Drag television, Pinoy style

After a long wait, Drag Den premiered on 8 December, almost two months after the first season of Drag Race Philippines, to which it is often compared and pitted against, ended.

Created, produced, and directed by transgender woman filmmaker Rod Singh, Drag Den distinguishes itself as the first drag competition conceptualized and produced by Filipinos, and reflecting the local drag pageant. It boasts of being the first Filipino "drag reality pageant."

The series is produced by Cornerstone Studios and Project 8 Projects, with RuPaul's Drag Race alum, Manila Luzon, serving as executive producer, and filmmakers Antoinette Jadaone and Dan Villegas as producers. Episodes drop every Thursday on Amazon's streaming platform Prime Video.

The thematic or visual concept is of the drug underworld. More than a play on the words "drug" and "drag," it illustrates the transgressive and underworld nature of drag. The adherence to that concept has been consistent, witty, and whimsical — from the name of the show, to the look of the set, to the titles of hosts and judges, the Drag Cartel — Manila Luzon as Drag Lord, social media personality Sassa Gurl as Drag Runner, beauty queen Nicole Cordoves as Drag Dealer, and guest judges as Drag Enforcers

Of course, the use of drugs as metaphor is a commentary against the favored scapegoat and perceived monster of the Duterte administration, and the people killed in the misguided crusade.

The first season involved eight contestants — Aries Night, Barbie-Q, Lady Gagita, Maria Cristina, Naia, Pura Luka Vega, O-A (pronounced as "Odasha"), and Shewarma — who passed the audition held in August 2021. This was also when the show was officially announced to the public.

'Round !: Drag Raid'
In the first episode of Drag Den, "Drag Raid," the contestants entered the underground Drag Den one by one and were introduced to the audience. They were met by Cordoves and Sassa Gurl. Manila Luzon was last to enter to welcome the contestants, inform audience that the show is "inspired by the rich Pinoy pageant culture," and reveal the criteria for judging — beauty, wit, and talent
The contestants competed in two looks or runway segments — Themewear Drag Test and Main Drag Showdown — which scored as one. The Themewear category was "national symbols," while Main Drag Showdown was "national costumes inspired by Philippine festivals."

In the Themewear Drag Test, Aries Night appeared as Golly the Dog (national dog), and Barbie-Q as Sampaguita Rock (national flower, Arabian jasmine), mimicking rock star Sampaguita. Lady Gagita came out as Pharma Lee, donning the "national head band," which was the face shield enforced during the lockdowns, while Maria Christina as Perlas Yarn (national gem, the pearl), and Naia as Wham Pipti (national sports or basketball). O-A appeared as TT Modax in an eggplant-inspired costume to refer to one of the vegetables mentioned in the song "Bahay Kubo," considered as the "national house." Pura Luka Vega came out as Arlington Paz, an embalmed corpse in barong Tagalog , to show the "national outfit of the dead," while Shewarma as Cara Bow, the national animal, the carabao.

In the Main Drag Showdown, the festivals that queens tackled were Bambanti Festival of Isabela (Aries Night); Balayong Festival of Puerto Princesa City, Palawan (Barbie-Q); Sinulog Festival of Cebu (Lady Gagita); Agila Festival of San Nicolas, Pangasinan (Maria Christina); Kneeling Carabao Festival of Pulilan, Bulacan (Naia); Wattah Wattah Festival of San Juan City (O-A); MassKara Festival of Bacolod City, Negros Occidental (Pura Luka Vega); and Higantes Festival of Angono, Rizal (Shewarma).

Shewarma's Higantes Festival costume, designed by Drag Race Philippines host Paolo Ballesteros, impressed the judges and was declared the winner.

Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray served as the Drag Enforcer.

The last segment of the show was "Dragdagulan," said to be inspired by the bardagulan and barangayan showdown in small gay pageants in different Philippine barangays.
For the segment, Shewarma was asked to choose an opponent and she chose Aries Night. A giant morning star-looking wrecking ball appeared on the main stage. The contender must knock down their opponent using the ball or outperform opponent. Aries Night won the challenge.
Manila Luzon revealed that there would be no elimination, and contestants needed to earn points. Her words at the conclusion of the show became viral: "Filipino talents are also recognized around the world — from having world-class performers and even the world's greatest robbery of a government. And that's a fact."

'Round 2: Drag Trippin''
The second episode, "Drag Trippin'" which dropped on 15 December, started with Sassa Gurl revealing the rankings from the first episode to the queens.

Shewarma came out as the top with Lady Gagita in second place. They were followed by O-A (third), Maria Christina (fourth), Pura Luka Vega (fifth), and Aries Night (sixth) and (seventh). Naia was in last place.

The queens engaged in a version of reading, the "pang-ookray," popularized by Vice Ganda, using imaginary cell phones and text messages. A queen must say, "May nag-text" or "I've got a text!" and proceed to read another queen.

Sassa Gurl revealed the category for the Themewear challenge — Pinoy Novelty Songs. Naia came out as April Gurl ("'Di Ko Kayang Tanggapin"), Barbie-Q as Sexbomb Luningning ("Igiling-giling"), Aries Night as Goodmorning Chuper ("Beep Beep Beep Ang Sabi ng Jeep"), Pura Luka Vega as Talikod-Jenny ("Talikodgenic Man Ako"), Maria Cristina as Fely Moan ("Si Felimon"), O-A as Annie Bato't Bakal ("Annie Batungbakal"), Lady Gagita as Joleni Magdangal ("Chuvachoochoo"), and Shewarma as Kikay Kipay ("Kikay").

After the Themewear Drag Test, Manila Luzon announced the Main Drag Showdown challenge — "Laughing in Tandem." In pairs, the queens must create a political comedy skit.
As winner of Dragdragulan, Aries Night made the pairings — Lady Gagita and Barbie-Q, O-A and Pura Luka Vega, Aries and Shewarma, and Maria Christina and Naia. The contestants interacted with the episode's Drag Enforcer, comedian and host K Brosas. Most took on the election campaign scenario.
"Comedy is universal, but in the Philippines, comedy is on a whole another level. Although satire can sometimes be misunderstood and perceived as fact in this age of misinformation, there's still no denying that it's one of the funniest comedy forms to ever grace Philippine comedy bars a home not just for stand-up comedians, but for drag queens as well," Manila said to introduce the segment.
Maria Christina and Naia emerged winners of the Main Drag Showdown, and they competed in the Dragdagulan segment with Maria Christina winning.

'Round 3: Dangerous Drags'
The third episode on 22 December, "Dangerous Drags," started with Sassa Gurl revealing the rankings from the second episode. Maria Christina ranked in first place, followed by Naia (second), Aries Night (third), Pura Luka Vega (fourth), Lady Gagita (fifth), Barbie-Q (sixth), and Shewarma (seventh). O-A ranking came in last place.

Lady Gagita revealed her past rift with O-A because of their political leanings
The Themewear Drag Test category was revealed as "Pinoy Kontrabida." The challenge came with a twist: A contestants were paired together and a queen's makeup will be done be her partner.

On the runway, Maria Cristina came out as Valentina Moran, O-A as BB Vivora, Naia as Georgia Ferrero, Aries Night as Rubi Rubi, Lady Gagita as Lavinia Copycat, Barbie-Q as Daniella Mungdragon, Shewarma as Mx. Minchin and Pura Luka Vega as Soraya Montenegro

For the Main Drag Showdown, "Aswangang Bayan," the queens were asked to create looks inspired by characters and creatures from Philippines urban legends, folklore, and horror stories.
As the queens were preparing, Cordoves and the episode's Drag Enforcer, actress Eula Valdez, known for her villain roles, interacted with contestants, giving comments and advice.
On the main stage, Naia came out as Sigbin in the City, Pura Luka Vega Mang Kukulam, O-A as Thicc Balang, Lady Gagita as Manang Nanggal, Barbie-Q as Ana Kapre, Shewarma as Sirokoy, Maria Cristina as Minokawa and Aries Night as Hostessa, a White Lady.

Manila revealed the winners, a tie — Maria Christina and Barbie-Q. They competed in the Dragdagulan, and Barbie-Q was declared the winner. She was informed that her advantage in the next episode will be the ability to choose her role in the musical challenge.

Manila ended the show with a commentary: "Do you know that there are claims that aswangs became a way to explain or even cover up the killings and the disappearances in the province because there are no news sources due to media censorship? Well, now you know, the killings and the disappearances done by the true villains are very real. The aswangs. Well, look around you. Some of them run for office, not in drag. Hashtag Pinoy horror."

Commendable, pioneering effort
Based on the first three episodes, Drag Den glows with high production value but it sometimes came to the point that it appeared to be over-produced, reducing a sense of spontaneity. The queens have yet to show their full potential, another reason to keep on watching the series.

While the show tries to veer away from the template set by RuPaul's Drag Race, it is undeniable that it takes major inspiration from the pioneering drag television series. Creators must embrace this and be proud to be one of the children of such a groundbreaking queer show, which catapulted its main host to stardom.

Drag Den itself has also broken ground in a number of ways — as the first Filipino-produced drag series, having the first Filipino transgender woman contestant, and being created and directed by a transgender woman.