For those who’ve been living under a rock for the past year, The Masked Singer is the latest reality singing competition to join the Fox line up. Based on the South Korean show King of Mask Singer, the US version is the brainchild of executive producer Craig Plestis, who discovered the franchise during a meal at a Thai restaurant. As the show played in the background, Plestis was intrigued by his fellow diner’s reactions. “(They) were all just staring at this TV watching this crazy kangaroo in like a leather outfit singing, and we didn’t even finish dinner”, he recalled.
The premise is simple: take a bunch of celebrities, conceal their identities in head to toe costumes, pop them in front of a judging panel, a live studio audience, and a score of cameras, and let the entertainment begin. Each episode sees a portion of the celebrity contestants face off against each other in a singing round. It then falls to the panelists and live studio audience to decide which competitors to save, and which to put forward for elimination. Although hints about the celebrity’s identities are dropped throughout each episode, only once the results of the elimination vote are in do we find out who’s really hiding behind the mask.
Joining host of the show, Nick Cannon, are a series of regular panelists consisting of singer songwriter Robin Thicke, former Playboy model Jenny McCartney, comedian Ken Jeong, and former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger. The first season premiered on January 2, 2019, and immediately proved a roaring success with viewers. Even the critics were enamored, with Vulture calling it “a pretty fascinating examination of celebrity culture, mass appeal, performance, image, and fame.” Unsurprisingly enough given its success, it was commissioned for a further 2 seasons, the third of which is due to premiere following Super Bowl LIV on February 2, 2020, and the second of which recently hit our screens as part of Fox’s fall lineup. In its essence, the second season is much like the first: same host, same panelists, and same basic premise. That said, keen eyed fans have been quick to note a few key differences between this season and last…
More Contestants
Last year, there were 12 contestants. This year, producers have added a third more value to the show by upping the number to 16. While 4 extras contestants equal 4 times the fun, we’ll need to pay extra attention if we want to keep track of all the characters on display. Speaking of which…
All-New Characters
If you thought last season’s round-up of characters was entertaining enough, wait till you see the lineup this season. We’ve already discovered the identities behind The Egg (who turned out to be Olympic figure skater Johnny) and The Ice Cream (who was unmasked as YouTube star and professional gamer Ninja), but there’s plenty more fun still be had. Still hiding their true identities are The Ladybug (all we know so far is that the hidden celebrity has some connection to a famous family and a game show theme); The Penguin (Danny DeVito or Robin Lord Taylor have been suggested, but for now, we’re none the wiser); The Black Widow (Raven-Symoné is so far the most reasonable suggestion for the celebrity hiding behind the spider outfit); The Rottweiler (Chris Daughtry seems to be the most popular guess on this one); The Panda (while some have suggested the bright neon colors of the outfit suggest a young celeb, others have guessed at comedian Richard Anthony “Cheech” MarÃn); The Fox (Jamie Foxx seems the “too obvious to be true” suggestion at the moment); The Flamingo (Dua Lipa or Adrienne Bailon are the current guesses); The Leopard (all we know for sure is that the British accent is “probably” fake); The Skeleton (Gael Garcia Bernal of Coco is the latest suggestion, but who knows?); and The Eagle (rock stars Alice Cooper and Bruce Springsteen are some of the outlandish guesses circulating on social media). Completing the round-up are The Butterfly (American Idol’s Fantasia seems to be the most popular guess doing the rounds); The Thingamajig (anyone else think Wayne Brody?); The Tree (some people are guessing Chrissy Teigen, but we’re more inclined to think it could be Trisha Yearwood); and lastly, The Flower (all we know is it’s someone with a connection to a Missouri area code… Jenna Fisher, perhaps?).
Better Costumes
The first season of The Masked Singer was plagued by complaints from the singing celebrities about the costumes. This season, the show’s costume designers have gone above and beyond in making the masks easier to see through and the costumes easier to move around in. They’ve also made them much more visually impactful. “We want them to be more playful on stage, like a little party,” costume designer Marina Toybina told EW “These are enriched in detail. They’re walkable art.”
Format Shake-Up
One of the first differences you’ll notice in season 2 is the format chance. The first few rounds now consist of 4 people, rather than the previous six. “The way it works is there’s four people, two sing-offs, and then the judges and the audience decide who the winners are of those and that leaves two left,” Fox president of alternative entertainment Rob Wade told The Hollywood Reporter. “And they do what we call a Smackdown – they basically sing a short song back and forth to each other, but really in each other’s faces, in a quite comedic way. It’s supposed to be funny. And then whoever loses that is unmasked.”
Some Things Don’t Change…
The costumes may be better, the clues may be harder, and the celebrities may be different, but fans of the first season needn’t worry too much- we’re still on very familiar territory as season 2 hits its stride. Host Nick Cannon is still on fine form, Nicole Scherzinger is still coming up with some off the wall, zany guesses, Jenny McCarthey is still reassuringly charming, and Robin Thicke is still … Robin Thicke. Also unchanged is the airing date- Wednesday night is still party night, so set your phones to mute, grab a seat, and get ready to take your best guess.
Follow Us
