| The Switch Drag Race | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Reality competition |
| Based on | RuPaul's Drag Race |
| Directed by | Ricardo Durán[1] |
| Presented by | Karla Constant |
| Judges |
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| Country of origin | Chile |
| Original language | Spanish |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 55 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer |
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| Camera setup | Multiple |
| Running time | 60–90 minutes (without commercials) |
| Original release | |
| Network | |
| Release | October 8, 2015 – August 15, 2018 |
| 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. It was later followed by British, Canadian, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, French, Filipino, Belgian, Swedish, Mexican, Brazilian, and German adaptations that much more closely followed the original Drag Race format.
Hosted by Karla Constant (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.
- ^ "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
- ^ "The Switch Drag Race – Official Site", Mega.cl (in Spanish)
- ^ Blake Jacos (September 24, 2015), "RuPaul's Drag Race is Heading to Chile!", World of Wonder
- ^ Daniele Alcinii (September 25, 2015), ""Drag Race" heads to Chile for local version", Realscreen