THE MASKED DANCER
KOOKY COSTUMES KEEP CELEBS ON THEIR TOES IN NEW SHOW
Season 1 Sundays (from 30 May) M-Net (*101) 18:00
Hollywood A-listers are always ready for a challenge. Whether it’s taking part in an obstacle course to test their endurance or racing around the world for $1 million (R14 million) – if the competition keeps them on their toes, they’ll sign up. In this case, 10 celebrities – from movie stars and musicians, to famous athletes – are competing in dance reality show
The Masked Dancer (2020-now) while dressed in elaborate outfits that hide their identities and transform them into over-the-top characters such as a giant ice cube wearing a beanie, or a shark in a flashy basketball vest.
“Before the performance, the celebrity contestants will provide hints about their identities in their introductory videos, song choice and choreography,” says comedian and host Craig Robinson (Lester in dystopian sci-fi film Songbird, 2020) about the dancing extravaganza that is a spin-off of hit reality series The Masked Singer (2019-now).
As on its originator show, the contestant with the least impressive performance on the episode is voted off by the live audience and panel, and only then will the celebrity remove their mask. “What makes the dance show special is that not everyone is a great dancer, they’re all at different levels. These celebrities are bringing their A-game. It’s going to be entertaining watching which star will flop and who will come out tops,” reveals 49-year-old Craig.
THE JURY IS OUT
After each performance, the opinionated panellists offer guesses about who is behind the mask. Fan-favourite commentator judge from The Masked Singer Ken Jeong (Ben in comedy series Community, 2009-2015) is joined by a new set of judges: singer and actress Paula Abdul (judge from 2013-2016 in dancing reality series So You Think You Can Dance?, 2012-now), pregnant actress Ashley Tisdale (Maddie in youth comedy show The Suite Life Of Zack &
Cody, 2005–2008), as well as actor Brian Austin Green
(Sean in sitcom series Anger Management, 2012-2014)
– Brian also performed as
Giraffe in season 4 (2020) of The Masked Singer. “With the Masked Singer, you have an idea of which celebrity contestant is behind the costume because you hear their voices when they’re singing. Predicting who they are while they are dancing is beyond tricky and yet, extremely amusing,” says Paula.
CAT OUT THE BAG
Making things trickier, the producers have added a new game called Word Up. The celebrities say one word in their real voices that may provide a clearer idea of their identity. Executive producer Craig Plestis explains that “Word Up is a gamechanger! There’s an instance where the panel thought, ‘Oh, that is a young person (in the costume)’, then they hear the contestant speak. [The revelation of the voice] had the panel second-guessing their initial thoughts as to who that contestant is.”
MAKING THE MASK
The concept for The Masked Dancer is derived from a parody segment in variety talkshow The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2003-now), where host Ellen DeGeneres invited her celebrity pals like Sean Hayes (Jack in comedy series Will & Grace, 1998-2020) to wear costumes and dance for a minute in early 2019. Like The Masked Singer panellists, Ellen and the talkshow DJ and choreographer Stephen “tWitch” Boss, would guess the celeb’s identity using clues from the celeb. “The stunt from Ellen’s talkshow definitely persuaded us to create the show,” explains exec producer Craig. “We even brought on Ellen as executive producer of
The Masked Dancer. We understood her [vision] and together, we built a proper format for the dance show that would be just as enjoyable as
The Masked Singer.”