Alas, Drag Race Philippines: Slaysian Royale has concluded its first season, and with it, the first time that Asian queens from across the world went toe-to-toe to prove their Slaysian excellence. Slaysian Royale now proudly holds the distinction of having the most-watched premiere out of all the Drag Race franchises, and a Filipino queen — the one, the only Brigiding — has been crowned its first champion.
While Slaysian Royale’s inaugural season has been a success, that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t without its hiccups. Here, we look back on what the season got right and what tweaks could be improved on (improved on?!?!?).
What Worked
The Chemistry Between the Queens
All 12 queens worked well together, all things considered. Yes, this season saw a few stray queens unwilling to play nice with the others during the Maxi Challenges (ahem, Sum Ting Wong), and some had to rein themselves in to avoid a full-on fight (ahem, Viñas Deluxe to Siam Phusri), but there was definitely more praise being thrown than shade. The Filipino queens — Brigiding, Viñas Deluxe, Arizona Brandy, Khianna, and Bernie — undoubtedly got along with each other, especially since they were able to joke and mess around in Filipino. However, they also worked as a team with the non-Filipino queens, such as Yuhua, Kitty Space, and Ivory Glaze. And if Suki Doll making out with Brigiding wasn’t a sign enough that sisterhood (and then some) was alive and well on Slaysian Royale, then the emotional story-sharing sessions and moments of support in the Werkroom certainly were.
The Asian-themed Challenges
While RuPaul’s Drag Race and all its iterations are always a delight to watch, it was especially endearing to see that RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars used its Mini and Maxi Challenges to spotlight different elements of Asian culture. Although Drag Race Philippines already makes this conscious effort, it was endearing to see the Asian queens present their respective national costumes on the runway, lip-sync to tracks from Asian acts (Lola Amour, Silvy, Pangina Heals, and more), and play games like Drop Ball and Kep, Kep, Boobey.
The Spin on Snatch Game
Snatch Game is never the easiest Maxi Challenge on the Drag Race circuit, even for the most seasoned comedy queen. But Slaysian Royale took off some of the pressure for its take on Snatch Game by turning it into the Snatch Elections. Queens were given 20 minutes to choose a character and film a quick presidential campaign video. While the Snatch Elections did see a few flops (Siam Phusri trying to do her best Lisa impression), it did give us Brigiding as Maria Ressa and Viñas Deluxe as Vice President Sara Duterte.
What Didn’t
The Tension Between Pinoy and International Queens
With the season’s contestants roughly split into two groups based on national identity — there were five Filipino queens and seven representing other Asian cultures — it was inevitable that some tension would arise involving the queens’ Filipino heritage. For several reasons, the Filipino queens tended to group together during the challenges (see their Asian girl group in Episode 2) or favor each other during the elimination rounds (see… well, all episodes). The non-Filipino queens quickly caught on, and while they never directly called out the Filipino queens, it may be important for later seasons of Slaysian Royale to minimize clique formation as much as possible.
Track Record vs. Friendship
While that age-old question — How do you choose who to eliminate? — has plagued many a drag queen, it was definitely a recurring issue on this first season of Slaysian Royale. Kitty Space chose to save Ivory Glaze based on friendship (although this didn’t work out), but this caused Arizona Brandy to stir up some drama in the Werkroom about how a queen’s track record (e.g., how many RuBadges they’ve won so far, their performance overall) should be prioritized when thinking about who to eliminate. The Filipino queens, however, were not the best at being objective and tended to save their Filipino sisters from going home.
The Queens Holding Back
Drag queens holding back on the drama has become more and more frequent on recent seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race, and the niceties have spilled into spin-offs of the franchise. Now, I’m not saying that there needs to be a full-on brawl to make things interesting, but it did feel like the queens of Slaysian Royale were all running for Miss Congeniality. The only ones who seemed willing to speak up on anything were Yuhua, Arizona Brandy, and, very briefly, Sum Ting Wong; however, even then, their confessionals generated more heat than their actual conversations in the Werkroom.
