most of these queens look like they're trying to be American queens, I was so hoping for a cast full of messy geordies that are ready to glass a wanker.
Divina and Viv seem like the only two who know how to do more than just makeup or lip syncing to the Billboard top 40 though, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say they're the ones to beat
I think the only queen that seems to be following American drag culture moreso than British is Cheryl Hole, actually. She's not a singer, and her fashion is more Vegas than Essex, despite what she said in her meet the queens section. I also unfortunately see her as a mid-early out, following a similar route to Farrah Moan on S9, Kandy Ho on S8, Kenya Michaels on S4 (not counting her returning) etc.. She'll excel at what she's good at but really struggle with everything else.
Crystal, Gothy Kendoll, Blu Hydrangea and Scaredy Kat are I think somewhat of a mixture between the two drag scenes. Crystal is a wildcard in general and doesn't fit into either, whereas the other 3 are fairly instagram-focussed queens, which is sort of a global influence. All 4 have fairly unique styles behind their looks which is more out of the box look queens than we usually get on a drag race season, and these 4 could make for a sickning runway this season. I hope that Crystal brings out some of her tricks on the runway since she's unlikely to get an opportunity to use them in the maxi challenges, and can see an Yvie Oddly storyline for her where she's so dynamically interesting that she wins. Blu Hydrangea and Scaredy Kat are by no means dark horses either though.
Baga Chipz, Divina de Campo, Sum Ting Wong, Vinegar Strokes, and The Vivienne are all extremely well-established drag queens in the UK and I'm eager to see what they bring. I don't think any of them are trying to be American queens at all because they rose up through the ranks of UK drag culture. If we get the UK Drag Race we deserve (with live singing, reaction/audience-based comedy, quick changes, UK pop culture-specific challenges in general) then I could see the first 4 names on this list being the final 4, and I'd be entirely OK with that.
Since I'm skeptical as to whether Drag Race is going to transition into the UK drag scene seamlessly and think it's probably going to have relics of the American drag scene kept in the format, I see this as almost a 2-faction house if we were to speak in traditional reality show terms. I find it hard to see the 5 more established drag queens being surpassed in comedy, UK pop culture (my money for snatch game is on Baga Chipz or Vinegar) or live singing, but in the looks-based challenges and runways the other queens could pull ahead. I think it may be a pretty dynamic season with wins spread across Crystal, Blu, Scaredy, Divina, Sum Ting Wong and Vinegar whereas Cheryl, Gothy, Baga and Vivienne will be the earlier outs. However, ultimately Divina is the one to beat. UK viewers have the same expectations for Divina as American viewers had for Nina going into S11, except since this is the first season of the show, the rigga morris should be kept to a minimum and Divina might actually break through and win.
Sidenote: If they want to do a live finale for UK drag race too, they better be having queens sing live instead of lipsyncing. It'd be way more interesting, and every drag queen in the UK is expected to be able to hold a note.