The Most Viral Premier, Ever! | DRPH S3E1
Drag Race Philippines Season 3 Episode 1 Review
Finally! Andito na. After a year-long wait, bumalik na ang Drag Race Philippines for its third season. This season is heavily anticipated by fans, both locally and internationally, thanks to the success and impact of the 2nd season. Kaya naman there are higher expectations for these new 11 queens.
Syempre dahil level up na ang kompetisyon, level up narin ang set. Season 3 started by showing its new embellished and expanded version of the Werkroom. Angel and Versex opened the show by walking in the Werkroom. Followed by the online content creator John Fedellaga in her bride in black wedding dress. Myx Chanel rolls through the Werkroom with their sailor moon cosplay look. Two regional queens are being represented this year by Khiana (Cagayan De Oro) with mortal combat-inspired look and Yudipota (Bacolod) with her ipis look (According to Tita Baby who walks bringing her Tita energy). J Quinn gives the drama as she walks with aespa-inpired look and Zymba with the REAL 40 inches(probably more) human hair wig. The last two were the drag superstars of Obar Popstar Bench and Maxie Andreison. Myx Chanel and Yudipota definitely stand out when it comes to looks and overall concept. While Maxie, You can really tell when she walked out that room she had the intimidating X factor.
But, meron pang isang queen? The last QUEEN to walk in is Miss Jolina Magdangal-Escueta with her dragified iconic Jolina look. Excited and mga bakla! They really gave Jolina the treatment she deserved from having the ‘Lady Gaga entrance’ to joining the mini challenge and even the comment she gave. She was even physically harassed by the queens sa pag aalarma kay Mamshie Jolens.
And Finally Mama Pao walked down the stairs! She welcomes the queens. And the mini challenge is Voguing! Plus DRPH Alumni is joining to judge the queens; Season 1’s Minty Fresh, Brigiding, and Vinas Deluxe(in her Alumni Shirt-Dress! ugh, her mind) and Season 2’s Arizona Brandy, Bernie and M1ss Jade So - *Toungpop. In the end, Khiana won the challenge by ka-voguing the other queens with a beautiful roll, clean dip, and bouncy duckwalk. Pero Zymba contested that she wasn’t really embodying the elements of Voguing. Although Khiana didn’t check all elements she did perform the cleanest and most entertaining. Zymba also did a ‘Kavogue’ job and can be a runner up along with Maxie and Angel. As a prize Khiana won ₱20,000.00 and an extra 5 minutes to shoot her Viral Video Challenge.
Before they prepared for the runway. They asked each other their impressions of each other. Versex expressed her impression to Khiana which she says that Khiana was doing the most. She is trying too hard. J Quinn also added that she was doing the most (inulit niya lang yung sinabi ni Versex). While doing their make up it was also brought up and ended up on Khiana shedding tears. Clearly, Khiana was having a hard time to process the environment and words being thrown to her by other queens.
The Viral Queens. In the maxi challenge, they were asked to create a 1-minute short form video that will showcase their brand and will get them viral. This is not an interesting challenge in paper nor in execution. There are too many unclear criteria on what they are looking for. Although they tried to be different from other franchises by not having a talent show for the premiere episode, some queens were lost in what they should focus on. Either the branding or being catchy and being viral. But the queens who stood out the most are Maxie Andreison who made an anti-discrimination song, Myx Chanel with her very catchy Sinigang Myx ad, and Zymba Ding with a house beat and conventional drag verse paired with a very catchy chorus (Bading-ding-ding-ding, Bading-ding-ding-ding).
Category is Hometown Realness. To showcase their hometown through their outfits. The standouts for this runway are Myx Chanel with her simplistic Marikit dress paired with a mesmerizing makeup and hairstyle (the only down is how she performed the outfit as it didn’t necessarily told the story), Tita Baby who’s also from Marikina highlighting the floods of Marikina through sculptured hair to the flowy garment, Khiana’s gold lake fish inspired by a folklore from her hometown, Yudipota’s monochromatic masskara festival pageant look, and most especially the bold and beautiful statement of Zymba Ding’s leprosy skin dress that told a very emotional yet powerful story. Some queens have a good idea or garment but there’s some element of disconnect like J Quinn and Popstar Bench, Underwhelming garments like Versex and Angel, and the overperformance of Maxie’s and the underperformance of John Fedellaga’s. For a premiere this is a strong runway that showcased each strength of queens.
Angel, Versex, John, J Quinn, and Bench were called safed. Making Myx, Tita Baby, Maxie, Yudipota, Khiana, and Zymba to represent the tops and bottoms. But surprise! No one is in the bottom as it will be a non-elimination episode. The judges critiqued the remaining queens. The stand out for the critiques being Myx Chanel being called out on her polishness and being calculated. It doesn't make any sense as Myx’s Viral Video is hilarious and catchy and she was able to put a brand for herself. Zymba also had a chance to tell her story as a child of leprosy survivors and how she dealt with it. She told a very powerful statement that moved not just the judges but also the viewers. While Khiana was asked about the Werkroom incident and she was asked what she feels. She was also asked why that is happening and answered that both J Quinn and Versex are insecure. The rest of the queens are praised for how they stayed true to their brand and leaning on their strength. Yudipota, Myx, and Tita Baby were called safe leaving Khiana, Maxie, and Zymba. Maxie was called safe. Zymba definitely deserved the top placement from the viral video to the runway however Khiana’s viral video performance would not be topping Maxie and Myx Chanel’s video. And it all made sense now, Myx Chanel was critiqued for being too calculated to justify her lower placement putting Khiana to the top and putting an ending to the running story throughout the episode.
Khiana and Zymba lip synced to ‘Puebe Ba’ by Maymay Entrata ft. Viktoria. The two of the lip sync assassins of the season immediately put up a show. Both of them had moves and tricks that made their lip sync entertaining however Khiana was able to snatch as she has more variation and she knows how to pace her performance. We all lived and Khiana won the first lip sync, the first episode and the first mini challenge. She really owned this episode despite being doubted by the Manila queens.
Overall, this is the best premiere episode for Drag Race Philippines for all seasons. We are able to see most queens personalities, how it jammed and how it crashed. Very energetic mini challenge and good runway. Perfect lip sync to end the episode and satisfying ending. The only weakness will be how the maxi challenge was executed but still queens are able to make it more entertaining. Despite Khiana’s top placement being questionable, the production made a bold and smart decision to put her there and made Chanel’s lower placement justified. The production also improved on how they tell the story. Hopefully, they also improve in the audio department. A very strong opening episode, this season will definitely be an exciting one because of the personalities and talents we’re about to see.
4 Ice Pops for Drag Race Philippines Season 3 Episode 1