Need some more Drag Race in your life? Drag Race Philippines is breathing fresh life into the franchise.

Are you up to speed? Let’s get into it.

The mini challenge

This week’s mini challenge was a photoshoot.

It was a bit of a messy assignment – get into quick-drag for a nude illusion photoshoot.

A drag nude-illusion takes some time, it would have made more sense to do a nude photoshoot out of drag. But what we got was everyone looking fairly rough.

It was a group photo, with the winner being the one who stood out the most.

Minty was declared the winner.

The Runway

This week was a ball, requiring two looks.

The first look was opulent shopping, while the second was a design challenge using unconventional materials.

• Brigiding: Brigiding’s first look took inspiration from the 80s combined with a bit of rich girl klepto. The design challenge look was cute – colourful and bright and cohesive.
• Marina: Marina gave us Crazy Rich Asians for her first look. Her design challenge look was successful – she used colourful fans to create shape and proportion in a put-together look.
• Minty: Mingty gave us a pop-princess going shopping in animal print for the first look, and then the design challenge she used lots of different patterns in a colour-block technique to create something that looked quite fashion.
• Precious: The first look from Precious was a bit underwhelming, she was wearing an overcoat and carrying lots of LV bags. The second look was a successful use of colour and shape and got the job done.
• Viñas: I didn’t really get the first look that Vinas presented – it was a comedic parody of a character that host Pao has played on television. The design challenge look was a lot of stuff stuck together and overwhelmed her a bit.
• Xilhouette: Xilhouette gave us regal Asian empress for her first look, and then for the second look used leopard-print paper to successfully create a structured dress.
• Eva: Eva’s first look was cute – a white power-suit with a massive white hat. The design challenge look was less successful – she’d ambitiously tried to create and paint a statement garment but the results weren’t great.

The Judging

Brigiding was declared safe.

In the top were Xilhouette, Minty, and Marina. Minty was declared the winner.

In the bottom were Precious, Eva, and Vinas. Precious was safe, leaving Eva and Vinas in the Bottom 2.

The Lip-sync

The track was Born Naked by RuPaul.

Maybe the production team are contracted to include a certain number of RuPaul tracks in this series. You wouldn’t choose this one unless you had to.

Vinas seemed to be at a disadvantage from the beginning – her injured foot seemed to make it impossible for her to move.

Eva brought a lot of enthusiasm to her performance – there was a wig reveal, a crunchy cartwheel, and a lot of movement around the stage. It wasn’t the most polished performance from Eva but there was definitely a lot of energy.

Can’t quite believe that we’re saying goodbye to Vinas but it wasn’t a surprise when Eva was safe and Vinas eliminated.

Episode 7, done!

The Cast

Minty Fresh

Official bio: “Minty Fresh serves looks that kill all day, every day. She is a model, designer, pop singer, make-up artist, and performer. A staunch supporter of LGBTQIA+ rights, she slays the stage weekly at Nectar Nightclub. Ariana Grande reposted Minty’s lip-sync performance on her Instagram story as she led hundreds of thousands of people in an election sortie in Manila.”

Current Ranking: Minty started this competition very strongly – picking up the win in Episode 1 and then Top 2 in Episode 2. It got a bit dicey in the middle, but the win in Episode 7 seems to have put her back on track for a place in the Top 4.

Brigiding

Official bio: “Brigiding is one of the most prominent names in the Philippine drag scene. She is known for her extravagant looks and show-stopping performances and has been featured in Pride parades and drag events both in the Philippines and abroad. She is also one of the founders of Drag Playhouse PH, a local drag content and entertainment provider.”

Current Ranking: Brigiding looks like the total package but she’s clearly not winning the Miss Congeniality competition from the rest of the cast. That could make it hard for her to excel in this competition. She’s survived with a double-shantay, but it’s starting to feel like she’s reaching the end of the road in this competition.

Eva Le Queen

Official bio: “Eva Le Queen worked as an OFW in Singapore for eight years before giving up her corporate profession to follow her dream of becoming a drag artist. During the day she would work corporate, but at night she worked as a drag queen. Eva won first runner-up in Singapore’s Drag It Out All-Stars competition, only four months after she started doing drag. Eva’s drag is inspired by literary and cinematic villains. Her strengths are in being both a comedy queen and her looks. Eva is a resident queen at Nectar Nightclub and is also one of the founders of Drag Playhouse PH.”

Current Ranking: Eva comes across as very accomplished and confident but her insecurities about her singing and dancing seem to have her second-guessing herself. That could trip her up in this competition, but she’s still in there – serving looks – and it’s all to play for. I’d like to see her in the Top 4, but she may need to step it up a gear.

Marina Summers

Official bio: “Marina Summers is a fierce tropical queen known for her fish looks, hot body, exceptional dancing, and all-around performances. Her drag name stems from her love for the beach. Marina left her bucolic hometown of Nueva Vizcaya and moved to Manila to create content for one of the biggest film companies in the country. She began performing as a drag queen in 2019 and recently released her debut single “I Have Arrived” on Spotify and iTunes. She performs regularly at Nectar Nightclub and is another one of the founders of Drag Playhouse PH.”

Current Ranking: Marina is clearly one to watch. She’s very good at drag. It’s hard to imagine a Top 4 without her.

Precious Paula Nicole

Official bio: “Precious Paula Nicole is one of the most known Filipino drag queens, having been in the drag scene for more than 11 years. She is a professional dancer and is also known for her comedy shticks and impersonation of divas such as Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, and Asia’s songbird, Regine Velasquez. A star performer at O Bar, the premier drag club in the Philippines, she is a mother to a host of other popular drag queens.”

Current ranking: Precious is the one that the rest of the cast seem to rank as the major threat in this competition. It’s been a roller-coaster for Precious, but I’d be surprised if she didn’t make it to the Top 4.

Xilhouete

Official bio: “Xilhouete is respected in the drag scene in Manila. She is the creative director and one of the owners of Nectar Nightclub. Xilhouete is considered a drag mother of many queens, especially those who are regular performers at Nectar. An entrepreneur, director, and artist, Xilhouete advocates for the legacy of the drag queens who have paved the way.”

Current Ranking: She’s old school drag and she is used to being the mother of the house. However, Xilhouette is also smart enough to know that this competition puts everyone on an even footing. She seems determined to put in the work and it’s paying dividends. However, I’m not convinced that we’ll see her in the Top 4.

Viñas DeLuxe

Official bio: “Viñas DeLuxe is a triple threat and an all-in-one package. She started doing drag while at university with a background in theater that helped harness her sharp wit, performance skills, and knack for comedy. Viñas DeLuxe owns a wig business and has built a strong social media presence. She is also in a drag group called Te Divine Divas, who gained popularity during the pandemic, mounting digital performances and live streams worldwide.”

Current Ranking: Viñas had a really strong start to this competition and seemed like the frontrunner – I was convinced that she would be in the Top 4. However, her momentum did seem to stall and the combination of a design challenge and a foot injury saw her eliminated in Episode 7, beaten in the lip-sync by Eva.

Lady Morgana

Official bio: “A proud Davao queen who has been doing drag for more than 15 years, Lady Morgana is a true classic drag queen. With her spider lashes, high brows, creative wigs, and out-of-the-box costumes, Lady Morgana is known for her comedic and hosting skills, always making sure that her performances are sprinkled with love, laughter, and feelings. She works as a financial advisor during the day.”

Final Ranking: Morgana is a comedy queen and she’s demonstrated that she’s engaging and likeable as well as an excellent lip-sync performer. She made it to Episode 5, beaten in the lip-sync by Brigiding.

Turing

Official bio: “Turing has been a professional drag artist for more than seven years, performing in one of the most known drag bars in the Philippines, O-Bar. A Broadway fan and a theater kid who used to be a cheerleader in college, Turing is known in the drag scene as a fierce dancer and a lip-sync slayer. She has openly discussed how drag has made her feel more comfortable in her skin, and is a strong advocate for body positivity.”

Final Ranking: Turin has established that she’s a great performer and owns a stage, but she couldn’t quite deliver consistently across all of the other challenges – eliminated in Episode 4, beaten in the lip-sync by Morgana.

Gigi Era

Official bio: “Gigi Era is the diva from Down Under. Hailing from Melbourne, she is popular in the Australian drag scene for her death-defying stunts and fabulous real-hair wigs. Gigi was a former dancer and airplane cabin crew member based out of Dubai. She is now back in the Philippines representing her hometown, Davao.”

Final Ranking: Gigi got to demonstrate that she’s a strong performer on stage, but her reserved personality seemed to be holding her back in this competition – eliminated in Episode 3, losing the lip-sync to Xilouhette.

Corazon

Official bio: “A crowned pageant queen with a list of titles on her sash, Corazon has jumped from one beauty contest to another competing in both male bikini contests and provincial Miss Gay events and talent shows. In addition to drag, Corazon is a makeup artist and a designer; creating looks for fellow drag and beauty queens alike.”

Final Ranking: She’s clearly a very accomplished drag queen who also has a great sense of humour. She really made me laugh in the climbing the pole mini-challenge that she won. But, there’s no room for mistakes in this competition and was eliminated on a design challenge in Episode 2 – beaten in the lip-sync by Turing.

Prince

Official bio: “Prince is known on social media for her make-up transformations. Before joining Drag Race Philippines, Prince was a social media strategist and is relatively new to the Philippine drag scene. Prince’s drag is heavily influenced by sci-fi and anime, and believes that extraterrestrial looks have a space in Philippine drag. Prince is also one of the co-founders of Drag Playhouse PH. Aside from doing drag, she manages her own make-up and merchandise line.”

Final Ranking: We didn’t get to see a lot from Prince, the Pork Chop of this season. She seems likeable and fun.

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