Yara Sofia is the stage name of Gabriel Burgos Ortiz (born May 8, 1984), a Puerto Rican

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...

, professional

make-up artist A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions inc ...

, and

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

personality. She is most known for appearing on ''RuPaul's Drag Race''

season 3 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pola ...

, where she won Miss Congeniality, and All Stars season 1, where she was partnered with

Alexis Mateo Alexis Mateo Pacheco (born July 24, 1979), best known as Alexis Mateo, is a Puerto Rican drag queen, performer, reality television personality, fashion designer, and the winner of All American Goddess 2016, Miss Gay Days 2016 and National Showg ...

. In 2021, Sofia returned to compete on All Stars season 6. In June 2021, she released "Jiggle!", her debut single.

Biography

Although born in San Juan, Ortiz was raised in the small town of Manati, Puerto Rico. Her drag career began at local San Juan gay nightclub ''Krash'' (also known as ''Eros''), where in 2005, she won her first gay pageant title "Miss Road to Diva." Later, in 2006, Ortiz earned a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

degree in theater from the

Universidad del Sagrado Corazón Universidad del Sagrado Corazón (English: University of the Sacred Heart), abbreviated "USC" and often called simply Sagrado, is a private Catholic university in Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is one of the oldest and largest educational ins ...

in San Juan. Her name originates from a beauty pageant that was held at her former dance studio, where she chose the name Cuba. She also selected the name Yara after a girl she attended school with, and was gifted the surname Sofia by a friend of hers who also competed in the pageant.

Career

''RuPaul's Drag Race''

Sofia was announced as a cast member on the third season of

Logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...

's popular

reality series Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

, ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

'', which premiered on the network on January 29, 2011. With a heavy, yet comically perceived accent and a popular catchphrase (''Echa Pa'lante'' which translates to ''Go Forward'') she became a fan favorite due to her unique use of makeup, wigs, contact lenses and fashion. She won the challenge in episode 11 where the contestants had to create three different looks for a hair themed fashion show. She was eliminated in what was considered a very emotional lip sync against fellow contestant

in the thirteenth episode of the season, which first aired on April 22, 2011. During the reunion special, which aired on May 2, 2011, Sofia won the annual ''Miss Congeniality'' award. On 6 August 2012, it was announced that Sofia was one of twelve past ''Drag Race'' contestants selected to join the cast of '' RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars'' that premiered on the Logo network on 22 October 2012. Due to the team twist of the season, she teamed with Alexis Mateo to form ''Team Yarlexis''. The duo was eliminated in the fourth episode of the series which aired on 12 November 2012, coming in the 3rd-place position amongst the teams, with Sofia therefore placing 5th/6th overall with Mateo. Sofia appeared among other ''Drag Race'' alumni as a guest in episode one of season ten in January 2018. On the 26th of May she was announced to be part of the cast for RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 6, alongside 12 other queens, including fellow All Stars 1 contestant

Pandora Boxx Michael R. Steck (born May 2, 1972), better known by the stage name Pandora Boxx, is an American drag queen, comedian, and reality television personality from Rochester, New York. Boxx competed in the second season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', pl ...

. She won the Variety Show on the first episode and lost the ''Lip-Sync For Your Legacy'' against ''Lip-Sync Assassin''

Coco Montrese Coco Montrese (born July 2, 1974) is the stage name of Lenwood Martin Cooper, an American drag queen, entertainer, and reality television personality. Montrese came into the spotlight after being crowned Miss Gay America 2010 when Alyssa Edwards' ...

. She was later eliminated on the fourth episode, ''

Halftime In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in ...

Headliners'', placing 10th overall.

Other ventures

In 2012, along with other ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' contestants, Sofia appeared in the music video "Queen" for New York City-based girl group

Xelle Mimi Imfurst (born March 2, 1983), the stage name of Braden S. Chapman (or Braden S. Maurer-Burns), is an American drag performer. She appeared on the third season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and '' RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars'' and was a found ...

, fronted by alum

Mimi Imfurst Mimi Imfurst (born March 2, 1983), the stage name of Braden S. Chapman (or Braden S. Maurer-Burns), is an American drag performer. She appeared on the third season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and '' RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars'' and was a found ...

. Sofia also appeared in the music video ''"''Werqin' Gurl''" ''by

season two Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album) * ''2econd Season ''2econd Season'' is the second and most recent album by Atlanta-based rapper Unk. Release It was released on November 4, 2008. Guest Performers The album features gu ...

, three and All Stars season three alum

Shangela Chantize Darius Jeremy Pierce, better known as Shangela Laquifa Wadley or mononymously as Shangela (born November 22, 1980), is an American drag queen, reality television personality and actor best known for competing on ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. S ...

. Outside of ''Drag Race'', Sofia was a playable character with

and

Manila Luzon Karl Philip Michael Westerberg, better known by the stage name Manila Luzon (born August 10, 1981), is an American drag queen, recording artist, comedian and reality television personality. Luzon came to international attention as a contestant on ...

for the "RuPaul's Drag Race: Dragopolis" app. Sofia appeared with other alum for an episode of the

Game Show Network Game Show Network (GSN) is an American basic cable channel owned by Sony Pictures Television. The channel's programming is primarily dedicated to game shows, including reruns of acquired game shows, along with new, first-run original and revive ...

show ''

Skin Wars ''Skin Wars'' is a body painting reality competition hosted by Rebecca Romijn that premiered on the American pay-television channel Game Show Network on August 6, 2014. Contestants on the series perform challenges containing body painting each ep ...

'' in May 2016. On November 6th 2017, Sofia was a featured performer in ''Queens United'', a benefit show created by

Phi Phi O'Hara Jaremi Lee Carey (born Jeremy Lee Carey; October 10, 1985) is an American actor, streamer, singer, cosplay artist, and former drag performer who performed under the name Phi Phi O'Hara. In the O'Hara persona, Carey came to international attention ...

in an effort to raise money to people affected by

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Saffir–Simpson scale#Category 5, Category 5 Tropical cyclone, hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the wo ...

. Sofia co-hosted the ''Tucking 101: Now You See It, Now You Don’t'' at

RuPaul's DragCon LA RuPaul's DragCon LA is an annual expo of drag culture held in Los Angeles billed as a "convention that celebrates 'the art of drag, queer culture and self-expression for all'", which debuted in 2015. Its sister event is RuPaul's DragCon NYC sta ...

in 2018. She cites

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

Alexander McQueen Lee Alexander McQueen CBE (17 March 1969 – 11 February 2010) was a British fashion designer and couturier. He founded his own Alexander McQueen label in 1992, and was chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. His achievements in fashion ...

, and

Michael Kors Michael David Kors (born Karl Anderson Jr. August 9, 1959) is an American fashion designer. He is the chief creative officer of his brand, Michael Kors, which sells men's and women's ready-to-wear, accessories, watches, jewelry, footwear, and f ...

as her inspirations.

Filmography

Television

Web series

Music videos

Discography

Singles

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sofia, Yara 1984 births Living people People from Manatí, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican drag queens Yara Sofia Yara Sofia Hispanic and Latino American drag queens American make-up artists Universidad del Sagrado Corazón alumni