Adore Delano (born Daniel "Danny" Noriega; September 29, 1989) is an American drag queen and musician.
Prior to her career in drag, Adore became known to the public as Danny Noriega, a contestant on the seventh season of American Idol, where his flamboyant personality and pointed comments to judge Simon Cowell ("I guess some people weren't liking it!") turned him into an overnight Internet celebrity despite being eliminated early into the semi-finals.
After Idol, Danny started performing under the Adore Delano persona, capitalizing on her Internet fame from the show and YouTube. Despite losing an online fan vote to become a contestant on season five of RuPaul's Drag Race, her sheer popularity paved the way for a (successful) second attempt to join the season six cast, ultimately finishing the competition as co-runner-up with fellow Idol franchise alumnus Courtney Act.
Upon participating on Drag Race, Adore released her debut album, Till Death to We Party, in 2014, and released a follow-up called After Party in 2016. Both were significant hits on the Billboard dance charts, even by Drag Race contestant standards.
In 2016, Adore returned to Drag Race for its second all-star season. This go-round on the show wasn't quite as successful as her first, with her becoming the first contestant to voluntarily withdraw from the show in its second episode, after receiving some rough critique from judge Michelle Visage.
Discography:
- Till Death Do We Party (2014)
- After Party (2016)
- Whatever (2017)
Selected filmography:
- American Idol (2008) as Danny Noriega
- RuPaul's Drag Race (2014) as herself
- RuPaul's All Stars Drag Race (2016)
Adore Delano provides examples of the following tropes:
- Broken Pedestal: Ostensibly the reason for her departure from All Stars Drag Race season two, specifically Michelle Visage's rough critique of her first runway of the season. They discussed the matter personally on-camera, but Adore's mind was already made up.
- Can't Take Criticism: How some perceive her departure from All Stars Drag Race. Depending on who you ask, she was either justified in feeling Michelle's critique was overly rough, or that she should've expected tougher scrutiny from a judge during an all-star season.
- Catchphrase: She often uses the word "Party!" like punctuation while speaking.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: Is in fact an instance of this, the phrase having originated from Season 10's Mayhem Miller, who is a mainstay of the LA drag scene.
- Drag Queen: More campy than fishy or genderfuck, but she doesn't entirely fit into any of those boxes.
- Self-Deprecating Humor: Has called herself "Polish Remover," referring to her scruffy, unpolished aesthetic.
- Spicy Latina: Averted, since Adore (a Mexican-American person) is rather mellow and sardonic in demeanor.
