Popular music show ‘Hidden Singer’ returns

SEOUL: JTBC’s popular reality show “Hidden Singer” has returned with a new season after a nearly two- and- a-half year hiatus.

“Hidden Singer”, hosted by Jeon Hyun-moo, is the broadcaster’s longest-running show.

The shows concept is to have a famous singer and several imposters of the singer sing parts of a song behind blinds for four rounds and the audience of 100 people vote each round to eliminate the person they think is not the real singer.

“There were times when many broadcasters aired multiple music shows almost simultaneously, but it seems their number has shrunken in recent years. I was worried my new show could fail to appeal to viewers under the changed broadcasting environment,” chief producer Cho Seung-wook said during a press conference in JTBC headquarters in Seoul, Friday.

“Instead of making major chances in our program, we decided to focus on what we can do best with our new season - the musicians’ songs and life and the touching stories of their fans who emulate the singer.”

Since it was debuted in 2012, “Hidden Singer” has become one of JTBC’s flagship shows, where so many ordinary but talented contestants impeccably imitate original singers’ voices and singing styles, surprising viewers until it aired the final episode of its fourth season in January 2016.

In the past, however, Cho admitted the difficulties of finding a fresh pool of singers and their imitators and its new season had to wait for nearly three years.

The popular music show’s format has been exported to countries like the US, Italy, China, Vietnam and Thailand. Cho Hyun-min, a welder who sang Im Chang-jung’s songs in season 2, garnered record votes in the episode and became a professional singer.