TV Show Review - The Masked Singer (U.S.)
Oi mates,
For my post today I am reviewing one of my most-watched TV shows while staying at home
during lockdown - The Masked Singer (I partly do this review because I have been wearing
face masks for the past three months or so).
The show started in South Korea, and has been adapted by over 20 countries around the
world. The show features celebrity contestants from all aspects: music, television, stage,
sports, politics, gaming etc, dressed up in costumes and singing for studio audience votes.
The contestant with the least number of votes each episode will be unmasked and
eliminated while the one with the most votes in the finale would win the show. The
contestants give clues about themselves for the audience and studio celebrity panelists to
guess who they are before the contestants are unmasked. The crazy-sounding rules had led
to it being easily one of the craziest shows I’ve ever watched. I have not been able to find
much footage and information about the Australian version, so today I will review the
American one that I have been binge-watching during lockdown instead.
First of all, the costume design was very detailed, realistic and impressive. Unlike most
singing shows on TV these days that focus on the talent, which makes them repetitive,
sometimes too serious and disposed to scandals, TMS is purely entertainment and comedy
while at the same time not short of talent. The diversity of celebrities in the show is also a
highlight, from Grammy-winning artists to NBA All Stars and Twitch streamers, attracting
viewers of many interests. Moreover, the show is praised for allowing non-singers to
express themselves. What I liked most about the show is how it shows sides of celebrities
that were never known, like T-Pain, who is known for using heavy autotune in his songs,
actually has an incredible natural voice, or who would have thought NBA player Victor
Oladipo can sing that well? The last time I saw Seal was as the most intense judge on The
Voice, but on TMS he was so in character in a flamboyant leopard costume that gave me
drag queen vibes. And they were all anonymous and keeping us guessing all the time,
making their unmasking an even better moment when you realized it has always been them
under the costumes.
On the negative side, the panelists were heavily criticized for being over the top multiple
times, with some of their contestant guesses being laughably absurd. For every big name
and amazing performance on the show, there is a celebrity that no one has ever heard of
and a painful performance. Furthermore, the best part of the show is the mystery and
guessing, but spoilers on social media platforms have ruined it. Literally after one
performance were the entire YouTube comments section and Reddit community filled with
people who all agree on who the masked celebrities are, destroying the surprise element
every unmasking. The simple solution for that problem is to avoid social media related to the
show when you’re guessing, but that is like telling us to not cheat in an unsupervised online
zoom exam (and no Frances I swear I did not do that).
Overall, TMS is still one of my favourite TV shows at the moment, and for those looking for a
wacky version of charades with their families during lockdown, I would definitely recommend
giving the show a watch. The Masked Singer airs on FOX every Thursday 10am Sydney
time, and you can follow the show on their YouTube channel as well.
Rating: 7/10
-Xuan Dung Vuong-
Here is a video of my favourite performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB77kh2R-b8
And here is the most shocking unmasking ever in my opinion:
Comments
Post a Comment