| Season Number: | 4 | ||||||||||||
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| Num Episodes: | 14 | ||||||||||||
| Network: | Logo TV |
The fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race is the fourth series, began airing on January 30, 2012, and aired its final episode on April 30 of the same year.[1] The cast members were announced November 13, 2011.[2] The winner of season four headlined Logo's Drag Race Tour featuring Absolut Vodka, and also won a one-of-a-kind trip, a lifetime supply of NYX Cosmetics, and a cash prize of $100,000.[3]
Like the previous season, Santino Rice and Billy B (Billy Brasfield), celebrity makeup artist and star of the HGTV mini-series Hometown Renovation, shared the same seat at the judges table alternatively, Brasfield filling in for Rice when needed. Both judges appeared side-by-side in the audience during the "Reunited" episode.
The theme song played during the runway every episode was "Glamazon" and the song played during the credits was "The Beginning", both from RuPaul's album Glamazon.
This is the first season in which a contestant, Willam Belli, was disqualified from the competition for breaking the rules, and the second season in a row in which a contestant, Kenya Michaels, was brought back into the competition after having been eliminated in a prior episode.
The winner of the fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race was Sharon Needles, with Chad Michaels and Phi Phi O'Hara being the runners-up, making it the first time in the show's history to have two runners-up. The final also featured the first three-way lip-sync battle, instead of the usual format with two competitors. It was the first season in which the winner was not crowned in the studio, but instead during the "Reunited" episode, which was filmed in front of a live audience. This was also the first time three versions of the finale were filmed with each Top 3 contestant being crowned to prevent spoilers; this came after Raja winning Season 3 was leaked by Perez Hilton in 2011.[4]
See also: List of RuPaul's Drag Race contestants. Ages, names, and cities stated are at time of filming.
| Age | Hometown | Outcome | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sharon Needles | 29 | nowrap | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | |
| Chad Michaels | 40 | San Diego, California | ||
| Phi Phi O'Hara | 25 | Chicago, Illinois | ||
| Latrice Royale | 39 | South Beach, Florida | 4th place | |
| Kenya Michaels | 21 | San Juan, Puerto Rico | 5th place | |
| DiDa Ritz | 25 | Chicago, Illinois | 6th place | |
| Willam | 29 | Los Angeles, California | ||
| Jiggly Caliente | 30 | New York City, New York | 8th place | |
| Milan | 36 | New York City, New York | 9th place | |
| Madame LaQueer | 29 | Carolina, Puerto Rico | 10th place | |
| The Princess | 31 | Chicago, Illinois | 11th place | |
| Lashauwn Beyond | 21 | Fort Lauderdale, Florida | 12th place | |
| Alisa Summers | 23 | Tampa, Florida | 13th place |
Notes:
| Episode | Contestants | Song | Eliminated | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alisa Summers | vs. | Jiggly Caliente | "Toxic" (Britney Spears) | Alisa Summers | ||
| 2 | nowrap | Lashauwn Beyond | vs. | The Princess | "Bad Girls" (Donna Summer) | nowrap bgcolor="lightblue" | Lashauwn Beyond |
| 3 | DiDa Ritz | vs. | The Princess | "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)" (Natalie Cole) | The Princess | ||
| 4 | Madame LaQueer | vs. | Milan | "Trouble" (Pink) | Madame LaQueer | ||
| 5 | Kenya Michaels | vs. | Milan | "Vogue" (Madonna) | Kenya Michaels | ||
| 6 | Jiggly Caliente | vs. | Milan | "Born This Way" (Lady Gaga) | Milan | ||
| 7 | Jiggly Caliente | vs. | Willam | "Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life)" (Pam Tillis) | Jiggly Caliente | ||
| 8 | Phi Phi O'Hara | vs. | nowrap | Sharon Needles | "It's Raining Men... The Sequel" (Martha Wash and RuPaul) | None | |
| 9 | DiDa Ritz | vs. | Latrice Royale | "I've Got to Use My Imagination" (Gladys Knight & the Pips) | DiDa Ritz | ||
| 10 | Kenya Michaels | vs. | Latrice Royale | nowrap | "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (Aretha Franklin) | Kenya Michaels | |
| 11 | Chad Michaels | vs. | Latrice Royale | "No One Else on Earth" (Wynonna Judd) | Latrice Royale | ||
| 13 | Chad Michaels vs. Phi Phi O'Hara vs. Sharon Needles | "Glamazon" (RuPaul) | None | ||||
The contestant was eliminated after their first time in the bottom two.
The contestant was eliminated after their second time in the bottom two.
The contestant was eliminated after their third time in the bottom two.
Listed in chronological order:
See also: List of RuPaul's Drag Race episodes.
In January 2012, Logo released the second running of Fantasy Drag Race, an online fan contest inspired by fantasy football where viewers assemble a team of three season four Drag Race contestants. Players receive and lose points based on their team's performance on the show, and can earn additional points by redeeming codes and performing tasks given out when episodes of the show first air. The highest scoring players receive Drag Race and NYX Cosmetics products, and one player wins a trip for two to the first stop on Logo's Drag Race Tour.[5]
Already having a generous social media presence, Logo expanded its efforts across Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, GetGlue, and Foursquare in preparation for the premiere of season four. Both RuPaul and contestants tweet live while the show airs, and LogoTalk! chat parties (featuring judges, contestants from previous seasons, and contestants from season four) occur on the official Logo website while participants watch new episodes.[6] Season four specifically marks an increased interest from Logo in Tumblr, where the network publishes animated GIFs, contestant trading cards, and images that incorporate internet memes.[7] Dan Sacher, VP of digital for VH1 and Logo, has stated that their online marketing efforts are part of helping the small network expand their fan base across as many outlets as possible.
The premiere episode of season four averaged a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic, totaling 481,000 viewers, and ranked as the highest-rated premiere in Logo's network history. Untucked totalled 254,000 viewers, marking the companion show's most watched debut. During the evening of the premiere, the show registered eight US trending topics on Twitter (including Jiggly Caliente, Sharon Needles, Phi Phi O'Hara, and Latrice Royale) and reached a 7th place ranking on Trendrr. Leading up to the first episode, the show's Facebook page saw an 89% increase (earning over half a million fans).[8]
The season finale scored a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic and drew 601,000 viewers total, while the reunion episode became the highest rated episode of the season. Season four's "RuPaul's Drag Race: Reunited" was also the highest-rated reunion in the franchise's history, seeing a 33% increase in the 18-49 demographic compared to season three. The reunion registered five trending topics on Twitter (including Sharon Needles, Phi Phi, Willam, and a new portmanteau Willam introduced to the show: "RuPaulogize"), and ranked 4th among non-sports cable programs for the night on Trendrr.[9]
During season 4, the show's Twitter following increased by 77%, and the Facebook page accrued a 36% increase in likes. TV.com also declared it was the best reality show on television.[10]