Aquaria

Aquaria is the stage name of Giovanni Palandrani, a drag queen, performer, makeup artist, model, and the Season 10 winner of RuPaul's Drag Race. ^[1]

Name Origin

Aquaria's name comes from her zodiac sign, Aquarius.^[2]

RuPaul's Drag Race

Before her season, Aquaria already was popular on Instagram, making some fans of the TV show believe (specially when she was announced as a contestant of Season 10) that she was all about beauty and with no talent. But Aquaria proved them wrong, doing a great job not only in most of fashion challenges, but also in performative and comedy ones like the "Snatch Game".

Aquaria had some struggle with her diction during the competition and also landed 2 times in the Bottom 3 but never had to lip sync in order to not get eliminated.

In Episode 14, "Grand Finale", after lip syncing (for the crown) twice (first against Eureka and then against Kameron Michaels, and Eureka at the same time) Aquaria was crowned the tenth "America's Next Drag Superstar".

Memorable Quotes

Season 10

• "Bonjour!... Sorry to keep you waiting." (entance quote; "bonjour" being French for "hi")
• "My name is Aquaria and I am a superstar!"
• "I need something to stand out because RuPaul doesn't see the star in me. That means that I'm not showing him my star... does that make sense?"
• "The key to doing well in this challenge is keeping your lip sync straight, your choreography gay, and your characterization bicurious."
• "Some girls in the werkroom chose to read books, I chose to turn looks."
• "Oh, come on Buzz Lightyear!"
• "My humor comes from a... very confused place in my brain."
• "Any hole is a goal." (as Melania Trump in "Snatch Game")
• "It's alright Barack, no worries." (to RuPaul, as Melania Trump in "Snatch Game")
• "The only vers I am is Versace."
• "I can tell by the twinkle in RuPaul's eyes that he is living for this." (referring to her runway look)
• "If you pee clear, cheer!"
• "Sometimes in life you're not always given a second chance. But if you do, take advantage of it and go out with a bang." (winner acceptance speech)

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Extras

• "I don't define drag, drag is defined by me." (during her "Meet the Queens" interview)^[2]

Trivia

• Aquaria has been doing drag since 2014.^[1]
• Her drag mother is Season 4 winner Sharon Needles^[2].
  • Thus, they're the only drag mother/daughter duo to both win a season.
• She studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, majoring in womenswear for 2 years before dropping out.^[1]
• She trained as a dancer for 4 years and started getting famous for hosting parties, performing in nightclubs and doing makeups replicating viral memes.^[3]
• Besides doing drag, she works as a IMG New York model and one of the artists featured in website Dazed Beauty as a entertainment editor.
• She's a fan of pop singers Madonna and Lady Gaga.^[4]
  • Like her, both singers are Italian descents from New York.
• She likes animes such as Pokémon^[5] and Yu-Gi-Oh!.
  • The look she wore during Season 11 finale was inspired by Yu-Gi-Oh! character Harpie Lady.^[6]
• Season 7 winner Violet Chachki and her were the first-ever drag queens to walk Met Gala's red carpet.^[1]
• In 2019, she performed as a part of singer Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Beauty Fashion Show during New York Fashion Week.^[1]
• She's often confused with Season 10 castmate Miz Cracker in New York's drag scene.
  • Both look alike, are from New York, have RuPaul's Drag Race winners as drag moms, and were nominated for 2018 People's Choice Awards' "Competition Contestant of 2018".^[1]
• Much like Season 11 contestant Plastique Tiara, she was the youngest contestant in her season (at age 21), had a large number of social media followers that wanted her competing and has a drag mother who's a successful alumni.
• She was the second contestant with the largest social media following prior to her season's cast reveal, right after Plastique Tiara.
• She's the first winner to have been safe in the first 3 episodes of a season.
• She's the third main series winner to win the "Snatch Game", following Season 5 winner Jinkx Monsoon and Season 8 winner Bob The Drag Queen.
• She was the first contestant to win the "Snatch Game" and the "Ball Challenge" in the same season, followed by Season 12 contestant Gigi Goode.
• She's the tenth contestant overall to never lip sync in order to not get eliminated.
  • Also, the nineth contestant to reach the Top 4 without ever lip syncing.
• Monét X Change, and her are the only winner/Miss Congeniality duo to both be from the same place (New York City).
• Her statistics throughout Season 10 are very similar to Violet Chachki's.
  • Both never landed in Bottom 2, were at Bottom 3 twice, won 3 challenges, won the ball challenge, won the last challenge, and were crowned "America’s Next Drag Superstar" at age 22, being the second youngest winners after Season 2 winner Tyra Sanchez, who won at age 21.

Gallery

 Season 10 Looks

 Season 11 Looks

 Videos

Meet Aquaria

Before the Workroom

Aquaria's Runway Looks

Best of Aquaria

Aquaria Rising Portrait of a Queen

Discography

 Non-Album Singles

• "Burn Rubber". (2018)

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Appearances

• "Looks" by Linux with Aquaria. (2016)
• "Cher: The Unauthorized Rusical" by The Cast of RuPaul's Drag Race, Season 10. (2018)
• "American (Season 10 Remix)" by RuPaul with The Cast of RuPaul's Drag Race, Season 10. (2018)
• "Rim" by Brooke Candy with Violet Chachki & Aquaria. (2019)

Filmography

TV

• RuPaul's Drag Race, on Seasons 10 as contestant. (2018)
• Untucked, on Season 10 as contestant. (2018)
• RuPaul's Drag Race, on Seasons 11 as guest. (2019)

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Web Series

• Shot with Soju, on Season 1 Episode 14 as guest. (2017)
• Cosmo Queens, as herself. (2018)
• M.U.G., as guest. (2018)
• Transformations, as guest. (2019)
• Fashion Photo RuView, as guest. (2019)
• Werq the World, as herself. (2019)
• Portrait of a Queen, as herself. (2019)

Tours

Co-Headlining

• Werq the World Tour (World, 2017-2020). (2018-2020)

References

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