The Masked Singer (German TV series)

In each live episode, celebrities such as singers, actors or athletes compete against each other in a singing competition anonymously in costumes. The voices of the celebrities are distorted beyond recognition outside of singing.

In the first season, viewers vote by Televoting after each Duel or Truel, since the second season only via the ProSieben-app.[7] The winners may keep the mask on and participate in the next episode. With repeated or without repeated singing, the losers have to wait for the final vote of the respective show. The singer with the fewest votes has to take off his mask and leave the show. The others continue to participate.

In the final of the last five there is a vote after the vocal performances, after which the person with the fewest votes is eliminated and exposed. This is followed by two semi-final duels, the losers of which have to reveal themselves and the winners of which contest the final duel. Finally, their identity is also revealed.

Deviating from this, the second season ran from the third episode with one candidate less than planned, as one had left voluntarily due to the corona pandemic.

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 celebrities' 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 to determine their identity.

The opening theme is "Who Are You" by The Who. After a decision, a section of the song "High Hopes" by Panic! at the Disco was heard in season 1, in season 2 was heard "Tonight" by Kesha, in season 3 was "Higher" by Bishop Briggs.

After each appearance, the two panelist members - three during the first season - and a guest member of the advice team who changes from episode to episode express their guess as to who is under the mask. The panelist team also asks a question to almost every singer, who only answers vaguely or evasively. Before making any decision, the panelist team makes an assumption after the voting has ended, for whom it will be tight or who will be eliminated. Before unmasking, they re-name their guess for the celebrity.

The costumes worn by the celebrity contestants were designed by Marina Toybina, a four-time Emmy Award winner and by Alexandra Brander. Each costume costs on average between 15,000 and 20,000 euros and takes around 300 hours of manual labor.[8]

Filming of the show took place at MMC Studios in Cologne. The Masked Singer Austria and The Masked Singer Switzerland are produced in the same studio as the German version.[9]

On March 12, 2020 in the second season, ProSieben announced that, as a precautionary measure against the spread of the coronavirus, all shows, including The Masked Singer, would be producing without a studio audience until further notice.[10] On March 29, 2020, ProSieben announced that it would interrupt the show due to two COVID-19 infections within the team and continue it from April 14, 2020.[11]

On October 30, 2020 in the third season, ProSieben announced that it would be producing again without a studio audience until further notice.[12]

The Masked Singer - red. Special is the companion show presented by the Presenters of the show red. Annemarie Carpendale and Viviane Geppert. It is shown on the ProSieben straight after the main show. The show features interviews from the panelists and the unmasked celebrity from that episode.

red. - The Masked Singer Countdown is a spin-off show presented by Annemarie Carpendale and Viviane Geppert. It is shown on the ProSieben, which aired only for 15 Minutes before the final episode. The show features interviews with the panelists and the Presenter of the main show Matthias Opdenhövel.

Only in the second season, the show was also aired before the premiere of the main show.

The Masked Singer - So hat alles angefangen (That's how it all started) is a show that aired on December 31, 2020 on ProSieben and shown how it all began with The Masked Singer in Germany. The best performances of the celebrity contestants and the best and funniest moments from the first season, are shown once again. Also the celebrities from the first season, presenter Matthias Opdenhövel and from the panelist Ruth Moschner, told their own experience from the show.[27]