The Masked Singer is wonderful, but its intention is skewed

Through two episodes of its first season, The Masked Singer has proven itself to be wonderful, and wildly entertaining television. There’s a reason why it has become one of the biggest hits of the entire season — it’s charming, and there’s something about watching people perform in disguise that is shockingly emotional.

The Masked Singer video! – Check out some of our thoughts on episode 2 now in the video below! Also, remember to subscribe to CarterMatt on YouTube for some more updates and check out our full playlist all about the show.

Yet, it’s also clear two episodes in that the series has itself a glaring flaw that could keep it from ever being the lasting sensation that it is in South Korea — its overall intent. For many fans of the Korean version of the show, they’ll attest that it is a show more about the singing — you have your favorites and you get invested in them based more on their voices. While there’s curiosity around their identity, the guessing game is a little more secondary. With the US version, however, the guessing game is the overwhelming appeal of the show. They have segments that are based entirely on handing out clues and that’s the main focus of the judging.

This is where things start to get a little flawed. When you figure out the identity of the person behind the mask, the show loses a little bit of its appeal. Take, for example, the Rabbit — who many have assumed to be Joey Fatone. Without all of the obvious clues, some people may have still figured it out; however, it wouldn’t be with the same regularity. Once you know the identity of the singer, why else are you watching? It’s not for the judging, since at a certain point they all look silly guessing around who it really is. We feel like it’s more to do with the singing itself and getting attached to someone.

There are some even better examples of what we’re talking about here on The Masked Singer — think in terms of the Monster and the Unicorn. There are some guesses out there, but nothing feels as solidified. This show has a chance to be more about coming to love someone’s voice and the purity of it. You don’t need to make it a super-easy mystery show when you have real talent and interesting costuming.

How would they rectify this?

We’d still keep the intro segments, and maybe still drop a clue or two. Yet, we’d take out some of the obvious visual hints (like the Up in Smoke reference during the Pineapple introduction) and allow the contestants to talk more about what they’re getting out of doing this show. For some, this is a chance to actually be anonymous and perform in a way that they’ve never been able to before.

If The Masked Singer really starts to realize that there’s no way they can give this many clues in the internet age, they’ll be better for it. Focus more on what’s best — the masks, and of course the singers. Sometimes, the “who is it?” can be secondary.

Related News – Check out our review for episode 2 of The Masked Singer

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