“Viva la Diva – Who is the Queen?”
This is behind the new drag show
Tim Mälzer leads through “Viva la Diva – Who is the Queen?”.
© RTL / Markus Hertrich
Which star is in an opulent drag costume and lip-synching to victory? That’s what the RTL show “Viva la Diva – Who is the Queen?” is all about.
Drag queens meet TV chef Tim Mälzer (51) – RTL starts the private broadcaster’s “Diversity Week” on Monday (June 20, 8:15 p.m.) with an unexpected combination. In the show “Viva la Diva – Who is the Queen?” seven prominent men slip into glittering drag costumes. After that, it’s up to two prominent panels and the viewers to guess: Which personality is in the costume?
“Let’s Dance” juror Jorge González (54), presenter Jana Ina Zarrella (45), drag queen Olivia Jones (52) and comedienne Tahnee (30) form the two guessing teams that will compete against each other. Professional drag queens Bambi Mercury, Laila Licious, Catherine Leclery, Miss Ivanka T. and Pam Pengco are on the show’s judging panel. Round by round, they evaluate which queen deserves to keep fighting for victory – and which one needs to reveal her identity.
That’s what happens on the show
The cameras accompany the prominent participants on their way to becoming glamorous queens even before their big performance. From the first time on high heels to rehearsing the choreography. Since the identities of the men are to remain secret until their big reveal, the faces or voices of the celebrities will probably not be seen or heard in these recordings either.
The stars then try to convince themselves in three rounds with lip synch performances. Their costumes, their choice of music, and even the colors they wear can provide clues as to who they are. The best drag queen among all celebrities wins and is presented with a winner’s trophy at the end. But that’s not all: The winner’s prize is awarded by another star in drag, who, however, does not take part in the competition.
Combination of popular formats
With “Viva la Vida – Who is the Queen?” RTL tries its hand at a show that combines two popular formats. At the latest since the start of “The Masked Singer” in 2019 on ProSieben, the guessing fever has arrived in Germany. Since the gigantic success of the sing-rate show, numerous similar formats have started. These include “Pretty in Plush” in Sat.1 (2020), “Big Performance – Who is the star in the star?” (2020) on RTL and “Who is the Phantom?” (2021) or “The Masked Dancer” (2022) each on ProSieben.
Reality competition shows all about drag queens, on the other hand, have not yet been able to gain a foothold in Germany. However, the US format “RuPaul’s Drag Race” has been gaining more and more fans worldwide for many years and has had successful international offshoots. The show is now available in Canada, Spain, the Netherlands and Great Britain, among others. In it, the best drag queens in each country fight for the title of the next “Drag Superstars”. A German variant, “Queen of Drags” (2019) with Heidi Klum (49), Conchita Wurst (33) and Bill Kaulitz (32), did not find as many fans in this country as hoped.
Maybe “Viva la Diva – Who is the Queen?” with a combination of both genres to convince the German audience. In addition, the participation of the prominent men has a special meaning for everyone. “The call for acceptance and the right to a life without discrimination is their message,” says the broadcaster. Each queen can address her personal message to the public after her unveiling.
RTL did not design the show itself. The original comes from the Netherlands, where it is entitled “Make Up Your Mind” and was first broadcast in 2021. The show was so well received that a second season of five episodes was added this year. According to the Dutch media, not only Germany was interested in the rights to the show, but also television producers from China and the USA.