The fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race began airing on January 30, 2012, and aired its final episode on April 30 of the same year. The cast members were announced November 13, 2011. 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.
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 reunion 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 reunion 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.
Jiggly Caliente, who placed 8th in the competition and later served as a judge on Drag Race Philippines, died on April 27, 2025.
Contestants
Ages, names, and cities stated are at time of filming.
+Contestants of RuPaul's Drag Race season 4 and their backgrounds Contestant Age Hometown Outcome Sharon Needles 29 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:
Contestant progress
Lip syncs Legend:
Episode Contestants Song Eliminated 1 Alisa Summers vs. Jiggly Caliente "Toxic"(Britney Spears) Alisa Summers 2 Lashauwn Beyond vs. The Princess "Bad Girls"(Donna Summer) 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. 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 "(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
Guest judges Listed in chronological order:
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, actress and television hostess Mike Ruiz, photographer Rick Fox, professional basketball player John Salley, professional basketball player Amber Riley, actress and singer Natalie Cole, actress, pianist, singer and songwriter Nicole Sullivan, actress, comedian, voice artist Max Mutchnick, television producer Loretta Devine, actress Ross Mathews, comedian and television personality Kelly Osbourne, television host, actress, and singer Pauley Perrette, actress, singer, and writer Regina King, actress Pam Tillis, singer and songwriter Lucian Piane, composer and music producer Pamela Anderson, actress and model Jennifer Tilly, actress Dan Savage, author Jeffrey Moran, Absolut Vodka marketing/branding executive Jesse Tyler Ferguson, actor Jennifer Love Hewitt, actress and singer Rose McGowan, actress Wynonna Judd, actress and singer
Episodes
Marketing 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.
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. 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. 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.
Reception 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).
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.
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.
Notes
References
External links (U.S.) Official website (Canada) Official Facebook page
de:RuPaul's Drag Race