The Masked Singer: Mask On Face Off

January 4, 2019 5:59 PM - Season 1, Episode 1

Per the official description: "Six undercover celebrity singers don animal masks to conceal their identity as they perform before host Nick Cannon and panelists Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger, and Robin Thicke, who try to guess the identity of the singer."

This is the dumbest show I've ever seen... aaaand I can't wait to find out who the Lion is!

posted by retrograde (17 comments total)

Oh this is so cheesy.
posted by k8t at 6:30 PM on January 4, 2019 [1 favorite]

I haven't seen this yet but I watch the original Korean version off-and-on (and LOVE it, although I usually just watch the performances and skip all the chatty bits) so I'm curious to see if they've made any notable changes and/or how the concept translates to a different cultural audience when there's already things like The Voice.
posted by paisley sheep at 7:14 PM on January 4, 2019

Peacock is totally Donny Osmond.

The interweb seems to agree that the Lion is Rumer Willis.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 4:15 AM on January 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

I forced friends to watch the YouTube performances of the first six, while at brunch this weekend. It turns out it's a perfect amount of viewing, because the Jenny McCarthy is kept to a minimum.

We think the deer is Peyton Manning. And that the face mask is the stuff of nightmares.
posted by librarianamy at 6:11 AM on January 7, 2019 [1 favorite]

I heard about the original South Korean show when a certain American actor was on it (spoiler in link). (Previously)
posted by larrybob at 10:15 AM on January 7, 2019

I'm curious to see if they've made any notable changes and/or how the concept translates to a different cultural audience

The big one to me is that the American performances are so bombastic -- full on Vegas x furry x diva costumes, backup dancers -- compared to the relatively subtle backup band compliment to showcase the voice for the Korean performance.

And unfortunately for all its delicious cheesiness, the American one is totally missing out on the awesome naming possibilities. Why just have Lion, Deer, Unicorn, Monster, etc, when you can have:

Used Two Buckets of Gold Lacquer
Sexy Vocal Cricket
Music Captain of Our Local
Mysticism Baby Angel
Puss in Boots is Sing
The East Invincibility
Bob Ross

The Korean masked singer names sound like something out of a neural network, and this is part of the delight.
posted by orbit-3 at 1:29 PM on January 7, 2019 [7 favorites]

So I was looking forward to maybe looking at this thing but I did not know who the panel was. Is it only me, or do other people prefer not to watch things with Jenny McCarthy (anti-vaccine)?
posted by Glinn at 5:25 PM on January 9, 2019 [1 favorite]

We would prefer that it is Jenny McCarthy-less, and have hesitated to watch the show because she's on it. From this week, our preferred way to watch is time delayed, with fast forwarding through the panelists and audience reaction shots and just watching the clues and performances. It's much better!
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 8:24 AM on January 10, 2019 [2 favorites]

But if you skip through the commentary, you miss Ken Jeong!

This week's show, there's this dude in a pineapple costume singing I Will Survive, and afterwards Nick Cannon asks the judges who they thought it was. This is usually done by each judge stating the observed qualities/hints and then naming a random celebrity, usually someone who would never come near this show.

So Robin Thicke makes an inane guess, then McCarthy prattles on. And when it's Ken Jeong's turn, he says, "I was thinking total douchebag... No offense, Robin." And Robin laughs it off but deep down, or at least as deep as he goes, he knows The Truth. It was this perfect glittering moment on what is hands down the stupidest show on television.

Jeong is glorious in this. He alternates between phoning it in, making completely improbable guesses (President Barack Obama! Ruth Bader Ginsburg!), feigning a deranged kind of starstruck delight, and trading unfettered irritation with his co-judges. I've never truly appreciated him that much before, but in this, he is the very best thing.
posted by mochapickle at 11:37 PM on January 11, 2019 [3 favorites]

It isn't only you Glinn, I won't watch it for the same reason.
I might give the original Korean version a watch though.
posted by Julnyes at 8:08 AM on January 15, 2019

The judges clearly are acting out a part and not very believable acting at that. The premise could be fun but the execution just hurts my intelligence.
posted by ShakeyJake at 8:47 AM on January 15, 2019

This show defines "guilty pleasure" for me. It's one of the most true translations of an Asian show to the American audience, and it's straight-up goofy wonder.

I think Lance Bass is one of the episode 2 singers.
posted by DrAstroZoom at 12:40 PM on January 16, 2019

Nick. Cannon's. Glitterturban.
posted by mochapickle at 9:02 AM on January 24, 2019 [1 favorite]

The judges acting like they are guessing to stretch the time is just sooo cringey.
posted by ShakeyJake at 7:16 AM on January 29, 2019

Fringe theory: Monster's "swing" references are not sports-related. New Jack Swing.
Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill, Al B. Sure, the members of Bell Biv DeVoe...
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:25 AM on February 22, 2019

^I was informed over the weekend that this is not a fringe theory, so kindly disregard.

Mostly, I hope this show leads to an entire album of Gladys Knight covering contemporary music.
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:07 PM on February 26, 2019 [2 favorites]

Nick Cannon's Glitterturban is the most up-for-grabs MeFi username ever.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 4:19 AM on February 27, 2019