BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) -- Season 17 of "RuPaul's Drag Race" premiered on Jan. 3, featuring a drag queen from Alabama.
On Dec. 4, the "Drag Race" Instagram page posted a video of Birmingham-based drag queen Sam Star with the caption "She's the supermodel of the south!"
Al's on 7th, self-proclaimed as "Birmingham's premier LGBTQIA+ bar," celebrated its 14th anniversary in January. The business has been hosting watch parties for local "Drag Race" fans to view the new episodes as they air.
"We've been doing 'Drag Race' reviewing parties at least the last seven years for the regular seasons, as well as 'All Stars," said Mark Cummings, owner of Al's on 7th. "Obviously, it's a bigger deal now, with Sam being on the show and Sam being on cast here."
Sam Star has been on the cast at Al's for four years.
"This is a huge deal for us," Cummings said. "Not only for Sam, but for Al's and for our entire community."
Julia Jones has known Sam Star since middle school, and she says that one of the first times she saw Sam Star in drag was as Ursula in a high school production of "The Little Mermaid."
"It's been a point of pride for, I think myself, and everybody else that's from Alabama, and even our small town of Leeds, which is where we went to middle school and high school together," Jones said. "And, I mean, all the credit goes to Sam, but the community does help raise the person to be who they are today, and it makes you feel like you have a little bit of the win too. Like, whenever Sam wins a challenge, it feels very awesome to have your town in Alabama be shown on national television."
In December, Jones attended an event at Al's where the cast of "Drag Race" was announced, celebrating Sam Star's accomplishment of making it onto the cast.
"It was incredible to see people from all walks of Sam's life, going back from middle school, high school, through after he graduated, and theater in Birmingham," Jones said. "Any way that you could know Sam, somebody was there supporting him that night."
So far, seven episodes have aired in season 17 of "Drag Race."
"Friday's episode, the judges' critique was that Sam was basically doing 'too well.' Everything she's doing is perfectly polished and well thought out. There was only one time that Sam had a bad critique out of the seven episodes so far," Jones said. "I definitely think Sam's going to be competing in the finale, in my opinion. Sam is bringing all the funny jokes, the pageantry and just the southern class. It's great."