Masked Singer is an international music reality game show franchise. It originated from the South Korean program The King of Mask Singer, developed by Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation.
Format The format features celebrities who perform a song anonymously in elaborate masks or head-to-toe costumes. The panelists will then guess the identity based on clues the singers give about themselves. After their performances, the singers are voted by the audiences in each round while the panelists do not participate in the vote. The singer who receives the fewest votes in each round is unmasked and eliminated until the winner is declared.
The participating celebrities can come from various different occupational backgrounds. The original South Korean series features various musicians, actors or actresses, and comedians. The singers of the American series have spanned further up to the range of Grammy Award winners, professional video gamers, YouTube influencers and professional athletes.
The voting system may also be different based on the program's country. In Armenia, Austria, the Netherlands, the United States and the UK, the votes are limited to the live studio audience members due to the show being pre-recorded. In Germany and Italy, votes are open to all viewers because the show is live. The Swedish format provides simulated live voting without the ability to actually affect the pre-recorded show, which was criticised as deceptive when it was noted after the show's second week.
The original South Korean series King of Mask Singer is a continuous, episode-by-episode format, in which the winner is decided after each tournament that lasts two weekly episodes. In the final round of each tournament, the finalist singer must face-off the previous bi-weekly winner to take over the champion title. The program thus focuses on how long the one can defend the champion title. In comparison, most of the other international versions have been following the seasonal format in which the winner is declared after a single season tournament that lasts from few months to about a year. The international programs consequently focus on who the champion is after the months to year-long tournament.
The first unofficial winner of the franchise was Solji of the South Korean girl group EXID, who won in the pilot episode of the original South Korean version, King of Mask Singer, that aired on 18 February 2015. The first official winner of the franchise was Luna of the K-Pop girl group f(x), who was declared as the winner of the first ever tournament held in the original South Korean series on 12 April 2015.
From the Chinese series, which was the first adaptation of the South Korean show to be launched outside South Korea with a seasonal format, the Chinese singer Sun Nan became the first winner outside the original South Korean series on 27 September 2015 after the two months long first season.
The Thai series was the first version of the franchise with annual seasons. The Thai singer , under the name "Durian", became the first winner to win an annual season format from the second ever franchise to be launched outside South Korea on 23 March 2017. The most recent winner is Bontle Modiselle, who won the 3rd South African season as "Spotty".
International versions Franchise with a currently airing series or season Franchise with an upcoming season Franchise with an unknown status Franchise awaiting confirmation Franchise that has ended
Country/region Local title Network Seasons and winners Panelists Host(s) Arab worldThe Masked Singer - Inta meen?MBC 1 ¿Quién es la máscara?Telefe ԴիմակահանդեսAMPTV The Masked SingerNetwork Ten The Masked Singer AustriaPuls 4 İTV (Flanders) The Masked SingerVTM The Masked Singer BrasilTV Globo Kenya Sade Маскираният певецNOVA TV The Mask Singer CambodiaHang Meas HDTV (Quebec) Chanteurs masqués TVA ¿Quién es la máscara?Chilevisión (Mandarin)King of Mask SingerJSTVMask SingerMasked Dancing King ¿Quién es la máscara?RCN Masked SingerRTL PrimaJOJ TV2 Maskis lauljaTV3Masked Singer SuomiMTV3 Mask SingerTF1 ვინ ვინ არისImedi Media Holding The Masked Singer ProSieben The Masked Dancer The Masked SingerSkai TV Álarcos énekesRTL The Mask Singer IndonesiaGTV הזמר במסכהChannel 12 Il cantante mascheratoRai 1The Masked Singer JapanAmazon Prime Video JapanМаска CurrentTV7 Former Khabar Current Ardak Kassymkhan FormerZhakhan Utargaliev Balss MaskāTV3 KaukėsLNK The Masked Singer Malaysia Astro Warna The Masked Singer MaltaTVM ¿Quién es la máscara?Las EstrellasThe Masked Singer MongoliaCentral Television The Mask Singer MyanmarMRTV EntertainmentThe Masked SingerRTL 4The Masked Singer NZThree MaskoramaNRK1¿Quién es la Máscara?TVNPablo Brustein La MáscaraLatina Televisión Masked Singer Pilipinas TV5 TVN A MáscaraSIC Masked Singer România Pro TV Маска NTV Маска. Танцы STS The Masked Singer South Africa SABC King of Mask SingerMBC Mask Singer: Adivina quién cantaAntena 3 Masked Singer SverigeTV4 The Masked Singer SwitzerlandProSieben Schweiz The Mask SingerWorkpoint TV Maske Kimsin Sen?Fox МаскаUkrainaThe Masked SingerITV The Masked DancerThe Masked SingerFoxThe Masked Dancer ¿Quién es la Máscara?Teledoce Maska FTV Mặt nạ Ngôi SaoHTV7Ca sĩ mặt nạHTV2
Spin-off: The Masked Dancer On at the winter Television Critics Association press tour, Fox Alternative Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television announced that they had ordered a spin-off series, The Masked Dancer, with Ellen DeGeneres as executive producer. DeGeneres had previously conducted The Masked Dancer as a recurring segment of her syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, as a parody of The Masked Singer. DeGeneres stated that the show was "gonna be just as fun and suspenseful", but "with a lot more krumping." On it was announced that Craig Robinson would host, the panelists would be Ken Jeong, Paula Abdul, Brian Austin Green, and Ashley Tisdale, and the show would premiere on .
In 2020, a Chinese version of The Masked Dancer aired, Masked Dancing King (蒙面舞王). The winner was singer Meng Meiqi, competing as " The queen who does not wear a crown" (女王不戴冠).
In early February 2021, ITV acquired the rights to produce The Masked Dancer UK. On 4 March 2021, it was announced that ITV had commissioned the spin-off series. The series had 12 contestants competing through seven episodes, and was hosted by Dommett, with Ross, Gilligan, McCall, and Oti Mabuse serving as panellists. It aired in late spring 2021, filling in for Britain's Got Talent, which had its series 15 postponed until 2022 due to health and safety reasons concerning the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.
In June 2021, EndemolShine Germany announced that the show would begin airing in Germany, so far it has been announced when and where the German version of The Masked Dancer would be shown.
References