PRIDE

Drag up your life with these apps

Drag Race queens spill the tea about their community in an exclusive clip.

WOW Presents Plus

Drag Race, LGBTQ+, Documentary

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In this exclusive App Store clip, Pangina Heals, Heidi N Closet and Laganja Estranja discuss what community means for drag. Catch more from these stars in Wow Presents Plus.

It’s perfect, it’s beautiful, it looks like… RuPaul’s Drag Race. The wildly popular drag casting show turned cultural phenomenon has heaved drag into the mainstream. Since launching 14 years ago, it has won a whopping 26 Emmy Awards, making it one of the most Emmy-awarded shows in TV history.

For fans of the series, the Wow Presents Plus app is the place to be. This dedicated hub for LGBTQ+ programming is home to all Drag Race seasons, multiple spin-offs and 11 international variations, including the UK, Italy and the Philippines, with even more countries launching local series soon.

Each version, often hosted by a former contestant or well-known drag queen from the region, has been made accessible by Wow Presents Plus, which has been instrumental in sparking interest in drag, growing the community across the world and propelling RuPaul’s Drag Race to global superstardom.

Why drag (race) brings such joy

For Pangina Heals, judge on Drag Race Thailand and former contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs the World, and Brooke Lynn Hytes, runner-up of season 11 and head judge of Canada’s Drag Race, being part of the Drag Race universe has been profoundly impactful.

“The fact that I could become whoever I want, express myself in whichever way I choose – it changed my life,” explains Brooke Lynn Hytes in an interview with us.

Thailand-born Pangina Heals finds it incredibly fulfilling to share so much positivity with fans of the series. “It allows me to bring so many people so much happiness. We’re living a dream,” she tells us.

Drag allows me to bring so many people so much happiness.

– Pangina Heals, judge on Drag Race Thailand

Meet the most authentic superstars

The success of Drag Race around the world has not only brought drag into the mainstream, but also put the spotlight on many beloved drag performers across comedy, broadway and nightlife. It’s even been reimagined for mobile in the form of RuPaul’s Drag Race Superstar, in which you dress up your drag avatar with stunning outfits and slay the virtual runway.

“It allowed a lot more people to understand that drag is an art form and that there is this quality of humanity behind the artists,” says Pangina Heals. “On Drag Race you get to see the human side of them, and the struggles they went through. I feel like Drag Race shows a lot more empathy and compassion in a world where that is still lacking.”

You were born to stand out.

– RuPaul in his MasterClass on self-expression and authenticity

After all, drag is about expressing your most authentic self and being unapologetic about who you are, including your flaws. Adopting the mindset right from the master herself, the education app MasterClass partnered with show host RuPaul Charles in an exclusive course that teaches self-expression and authenticity, giving the striking art yet more visibility. “You were not born to fit in, you were born to stand out”, RuPaul says in the course.

A phenomenon is going global

A joyous knock-on effect of Drag Race’s meteoric rise in popular culture is the huge number of spin-offs it has created. With these shows all in Wow Presents Plus, a vast global audience is now able to enjoy content they may not otherwise have been able to find – such as the immensely popular Spanish and Canadian versions of Drag Race, considered to be two of the best local spin-offs.

“I love learning more about different cultures of drag,” says Pangina Heals. “It’s like a window into that world and the queer culture of that space.” For Brooke Lynn Hytes, the strength of drag culture is a uniting force, as well as a source of inspiration. “The more I’ve seen drag around the world, I think it’s just universal,” she says. “Everyone’s so inspired by everybody and takes references from everything everywhere all at once.”

The fact that I could become whoever I want, it changed my life.

– Brooke Lynn Hytes, head judge of Canada’s Drag Race

How to make use of your power

Drag Race’s stratospheric success has helped to transform the narrative around drag, but for the community and its allies, there’s still much to do to bring change and acceptance.

“The great thing about the community is that we’re not being silent, and the more we talk, the more we do something about it,” says Pangina Heals. “RuPaul said it the best,” says Brooke Lynn Hytes. “A vote is more powerful than any social media posts.”

Stream the best Drag Race shows

Download the Wow Presents Plus app and subscribe to get instant access to current and past seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race, as well as Wow Presents Originals and many more series with some of your favourite drag queens.

Here are some RuCommendations to get you started with the app’s spin-offs: Brooke Lynn Hytes swears by Fashion Photo RuView, where former contestants give their unfiltered critique of all the style from the Mainstage. Pangina Heals says to check out Painted with Raven, in which a group of rising stars in the world of make-up compete for a large cash prize.

Want to drag up yourself?

According to the famous Drag Race saying, “We’re all born naked and the rest is drag.” Below you’ll find the best apps to create an all-star-worthy persona who’s ready to be visible in their community.

Before you start, get inspiration and connect with other drag artists through social media – Brooke Lynn Hytes and Pangina Heals love to use TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest for that.

Then plan your outfits with top fashion and drawing apps to create a unique look, or buy second-hand and rearrange items to fit your character. Ready your face with great apps that teach make-up skills, and practise your lip-syncing with the hottest karaoke apps. You’ll feel ready to hit your local stage in no time.

Now can we get an amen?!

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