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The Switch Drag Race

Reality competition television series

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

The Switch Drag Race is a Chilean reality competition television series, presented by Mega as a Chilean version of the hit American show RuPaul's Drag Race. 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.

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 (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.

01Format

Season 1 of The Switch consisted of seventeen participants, often split into two groups, that were challenged with demonstrating their ability to perform makeovers, impersonate female characters, dance, lip-sync, and sing live on stage. Along with the demonstration of their skills, The Switch shows each contestant's life story, giving details of their personal experiences to Chilean viewers.

Season 2 consists of six returning contestants from the previous season as well as seven new contestants from outside of Chile. The participants being split up into two groups; one group consisting of the returning contestants and the other group formed from their challengers from around the world.

Judging

Judges on The Switch
Judge Occupation Country of Origin Season
1 2
Nicole Gaultier Drag entertainer Uruguay Main
Íngrid Cruz Actor Chile Main
Juan Pablo González Musician Chile Main
Sebastián Errázuriz Composer Chile Main
Oscar Mediavilla Composer Argentina Main
Coaches on The Switch
Coach Occupation Country of Origin Season
1 2
Nicole Gaultier Drag entertainer Uruguay Main
Íngrid Cruz Actor Chile Main
Patricia Maldonado Singer and TV Personality Chile Main
Nicanor Bravo Fashion designer Argentina Main
Darwin Ruz Dancer Chile Main
Álvaro Véliz Singer Chile Main
Watch videos about The Switch Drag RaceExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article The Switch Drag Race, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

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