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This Is How Drag Race Picks the Songs the Queens Will Lip Sync To
Surprise, surprise, the final decision is still up to Mama Ru to make.
We've finally gotten some tea on how lip sync songs are chosen on RuPaul's Drag Race.
Executive producer Tom Campbell spoke to The WOW Report recently and dished some tea on how songs are selected on Drag Race for the show's Lip Sync For Your Life or Lip Sync For Your Legacy segments. After crediting the music supervision team behind the series for all the work they do, Campbell noted that RuPaul himself is extremely involved in the process.
"He will reject songs because they're the wrong tempo, they don't build... there's all of these factors he's thinking about. Back in the iPod days, when RuPaul gave you an iPod that he had loaded with music, it was a gift from god. He is truly a Ph.D. in pop culture, especially when it comes to music."
Campbell also recalled how hard it was for Drag Race to obtain the licensing rights to certain songs when the show first premiered on LogoTV.
"We were this little show that nobody knew. We were trying to get clearances, and it was really tough," he explained.
With the growing popularity of RuPaul's Drag Race, however, that process has become much, much easier for the show. Paramount Global's SVP of creative music strategy, Rochelle Holguin Cappello, said:
"The number of artists and labels that approach us has grown to a weekly cadence. The pitches include A-list artists just as frequently as emerging acts. We've been told so many times that it would be an artist's dream to have their music performed on the show."
Songs lip synced on Drag Race also get a massive boost in streaming - which is extremely beneficial to the musicians.
According to the report, Whitney Houston's "So Emotional" increased its streams by 510% following the iconic lip sync between Sasha Velour and Shea Coulee in the season nine finale. Diana Ross' "Swept Away" also saw an increase of 2,809% in streaming following the season 14 lip sync between Bosco and Jasmine Kennedie.
The Drag Race franchise keeps growing in viewership, winning Emmy Awards, and impacting pop culture as a whole. You better werk, RuPaul!
RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race season two airs Fridays on VH1.
RELATED | Here Are All the Drag Race Queens Who Have Won Emmy Awards
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out, as well as a writer and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out, as well as a writer and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
