Welcome to my review, recap, and power rankings of the second episode of Drag Race Sverige (AKA Drag Race Sweden) Season 1 – “MARATHON Talent Hunt.” It’s a standard Drag Race talent show paired with an in-the-dark quick drag mini-challenge and a Longstocking Extravaganza runway.
The Drag Race talent show challenge has transformed from a novelty when it debuted in All Stars 2 back in 2016 to a staple regular seasons around the globe. It usually comes early enough in the season that it isn’t a a must-win challenge, it has definitely proved to be a “must not flop” challenge every time it has appeared on the show.
The flopping comes not in singing a little out of tune (a-hem, Monét), but in approaching it with a lack of imagination. As with many challenges on Drag Race, the talent show isn’t really a challenge about talent but a challenge about branding. You can sing an original song, but what does it communicate about you and how you do drag? You can dance to a royalty-free track rather than penning your own song, but what are you saying about yourself with the dancing?
MARATHON Talent Hunt saw a particular pair of queens understand the idea of “talent” in vastly different ways. Both of them are primarily talented at drag itself. One of them turned that into a hilarious song and dance act about being an untalented hack. The other used their act to protest the idea that Drag Race asks queens to have a talent.
One act was a terrific branding win about having a sense of self-deprecating humor. The other was a complete branding fail that made its performer out to be a bland, petulant prima donna. Unsurprisingly, the former was in the top and the latter only narrowly won a lip sync for her life.
What do those performances and the other talent show acts mean for my power ranking compared to last week’s debut episode? One queen from the middle of the pack has made her move to be a front-runner while another plummeted to the bottom of the rank. Meanwhile, a talented queen missed an opportunity to gain momentum with some questionable choices.
(Want to watch Drag Race Sverige outside of Sweden? For most of the world, it’s available as part with a Wow Presents Plus subscription as soon as the episode is done airing.)
Läsare, start your engines. Och må den bästa Drag Queen vinna!