WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Masked Singer Season 7 premiere, “Masks Back – The Good, The Bad and The Cuddly – Round 1,” which debuted Wednesday, March 9, on Fox.
The Masked Singer was an instant hit for Fox when it debuted in 2019. The quirky singing competition set itself apart from other reality competition shows with a unique twist: each performer had to wear an outlandish costume to disguise their identity while competing. The first season featured celebrities like Donny Osmond, Gladys Knight and T-Pain belting out hits like Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” and Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.”
Part of the appeal of The Masked Singer was that fans truly had absolutely no idea which celebrities were under the ridiculous, over the top costumes — they had to try and discern who was under each mask by merely the sound of their voice. The guessing game was hugely popular worldwide; The Masked Singer franchise started in South Korea, and spawned several spinoff versions around the world before arriving in America. However, after seven seasons of utter ridiculousness, it seems that the U.S. version of The Masked Singer has lost its sparkle among its fan base, similar to The Simpsons.
Over the past several cycles, it seems that casting directors have been scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to find new contestants. While earlier seasons of The Masked Singer featured celebrities with real vocal chops, the show is now swapping out talented vocalists like Jewel and Todrick Hall for personalities such as Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani’s casting for Season 7 caused controversy amongst Masked Singer audiences, with many viewers crying out that it was unacceptable to give former President Trump’s lawyer another 15 minutes of fame. Two of the show’s judges also walked off the set when he was unmasked.
While steering in this new direction of casting controversial celebrities probably seemed like a good idea — after all, part of the fun of the disguises is discovering that some stars who aren’t professional singers have killer vocal chops — adding cast members purely based on shock value is proving that The Masked Singer really only works if the contestants have any actual talent.
The first Season 7 episode included wardrobe malfunctions and a brief medical emergency (that was thankfully able to be taken care of in a timely manner). Pastry chef and acclaimed cake maker Duff Goldman nearly suffered a catastrophic fall after his performance, causing the oversized head of his “McTerrier” costume to come toppling off, much to the shock and horror of the judging panel and audience. There’s no denying that the moment was absolutely hilarious — but for a large-scale production like The Masked Singer, it definitely felt like amateur hour.
The Masked Singer was once considered quirky, innovative and fun. However, after seven seasons in three years, it feels like the creative team behind the reality series is starting to grasp at straws or just get burned out, while other companies like Netflix are turning out their own addictive competition shows. It’s time for Fox to sit the show down — whether it’s on a temporary basis for a few months or a year to iron out the kinks and find a stronger celebrity lineup for Season 8 (the show would be an interesting detour for Tim McGraw after he didn’t sing in 1883), or maybe permanently before everyone tunes out for good.
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