Philly queen Sapphira Cristál wins first episode of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’

08/01/2024

Fans including Moses Scober of Philadelphia (standing) cheer for Sapphira Cristál.

One Philly drag queen is already sashaying to the front of the pack on Season 16 of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Local drag queen Sapphira Cristál — the first to represent Philly in the reality competition show’s history — walked away from the first episode of Season 16 on Friday with $7,500, immunity, and two challenge wins. She, along will the rest of the queens from the first episode, will remain in the competition for America’s Next Drag Superstar.

Upward of 100 Drag Race superfans packed into the top floor of Brooklyn Bowl in Fishtown to watch the episode with Cristál herself and her “best Judys”: Philly queens Eric Jaffe, Vinchelle, Onyx Ondyx, Iris Spectre, and Season 11′s Honey Davenport. As soon as Cristál walked on stage in her pastel jumpsuit, a small crowd rushed the stage to stuff dollar bills in her fake bosom.

Sapphira Cristál (left) signs a shirt on the back of Monty Pierce of Dover, Del., during her season 16 “Drag Race” premiere party.

“I almost fell to my knees when all of you were screaming your heads off,” Cristál told the crowd during a commercial break. “The love is palpable.”

Cristál breezed through episode one as though she were destined to be a champion. The other contestants immediately determined that Cristál — the fifth of seven queens to enter the Drag Race workroom, and who happens to be a trained opera singer and renowned pageant winner — was a threat.

Sapphira Cristál (right) is applauded by fans during her “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 16 premiere party, at Brooklyn Bowl. Cristál is the first queen to represent Philly on the show.

What to know about Sapphira Cristál, Philly’s first true ‘Drag Race’ contestant

“I host, I sing, I dance,” Cristál brags during one of her taped confessionals. “I’m a walking, talking, moving miracle. Check that.”

In the episode, Cristál won the season’s first mini challenge, in which the queens had to pose for photos on a front porch set while host and drag icon RuPaul instructed them through a doorbell camera. The maxi (aka main) challenge was an ode to MTV’s 1993 Spring Break talent show. Contestants had to perform an original musical number.

Clad in a theatrical ballgown and Marie Antoinette-style wig, Cristál sang an opera aria, “O mio babbino caro,” gradually dropping into a split while hitting falsettos. RuPaul called Cristál’s performance her favorite of the night. The crowd at Brooklyn Bowl, meanwhile, gave it a standing ovation.

Sapphira Cristál (left) meets drag queen Aubrey Firedrill during her “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 16 premiere party at Brooklyn Bowl in Philadelphia on Friday.

Cristál told The Inquirer that watching the episode back was “surreal.”

“To have the mother of drag validate and approve [of you] is the realization of my life’s work,” Cristál said.

A Philly queen could take it all

Before Cristál had walked away with a cluster of Drag Race accolades, Philly-area fans were already betting on her charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent.

A Houston native who attended the same church as Beyoncé, Cristál, 35, began performing drag in 2009 while attending a musical conservatory in Rochester. She moved to Philly in 2014, honing her mix of highbrow drag, stunts, and opera at Fishtown cabaret Fabrika, revues in New York, and even the stage of a church outside Boston.

A day in the life of Philly drag queen Sapphira Cristál

“She’s poised, she performs well, she’s very regal. … I’d put money on her winning,” said Monty Pierce, 24, who drove from Dover, Del. to Fishtown for a meet-and-greet with Cristál after watching a clip of her Drag Race entrance video.

Moses Scober — who attended the watch party with Pierce, his best friend — also declared Cristál his winner. The venerable drag queen “felt like family,” said Scober, whose opening line was “Wassup bestie?” when he met Cristál.

Fledgling Philly and South Jersey drag queen Marlowe le Faye, 19, said Cristál’s “’bigger is better’ aesthetic” is what makes her a “quintessential Philly queen.”

“It feels so good to have someone from Philadelphia [on the show] who just feels so meant for it,” said Pierce. “We’re not rooting her on because she’s from Philly. We’re rooting for her because we genuinely believe that she could win.”

These victories — albeit early ones — were nearly a decade in the making for Cristál, who auditioned for Drag Race 11 times before making it on air. Season 16 was supposed to be her final go, Cristál previously told The Inquirer.

“Sapphira has an unwavering belief in herself that is so rare to find,” said Davenport, one of Cristál’s best friends and a former Drag Race contestant from Philly who repped New York City while competing.

Davenport has known Cristál for nine years, she said, and has helped Cristál with nearly all of her Drag Race audition tapes, either workshopping material over FaceTime or filming lip syncs. Davenport was holding back tears when RuPaul announced Cristál’s win, bowled over with pride for her friend and city.

“Once the show takes interest in one queen’s drag, the whole city’s drag gets exposed,” said Davenport. “I’m so excited to see what Sapphira’s existence on Drag Race does for Philly. Everyone is going to get more opportunities.”

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