María Edilia

Venezuelan drag performer
María Edilia
María Edilia in 2023
Born
Edixon Felipe Calanche Varela

Maracay, Venezuela
OccupationDrag queen
TelevisionDrag Race España (season 3)
Websitemariaedilia.com

María Edilia is the stage name of Edixon Felipe Calanche Varela, a Venezuelan drag queen known for competing on the third season of Drag Race España.[1][2]

Career

María Edilia's first exposure to drag culture was when she started attending drag shows. Also, at a young age, she met a former Eurovision winner, Dana International, who she greatly admired.[2] In 2000, at 23 years old, María performed as a drag queen for the first time in a drag contest at the nightclub La Vía, in the Centro Comercial Mamayeya. She came in as the first runner up in the contest and has been doing drag since.[2] Her drag name comes from the name of a winner of a Venezuelan reality show and her mother, who is also called María Edilia.[3]

In 2017, María Edilia immigrated, moving to Madrid, Spain, where she struck up a friendship with the drag artist La Plexy and began to perform at the nightclub Black & White.[4] In 2022, she starred in the production Qué! infierno de cabaret, directed by Rubén Calvente, with Lady Savannah and Manu Barea.[5]

In 2023, María Edilia joined the third season of the reality television competition Drag Race España, which premiered on April 16, 2023. In the first episode, after receiving negative critiques from the judges, especially regarding her performance in the maxi-challenge, María Edilia was up for elimination along with Drag Chuchi. They faced off in a lip sync battle to the song "Despechá" by Rosalía in which Drag Chuchi emerged victorious, making María Edilia the first contestant to be eliminated from the season.[6][7] She was later awarded the title of Miss Congeniality during the reunion episode at the end of the season.[8]

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2020 Veneno Sex Shop Drag Queen 1 episode
2023 Meet the Queens Herself 1 episode
Drag Race España Herself 4 episode
Tras la carrera Herself 1 episode

Podcast

Year Title Role Notes
2022 Canelis & Dragonas Guest 1 episode[9]

References

  1. ^ "Drag Race España star Maria Edilia on shocking elimination twist". Gay Times. 2023-04-25. Archived from the original on 2023-04-29. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  2. ^ a b c "María Edilia: «la Maritza Sayalero del transformismo venezolano» - Esbaratao". Esbaratao (in European Spanish). 2023-04-26. Archived from the original on 2023-06-29. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  3. ^ Monsoon, Patsy (2021-07-27). "Maria Edilia, la coqueta Drag (VO) - Bienvenue dans le monde des Drag Interviews Drags". Bienvenue dans le monde des Drag (in French). Archived from the original on 2023-06-29. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  4. ^ Llopart, Alfonso (2020-04-10). "#Cuarentena Travesti con María Edilia: "Soy polifacética, bipolar, modelo, actriz, dramática y graciosa..."". Shangay (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2023-06-29. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  5. ^ Costa, Diego Da (2022-04-09). "Lady Savannah, Manu Barea y María Edilia, de 'Qué! infierno de cabaret': "Las drag queens somos actores y tenemos un abanico de posibilidades"". Cinemagavia (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2022-11-26. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  6. ^ "'Drag Race España' cambia las reglas del juego con una primera gala más larga de lo que debería". El Español (in Spanish). 2023-04-17. Archived from the original on 2023-05-13. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  7. ^ "'Drag Race España 3': María Edilia, primera expulsada de la edición". www.formulatv.com (in Spanish). 17 April 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-05-05. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  8. ^ FormulaTV. "El más que descafeinado reencuentro de 'Drag Race' con unas premiadrags bastante inesperadrags". FormulaTV (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2023-07-14. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  9. ^ "¡Ay, la Caneli!: Canelis & Dragonas 2 con María Edilia y Vania Vainilla - s02e08 a l'Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts (in Catalan). Archived from the original on 2023-06-29. Retrieved 2023-09-27.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to María Edilia.
  • Official website
  • v
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Seasons
Contestants
Winners
  • Carmen Farala
  • Sharonne
  • Pitita
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