The Switch Drag Race

The Switch Drag Race
GenreReality competition
Based onRuPaul's Drag Race
Directed byRicardo Durán[1]
Presented byKarla Constant [es]
Judges
Country of originChile
Original languageSpanish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes55
Production
Executive producer
  • Jaime Sepulveda
Camera setupMultiple
Running time60–90 minutes (without commercials)
Original release
Network
ReleaseOctober 8, 2015 (2015-10-08) –
August 15, 2018 (2018-08-15)
Related
Drag Race franchise
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

The Switch Drag Race[2] is a Chilean reality competition television series, presented by Mega as a Chilean version of the hit American show RuPaul's Drag Race.[3][4] The purpose of the series is to find Chile's top transformista (transformer, drag queen) of the season.

Later, on the second season, the eligibility for competitors was expanded. The contestants were still predominantly from Chile & Argentina (with select returning queens from season one); the other half hailed everywhere from Puerto Rico, Spain, and Mexico, to Brazil and even France and the U.S.

The Switch was the second international localization of Drag Race, following Drag Race Thailand. Like the American version, The Switch requires its contestants to sing live, lip-sync, dance, and perform impersonations, but the show's format is significantly changed.

Hosted by Karla Constant [es] (one of the hosts of Mucho gusto, also on Mega), the first season of The Switch, subtitled El Arte de Transformismo, premiered on October 8, 2015, and ended on January 17, 2016. After over two years’ hiatus, The Switch returned to MEGA for a second season, subtitled Desafío Mundial, on Sunday, March 25, 2018. Season two ended on June 15, 2018.

  1. ^ "Director de "The switch": Queremos dignificar el oficio del transformista" [Director of "The Switch": We Want to Dignify the Art of Female Impersonation], Cooperativa.cl (in Spanish), August 26, 2015
  2. ^ "The Switch Drag Race – Official Site", Mega.cl (in Spanish)
  3. ^ Blake Jacos (September 24, 2015), "RuPaul's Drag Race is Heading to Chile!", World of Wonder
  4. ^ Daniele Alcinii (September 25, 2015), ""Drag Race" heads to Chile for local version", Realscreen