Blair St. Clair did not win Season 10 of RuPaul's Drag Race, but that hasn't stopped the trajectory of her rapidly rising career. Her YouTube video "Now or Never" has almost two million views; that song is a track on her album Call My Life, which launched at No. 1 on Billboard's Dance/Electronic Album sales chart. She's the first drag queen to claim that honor. (RuPaul's highest ranking on that chart was in 2016, with "Butch Queen," which hit #3.) And her upcoming show at Oasis on July 21 is but a mere stop of a worldwide tour.
Touring the world as the drag queen du jour takes her a long way from her home in Indiana, where St. Clair (real name Andrew Bryson) started dressing in drag with the help of his mother. (The name "Blair" is in honor of a character in the TV show Gossip Girl.)
How is St. Clair handling this rapid rise to success? We chatted with Miss St. Clair about how her life has changed since being on Drag Race, her favorite make-up tips, and what she has planned for her show at Oasis.
tDan Renzi: What do you have planned for your show at Oasis?
Blair St. Clair: I will be performing some music from my album, Call My Life. I lip-sync some songs, and some songs I sing live. But when I lip-sync, I perform an act and create a story line.
How much has your career changed after being on Drag Race?
I was doing drag in my hometown of Indianapolis, where we have, really, just one bar for drag performers, and it is only open on Fridays and Saturdays. So if you take a handful of queens, in one city with one venue to perform at twice a week, there was little opportunity. And I wanted to push my boundaries and perform more, but the furthest I ever got was in Illinois and Ohio. Now, after being on national television, RuPaul's Drag Race has given me a platform to go all over the world. A lot of my audience is younger, and a lot of it comes from out of the country. Brazil has a huge fan base. I had no idea.
Does being on a reality show give you the credentials to perform a full-length solo show at Oasis? Are you up to the challenge?
Let me answer your question with a question. Do you think that today, in my profession, that I would project myself into a world of these incredible, very talented performers if I didn't have as much passion or desire to work with them? I ask myself questions like that daily.
But the drag scene in San Francisco is more than just lip syncing songs in a bar. It can be next-level performance art.
I think it is important to bring all forms of drag, all forms of entertainment and artistry, to perform with each other. So I am beyond excited to perform at Oasis. And anyone who would question if they are ready to perform on that caliber of a stage, I would say that's exactly when they are ready.
You are an amazing makeup artist. What is your best makeup advice for drag queens?
It's summer, so I like anything that makes people look a little dewy, a little glossy; any kind of a shimmery powder highlighter, although I recently discovered liquid highlighter, versus anything that makes people look cakey, because drag queens tend to look very powdered.
Do you find a difference between expensive products versus the cheap stuff?
It's not always the product; it's the execution of the product. There are brands that are going to inevitably have more pigmentation, but you can be the worst makeup artist in the world, and have the best products, and still not get great results. The so-called "drug store" brands aren't necessarily inferior products. They're just made so you can run in and grab them quickly. They're made for convenience.
Do you have a good tip for making inexpensive products work?
Eyeliner and mascara work, no matter what you have.
Drag Race has a history of contestants revealing personal details while standing on the runway, and you had a few rather emotional moments when you revealed details of your past about being sexually assaulted and also abusing alcohol. In that moment, on the runway, why do you feel the urge to share those details and spill your guts?
Try putting yourself into my heels. When you step onto that runway, you are under so much criticism, you're putting your brand, your job, your life on the line. In an interview, I had mention I had some dark periods in my past. And at that moment, I had been suppressing my feelings for so long, when Ru asked me about it again on the runway, I reached a mental breaking point. So it was a release.
But this was in the middle of a competition, and many queens have done it. Do you feel sharing these things helps you connect with the judges? Or were you thinking beyond the judges, and connecting with fans of the show?
I never said or did anything just to impress the judges. I was just trying to find a way to get people to connect with how I was feeling. When you're mixing real lives with reality television, there are a lot of lines that can get really blurry. It's really hard to explain unless you're in that situation.
Do the producers encourage you to share deep, dark details on the runway?
The producers never try to make you do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. I was never in a situation when they said, 'You need to talk, and this is what you need to talk about.' But they would present it like, 'This is an opportunity to talk about something if you feel the time is right.'
Do you guys ever talk to RuPaul off-camera?
Never. No.
Why do you think that is?
I think RuPaul is the epitome of a strong businessperson. His number-one priority is his television show, and he wants to keep it a television show. I respect him a lot.
Blair St. Clair performs at Oasis' Mother on Saturday $10-$15. 10pm-3am (11:30pm show). 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com
https://www.instagram.com/blairst.clair/