Who will be revealed in The Masked Singer?

Much like the glimmers of light that were Christmas and the New Year, the always brilliant and uplifting Strictly Come Dancing is now a distant memory.

Since the latest series of the nation’s favourite entertainment show ended on December 19, TV viewers have been crying out for something else to distract them from everything that is going in the outside world.

Thankfully, a second run of The Masked Singer began on Boxing Day, and this fun and colourful piece of escapism is proving to be just the tonic for these cold, dark Saturday nights in lockdown.

For the uninitiated, TMS is based on a South Korean game show and it sees celebrities disguised in elaborate costumes (Robin, Swan, Dragon, Sausage, Badger, Harlequin, Blob, Viking, Bush Baby, Grandfather Clock etc) as they sing pop covers to a panel of four judges.

The quartet (Rita Ora, Davina McCall, Jonathan Ross and Mo Gilligan) then throw out some wild guesses as they try to identify the celebrity based on their voice and clues hidden in their performances, as the audience votes for their favourites to remain in the competition.

Apart from The Masked Singer being one of the most Covid-safe shows around right now, its sheer daftness is undoubtably what has made it a massive success.

Not only does it not take itself seriously, it has also brought back the old tradition of Saturday night ‘event’ TV, suitable for all the family.

New judge Mo has settled in very well too. A fortnight ago, he guessed correctly that Spice Girl Melanie B was hiding behind the Sea Horse, and the comedian is clearly enjoying his stint on the hit show.

And although there might not be the same rivalry between the judges as there is on shows such as The X Factor or The Voice, there is an element of competitiveness between the judges.

“The clues can take you on a merry-go-round!” Mo says. “You can be convinced you’ve got it and then the clues take you somewhere else and you’re like hold on it can’t be them. Everyone’s got their technique. Davina’s got two or three books of notes! Jonathan, he knows everybody. Rita, she just listens to the voice. She’ll tune into the singing and say some mad technical vocal stuff about their tone.”

In the first two weeks, we saw ubiquitous Murder on the Dancefloor hitmaker Sophie Ellis-Bextor unveiled as the Alien, before Mel was forced to whip off her Seahorse mask. So which celebrity, will be voted out tonight?

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