RuPaul's Drag Race (season 3)

Season 3 begins with the introductions of 12 new queens vying to be "the next drag superstar". After the surprise revelation that the first eliminated second-season competitor Shangela has returned to be the thirteenth competitor in season three, the dolls receive their first challenge: a Christmas-card photo shoot on a trampoline (with Mike Ruiz taking the pictures). Then it's off to a thrift store to stock up for their holiday-themed runway outfits. Ruiz, Vanessa Williams and Bruce Vilanch are the guest judges, joining regular judges Santino Rice and Michelle Visage (making her debut). India, Alexis, Phoenix, Mariah, Yara, Delta, and Stacy are declared safe. Mimi is criticized for her outfit's execution, but praised for the concept and is declared safe. Manila receives great praise for her outfit and is declared safe. Carmen is criticized for her photo and polarizing outfit but receives praise for her body especially by Vanessa Williams and is also safe. Raja is declared the winner of the week. Venus and Shangela land in the bottom for their forgetful outfits and poor execution (this marks the second time Shangela has landed in the bottom two on week one). During the lipsync, Venus becomes unnecessarily rough. She throws her wig at the girls in the back and pushes Shangela numerous times. Shangela also removes her hairpiece and during the battle they are close to being half naked. RuPaul scolds the girls for the awkward performance before announcing that Shangela is safe and sending Venus home.

After the contestants learn that the theme for the week is sci-fi, RuPaul arrives in the workroom to issue the mini-challenge. The girls are asked to pair up with the person they feel they have the strongest psychic connection to (Raja & Delta, Mariah & Phoenix, Carmen & Manila, Alexis & Stacy, Shangela & India and Mimi & Yara) and are then separated by a screen. One team member must "use ESP" to guess the other person's fashion accessories; what color boa, what kind of jewelry, what color cat, etc. The winning pair is Mariah and Phoenix, with their reward being competing team captains for the main challenge.

For the main challenge this week, the girls split into two teams to shoot a trailer for the Drag Queens in Outer Space movie saga; the original film, From Earth to Uranus (Team Phoenix) and the sequel Return to Uranus (Team Mariah). Each team had to shoot a different scene, but with the same characters. The characters assigned were as follows:

Guest judges include Lily Tomlin and Caprica alumna Alessandra Torresani. Mariah's team won, with Alexis and Shangela sharing the title of the challenge winner and Mimi also receiving praise. As a result of two winners that week, no immunity was given. On the losing team, Manila and Raja both receive positive critiques and are declared safe, along with India. Carmen is criticised for the poor execution of her outfit, but is also safe, leaving Phoenix and Delta in the bottom two; Phoenix for her weak performance in the trailer, and Delta for her runway outfit, which the judges felt held little to no resemblance of anything futuristic or space-like. During the lipsync to Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" Delta's personality radiated through while Phoenix fell back on trying to impersonate Gaga. Delta was declared safe and Phoenix sashayed away.

For their mini-challenge, the queens were asked to create a fashion style using duct tape. In groups of two (and one group of three) the contestants had to glamorize their black leotards using duct tape of various colors. The teams assembled were Carmen & Manila; Yara & Raja; Alexis & Mariah; Delta, Mimi & Stacy; and Shangela & India. Carmen and Manila form the best look, complete with duct tape iPods, and win the challenge. The reward given was competing as team captains for the main challenge.

The girls are informed that the main challenge will be two inspirational work-out videos. Carmen and Manila are team captains (due to winning the duct tape leotard challenge). Carmen chooses Delta, India, Yara, and Mariah, while Manila chooses Raja, Stacy, Mimi, Shangela, and Alexis. Guest judges include fitness guru Susan Powter, celebrity make-up artist Billy B (filling in for an absent Santino Rice), and singer La Toya Jackson. After the runway presentation, Delta, Raja, Manila, Carmen, and Shangela are declared safe. Alexis wins the challenge and is given immunity for this win, with Stacy and Yara also receiving positive feedback. Mariah is criticised for relying too much on beauty, but is declared safe. India and Mimi land at the bottom; India for her boring work-out segment and over-done look on the runway, and Mimi for putting in too much slapstick comedy, causing it to come off sloppy. During the lipsync, Mimi picks up India from in front of the judges table and carries her up to the stage against her will. RuPaul scolds Mimi, stating "Drag is not a contact sport!" before eliminating her and declaring India safe.

For the mini-challenges, the girls were given the task of creating a scandalous red carpet photo. Being a news-related episode, the winning photos were shown on WOW Report (Carmen's revealing crotch shot) and NewNowNext (Stacy's wardrobe malfunction). The winners became the team leaders as news anchors for "The Morning After News" on fictionalized QNN. To mentor the girls, anchor Debbie Matenopoulos provided tips on personality and delivery. Kristin Cavallari was on hand to be interviewed by the girls as well. Guest judges include Chloë Sevigny, Debbie Matenopoulos and celebrity make-up artist Billy B. (filling in for regular judge Santino Rice, who was notably absent for a second consecutive week.)

Carmen, Alexis, Yara, Raja, and Delta were declared safe. Although the judges loved Manila's gown, they were afraid her stereotypical Asian reporter came across as offensive. Matenopoulos congratulated Shangela, stating she could easily get a job as an entertainment reporter. India's performance was deemed bland and painful to watch. Stacy, once again, was scolded for holding back. RuPaul commented that Mariah was not fully delivering on challenges and was "resting in pretty". Manila won the challenge, leaving India and Stacy to lip sync for their lives. Stacy's lip sync was seen as on point and she remained in the competition, while India sashayed away.

For this week's mini challenge, the girls were asked to play "S**t RuPaul Says" to win the opportunity to call a family member. Delta won the challenge but gave the prize to Shangela who wanted to speak to her grandmother. The group was then asked to impersonate celebrities on "Snatch Game". Initially, Stacy Layne Matthews intended to impersonate Anna Nicole Smith but after receiving criticism from RuPaul, she chose to do Mo'Nique instead. The panel was judged by model Amber Rose and comedian Aisha Tyler.

For the runway portion, the girls were asked to wear their favorite drag look. Raja, Alexis and Stacy made the Top 3 while Delta, Mariah and Yara finished in the bottom. This caused much controversy backstage because most of the queens disagreed with the judges' decisions. Backstage, tension heated up between Shangela and Raja. Shangela criticized Raja's impression of Tyra Banks, and Shangela complained that she and Raja used to be friends until the competition. Raja complained that in the past, Shangela had returned borrowed items damaged and had used her, and many of the others agreed that Shangela continues to get other queens to help her in the competition because her own skills are poor. Mariah became defensive during the critique, stating Carrera's version of Lopez was a bitchy version of herself and Luzon's Imelda Marcos was an "offensive Filipino". Stacy won the challenge, impressing the judges and restoring their faith in her. Delta and Mariah "lip-synched for their lives" to remain in the competition. Mariah missed many of the lyrics causing her to sashay away, leaving Delta to remain in the competition.

Off the set, the elimination created controversy in the media. For her farewell message, Mariah was shown writing "Condragulations Raja", causing gossip sites to believe Raja was the winner of the competition. During the related Untucked episode, it was shown the message further stated "Mug4Dayz". The message was related to her comments towards Raja, referring to her as a "washed-up runway model" and implying more personal criticism. In the following episode, the latter part of the message was displayed on the mirror.

At the beginning of the episode, the contestants are asked to do a tasteful nude photo shoot with photographer Deborah Anderson. Carmen won the challenge and was given the task to assign each contestant a cake. The main challenge called for a couture fashion ensemble modeled after the assigned cake. Furthermore, each cake had to be decorated to reflect the contestant's personality.

For the runway portion of the show, actresses Sara Rue, Eliza Dushku and make-up artist Billy B (filling in for absent Santino Rice) are the guest judges this week. During the critiques Raja, Manila and Delta received high marks from the judges, who also liked Yara's look, cake and make-up, while Stacy, Shangela and Alexis were admonished; Stacy for not looking couture, Shangela for her poor make-up skills, and Alexis for her awful design. Ru asked most of the queens who they thought should go home. Shangela replied Carmen, while Carmen and Delta both thought Stacy should leave. Stacy thought Carmen's look was not couture and she should be the one to go, while Raja wanted both Shangela and Stacy to go. After the judges' deliberation, Yara and Delta are safe, while Stacy is up for elimination. Manila is safe, and Raja is declared the winner this week. Shangela is also safe, along with Carmen, landing Alexis in the bottom 2 with Stacy. They perform to Amii Stewart's "Knock on Wood", Stacy being somewhat low-key while Alexis delivers high energy. RuPaul decides to keep Alexis Mateo, while Stacy sashayed away.

Off stage, a clique begins to form with Raja, Delta, Carmen and Manila referring to themselves as Heathers, while Alexis, Yara, Stacy and Shangela were called "boogers".

In this week's mini-challenge, the cast were asked to "read" each other (popularized by the film Paris is Burning). Shangela wins the challenge, with her prize being to choose the order of the contestants for the main challenge. RuPaul announces that for the main challenge, the queens have to develop a stand-up comedy routine to perform in front of a live audience. In order to help them put an act together, they each get a one-on-one workshop with legendary comedian Rita Rudner. Shangela later gives the girls the line-up for the show; starting with Raja, followed by Carmen, Alexis, Shangela, Manila, Yara and Delta. During the session with Rita, most of the contestants receive valuable advice from Rita on how to improve their stand-up routine, with the exception of Carmen, who had a hard time finding a basis for her routine and didn't receive any tips.

On the main stage, the contestants debut their comedy routines for the judges and the audience. Raja's set was based upon and inspired by the film Carrie. Carmen wore a fat suit and talked about secretly wanting to be a big girl, while Alexis came out as an energetic stripper version of herself, donning extremely large fake breasts. Shangela followed with her "post modern pimp-ho" character, and Manila's act focused mainly on a running gag of Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood allusions to homosexuality. Yara's character was a sassy midget from Spain, while Delta's routine portrayed herself as a self-deprecating fat girl.

The judges unanimously loved Raja, Yara, Shangela and Carmen's routines. Alexis was called out for rushing through the routine and relying too much on her visual gag. Manila's look was lauded, but her act was called unoriginal, while Delta was criticized for being too nervous. After deliberating, Raja and Alexis are declared safe, while Manila is up for elimination. Shangela is deemed the best and wins the challenge. Yara and Carmen are also safe, which places Delta in the bottom two against Manila. Both queens were asked to lip sync to Donna Summer's disco hit "MacArthur Park". Manila won the lipsync and Delta left the competition.

Tanner Stransky of Entertainment Weekly called the lip-synch battle the "most cohesive lipsynch-for-your-life session [ever] in Drag Race history"^[5]

In the mini-challenge the contestants are asked to bedazzle black bras into something spectacular, and Manila wins. The contestants are then told they will be making 30-second promos themed around their love of America that will be shown to U.S. military members serving overseas. Each contestant will get ten minutes to film, with Manila getting an extra five minutes for winning the mini-challenge.

RuPaul tells the contestants to make it personal, but entertaining. Each contestant comes up with their own strategy. Carmen wants to speak seriously but entertain with her visual performance, Raja is unsure but wants to be humorous, Manila chooses to focus on the diversity of food in the U.S., and Shangela plans to be as funny as possible. Yara's father is part of the Army Reserves, but she does not want to focus on that in her performance, and Alexis is initially reluctant to discuss her former boyfriend because they broke up when he was sent overseas. RuPaul encourages her to use that experience, which she does to great effect in her video. During their preparations, Yara was also chagrined that after helping Shangela in previous challenges, Shangela was unwilling to help Yara when she asked during this challenge.

In their runway presentation, the contestants are told to dress in their most patriotic drag. Alexis wins the competition for her enthusiastic performance, and the judges note that her dress is fashioned from the U.S. Marine Corps dress uniform jacket her boyfriend left behind for her. Manila's money-themed dress was a hit on the runway, but her video failed to meet the judges' expectations. However, she is deemed safe. The judges felt Raja's video performance was lackluster, but pronounced her safe as well. The judges praised Shangela's video performance as energetic and entertaining, but noted her runway dress was poorly tailored and did not reflect a very patriotic feel. She was also deemed safe.

The judges criticized Carmen for her wooden and dull video performance. Although they loved her look on the runway, her facial expression and body language made them feel like she was bored so she was up for elimination. Yara's performance was high energy, but the judges questioned whether her "crazy Latina" persona would carry her through to the title, and she was also put up for elimination. Both contestants had to lip sync for their lives, but, after telling Carmen to stay, RuPaul also told Yara she could stay as well, becoming the first non-elimination challenge in the series.

This week's mini-challenge is a game of "Ru-sical chairs". It is exactly like musical chairs except when the music stops, the chair-less queen must sing the next line in the song (All the songs being from RuPaul's album Champion). If she gets it, she gets to eliminate one of her competitors; if she doesn’t, she’s out. When it comes down to 2 queens (Manila and Raja) and one chair, Manila is the last queen standing.

Ru announces that the main challenge this week has the queens performing a song for “RuPaul-a-Palooza”, and brings out Absolut Vodka spokesman Jeffrey Moran. Each queen is going to record their own version of Ru’s new song, "Superstar", in one of six distinct musical styles, and since Manila won the mini-challenge, she gets to pick first and determine the order of the rest of the selections. The queens choose as follows:

The queens arrive at the recording studio where they meet Ru's music producer Lucian Piane. All of the girls deal with some difficulty while recording, from Shangela's overconfidence to Yara's inability to "sound" good. The following day the queens find mp3 players with their recorded songs, and all are pleased with the final products except Carmen, who thinks she sounds horrible. After lip syncing to their songs on the main stage, it is time for the judges' critiques. Only Raja received unanimous praise from the judges, while the other queens each got their share of criticisms. After some deliberation, Yara is safe and Raja is declared the winner of the challenge. Carmen's performance lands her in the bottom two again, while Manila and Alexis are declared safe. This leaves Shangela to lip synch against Carmen to Cher's "Believe". Shangela out battled Carmen and was chosen to stay, while Carmen was sent home, leaving Michelle Visage in tears.

In the next episode, the queens say that Carmen wrote messages to each of them. One message visible to viewers is "Shangela, shablam across the board." Also visible is the message "Heathers better win."

For this week's mini challenge, the remaining contestants were asked to create a fashion-forward, beach themed headpiece, with Raja being declared the winner. After this, RuPaul reveals the main challenge: Participate in a hair-themed fashion show with three distinct looks:

1) A classic look from another era 2) A modern red carpet look 3) A fantasy hair outfit, which must be made entirely out of wigs.

During the episode, all of the contestants agreed that this was the hardest challenge so far. In the workroom, the contestants complained that Yara's rowdy behavior was distracting, but they all agreed that she would do well in the challenge because hair is her specialty as a drag performer. On the runway, Raja, Yara, and Manila receive mostly positive critiques (although Santino disliked Manila's red carpet look), while Alexis and Shangela's outfits are considered subpar. Michelle said that Alexis's 1940's inspired look had no resemblance to the actual '40's, and her red carpet look seemed like she "was wearing the red carpet." However, her hair outfit receives mostly positive reviews. Shangela's flamenco-inspired look was deemed ill-fitting by Fantasia, and Michelle pointed out that the look was more a look from another region than another era. Meanwhile, her modern red-carpet look was deemed neither modern or worthy of a red carpet.

Yara wins the challenge for her three daring and inspired looks, while Raja and Manila are declared safe, leaving Alexis and Shangela in the bottom two. During the lip sync, Shangela attempts to recreate the energy of her past lip syncs, but she is outshone by Alexis, who's soulful rendition of the song is described by Manila as "timeless and beautiful." Shangela sashays away, and the remaining queens believe that they have made it to the top four, but RuPaul reveals that one of the queens eliminated during this season will be brought back in the next episode.

As the episode begins, RuPaul reveals that Carmen Carrera is returning to the competition after being unanimously voted back by the other judges. The queens move on to the mini-challenge in which they play RuPaul's version of the dunk tank, the Badonkadonk Dunking Machine. Alexis Mateo wins the challenge after managing to dunk Yara Sofia fourteen times.

RuPaul next announces the main challenge: The queens must make over five masculine, heterosexual jocks as their drag sisters. Alexis Mateo gets to choose which queen gets which jock for winning the mini-challenge. As a twist, RuPaul reveals the queens must also dress their jocks as cheerleaders and perform cheers about safe sex. The jocks soon discover the challenges of drag as the queens teach them to walk, paint, and tuck their way to the top. Carmen decides to show off her jock's body as an expression of her own drag persona, Raja tries to bring out the fierceness in her quiet jock by using a classic movie look, Alexis is hit on by her jock as she transforms him in her own image, Yara works on getting her jock to match her spicy, sexy runway style and Manila is frustrated by her jock's antics but is helped by his eagerness to learn.

The queens and their new drag sisters first perform their safe-sex cheers for the judges (including guest judges Margaret Cho, Sharon Osbourne and Mike Ruiz (filling in for absent Santino Rice)) and conclude with their runway performances. Alexis Mateo and her drag sister are critiqued for their cheer being too busy but are praised for their mirror-image appearance. Manila is declared the winner of the challenge after she and her sister Fuchsia Luzon dazzle the judges with their Chinese doll look and hilarious cheer routine. Raja is critiqued for her drag sister Enigma's poor runway walk and for losing the judges during their cheer. Yara Sofia and her sister are praised for their runway look despite not having as dynamic performance as the other queens. The judges fawn over Carmen's personal look but critique her choice in wardrobe for her drag sister's muscular build. Alexis and Yara are declared safe while Raja and Carmen must lip-sync Paula Abdul's "Straight Up." After a particularly sexy performance (with the heterosexual jocks cheering them on backstage, as seen in Untucked) Raja is asked to stay and Carmen is once again sent home.

The final four begin this episode with a mini-challenge of creating a marketable drag product from their own wardrobe and then deliver a sales pitch on RuVC. (A parody of the real life QVC.) Raja chooses her gaff (also known as a Cache-sexe), Manila her MANila hairspray, Yara Sofia selects her "Pop-It-On" hairpiece and Alexis Mateo picks her hip and butt pads. Yara wins the mini-challenge, as Ru announces the main challenge — to create three looks for three distinct categories: Swimsuit Body Beautiful, Cocktail Attire After 5 and Evening Gown Eleganza, which must be made out of 1 million Ru Dollars. The girls must also perform a choreographed lip-sync to "Just Wanna Dance" by guest judge La Toya Jackson. During the prep, Alexis begins to doubt why she is still in the competition and leaves the workroom briefly, but returns later.

The choreography rehearsal for the number is rough for Manila and Raja, who feel Yara's choreography is too difficult for them. On the main stage, the number goes off without a hitch in front of LaToya, Mike Ruiz (filling in for absent Santino Rice) and Gigi Levangie Grazer. During the judges critiques, each girl has a problem with at least one look. Yara's "Evening Gown Eleganza" look is critiqued for having a bit too much, and her cocktail dress presentation lacked punch. Alexis Mateo's swimwear and cocktail dress were noted for being too simple, but the judges loved her gown. Manila's three looks are critiqued positively (with her only detractor being from LaToya, who thought her hair was too big) and Raja's cocktail outfit was too plain for the panel.

Before dismissing the girls, Ru asks each of them why they deserve to be America's Next Drag Superstar. Yara levels with the judges and tells them she is broke and needs the money to move to America. Alexis makes her case for her imperfections but her desire to continue. Manila wants to carry her message of love to everyone if she wins. Raja makes the case for the LGBT youth and wanting to share her story, and leave her legacy. Manila is declared the winner of the challenge, Raja is safe. Alexis and Yara fall into the bottom two, having to lip-sync to Patti LaBelle's "I Think About You."

During the lip-sync, the pressures of the competition get to Yara (who in the "Untucked" felt unfairly negatively critiqued, as compared to Raja) who completely gives up, shredding her Eleganza look, and breaking down, crying on stage. Alexis is told to chante, crying at the thought of sending her drag sister home, while Yara sashays away, leaving LaToya, Michelle and Mike Ruiz in tears.

Finale The final three return to the workroom where Michelle Visage greets them and delivers the final challenge — costarring in the music video for Ru's song "Champion." During rehearsals, each of the girls also has a 'lunch' of tic-tacs with RuPaul and reflects on what got them to the finale. Raja and Manila have some issues with the choreography, but both manage to pull it together for the shoot directed by Mathu Andersen. The music video shoot proves difficult as Raja continues to forget parts of her choreography, Manila has issues with intimacy with members of the pit crew and Alexis has no profile during a silhouetted portion due to her constant movement and overly large wig.

The final main stage presentation has the queens in their favorite looks. After walking the runway for Ru, Michelle and Santino Rice, and being critiqued on their performance in the "Champion" video, RuPaul asks each of the finalists to give positive and negative critiques of themselves and the other two finalists. Alexis compliments Raja for her runway walk, but feels she is hard to read. For Manila, Alexis says she wanted to punch her, before she got to know her. And for herself, Alexis wishes she could be less hard on herself, even though she is a fighter. Manila's critiques start with Alexis, saying she is a fantastic performer but her drag doesn't excite. Raja is fashion but too editorial, and Manila says she, herself, can be stubborn at times, although she feels is a versatile performer. Last up is Raja who feels that while Alexis is talented, she doesn't think outside the box. To her, Manila is entertaining, but she needs to grow. And for herself, Raja feels she can recognize she is beautiful. (No con is discussed during the episode).

After deliberating, Alexis is eliminated from the race, leaving Manila and Raja to lip-sync for the crown to RuPaul's "Champion." Ru makes her decision, declaring Raja the winner. Manila is out, and breaks down backstage, having been so close to the prize and having it snatched from her. However, she does make a playful joke about getting the crown if Raja dies of old age, which is in keeping with her and Raja's close friendship throughout the competition. Raja is crowned and walks the runway as America's Next Drag Superstar as Ru, Michelle and Santino cheer her on.