Mask Singer is a French reality television series based on the format of the South Korean television game show series King of Mask Singer by Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation. Run by TF1 Group, Mask Singer is a singing competition between celebrities donning elaborate costumes and face coverings to conceal their identity from the audience, judges and other contestants.
The first season of Mask Singer premiered 8 November 2019. Hosted by Camille Combal, it featured TV host and producer Alessandra Sublet, singer Anggun as well as humorists Kev Adams and Jarry on the judging panel. The second season commenced filming in 2020, and aired from 17 October to 28 November 2020 with the same host and panel. The third season started airing on April 1, 2022, featured the exact same host and panel, along with a surprise fifth judge, a new addition to the series. The fourth season started to air on August 23, 2022, on a weekly prime-time format. The fifth season began on April 14, 2023. The sixth season began on May 3, 2024.
Format
A group of celebrities compete anonymously on stage, singing in full costumes over a series of episodes. Each episode, a portion of the competitors are paired off into face-off competitions, in which each will perform a song of his/her choice. From each face-off, the panelists and live audience vote: the winner's safe for the week, while the loser is put up for elimination. At the end of the episode, the face-off's losers are then subjected to new votes of the panelists to determine who will not continue. The eliminated singer then enters a special room backstage where it turns its back to the camera, takes off its mask, then turns around to reveal his/her identity to the viewers.
In addition to the singing competition, hints to each masked singer's identity are offered during the show. Pre-taped interviews are given as hints and feature their distorted voices. The panelists are given time to speculate the identity of the singer after the performance and ask them a single question to try and determine their identity.
Panelists and host
Following the announcement of the series, TF1 announced that the judging panel for season 1 would consist of Radio & TV Host Alessandra Sublet, singer Anggun and comedians Kev Adams and Jarry. Said panel remained for seasons 2 and 3. On June 4, 2022, it was announced that three new panellists would join Kev Adams for the fourth season in replacement to Jarry, Alessandra Sublet and Anggun : ventriloquist and stand-up comedian Jeff Panacloc, actress and comedian Chantal Ladesou, and singer-songwriter Vitaa; constitute the new panel of judges for season 4.
- Judges gallery
Season synopsis
Season 1 (2019)
Contestants
Episodes
Week 1 (8 November)
Week 2 (15 November)
Week 3 (22 November)
Two singers are to be eliminated this episode. Therefore, Sing-offs are canceled : Contestants sing only once before being subjected to the vote.
Group Number: "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars
Week 4 (29 November)
Two singers are to be eliminated this episode. Therefore, Sing-offs are canceled : Contestants sing only once before being subjected to the vote.
Week 5 (6 December)
Two singers are to be eliminated this episode. Therefore, Sing-offs are canceled : Contestants sing only once before being subjected to the vote.
Week 6 (13 December)
As only 4 characters are still in competition, run time allows for face-offs again. The 4th place was determined by a first round of duels then a face-off, while the top 3 was determined in a second round.
Round One
Round Two
Season 2 (2020)
Contestants
Episodes
Week 1 (17 October)
Week 2 (24 October)
Guest Performance: "Million Reasons" by Lady Gaga performed by Itziar Ituño as "Ballerina."
Week 3 (31 October)
Week 4 (7 November)
Panelist Performance: "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor performed by Anggun as "Disco Ball."
Week 5 (21 November)
Group Number: "Allez reste" by Boulevard des Airs ft. Vianney
Week 6 (28 November)
Round One
For the first round the contestants did a duet with a previous contestant.
Round Two
Round Three
Season 3 (2022)
Contestants
Episodes
Week 1 (1 April)
Week 2 (8 April)
- Guest Performance: "Feeling Good" by Nina Simone performed by Teri Hatcher as Ladybug
Week 3 (15 April)
Week 4 (22 April)
- Guest Performance: "Le Banana Split" by Lio performed by Anne Roumanoff as Gorilla
- Guest Performance: "Envole-moi" by Jean-Jacques Goldman performed by Jarry as Elephant
Week 5 (29 April)
- Group Performance: "Ça (C'est Vraiment Toi)" by Téléphone
- Guest Performance: "With or Without You" by U2 performed by Seal as Cowboy
Week 6 (6 May)
- Guest Performance: "Pauvres Diables" by Julio Iglesias performed by Kendji Girac as Wolf
Week 7 (13 May)
Round One
- For the first round the contestants did a duet with a previous contestant.
Round Two
Round Three
Season 4 (2022)
Contestants
Episodes
Week 1 (23 August)
Week 2 (30 August)
Week 3 (6 September)
- Guest Performance: "My Way" by Frank Sinatra performed by David Hasselhoff as Cobra
Week 4 (13 September)
Week 5 (20 September)
- Group Performance: "Quand la musique est bonne" by Jean-Jacques Goldman
- Guest Performance: "Let's Twist Again" by Chubby Checker performed by Francis Huster" as "Viking"
Week 6 (27 September)
- Guest Performance: "Price Tag" by Jessie J ft. B.o.B performed by Tori Spelling as Cat
Week 7 (4 October)
- Guest Performance: "La Boîte de jazz" by Michel Jonasz performed by Inès Reg as Tigress
Week 8 (11 October)
Round One
Round Two
Season 5 (2023)
Contestants
Episodes
Week 1 (14 April)
Week 2 (21 April)
Week 3 (28 April)
- Guest Performance: "Roar" by Katy Perry performed by Mel B as Sun
Week 4 (5 May)
- Guest Performance: "Attention Mesdames et Messieurs" by Michel Fugain performed by Laurent Ruquier as Lobster
Week 5 (12 May)
Week 6 (19 May)
- Guest Performance: "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" by Elton John performed by Anastacia as Kangaroo
Week 7 (26 May)
- Group Performance: "J'ai cherché" by Amir Haddad
- Guest Performance: "Grenade" by Bruno Mars performed by Anggun as Bull
Week 8 (2 June)
Guest Group Performance: "J'ai vu" by Niagara performed by Laurent Maistret as Knight, Keen'V as Elephant and Amaury Vassili as Turtle
Round One
Round Two
Season 6 (2024)
Contestants
Episodes
Week 1 (3 May)
Week 2 (10 May)
Week 3 (17 May)
- Guest Performance: "Stand By Me" (Stand by Me) by Ben E. King performed by Gloria Gaynor as Ice Queen
Week 4 (24 May)
Week 5 (31 May)
- Guest Performance: "S'il suffisait d'aimer" by Celine Dion performed by Shy'm as "Flake"
Week 6 (7 June)
- Guest Performance: "Houdini" by Dua Lipa performed by Natalie Imbruglia as "Joker"
Week 7 (15 June)
- Group Performance: "Le Bal masqué" by La Compagnie Créole
- Guest Performance: "Si J'étais un Homme" by Diane Tell performed by Vincent Desagnat as "Avatar"
Week 8 (22 June)
Guest Group Performance: "Respire Encore" by Clara Luciani performed by Vincent Niclo as Husky, Aurélie Konaté as Doe and Charlotte Gaccio as Jellyfish
Round One
Round Two
Season 7 (2025)
Christmas Special (2024)
On 20 December 2024, a Christmas special was made with 10 previous costumes of the show. In these costumes, 9 of the 10 contestants were previous contestants who participated in the 5 first seasons but in other costumes.
References
External links
- Official website (in French) (on TF1)
