Mariah Paris Balenciaga

Mariah Balenciaga
Biographical Information
Drag Name	Mariah Paris Balenciaga
Date of Birth	February 13, 1982
Age	42
Hometown	Atlanta, Georgia
Season Information
Season	Season 3
Place	9th
Eliminated	Episode 6
Sent home by	Delta Work
Challenge Wins	0

Mariah Paris Balenciaga is the stage name of Elijah Kelly, a drag queen, hair stylist, makeup artist and performer from Atlanta, Georgia.

Mariah competed on RuPaul's Drag Race Season 3, where she was eliminated 5th, placing 9th in the competition overall.

Mariah was known on the show for her grace, poise, elegance, her fashion sense, her wit, and for her beauty.

Mariah has also been a guest on Fashion Photo RuView with Raja and Raven.

Drag Name Origin

Mariah was given to her by the father of the House of Armani who recruited her in the ballroom scene. It rhymes with her boy name Elijah so it was easy for her to remember. She was Mariah Armani and then Mariah Balenciaga when she became one of the founding members of the House of Balenciaga. Paris is from her drag family name.

Elimination

Mariah was eliminated on the 6th episode of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 3. The main challenge was for the queens to do their best celebrity impersonations in the Snatch Game. Mariah chose to impersonate Joan Crawford. Mariah was critiqued for being too toned down and too quiet to be Joan Crawford. The queens and the judges both thought the makeup was too harsh. It just didn't read as Joan Crawford to the judges.

Alongside Delta Work, Mariah was put in the bottom two. Delta outshined Mariah in the performance, Mariah also didn't know the lyrics to the song, and Mariah sashayed away.

Memorable Quotes

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• "My name is Mariah, aka Mariah Paris, aka Mariah Successful."
• "Her look is definitely not polished, it's definitely not fabulous; it's almost as if I went into my granny's trunk in the attic." In reference to Raja's cyclops hat entrance.
• "When it comes to going out in drag in the day time, I'm good. 'Cause baby, if it's right, it's right."
• "I look like I got like, fix-a-flat in my face?"
• "You know what? I have thick skin, but that is your one free pass bitch!"
• "I'm the Milk-Maid."
• "Prepare to gag on my eleganza!
• "A pineapple gown with glitter on it, bitch!" "Give me my pocket book I'm leaving."
• "Um, I'm in the bottom 3 and I'm still just pretty.... next on news at 10!"
• "Mug4dayz."
• "Elephant shoe, cantaloupe, and shalabalaba tuna."
• "I saw the fishnets and they were ripped."

Trivia

• She started doing drag at 18 years old during a Halloween party.
• Out of drag, Elijah is very relaxed.
• Elijah/Mariah is a hair stylist full time out of drag.
• Sometimes confused with San Francisco drag queen Mahlae Balenciaga.
• Mariah is a frequent guest on Kimora Blac's show "Wait, What?".

Follow Mariah

• Mariah's Facebook
• Mariah's Twitter
• Mariah's Instagram
• Mariah on Apple Music