Reality television and talent shows are at their best when they revel in the ridiculous. Forget the industrial extraction of sob stories from middling talents; what Australian audiences deserve is balls-to-the-wall insanity. The first teaser for The Masked Singer appears to show just that.
Stunningly, the appearance of Lindsay Lohan as a tenured judge is not the most baffling part of the show.
[jwplayer u2a2Lr5L]
The concept, lifted from the original Korean hit, disguises vocalists in ostentatious costumes and asks audiences to guess which voices are coming from a technicolour spider or what looks like a Woolworths Simba Ooshie.
The appeal is not in the music – it’s in the guesswork. Each song is intended to be heard once and only once, as a set-up for a weirdly cruel punchline. It’s efficient, it’s mad, and as the office’s resident Eurovision stan, I am keen to watch folks debase themselves for our entertainment.
The Masked Singer will pop up on Channel 10 soon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvhRboJ_e7o