The Masked Singer is a relatively new reality singing competition that has everyone buzzing about it!
What is it exactly and how it came to be? Let’s find out these answers together!
- The Masked Singer is an American reality singing competition television series
- The series premiered on Fox on January 2, 2019
- It is based on the South Korean format
- In South Korea it is called King of Mask Singer
- The show is hosted by Nick Cannon
- It features celebrities singing in head- to- toe costumes and face masks
- They conceal their identities from other contestants, the panelists, and the audience
- The costumes were designed by Marina Toybina
- She is a four- time Emmy Award winner
- On January 30, 2019, Fox announced it had renewed the series for a second season
- Twelve celebrities compete on the show anonymously in costumes over ten episodes
- Each episode, a portion of the competitors are paired off into face-off competitions
- In which each will perform a song of his or her choice
- From each face-off, the panelists and live audience vote
- The winner is safe for the week
- While the loser is put up for elimination
- At the end of the episode, the losers of the face- offs are then subjected to the earlier votes of the panelists
- This determines who will not continue
- The eliminated singer then takes off their mask to reveal their identity
- In addition to the singing competition, hints to each masked singer’s identity are offered during the show
- The panelists are given time to speculate the identity of the singer after the performance
- And, also ask them a single question to try to determine their identity
- The competitors in the first season were said to have a combined 65 Grammy nominations
- 16 multi-Platinum albums
- 16 Emmy nominations
- 9 Broadway shows
- 4 Super Bowl titles
- And 4 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
- The judging panel would consist of singer- songwriter Robin Thicke, television personality Jenny McCarthy, actor and comedian Ken Jeong, and recording artist Nicole Scherzinger
- It was also confirmed that Nick Cannon would host the show
- Throughout the series, various guest panelists appeared in the judging panel for one or two episodes
- These guest panelists included actor and comedian Joel McHale (episodes 3–4)
- Actor and comedian J. B. Smoove (episode 7)
- And comedian Kenan Thompson (episodes 8–9)
- It was reported that the series premiere was Fox’s highest-rated for an unscripted series, outside of NFL lead-outs, since The X Factor in 2011
- It also set a record for the greatest viewership
- And 18- 49 rating increase for an unscripted series debut after seven days of DVR playback
- The premiere episode received mixed reviews
- Vulture felt that the series was more entertaining, yet “weirder, sillier, and stupider” than other U.S. music competition programs
- The judges were considered to be “weak”
- And that the performances were “underwhelming” due to the contestants not always being singers
- However, the format was deemed to have depth for being “a pretty fascinating examination of celebrity culture, mass appeal, performance, image, and fame.”
- Emily Yahr of The Washington Post described the premiere episode as “one of the craziest reality shows of our time”
- Acknowledging other similar reactions to the series
- On February 27, 2019 airs the final episode of the first season
