I Can See Your Voice (abbreviated as ICSYV) is a television game show franchise. Originating from the South Korean program of the same title created by television producer Lee Seon-young and produced by CJ ENM, it features a "mystery music game show" format leaning of a guessing flair, where guest artist(s) and (also include) contestant(s) attempt to eliminate bad singers from the group, until the last mystery singer remains for a duet performance.
Background In 2012, television producer Lee Seon-young initially planned to develop a singing reality competition show "involving only good singers", which she would later add unusual elements such as "bad singers", lip sync, and a "guessing game" flair, thus creating the "mystery music game show" format in the process.I Can See Your Voice origins She also originally envisioned a program that allows anyone to be the "main character" regardless of their appearances, with Kim Bum-soo taking inspiration, who struggled to gain recognition because of his look.I Can See Your Voice inspirations
I Can See Your Voice made its debut on Mnet and tvN on February 26, 2015, with host Kim Bum-soo playing the game as a guest artist. Despite the poor reception in its first season, the show went on to become an instant success in South Korea, forcing to renew for a second season.
Gameplay Formats Original format Over the course of several rounds, the guest artist(s) and/or contestant(s) must attempt to eliminate bad singers from a group of "mystery singers", identified only by their occupation or alias, without ever hearing them perform live. They are assisted by clues regarding the singers' backgrounds, style of performance, and observations from a celebrity panel. At the end of a game, the last remaining mystery singer is revealed as either good or bad by means of a duet between them and one of the guest artists.Original formatOriginal format (with contestants)
Battle format Introduced in Giọng ải giọng ai, the format features two opposing guest artists eliminate one singer each during the proper game phase, and then keep one singer each to join the final performance. The winner is determined by the remaining mystery singers, who are chosen by opposing guest artists, as per specific winning condition depends on the outcome of their final performance, if:
For Veo cómo cantas in Mexico, two opposing contestants must eliminate one mystery singer from an assigned group. At the end of first two or three rounds, the contestant having of a least one or two bad singer eliminations will proceed to the next round.
Invasion format Introduced in Catch Me If You Can as a variation of the "battle format", the game begins with a lip sync phase, where a team of guest artists (known as "stars") attempt to identify good and bad singers through batches of mystery singers (known as "invaders"); if the guest artists guessed the mystery singer right, they get points per batch, otherwise the mystery singers did the same points have if they guessed wrong. After that, the highest-scoring team or both of two (when the first phase ends in a tie) must identify if a "surprise" player is good or bad. The winning team is determined on two different conclusions:
Imghere, another official Georgian adaptation, has a shorter game with reduced lineup (and batches) of mystery singers and no "surprise" player, as the game concludes with either of these conditions, simply based on the final score between two opposing teams.
Players The game's main element, "mystery singers", are a lineup of selections catered to guest artist(s) that divide into uncertain number of good and bad singers. Actually, the winning mystery singer can perform freely without accompanying guest artist(s).Duetless rule Aside from that, it also includes civilian or celebrity contestants, taking the role of "eliminators". Some lineup variations include: Mixed groups, if all mystery singers are good but to include of at least one bad singer, redesignating them as "bad". The "surprise" entrant, when a mystery singer stands inside an enclosure and remain concealed until its revelation by being eliminated or a final performance by one of the guest artists.
Rewards Throughout the game, mystery singers, contestants, and to lesser extent guest artists have given rewards such as prize money, trophy, or recording contract. Some commonly used methods include: The eliminated or winning mystery singer, regardless of being good or bad, gets a cash prize. With contestant(s) involved, they get a cash prize if the last remaining mystery singer is good, or to the winning bad singer selected by them. The contestant(s) must eliminate one mystery singer at the end of each round, receiving a petty cash if they eliminate a bad singer. At the end of a game, if the contestant(s) decide(s) to walk away, they will keep the money had won in previous rounds; if they decide to risk for the last remaining mystery singer, they win its main prize if a singer is good, or lose their all winnings if a singer is bad.
Rounds For its game phase, mystery singers must examine for legitimacy through different rounds with varying mechanics.
Visual round The guest artist(s) and contestant(s) is/are given some time to observe and examine each mystery singer based on their appearance. Additional hints may also include a muted video of mystery singer that plays a short duration of their singing voice; or a mystery singer giving two different identities, with one of them is real.
Lip sync round Each mystery singer performs a lip sync to a song; good singers mime to a recording of their own, while bad singers mime to a backing track by another vocalist. In other cases, good and bad singers' recordings can play alternately in the middle of the performance. This is also done through pairs and batches, where the guest artist(s) and contestant(s) eliminate one mystery singer from each group.
Evidence round Each mystery singer reveals an evidential piece. Good singers have own evidences, while bad singers had their evidences fabricated. Guest artist(s) and contestant(s) may also contain additional clues by one of the mystery singers, including own "stuffs", statements by "witnesses", or a video package (such as "house tour" or "personal life" presentations).
Rehearsal round Each mystery singer reveals a pre-show rehearsal piece. Guest artist(s) and contestant(s) can be typically presented with video from a recording session by one of the mystery singers, but pitch-shifted to obscure the actual vocals.
This round has also another method, where randomly selected panelists are wearing headphones to listen to a recording of assigned mystery singer for a short duration. Afterward, the panelist defends the mystery singer and convince the guest artist(s) and contestant(s) to choose them for a final performance.
Interrogation round The guest artist(s) and contestant(s) may ask questions to the remaining mystery singers. Good singers are required to give truthful responses, while the bad singers must lie. Also, the mystery singer may confess what kind of identity they have it the singer is bad.
In-game variations The American second season introduced the use of Golden Mic, in which the guest artist(s) and contestant(s) may hear additional clues and observations to mystery singers from celebrity guest(s) off-stage.
Introduced in third season of Peesh ili luzhesh, the Golden Switch can be used during the proper game phase to apply one randomly-selected mystery singer as an additional hint. However, the guest artist(s) can still able to eliminate that, even if they are revealed as good or bad.Golden Switch
Reception Legacy I Can See Your Voice can be preferred as a game show alternative, unlike the existing reality competition programs such as Idol, Rising Star, The Voice, or The X Factor. It also serves as a "stepping stone" for participants to perform effortlessly, describing it as the "second coming of National Singing Contest", specifically due to significant impacts on their careers, as well as its contribution to the local music industry.I Can See Your Voice as a singing-oriented game show alternative Certain mystery singers such as Hwang Chi-yeul and Samantha Irvin went on to have successful careers, while others like Lee Sun-bin, Kim Min-kyu, Ninety One,Ninety One and Black Pearl also performed there, despite having already established their careers earlier.
Concerns and controversies Plagiarism According to TV Report in August 2015, CJ ENM was suspected of plagiarism on two Chinese programs, God of Singing by Shenzhen TV and X-Singer by Beijing TV, as they both implemented on "modified" game mechanics strikingly similar to I Can See Your Voice, without granting permission from the said company. One unnamed employee also stated in a phone call that they did not emulate the original South Korean program, proving both broadcasters had acquired rights to produce local adaptations, likely of Is That Really Your Voice?, another game show format created by the Turkey-based Global Agency in 2013; as a follow-up, CJ ENM would immediately enforce countermeasures to avoid such future occurrences. FormatBiz later revealed in an interview by CJ ENM's head of formats Diane Min in June 2020 that there was also a dispute of its own with the latter, in which I Can See Your Voice was accused as being plagiarized from their format.Is That Really Your Voice? plagiarism
In a subsequent similar case by the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange Berlin correspondent Lee Yu-jin published on the Korea Creative Content Agency in July 2021, CJ ENM had been also suspected on a then-upcoming ProSieben program , citing its comparisons to I Can See Your Voice in terms of format elements, that was noticed on his deleted tweet by Oliver Pocher. Production company Brainpool TV and producer Stefan Raab were also concerned of the issue, describing their show was an original concept, which is leaning on The Voice-styled competitive approach with singers performing inside a soundproof dome. Later, an RTL Deutschland spokeswoman formally responded in an interview from Focus that both two programs have "good and bad singer" elements, but they were different formats; she had also initially refused to comment about ProSieben's attempt to acquire rights for another South Korean program as it succeeded in The Masked Singer.FameMaker plagiarism
Gameplay issues An example of intentional cheating in-game occurred in the second season episode of Peesh ili luzhesh on November 24, 2024, when Orlin Goranov committed to remain with good singer Beatris, Judy Halvadjian's daughter, as the winner. Prior to that game, they were previously performed during BNT's Christmas Matinee concert in 2023.Orlin Goranov cheating incident
As for the case of flaws on gameplay, situated in the third season episode of Sedato on April 14, 2025, contestant Akhil Royinbagh went left empty-handed by eliminating five good singers, with sole bad singer Amir Fadajan remaining as the winner for a duet performance by returning guest artist Amir Mohammed Kamirpour; this game actually implements the American-modified original format for the entire season.
Accolades I Can See Your Voice has been nominated for Best Non-Scripted Entertainment Program at the 44th International Emmy Awards, Best Light Entertainment Program at 2020 Venice TV Awards, and Studio Entertainment Award at 2023 Rose d'Or.
International versions
I Can See Your Voice commenced franchisingI Can See Your Voice franchise profile in June 2015, when CJ ENM made a joint agreement with Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation of China to acquire the rights for producing its first locally licensed adaptation.CHN On the other hand, Thailand became the first country to air its own local adaptation, debuting on January 13, 2016.THA s1
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