Is it David Beckham screeching as a tree? Either way, it’s a riot: JAN MOIR reviews ITV’s new hit show The Masked Singer
The Masked Singer, ITV
Many viewers have declared The Masked Singer (ITV1, Saturday and Sunday) to be the worst TV show of all time, before checking to see what time it is on next week — so they can tune in and be appalled all over again.
It certainly does boggle the brain. Mystery celebrities disguised in outrageous costumes must perform a song, while a panel of celebrity judges try to guess their identities.
One contestant was disguised as a Daisy; her head encased by an inflorescence of plastic petals, her feet in comedy flower pot shoes. As a clue, we learned she was an American who liked fishing and had relocated to the UK.
‘Are you Meghan Markle?’ ventured judge and sometime pop singer Rita Ora, who had clearly fixated on the angling term ‘landing the big one’. Don’t laugh. It could still happen.
Is The Tree David Beckham? It sounds like him, although most men sound like David once their words are fed through a high frequency voice distorter. Many viewers have declared The Masked Singer (ITV1, Saturday and Sunday) to be the worst TV show of all time, before checking to see what time it is on next week
When another character disguised as a fox revealed she’d collected teapots for 30 years (wake up at the back), that was all supersleuth Rita needed for another hilarious guess. ‘Helen Mirren?’ she shouted, as if she had just returned from rootling through Dame Helen’s crockery cupboards. Apparently, officials from the Trade Descriptions Act made Rita shorten her surname from Oracle, and now we all know why.
Other suggestions for Fox’s identity included Samantha Fox, Kerry Katona and Denise Van Outen, although I would bet my favourite imitation pleather catsuit it was really Suzi Quatro.
Meanwhile, is The Tree David Beckham? It sounds like him, although most men sound like David once their words are fed through a high frequency voice distorter. John Barrowman has denied he is the Kate Bush-loving Unicorn, while many have suggested Charlotte Church might well be the Octopus.
It certainly does boggle the brain. Mystery celebrities disguised in outrageous costumes must perform a song, while a panel of celebrity judges try to guess their identities
So far the identities of two contestants have already been revealed, with actress Patsy Palmer unmasked as Butterfly and brave, brave Alan Johnson exposed as a pharaoh with a worrying scaly tail, but what about the remaining contestants?
Almost certainly not Joanna Lumley, Jamie Foxx, LL Cool J or Elton John, as some of the judges suggested. That is the thing about The Masked Singer — it gets addictive very quickly.
Yet while the reveal is a truly delicious moment, will viewers be prepared to sit through 90 minutes of Fraggle Rock-style nonsense to get there? I think they will — 5.5 million tuned in to watch ITV’s new show, comfortably beating the new series of The Greatest Dancer over on BBC1.
While there might be precious little that is real about it, it feels fresh and new, with an unmistakeable innocence and its own weird charm.
Children will love it, while the nature of the guessing game means it has a vibrant second life on social media sites.
The judges are annoying, of course. Jonathan Ross can hardly be bothered. Can someone tell Davina McCall to sit down? And please don’t insult our intelligence by pretending that American judge Ken Jeong knows who Alan Shearer is, or indeed was
The judges are annoying, of course. Jonathan Ross can hardly be bothered. Can someone tell Davina McCall to sit down? And please don’t insult our intelligence by pretending that American judge Ken Jeong knows who Alan Shearer is, or indeed was.
Still, it is fun. It is amiably hosted by Joel Dommett who plays it straight and doesn’t hog the limelight — admittedly not hard when you are standing next to a yellow duck singing Like A Virgin who may or may not be Alison Hammond off the telly.
‘I’m very, very confused,’ said Rita Ora, speaking for us all.