge. For the main challenge, the queens pair up to shoot presidential campaign ads to smear their partner and stake their claim to be the first drag President of the U.S.A.
On the runway, category is Black and White Realness. Bob the Drag Queen and Derrick Barry both win the challenge. Chi Chi DeVayne and Thorgy Thor receive negative critiques, are announced as the bottom two. They lip-sync to "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from Jennifer Holliday. Chi Chi DeVayne wins the lip-sync and Thorgy Thor sashays away.
| ||||
| 101 | 8 | "RuPaul Book Ball" | April 25, 2016 (2016-04-25) | |
|
For this week's mini-challenge, the queens have a bitchfest with puppets. Chi Chi DeVayne wins the mini-challenge. For the main challenge, the queens create three looks for the Book Ball: Baby Drag Realness, That's My Mama Realness and Book Couture. On the runway, Chi Chi DeVayne, Kim Chi and Naomi Smalls receive positive critiques, with Kim Chi winning the challenge. Bob the Drag Queen and Derrick Barry receive negative critiques, and are announced as the bottom two. They lip-sync to "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" by Sylvester. Bob the Drag Queen wins the lip-sync and Derrick Barry sashays away.
| ||||
| 102 | 9 | "The Realness" | May 2, 2016 (2016-05-02) | |
|
For the final challenge of the season, the queens star in RuPaul's music video "The Realness". On the runway, category is Best Drag. The four remaining queens lip-sync to "The Realness" by RuPaul. Chi Chi DeVayne is then eliminated, with Bob the Drag Queen, Kim Chi and Naomi Smalls being the finalists of the season.
| ||||
| 103 | 10 | "Grand Finale" | May 16, 2016 (2016-05-16) | |
|
All the queens return for the live grand finale. The final three queens then perform to a song that was written specifically for them. Bob the Drag Queen lip-syncs to "I Don't Like to Show Off", Kim Chi lip-syncs to "Fat Fem and Asian" and Naomi Smalls lip-syncs to "Legs". It is announced that Cynthia Lee Fontaine has is this season's Miss Congeniality. It is the announced that Bob the Drag Queen is the winner, leaving Kim Chi and Naomi Smalls as the runners-up.
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In August 2022, Time listed season 8 of RuPaul's Drag Race as among the Top 50 Most Influential Reality TV Seasons.[17]
- Avery, Dan (January 31, 2016). "The Cast Of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 8 Will Be Announced At New Now Next Honors". New Now Next. United States: Viacom International Inc. Archived from the original on January 16, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
- "RuPaul's Drag Race Renewed for Season 9 and CastWorld of Wonder". April 12, 2016. Archived from the original on April 3, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
- "Fridays Just Got Fiercer: "RuPaul's Drag Race Season 9" Premieres On VH1 March 24th". World of Wonder (production company). March 1, 2017. Archived from the original on February 17, 2019. Retrieved February 17, 2019.
- "'Drag Race's Chi Chi DeVayne Has Reportedly Died". OUT.com. Out Magazine. August 20, 2020. Archived from the original on January 13, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
- "Keeping It 100!". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 8. Episode 1. March 7, 2016. Logo TV.
- "Bitch Perfect". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 8. Episode 2. March 14, 2016. Logo TV.
- "RuCo's Empire". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 8. Episode 3. March 21, 2016. Logo TV.
- "New Wave Queens". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 8. Episode 4. March 28, 2016. Logo TV.
- "Supermodel Snatch Game". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 8. Episode 5. April 4, 2016. Logo TV.
- "Wizards of Drag". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 8. Episode 6. April 11, 2016. Logo TV.
- "Shady Politics". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 8. Episode 7. April 18, 2016. Logo TV.
- "RuPaul Book Ball". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 8. Episode 8. April 25, 2016. Logo TV.
- "The Realness". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 8. Episode 9. May 2, 2016. Logo TV.
- "Grand Finale". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 8. Episode 10. May 16, 2016. Logo TV.
- "Amy Sedaris, Marc Jacobs, Debbie Harry Tapped As Judges For "RuPaul's Drag Race" Season 8". Archived from the original on February 21, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
- "RuPaul Crowns First Ever UK Drag Ambassador: The Vivienne". www.out.com. May 29, 2015. Archived from the original on May 8, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
- "THE 50 MOST INFLUENTIAL REALITY TV SEASONS OF ALL TIME". Time. August 4, 2022. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022.