GLAAD contributor Enrique Torre Molina is a diversity, inclusion and LGBTQ+ community activist, speaker and consultant working with companies, nonprofit organizations, government agencies and media. He co-founded Colmena 41, co-hosts the “Mafia Gay” podcast and lives in Mexico City.
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Spoiler alert: this article contains details about Drag Race Mexico’s season 1, episode 2.
After a fun but surprising start to Drag Race Mexico’s first episode (nobody was eliminated – great for the queens, if a little anticlimactic), episode 2 focused on a very Mexican theme: quinceañeras. For non-Mexican readers, quinceañera parties are a tradition that spans the entire country and different social contexts. The main characteristic is the over-the-top spending on a big, exaggerated dress for teenage girls turning 15, that goes well with a huge cake and cheesy decoration.
The guest judge was Rojstar, a content creator especially talented for non-musical lip syncing and one of Lolita Banana‘s favorite redheads, in her own words.
The queens entered the werk room singing “La dragaracha,” a drag version of the folk song “La cucaracha,” which Matraka says they wrote. Lolita Banana appears to screen to announce this week’s challenge, reciting her own version of another popular song, “Quinceañera” by Thalía: why does my drag change every day? This made me think that the episode would be about soap operas, but then she challenged the queens to put together a look with elements they could take from a quinceañera party. They were given a minute to collect materials and it was 60 seconds of a “drag stampede,” in the words of Lady Kero.
During the creation process, Margaret Y Ya said that she had always wanted a quinceañera party but didn’t get one. Miss Vallarta said that she had never been to one of those parties. And Matraka explained that her dress was the result of seeing the process of her sisters’ quinceañera parties. Serena Morena created “the dress I should have worn a few years ago.”
The time came to present their creations to the judges: Serena Morena wore a very fun skirt made of balloons. Matraka had a metal structure that looked like a piece by the artist Aldo Chaparro. Lady Kero sent a message to minors not to drink alcohol. Miss Vallarta mentioned that her dress looked cheap on purpose, as a reference to the fact that not all quinceañeras have the same budget. Pixie Pixie was a gothic punk quinceañera, and her look included a cake that she threw “because it’s too pink.” Vermelha Noir carried a table with its respective centerpiece, which in Mexico we like to take with us as souvenirs of parties and weddings. Regina Voce wore a fringed skirt that I could picture on a Piñata Barbie.
Lolita Banana acknowledged that they used unwieldy materials in clever ways, and the queens that were saved were Gala Varo, Matraka, Lady Karo, Pixie Pixie and Regina Voce.
The feedback from the judges ranged from kind to relentless: Valentina acknowledged that Serena Morena was the only one who used balloons, “but it lacks form, detail, and a proposal.” Oscar Madrazo pointed out it looked somewhat ridiculous, a characteristic of quinceañeras, but nothing beyond that. (While watching the episode, it dawned on me that these are drag quinceañeras and yet they have more understated dresses than many I’ve seen outside of this show, which speaks volumes about this tradition.)
Rojstar said that Argennis was the only one who dressed to actually go to her party and be introduced to society, and Oscar celebrated the detail of using party glasses to build a bow. She won the challenge with a prize of 18,000 pesos (approximately $1,051), and dedicated that victory to her mother, who taught her to sew. Margaret Y Ya said that her mother was also her teacher in this activity. Valentina criticized Miss Vallarta’s monochromatic look, as it did not match the color of her makeup.
The most emotional moment was Cristian Peralta sharing that her shoes were decorated by her 80-year-old mother, who before entering the show told him: “I know this is very important for you, so I want to contribute.” Her short dress was “Paris Hilton or Regina George” style. Valentina added that she reminded her of Lizzie McGuire and the character Mia Colucci from the iconic Mexican soap opera Rebelde.
The funniest moment was the lip sync battle between Serena Morena and Miss Vallarta with the song “Mírala, míralo” by Alejandra Guzmán. At the beginning of her interpretation, Miss Vallarta led us to believe that she was exiting the runway and that it would be a dramatic departure from the show, but she came back to give it her all – although Serena Morena gave more. In the end, Miss Vallarta’s second lip sync was her last and Serena’s performance earned her a chance to stay one more week.
Drag Race Mexico S1 airs every Thursday at 2am ET on WOW Presents Plus, with its local airing in Mexico on Paramount+.