Canada's Drag Race Season 2: Diverse, Talented, and Reinvented
Hey Drag Racers! Get your snow boots on and bundle up for Canada’s Drag Race Season 2! Rupaul’s Drag Race moved up north last year when the first season of Canada’s Drag Race premiered on July 12th, 2020. Hosted by Brooke Lynn Hytes, the runner-up on Season 11 of the U.S. version, is joined by three judges this season as opposed to just two from the previous season. Last season, Brooke Lynn was accompanied by model Stacey McKenzie and actor Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman. This season there’s a new judging panel besides The Queen of the North: fashion expert Brad Goreski, actress Amanda Brugel, and the “squirrel friend” of last season, television host Tracy Melchor.
Source: Wowpresentsplus.com
Season 2 of Canada’s Drag Race showcases 12 new and diverse queens that fight for the crown of Canada’s next drag superstar and a grand prize of $100,000. The contestants include drag queens from Vancouver to Toronto. Some of the contestants this season are Suki Doll, Kendall Gender, Eve 6000, and Pythia. This season, like season 1, is beyond diverse. The cast includes a two-spirit indigenous queen, a Filipina queen, a plus-size non-binary diva, and 6 other queens, out of the 12, from underrepresented communities. Compared to the United States version of Drag Race, Canada’s Drag Race is being more inclusive and showcasing realistic diversity.
The queens were given the opportunity to share about their background, special talents and more through a youtube series called “Meet The Queens.” Drag Race fans are able to get a peek at each queen’s personality and get excited for this season’s competition. In Pythia’s “Meet The Queens” video, she describes herself as the “gender-bending clown Grecian goddess of your nightmares.”
Suki Doll, from Montreal, Quebec cements herself as not only a fashion queen, but she is here to represent for the Asian community, as she is Vietnamese, Chinese, and Cambodian individual. Discussing experience as one of two Asian queens who perform in Quebec Doll states,”This is why I want to inspire new queens and also the queer Asian community to stand up.”
Kendall Gender, with her drag name being a play on Kendall Jenner, is “a sick performer.” She is also a social rights activist. In her Meet the Queens video, she states,”Last year alone, I raised over $25,000 for various charities. In specific, we put a lot of that money towards Black Lives Matter Canada.” There is definitely more than meets the eye for this season’s queens.
Although Season 1 of Canada’s Drag Race had some great reviews from fans, there were critiques and backlash about the judging and the role production played that caused one of the judges from last season to delete their social media accounts. From the looks of the season trailer the judges and their interactions seem more meaningful towards the queens and to the art that the queens are showcasing. In the trailer, Fefe Dobson, says through tears, “Whoever goes through the matter that you’re doing is amazing.” Along with elevated judging critiques, the queens have stepped it up with their fashion looks. The preview portrayed out of the box looks such as a two-headed fortune teller. The season even has a stacked list of guest judges: Fefe Dobson, Gigi Gorgeous, and Connor Jessup.
Brand new looks, a fresh new batch of diverse queens, and a talented judging panel are just the beginning of what this season can potentially bring. For only $4 a month, or using a friend’s account, you can catch this season on WOW Presents Plus, and you can also watch every other International Spin-Off of Drag Race. The season started on October 14th and premiers every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT on Crave and WOW Presents Plus with a new episode, and from the expectations they had set for themselves, it’s for sure going to be a great season.