The Switch Drag Race

The Switch Drag Race[2] is a Chilean reality competition television series, presented by Mega as a local version of American show RuPaul's Drag Race.[3][4] The purpose of the series is to find the best "transformista", or drag entertainer, of Chile (Season 1) and of Spanish language (Season 2). Similarly to its American counterpart, The Switch requires its contestants to sing live, lip-sync, dance, and perform impersonations.

The Switch Drag Race
GenreReality competition
Based onRuPaul's Drag Race
Directed byRicardo Durán[1]
Presented byKarla Constant
Judges
  • Nicole Gaultier (Season 1 and 2)
  • Íngrid Cruz (Season 1 and 2)
  • Juan Pablo González (Season 1)
  • Sebastián Errázuriz (Season 1)
  • Oscar Mediavilla (Season 2)
Country of originChile
Original language(s)Spanish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes58
Production
Executive producer(s)
  • Jaime Sepulveda
Camera setupMultiple
Running time60-90 minutes (without commercials)
Release
Original network
  • Mega
Original releaseOctober 8, 2015 (2015-10-08) –
present (present)
External links
Website

Hosted by Karla Constant, the first season of The Switch, subtitled El Arte de Transformismo, premiered on October 8, 2015 and ended on January 17, 2016, when Luz Violeta of Chile was crowned the winner.[5] After over two years on hiatus, The Switch returned to Mega for a second season, subtitled Desafío Mundial, on Sunday, March 25, 2018. Season 2 ended on June 15, 2018 when Miss Leona, from France, was crowned the winner.

Format

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[6]
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

Season 1

Challenges

Each episode, with the guidance of the four celebrity coaches, the contestants compete in the following challenges;

  • Artistic Challenge: In this first test, each contestant has to characterize a TV personality or pop culture icon either on themselves, another contestant, or a guest. This test is judged individually as well as in groups. Depending on the episode, one of two outcomes occur;
    • Immunity from elimination is offered to the highest performer (of the winning group, if applicable) or a nominee is chosen to head directly to the Elimination Duel
    • Or the winning contestants (or team) progresses to the Imitation Challenge to compete for immunity, with the competitors who don't win continuing on to the Singing Challenge.
  • Imitation Challenge: In this second test, each contestant has to maintain the characterizations of their character/icon make-over from the previous challenge and add an element of acting, singing, dancing, or lip-sync performance. Immunity and nominations are chosen in the outcome of this challenge as well. In the first episode of Season 1, the weakest performer was eliminated from this challenge by majority vote from the judges.
  • Singing Challenge: In this third test, each individual contestant has to sing a song of their own choosing live in front of the judges and a studio audience. At the end of each presentation, each member of the judges panel assigns a point score ranging from 1 to 7, based on the quality of each contestant's performance. After the first score is given, the first contestant must sit in the "Elimination chair" until another performer replaces them by having a lower score than them. If the next performer receives a higher score than the person in the chair, they are safe from elimination and proceed backstage to prepare for the next episode. Ultimately, the contestant with the lowest score is nominated to go up for elimination in the Elimination Duel.
  • Elimination Duels: In this last test, the lowest scored performer in the episode's Singing Challenge is put up against the performer nominated from one of the other challenges. They both perform a live song of their choosing and the judges vote by majority who will be eliminated from The Switch. Typically, contestants that aren't competing that episode are shown watching the Elimination Duel backstage in the make-up room alongside singing coach Patricia Maldonado Aravena. In the event of a tie in the voting, Juan Pablo González acts as the president of the judges panel and casts a final vote for the elimination. The eliminated contestant is typically honored with a montage of their run on the show and is ultimately shown writing a farewell with a tube of lipstick on a mirror in the briefing room à la the American Drag Race.

Finale
  • Quarter-finals: The final ten contestants are split up to compete in two episodes (19 and 20). One immunity is given the winner of the Imitation Challenge in each episode, allowing them to progress to the Semi-finals episode. The other four contestants performing in a Singing Challenge with the judges announcing which two contestants will continue on to the Finale via majority vote. The two remaining contestants perform in an Elimination Duel to fight for the fourth spot in the two-part Finale episode.
  • Semi-finals: The eight contestants are again split up into groups of two to compete in two episodes (21 and 22), with one contestant being eliminated each episode. The contestants must all compete in an Imitation challenge and a Singing Challenge, with the judges all assigning point scores for each contestant overall. The contestant with the highest score in each episode automatically advance to compete as finalists. The contestant with the lowest score in both episodes are eliminated from the competition, with the two remaining contestants being safe. In the third episode (23) of the Semi-finals, the four previously safe contestants perform the challenges once more, with the highest scored performer advancing to the finale; the lowest scored performer being eliminated; and the two remaining "safe" performers being nominated to duel against each other in the final episode. For dramatic effect, one judge is chosen for each episode in the Semi-finals to withhold their scores for the contestants until the end of the episode, where it is revealed who gets to progress to the finale and who gets eliminated based on the final tally.
    • Secret Votes:
      • Episode 21: Nicole Gaultier
      • Episode 22: Juan Pablo González
      • Episode 23: Sebastián Errázuriz
  • Finale: The two previously nominated contestants from the third round of the Semi-finals go head-to-head in an Elimination Duel, with one contestant ultimately being eliminated from the competition and the other advancing as a finalist. Following this, the four finalists perform individually in a Singing Challenge one last time to determine the outcome of the competition. After eliminating the weakest performer by the judges' vote, the winner of The Switch is crowned the best "transformista", or drag entertainer, of Chile and the runners-up are named.

The winner of The Switch receives a grand prize of CLP$10,000,000 (approximately USD$15,700) and a one-year supply of products and accessories from AnyHair, a Spanish company by way of Chile that specializes in hair extensions, wigs, and hairpieces.[7]

Contestants

(Ages and names stated are at time of contest.)

Contestant[8][9]NameAgeCountry of OriginOutcome
Luz VioletaSebastián Aguirre28ChileWinner
Stephanie "La Botota" FoxJose Miguel Navarrete33Runners-up
Luna di MauriMarcelo Ramírez48
Sofía "Sabélo" CamaráPablo Carayani25Argentina4th Place
La YoyiCristián Sanhueza41Chile5th Place
Rubí BlondeFabián Alejandro28Uruguay6th Place
Arianda SodiAriel Cerda28Chile7th Place
Laura BellAndrés Sáez268th Place
Fernanda BrownRoberto Cortés249th Place
Jessica "Jess" ParkerSergio Venegas2410th Place
Paulette PalmeryVicente Dulcien3811th Place
Nery LeffertiCristopher Nirilef2412th Place
Yume HimePablo Poulain2713th Place
Kristina "La Veneno" Kox Camilo Aqueveque2214th Place
Francisca ThompsonCamilo Aballay2115th Place
Elizabeth San MartínSebastián Valenzuela2316th Place
Álvaro LynchNéstor López50Argentina17th Place

Contestant progress
Contestant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Luz SAFESAFESAFEWINSAFEDUELWINSAFEWINSAFESAFESAFESAFEDUELSAFESAFESAFEDUELSAFESAFEWINSAFESAFEWinner
Botota WINSAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFEWINSAFESAFEWINSAFESAFEWINDUELSAFESAFEWINSAFERunner-up
Luna SAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFEWINSAFEWINSAFEWINSAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFENOMRunner-up
Sofía NOMELIMIN+WINSAFESAFESAFESAFEWINDUELSAFESAFEWINSAFESAFESAFESAFEWINEliminated
Yoyi SAFESAFEWINSAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFEDUELSAFESAFENOMEliminated
Rubí SAFESAFESAFESAFESAFEWINELIMSAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFEELIMGuest
Arianda SAFEDUELWINSAFESAFESAFESAFEELIMINSAFEWINSAFESAFEELIMGuest
Laura SAFESAFESAFESAFESAFEWINSAFESAFESAFESAFENOMDUELSAFESAFESAFEELIMINSAFESAFESAFEELIMGuest
Fernanda SAFEWINSAFEWINWINSAFESAFESAFESAFEWINWINSAFEWINSAFESAFESAFEWINSAFESAFEELIMGuest
Jess NOMDUELWINSAFESAFESAFEWINSAFEDUELSAFEELIMGuest
Paulette SAFEWINSAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFESAFEDUELSAFEELIMGuest
Nery SAFESAFESAFESAFENOMELIMELIMGuest
Yume[lower-alpha 1] SAFESAFESAFESAFEWINSAFENOMDUELSAFESAFESAFESAFENOMELIMWINGuest
Veneno SAFESAFESAFEDUELSAFESAFESAFESAFESAFEWINNOMELIMOUTGuest
Francisca SAFEELIMOUTGuest
Elizabeth SAFESAFENOMELIMOUTGuest
Álvaro ELIMGuest


     The contestant won The Switch.
     The contestant was the runner-up of The Switch.
     The contestant came in fourth place.
     The contestant won entrance to the finale.
     The contestant won immunity from elimination.
     The contestant was exempt and was safe from participating this episode.
     The contestant was nominated to compete in the next Elimination Duel.
     The contestant competed in the Elimination Duel and was declared safe as a result.
     The contestant competed in the Elimination Duel and was eliminated.
     The contestant came back for a chance to win re-entry into the competition and lost.
     The contestant was called in for one episode to compete in place of another contestant (Luna di Mauri) and won immunity from elimination.
     The contestant came back for a chance to re-enter the competition and was chosen to return.
     The contestant was eliminated by the judges' vote.
     The contestant was a guest for the final episode.
  1. Yume was called in for Episode 20 to compete for Luna di Mauri while she was ill.

Season 2

Challenges

Each episode, with the guidance of the six celebrity coaches, the contestants compete in the following challenges;

  • Leaders Challenge: In this first test, each contestant from the Chilean group gets paired together with a contestant from the opposing group of "foreigners" to form duos. Together, they must impersonate a celebrity à la Season 1's Artistic Challenge. The duo that succeeds earned immunity and the power of leadership over both respective groups.
  • Artistic Challenge: In this second test, the remaining contestants compete within their respective teams (one team consisting of the Chileans and the other consisting of the "foreigners") in a performance-based Artistic Challenge, similar to that of Season 1. Both groups compete in one Imitation Challenge each. The lowest performing contestant gets nominated by the judges to be a duelist in the Extreme Imitation Duel.
  • Extreme Imitation Duel: The two lowest scoring performers in each of the teams' Artistic Challenges go up against each other in an extreme, rapid-paced Imitation challenge, in which they must transform into famous pop singers and perform a number within a given time frame, with the assistance of their respective team leaders. The loser of this duel effectively sends their entire team to the Elimination Gala.
  • Nomination Mirror: The safe team will each nominate someone from the losing team to go straight to the Elimination Duel. The contestant with the most votes will not be able to participate in the Elimination Gala.
  • Elimination Gala (Singing Challenge): The team whose member lost the previous duel must compete against each other in a singing gala à la Season 1, where their performances are scored from 1 to 7 by each judge, with the lowest scoring performer being sent to the Elimination Duel.
  • Elimination Duel: The lowest scored performer in the Elimination Gala is put up against the contestant nominated during the Nomination Mirror round. They both perform a live song of their choosing and the judges vote by majority who shall be eliminated.

Contestants

(Ages and names stated are at time of contest.)

Contestant[10][11] Name Age Country of Origin Team Original Placement Outcome
Miss Leona Rémy Solé 21 France Foreign - Winner
Gia Gunn Gia Ichikawa[upper-alpha 1] 26 Japan[upper-alpha 2] - Runners-Up
Pavel Arámbula 32 Mexico -
Sofía "Sabélo" Camará Pablo Carayani 26 Argentina Chilean[upper-alpha 3] 4th Place
Fernanda Brown Roberto Cortés 25 Chile 9th Place 5th Place
Diva Houston Felipe Marques 38 Brazil[upper-alpha 4] Foreign - 6th Place[upper-alpha 5]
Rochelle Mon Chéri[13] Roberto González 25 Puerto Rico - 7th Place[upper-alpha 6]
Kandy Ho Frank Díaz 30 Puerto Rico - 8th Place
Luz Violeta Sebastián Aguirre 29 Chile Chilean Winner 9th Place (Quit)
Arianda Sodi Ariel Cerda 29 7th Place 10th Place[upper-alpha 7]
Laura Bell Andrés Sáez 27 8th Place 11th Place
Marie Laveau Noel García 25 Puerto Rico Foreign - 12th Place
Luna di Mauri Marcelo Ramírez 49 Chile Chilean Runner-up 13th Place
Francisca del Solar Rodrigo Astudillo 28 - 14th Place
Fransiska Pakita Tólika Francisco Venegas 24 Spain Foreign - 15th Place
  1. Gunn had her name legally changed in Spring 2017 to reflect her transition, but has been referred to as her previous name in promos for the show as well as in confessionals on the show.[12]
  2. Gunn was born in Chicago, Illinois, but is representing Japan in the competition.
  3. While Sabélo is originally from Argentina, she is representing Chile in the competition.
  4. Houston lives in Spain, but is representing Brazil in the competition
  5. Diva Houston was originally eliminated in 11th place before re-entering back into the competition.
  6. Rochelle Mon Chéri was originally eliminated in 9th place before re-entering back into the competition.
  7. Arianda Sodi was originally eliminated in 13th place before winning entry back into the competition.

Contestant progress

One week of competition includes three episodes |}

Contestants Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Semifinals Finals
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Sem 1 Sem 2 Pt. 1 Pt. 2 Pt. 3
Miss Leona SAFE NOM SAFE EX SAFE EX SAFE SAFE EX SAFE NOM SAFE SAFE SAFE EX SAFE LOSE DUEL WIN LOSE EX SAFE NOM SAFE SAFE SAFE EX SAFE NOMSAFE WIN SAFE WIN EX Winner
Gia WIN EX EX WIN EX EX SAFE SAFE EX WIN EX EX SAFE SAFE EX NOM WIN EX SAFE NOM SAFE SAFE SAFE EX WIN WIN EX NOM WINDUEL WIN WIN WIN EX Runner-Up
Pavel SAFE NOM SAFE EX SAFE EX SAFE SAFE EX SAFE NOM SAFE NOM WIN DUEL NOM WIN EX NOM LOSE SAFE SAFE WIN EX SAFE NOM SAFE SAFE NOMSAFE SAFE DUEL SAFE DUEL Runner-Up
Sofía SAFE SAFE EX WIN EX EX SAFE NOM DUEL WIN EX EX SAFE NOM SAFE WIN EX EX SAFE NOM DUEL SAFE NOM SAFE SAFE NOM SAFE WIN EXEX DUEL SAFE SAFE DUEL Runner-Up
Fernanda WIN EX EX SAFE NOM SAFE SAFE NOM SAFE SAFE SAFE EX SAFE NOM SAFE SAFE SAFE EX SAFE WIN EX SAFE NOM DUEL SAFE SAFE EX WIN EXEX WIN SAFE SAFE ELIM
Diva SAFE NOM SAFE EX SAFE EX NOM WIN EX NOM LOSE ELIM RTRN SAFE EX WIN LOSE EX SAFE NOMSAFE SAFE SAFE ELIM
Rochelle WIN EX EX SAFE NOM ELIM RTRN SAFE EX SAFE LOSE SAFE SAFE SAFEEX SAFE ELIM
Kandy SAFE NOM SAFE EX WIN EX SAFE SAFE EX SAFE NOM DUEL SAFE SAFE EX SAFE NOM SAFE SAFE SAFE EX WIN WIN EX NOM WIN EX SAFE SAFEEX ELIM
Luz SAFE WIN EX SAFE NOM SAFE WIN EX EX SAFE WIN EX WIN EX EX SAFE SAFE EX WIN WIN EX SAFE NOM SAFE SAFE SAFE DUEL NOM LOSEQUIT
Arianda SAFE SAFE EX SAFE NOM ELIM WIN LOSE EX SAFE NOM ELIM
Laura SAFE SAFE EX SAFE NOM DUEL SAFE NOM SAFE SAFE SAFE EX SAFE NOM DUEL SAFE NOM SAFE SAFE SAFE EX NOM LOSE ELIM
Marie NOM LOSE DUEL EX SAFE EX WIN EX EX SAFE NOM DUEL WIN EX EX SAFE LOSE ELIM OUT
Luna SAFE SAFE EX SAFE NOM SAFE SAFE NOM DUEL SAFE SAFE EX SAFE LOSE ELIM OUT
Francisca NOM LOSE SAFE SAFE LOSE ELIM OUT
Pakita NOM EX ELIM


         The contestant won leadership over her group as well as immunity from elimination.
         The contestant won the artist challenge and advanced to the next semi final.
         The contestant was exempt from participating this episode.
         The contestant was nominated to automatically compete in the next Elimination Gala by the opposite team (only in episode 1).
         The contestant was the worst in the artistic test and was nominated to compete in the Extreme Imitation Duel.
         The contestant won the Extreme Imitation Duel and saved her team.
         The contestant was safe due to their team member winning the Extreme Imitation Challenge.
         The contestant's teammate lost the Extreme Imitation Challenge and was thus nominated to compete in the Elimination Gala.
         The contestant lost the Extreme Imitation Duel and nominated their team for the Elimination Gala.
         The contestant competed in the Elimination Gala and scored high enough to be declared safe.
         The contestant competed in the Elimination Duel and was declared safe as a result.
         The contestant was chosen for the Elimination Duel but didn't participate after a contestant quit the competition.
         The contestant came back for a chance to win re-entry into the competition and won.
         The contestant came back for a chance to win re-entry into the competition and lost.
         The contestant competed in the Elimination Duel and was eliminated.
         The contestant decided to quit the competition without participating in the Elimination Duel.
    gollark: I would use TOML because I like TOML
    gollark: Also, speaking of the zero width character thing, if you did also want transferable-through-screenshot information too, and had control of the display of the text in question, you could probably also vary the colors of each character very slightly or overlay nearly-invisible-but-technically-there QR-code-type things.
    gollark: Until you want to use highly advanced concepts like "lists of multiple items".
    gollark: The spec is overcomplicated, it's insecure by default in parser libraries, and there are something like 9 ways to write multiline strings.
    gollark: "Basic text" has to be in *some format*.

    See also

    References
    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
    5. "Todos los detalles tras la final de The Switch" [All of the Details About the Finale of The Switch], La Tercera (in Spanish), January 15, 2016
    6. "Jurado/Coach" [Judges/Coaches], Mega.cl (in Spanish), retrieved August 26, 2017
    7. "¡Luz Violeta recibió su gran premio!" [Luz Receives Her Grand Prize!]. Mega.cl (in Spanish). January 18, 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-08-27.
    8. P. Reyes (August 20, 2015), "Estos son las participantes de The Switch: el estelar de Mega protagonizado por transformistas" [These are the Contestants of The Switch, the New Show on Mega Starring Drag Queens], La Tercera. (in Spanish)
    9. "Participantes de "The switch" muestran sus verdaderos rostros" [Participants of "The Switch" Show Their True Faces], Cooperativa.cl. (in Spanish), September 7, 2015
    10. "The Switch 2 Presents New Contestants", Mega.cl. (in Spanish), September 12, 2016
    11. Daniela Chávez (September 14, 2016), "Estas son las 13 participantes que darán vida a "The Switch 2"" [Here Are the 13 Participants on "The Switch 2"], Fotech.cl (in Spanish)
    12. @GiaGunn (April 20, 2017), "Today is a new beginning! (...)", Twitter
    13. Mega.cl. "¡Rochelle Mon Chéri se integró a The Switch 2!". www.mega.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-30.
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