‘The Masked Singer’: 7 Rules Contestants, Audience Members, and Panelists Must Follow to Keep the Reveals Secret
In a world filled with different reality TV singing contests, Fox’s The Masked Singer might take home the crown for the wildest. Celebrities dress up in crazy costumes and perform on stage while a group of panelists, and the audience at home, tries to guess who’s behind the mask. With the participants’ identity being a secret until their reveal, it’s no surprise that there are some pretty strict rules contestants have to follow.
‘The Masked Singer’ contestants have to disguise their voices at all times
For those who haven’t watched the show, when contestants present their clues to the panelists and audiences, their voices are highly altered to disguise the person speaking. Even when they’re talking to the host, conversations have to be kept short. This is so their identity can’t be discovered until their big reveal. Some Youtubers have even learned the trick of slowing the voices down or speeding them up in recordings. This is to try to guess who’s behind the mask. We have to be honest though, that feels a little like cheating.
Performers and panelists aren’t allowed to interact
The Masked Singer has stars like Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy, and Robin Thicke sitting at the judges’ table. However, fans should know they don’t have any more information about the person in the costume than audiences at home. This helps keep the contest exciting as the judges work from the same clues as the audience at home.
‘The Masked Singer’ performers write their own clues
When a singer performs, the audience gets to see a clue package with hints about the performer’s identity before they hit the stage. Recently, the Dalmatian used clues like being an underdog while the Baby talked about a house party on eight wheels. It would be hard for producers to come up with clues that kept the audience guessing so that task is handled by participants in The Masked Singer.
Audience members have to sign an NDA
Because The Masked Singer is pre-recorded, each audience member has to sign an NDA promising not to talk about the show once they’ve left. This keeps everyone from spoiling the reveals before the episode airs on TV.
Performers on ‘The Masked Singer’ get to choose their own costumes
This might be the reason fans have seen some genuinely out-there costumes, including season 6’s the Baby. Performers are given a list of pre-selected costumes they choose from, and then they’re allowed to alter them a little to their liking. Nick Cannon, the host of The Masked Singer, told People, “They got to choose their costumes and usually their costumes are a clue to who they actually are.”
No cell phones allowed anywhere
From participants to panelists to audience members, no cell phones allowed. (If you haven’t guessed, the producers are very serious about the identity of the performers.) Staff members for the show confiscate cell phones to keep the risk of spoilers to an absolute minimum.
Contestants can only speak to specific crew members on ‘The Masked Singer’
With so much secrecy around each performers’ identity, very few people know who is hiding behind the mask. That’s why certain crew members wear shirts that say “You can talk to me” to give contestants guidance on who it’s ok to question.
The Masked Singer Season 6 has new episodes on Wednesday nights on Fox.
