Mariah Paris Balenciaga, also simply known as Mariah or Mariah Balenciaga, is the stage name of Elijah A. Kelly (born February 13, 1981), an American

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

, ball performer, and television personality, best known for competing on the third season of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race (franchise), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...

'' (2011) and the fifth season of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'' is an American reality competition spin off edition of the original ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', which is produced by World of Wonder, for Logo TV and later VH1. The show premiered on October 22, 2012, on Logo TV, ...

'' (2020). Since appearing on the show, she has been featured in a number of

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

produced by World of Wonder, such as ''Wait, What?'', ''Transformations'', and '' Fashion Photo RuView''. Balenciaga released her first single, "Mug 4 Dayz", on November 19, 2013.

Early life

Kelly was born on February 13, 1982, in

Gainesville, Georgia Gainesville is a city and the county seat of Hall County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 42,296. Because of its large number of poultry processing plants, it has been calle ...

. She later moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

when she was 19, and started doing drag in the ballroom scene, becoming a founding member of the House of Balenciaga. She is

biracial The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mul ...

Career

Balenciaga was announced as one of thirteen contestants for the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race in 2011. She was eliminated in the sixth episode after losing a

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the Hard and soft C, spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a Speech, speaking or singin ...

to " Looking for a New Love" by

Jody Watley Jody Vanessa Watley (born January 30, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter and producer whose music crosses genres including pop, R&B, jazz, dance and electronic soul.Paoletta, Michael (February 22, 2003) "Watley Relaxes In The Setting of The ...

against Delta Work. In 2018, she appeared with other Drag Race alumni for the first mini challenge of season ten. She asked a viewer question to Eureka O'Hara during the season ten finale episode. She appeared as a guest for the first challenge in the premiere of season eleven of Drag Race. Balenciaga was also a drag professor for the second and third season of RuPaul's Drag U in 2011 and 2012. Outside of ''Drag Race'', she makes guest appearances for the WOWPresents Internet series "'' Fashion Photo RuView''" filling in for either

Raja Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. T ...

Raven A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...

, reviewing looks from ''Drag Race'' alumni. Her first appearance was on June 9, 2016. She also makes recurring appearances on another WOW series, "''Wait, What''?" as the co-host to Kimora Blac, where they answer trivia questions. Her first appearance was in the debut episode. Balenciaga was with other Drag Race alumni for an episode of '' Skin Wars'' in 2015. She was one of the performers for Phi Phi O'Hara's benefit show for the hurricane in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. She was one of the background dancers for

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( , born Destiny Hope Cyrus, November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and director. Regarded as a contemporary pop icon, Cyrus has been recognized for her evolving artistry and image reinventions. She is ...

's 2015 VMA performance. She was a background dancer again, playing as one of the

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...

for

Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (; born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer-songwriter, television personality, and actress. Born in Pristina, modern-day Kosovo, she rose to prominence when she featured on DJ Fresh's 2012 single, "Hot Rig ...

on an episode of

Lip Sync Battle ''Lip Sync Battle'' is an American musical reality competition television series that premiered on April 2, 2015, on the American cable network Spike, later known as Paramount Network. The show is based on an idea by Stephen Merchant and John ...

in March 2018. She was a backup dancer for Lip Sync Battle again in 2019 for Nico Tortorella. In August 2019, she was featured in

Women's Wear Daily ''Women's Wear Daily'' (also known as ''WWD'') is a fashion-industry trade journal often referred to as the "Bible of fashion". Horyn, Cathy"Breaking Fashion News With a Provocative Edge" ''The New York Times''. (August 20, 1999). It provides i ...

magazine, alongside Kimora Blac, Mayhem Miller, and Kameron Michaels. In 2020, Balenciaga returned for the fifth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'', placing 8th overall. Her performance in the first episode was praised for raising awareness of systemic racism and prejudice, made particularly timely in wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, and Balenciaga was even given a shoutout by current guest judge

Ricky Martin Enrique Martin Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography incorporati ...

for her performance. In September 2020, Balenciaga was featured alongside many other black ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' alum in a "Stop The Racism" PSA, speaking out against toxic, racist fans within the ''Drag Race'' community. She was a featured performer during

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

's performance at the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards.

Music

Balenciaga released her first single, "Mug 4 Dayz", on November 19, 2013. A remix EP of the song was released on April 11, 2014. Balenciaga appeared in the music video for Pandora Boxx's "Oops I Think I Pooped" on September 24, 2018. She appeared in a music video for

Lizzo Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo (), is an American singer and rapper. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas, with her family at the age of ten. After college, she moved to Minn ...

's song "

Juice Juice is a drink made from the extraction or Cold-pressed juice, pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat ...

" on April 17, 2019. She appeared in a music video for pop duo

Aly & AJ Aly & AJ is an American pop rock duo consisting of sisters Aly Michalka, Alyson "Aly" Michalka (born 1989) and AJ Michalka, Amanda Joy "AJ" Michalka (born 1991) from Torrance, California. They signed with Hollywood Records and in 2005, they rele ...

's song "Star Maps" on June 12, 2019.

Discography

EPs

Singles As Featured Artist

Filmography

Television

Web series

Music videos

References

External links

* *
RuPaul’s DragCon 2016: Meet Mariah Balenciaga
(2016),''The WOW Report'', World of Wonder {{Authority control 1981 births Living people African-American drag queens American drag queens Drag performers from Atlanta People from Gainesville, Georgia Mariah Paris Balenciaga Drag performers from Los Angeles Ball culture people