Drag Race Georgeland

Drag Race Georgeland is a Georgeland reality competition television program, based on the US program RuPaul's Drag Race. It was the second international version of Drag Race to be licensed, after the Chilean version, and debuted on Five UIG in 2017. The series is hosted by Vanilla Skye, and features several prominent comic, drag and musical performers as guest judges and mentors. Skye acts as the program's chief judge, but all decisions are in fact made by the panel collectively.

Though it is modelled on the program he created and produces, RuPaul Charles has not appeared on the program, though he has done several filmed inserts. In order to maintain the license agreement for the format and branding, Charles, along with his co-producer Michelle Visage, recieve Executive Producer credit for the Georgeland version.

The show airs on Five UIG, a free-to-air network. The license agreement with the original program's owner, ViacomCBS, does not permit the US version to be shown on free-to-air TV, and is instead shown only on streaming service UIV.

Conception and history
With the original beginning showing on pay TV in Georgeland in 2012, plans for a local version were developed by several companies and networks. The only one of these to come to any kind of fruition was by local entertainment company Richmond Media, part owners of the TV network Five UIG. Since CBSViacom owned a stake in Five, the network announced in 2014 that it was close to a deal which would allow a local version of Drag Race, initially to be called Drag Superstars and later Knock Down, Drag Out. Talks between Five and the Drag Race franchise, however, stalled over naming rights and distribution.

With the licensing of a Chilean version of the program in 2015, negotiations resumed, and in 2016 it was announced that a fully-licensed version of Drag Race, similar to the US original, would begin airing in 2017.

Format
As with the other versions of the program, the show is an elimination competition in which one (or occasionally more) contestant is eliminated by the judges every week. The final edition of each series chooses an overall series winner, who recieves a cash prize ($150,000 for the first two series, $200,000 for the second) and several additional prizes including holidays, vouchers and media contracts.

Every episode, with a handful of exceptions, sees contestants competing in both a 'mini' and 'maxi' challenge. The mini challenges typically take place over an hour or so of time and usually involve improvisational skill, while the maxi challenges are much more complex and involve acting, singing, dancing and performance, as well as drag. The final segment of each show, the Runway Challenge, involves contestants appearing on the runway set in drag, with the theme of the pageant announced at the beginning of each show.

In reality, performers generally have around a fortnight to complete their runway and maxi challenges. The entire process of filming the show takes around four months, and the airdate is around eight months after filming begins. For the period the contestants are competing and the show is airing, they are under a non disclosure agreement. For the first and second series, contestants had only limited contact with friends and family during the production; in the third, this restriction was relaxed.

As with the US version (as well as subsequent versions such as those in Thailand and the UK), every season has included a 'Snatch Game' challenge (based on the US gameshow Match Game, which ironically has never aired in Georgeland) in which contestants impersonate a celebrity. A mixture of local and international celebrities have been impersonated, including Skye herself and, on one occasion, Emma Chiltern, who was present for the segment (which the impersonator, Lucky Lee, did not know prior to the event).

The weakest two contestants of each week take part in a lip-sync battle, with the loser (as judged by the panel) eliminated. On two occasions no contestant has been eliminated, and on one, both contestants were.

Host and judges
Each edition is hosted by Vanilla Skye, who herself appeared on Season 3 of the US version. Skye announces the challenges and interviews contestants in the work room, and occasionally appears with them in challenges. Unlike RuPaul, Skye does not appear out of drag during the show's run, although has done so during promotional appearances.

Each episode also has a number of guest judges to form a panel of three. These judges sometimes also take part in the mini challenges. Judges to date have included Emma Chiltern, Wendy Cooper, Karen Jackson, Nathan Kellerman, Keith Briggs, Sue Diamond, Peter Kellogg, Simon Sharpe, Jason Addison, Millie Wyatt, and Mackenzie Banner.

Contestants
Each series thus far has begun with twelve contestants, with three (four in series 3) remaining by the series final.