# Mariah Paris Balenciaga

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, ball performer, and television personality, best known for competing on the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race (2011) and the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (2020). Since appearing on the show, she has been featured in a number of web series 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. She later moved to Atlanta when she was 19, and started doing drag in the ballroom scene, becoming a founding member of the House of Balenciaga. She is biracial.

## 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 to "Looking for a New Love" by Jody Watley 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 or Raven, 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.
She was one of the background dancers for Miley Cyrus's 2015 VMA performance. She was a background dancer again, playing as one of the Spice Girls for Rita Ora on an episode of Lip Sync Battle 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 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 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'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's song "Juice" on April 17, 2019. She appeared in a music video for pop duo Aly & AJ's song "Star Maps" on June 12, 2019.

## Discography
### EPs

| Title | Details |
| Mug 4 Dayz Stone Cold Remixes | Released: 2014 Label: A Ben Gi Beat Formats: digital download |
Singles
| Year | Song |
| 2013 | "Mug 4 Dayz" |
| 2020 | "Stains on the Wall" |
As Featured Artist
| Title | Year | Album |
| "I'm in Love" (with the Cast of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, Season 5) | 2020 | Non-album single |

## Filmography
### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2011 | RuPaul's Drag Race (season 3) | Herself | Contestant (9th place) |
| 2011 | RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked | Herself | |
| 2011-12 | RuPaul's Drag U | Herself | |
| 2015 | Skin Wars | Herself | Season 2 - episode 4 |
| 2018 | RuPaul's Drag Race (season 10) | Herself | Guest - Episode 1 |
| 2018 | Lip Sync Battle | Herself | Backup dancer |
| 2018 | The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story | Drag Queen | Cameo role - episode 2 |
| 2019 | RuPaul's Drag Race (season 11) | Herself | Guest - Episode 1 |
| 2019 | Lip Sync Battle | Herself | Background dancer |
| 2020 | AJ and the Queen | Herself | Guest appearance |
| 2020 | RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (season 5) | Herself | Contestant (8th place) |
| 2020 | RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars: Untucked (season 2) | Herself | Contestant (8th place) |
| 2021 | The Browns | Herself | Guest appearance |

### Web series

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2014 | Transformations | Herself |
| 2015 | Rooftop Lipsync | Herself |
| 2015-2019 | Drag Queens React | Herself |
| 2016–19 | Fashion Photo RuView | Herself |
| 2016–19 | Wait, What? | Herself |
| 2017 | M.U.G. | Herself |
| 2017 | Spilling the Tea | Herself |
| 2018 | Cosmo Queens | Herself |
| 2019 | Wigs in a Blanket | Herself |
| 2019 | Bootleg Opinions | Herself |
| 2019 | Follow Me | Herself |
| 2019 | Iconic | Herself |
| 2019 | Reading Queens | Herself |
| 2019-23 | The Pit Stop | Herself |
| 2020 | Whatcha Packin' | Herself |
| 2021 | Hey Qween! | Herself |
| 2023 | Binge Queens: Drag Race Mexico | Herself |

### Music videos

| Year | Title | Artist |
| 2016 | Expensive | Todrick Hall |
| 2017 | Expensive (Deluxe Version) | Todrick Hall |
| 2017 | Stun | Alaska ft. Gia Gunn |
| 2018 | Oops I Think I Pooped | Pandora Boxx |
| 2018 | Excuse The Beauty | Latrice Royale |
| 2018 | Girly | John Duff |
| 2019 | Juice | Lizzo |
| 2019 | Star Maps | Aly & AJ |