The Masked Dancer is an American reality competition television series that aired on Fox from December 27, 2020, to February 17, 2021. Craig Robinson hosted the show, with Ken Jeong, Paula Abdul, Brian Austin Green, and Ashley Tisdale serving as panelists. Like The Masked Singer format, celebrity contestants wear head-to-toe costumes and face masks that conceal their identities, but perform solo, with a partner, or with a crew in different dance styles. The show began as a recurring segment on Ellen DeGeneres' daytime talk show which spoofed The Masked Singer. In pre-production since January 2020, filming was delayed until October due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
Format Panelists and host
Actor and comedian Craig Robinson hosted the show. The Masked Singer panelist and comedian Ken Jeong, entertainer Paula Abdul, actor Brian Austin Green (who performed as "Giraffe" on The Masked Singers fourth season), and actress and singer Ashley Tisdale served as panelists. Guest panelists included Cheryl Hines in the third episode, Rob Lowe in the fourth episode, Whitney Cummings in the fifth episode, Mayim Bialik in the sixth episode, and Will Arnett in the seventh episode.
Production Background and development The Masked Dancer is a spin-off of The Masked Singer which debuted in January 2019 and became a surprise hit for Fox, averaging about 11.5 million viewers per episode in its first season. The show continued as the highest-rated non-sports program in the United States during its next two seasons. The series involves celebrities who are disguised in full costumes and face masks which conceal their identities. After performing a song, a panel attempts to guess their identities using clues given. After all have performed in an episode, the panelists and the audience vote for the favorite, and the least popular must take off their mask to reveal their identity. It is a derivative of the Masked Singer format which originated in South Korea.
Within a week of The Masked Singers premiere, Ellen DeGeneres introduced a spoof segment, "The Masked Dancer", on her eponymous talk show. Segments featured disguised celebrities Sean Hayes, Howie Mandel, Colton Underwood, and Derek Hough. Masked Singer panelists Ken Jeong and Nicole Scherzinger participated in later segments, as did the show's host, Nick Cannon. The day after the first segment aired, Rob Wade, head of alternative entertainment and specials at Fox, contacted The Ellen DeGeneres Show producers about a possible television series. Wade said the network could have proceeded without DeGeneres' involvement, but felt she was "passionate about it ... [and] has great access to celebrities". The Masked Dancer was announced in January 2020 as a "straight-to-series" addition at Fox's winter Television Critics Association press tour. It is a co-production of Fox Alternative Entertainment and Warner Brothers Unscripted & Alternative Television.
Filming Production filmed in Los Angeles at Red Studios where The Masked Singer has also filmed. As of January 2020, they had started casting the show. Some of the show challenges for the production is how the dancing is to be presented, as a solo, like The Masked Singer, in duets, which is more traditional for dancing competitions, and in group numbers, or a combination. Additionally, they accepted that the contestants need to speak, but like The Masked Singer, they would need to, in some way, disguise the voice. Like The Masked Singer, the contestants utilize elaborate costumes, made easier to dance in, but with a "similar eccentricity" including headpieces and they compete by performing dances that "could be a group dance or dances with another person". Unlike that show, The Masked Dancer requires more rehearsals as the celebrity contestants have to learn the choreography.
Originally expected to debut in the middle of 2020, production was delayed until October due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Broadcast Fox aired the series in the United States. Though it was scheduled between two seasons of The Masked Singer, the network was unconcerned about audience burnout as episodes were shorter and less frequent than other reality competition series. CTV, which broadcasts The Masked Singer in Canada, simulcasts the show in that country.
Contestants The series features 10 contestants, who were announced on November 4, 12, and 25, 2020. The contestants in this series have sold more than 38 million albums worldwide, 20 Emmy Awards wins, 20 Grammy nominations, 10 World Dancing titles, five New York Times Best-Selling Author titles, four Olympic gold medals, and three appearances in Broadway shows.
+ Results Stage name Celebrity Occupation(s) Episodes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 Group A Group B A Cotton Candy Gabby Douglas Gymnast SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE WINNER Sloth Maksim Chmerkovskiy Ballroom dancer SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE Tulip Mackenzie Ziegler Dancer/singer SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE THIRD Zebra Oscar De La Hoya Boxer SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE OUT Exotic Bird Jordin Sparks Actress/singer SAFE SAFE SAFE OUT Hammerhead Vinny Guadagnino Reality TV personality SAFE SAFE OUT Cricket Brian McKnight Singer SAFE OUT Moth Elizabeth Smart Child safety activist SAFE OUT Ice Cube Bill Nye Science communicator OUT Disco Ball Ice-T Rapper/actor OUT
Episodes Week 1 (December 27) + Performances on the first episode # Stage name Song IdentityResult 1 Hammerhead"Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" by Backstreet Boys SAFE 2Tulip"Fergalicious" by Fergie SAFE 3Cricket"Jump (For My Love)" by The Pointer Sisters SAFE 4Disco Ball"Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno MarsIce-T OUT 5Exotic Bird"Con Calma" by Daddy Yankee and Katy Perry ft. Snow SAFE
Week 2 (January 6) + Performances on the second episode # Stage name Song IdentityResult 1 Sloth "What I Like About You" by The Romantics SAFE 2 Ice Cube "Bad Romance" by Postmodern Jukebox Bill Nye OUT 3 Zebra "Magalenha" by Sérgio Mendes SAFE 4 Cotton Candy "Glitter in the Air" by Pink SAFE 5 Moth "Boot Scootin' Boogie" by Brooks & Dunn SAFE
Week 3 (January 13) + Performances on the third episode # Stage name Song IdentityResult 1Zebra"All My Life" by K-Ci & JoJo SAFE 2Cotton Candy"Sour Candy" by Lady Gaga ft. Blackpink SAFE 3Moth"Sway" by Michael BubléElizabeth Smart OUT 4Sloth"Up Where We Belong" by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes SAFE
Week 4 (January 20) + Performances on the fourth episode # Stage name Song IdentityResult 1Exotic Bird "Latch" by Disclosure ft. Sam Smith SAFE 2Cricket"This Is How We Do It" by Montell JordanBrian McKnight OUT 3Hammerhead"Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd SAFE 4Tulip"Fields of Gold" by Eva Cassidy SAFE
Week 5 (January 27) + Performances on the fifth episode # Stage name Song IdentityResult 1 Cotton Candy "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis SAFE 2 Exotic Bird "Rush" by Lewis Capaldi ft. Jessie Reyez SAFE 3 Sloth "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" by Dean Martin SAFE 4 Hammerhead "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" by Santa Esmeralda Vinny Guadagnino OUT 5 Tulip "Thank U, Next" by Ariana Grande SAFE 6 Zebra "Mi Gente" by J Balvin & Willy William SAFE
Week 6 (February 3) + Performances on the sixth episode # Stage name Song IdentityResult 1Tulip"My Boyfriend's Back" by The Chiffons SAFE 2Zebra"Take You Dancing" by Jason Derulo SAFE 3Sloth"Twist Remix" by Neeraj Shridhar SAFE 4Exotic Bird "Opposites Attract" by Paula AbdulJordin Sparks OUT 5Cotton Candy"Swan Lake" by Tchaikovsky SAFE
Week 7 (February 10) Group performance: "Shut Up & Dance" by Walk the Moon + Performances on the seventh episode # Stage name Song IdentityResult 1 Cotton Candy"Get Ready for This" by 2 Unlimited/"Mickey" by Toni Basil SAFE 2Sloth"Dancing with a Stranger" by Sam Smith feat. Normani SAFE 3Zebra"Mack the Knife" by Bobby DarinOscar De La Hoya OUT 4TulipPolka SAFE
Week 8 (February 17) Group performance: "(I've Had) the Time of My Life" by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes (performed by Craig Robinson) + Performances on the ninth episode # Stage name Song IdentityResult 1 Tulip"Kings & Queens" by Ava MaxMackenzie Ziegler THIRD 2Sloth"Ballroom Blitz" by The SweetMaksim Chmerkovskiy RUNNER-UP 3Cotton Candy"This Is Me" by KeshaGabby Douglas WINNER
Ratings
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References
External links