The Masked Dancer is a German reality competition television series that premiered on ProSieben on 6 January 2022, based on the American television series of the same name. Like The Masked Singer'''s format, celebrity contestants wear head-to-toe costumes and face masks that conceal their identities. Matthias Opdenhövel hosts the show, with Alexander Klaws and Steven Gätjen serving as panelists.
The winner of the first season was Oli.P as "Affe".
Production In June 2021, EndemolShine Germany announced a dancing spinoff series that shares the same name of the American version, following the success of its sister show The Masked Singer. In November 2021, it was announced that ProSieben would broadcast the show, the same channel who produced The Masked Singer.
Format In four live episode, seven celebrities such as singers, actors or athletes in full-body costumes compete against each other with a choreography. Before the respective performance, a short video is shown, in which hidden clues to the identity of the costumed dancers are contained. Unlike The Masked Singer, there will be more evidence in The Masked Dancer.
The viewers voting took place exclusively via the ProSieben-app, after each Duel or Truel. The winners may keep the mask on and participate in the next episode. With repeated or without repeated singing, the losers have to wait for the final vote of the respective show. The singer with the fewest votes has to take off his mask and leave the show. The others continue to participate.
After each appearance, the two panelist members – three during the first season – and a guest member of the advice team who changes from episode to episode express their guess as to who is under the mask. The panelist team also asks a question to almost every singer, who only answers vaguely or evasively. Before making any decision, the panelist team makes an assumption after the voting has ended, for whom it will be tight or who will be eliminated. Before unmasking, the celebrities are once more asked to give their final guess about who is beneath the mask.
The opening theme is "Who Are You" by The Who. After a decision, a section of the song "Baby" by Bakermat.
Filming Production films in Cologne at MMC Studios where The Masked Singer has also filmed.
Panelists and host
Like in the original version, Matthias Opdenhövel would host the show. On 2 January 2022, it was announced that the panel would consist of singer Alexander Klaws and presenter and actor Steven Gätjen.
Guest panelists
Like in The Masked Singer, various guest panelists appeared as the third judge in the judging panel for one episode. These guest panelists included:
Episode Name Notability Ref. 1 Ruth Moschner TV Presenter 2 Johanna Klum TV Presenter & Singer 3 Annemarie Carpendale TV Presenter 4 Yvonne Catterfeld Singer
Contestants The show included 7 contestants. On 23 December 2021 the first three costumes were announced. On 4 January 2022 two more costumes were announced. The last two costumes were announced in the first live show.
+ Results Stage name Celebrity Notability Live Episodes 1 2 3 4 A B Affe "Monkey" Oli.P Singer WIN WIN WIN WIN WINNER Zottel "Shaggy" Marlene Lufen Presenter WIN RISK RISK WIN RUNNER-UP Buntstift "Crayon" Timur Bartels Actor WIN RISK WIN OUT Maus "Mouse" Wolke Hegenbarth Actress RISK WIN WIN OUT Maximum Power Eloy de Jong Singer RISK RISK OUT Schaf "Sheep" Axel Schulz Former Boxer RISK OUT Glühwürmchen "Firefly" Ute Lemper Singer OUT
Episodes Week 1 (6 January) + Performances on the first live episode # Stage name Song Identity Result 1 Glühwürmchen "XO" by Beyoncé Ute Lemper OUT 2 Affe "Stadtaffe"/"Schüttel deinen Speck" by Peter Fox WIN 3 Maus "Bang Bang" by Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj RISK 4 Zottel "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift/"Sailing" by Rod Stewart WIN 5 Maximum Power "The 2nd Law: Unsustainable" by Muse RISK 6 Schaf "Poison" by Bell Biv DeVoe/"Wonderful Life" by Matoma RISK 7 Buntstift "Sing, Sing, Sing" by Benny Goodman WIN
Week 2 (13 January) + Performances on the second live episode # Stage name Song Identity Result 1 Affe "Rhythm Nation" by Janet Jackson WIN 2 Zottel "Ex's & Oh's" by Elle King/"Get Ur Freak On" by Missy Elliott RISK 3 Buntstift "I Love You Baby"/"Strangers in the Night" by Frank Sinatra/"I Believe I Can Fly" by R. Kelly RISK 4 Maximum Power Flash Medley RISK 5 Schaf "Ich liebe das Leben" by Vicky Leandros Axel Schulz OUT 6 Maus "Can't Get You Out of My Head" by Kylie Minogue WIN
Week 3 (20 January) – Semi-final + Performances on the third live episode # Stage name Song Result 1 Zottel "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish RISK 2 Maus "Love Again" by Dua Lipa/"Vielen Dank für die Blumen" by Udo Jürgens/"SexyBack" by Justin Timberlake WIN 3 Affe "Pump It" by Black Eyed Peas WIN 4 Buntstift "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars WIN 5 Maximum Power "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden RISK Dance-off details Identity Result 1 Zottel "Creep" by Radiohead SAFE 2 Maximum Power"Adiós Nonino" by Astor Piazzolla Eloy de Jong OUT
Week 4 (27 January) – Final Group number: "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" by C+C Music Factory feat. Martha Wash and Freedom Williams
Round One + Performances on the final live episode – round one # Stage name Song Identity Result 1 Affe "Thriller" by Michael Jackson WIN 2 Maus "Jai Ho" by A. R. Rahman Wolke Hegenbarth OUT 3 Buntstift "Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis/"Stronger" by Kanye West/"We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel Timur Bartels OUT 4 Zottel "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5/"I See Love" by Jonas Blue feat. Joe Jonas WIN
Round Two + Performances on the final live episode – round two # Stage name Song Identity Result 1 Affe "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi feat. Daddy Yankee Oli.P WINNER 2 Zottel "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin/"Tequila" by The Champs Marlene Lufen RUNNER-UP
Reception Ratings Episode Original airdate Timeslot Viewers Share Source Household Adults 14–49 Household Adults 14–49 1 Thursday 8:15 pm 1.75 0.84 6.1 12.3 2 1.43 0.70 5.1 10.7 3 1.23 0.50 4.4 8.0 4 1.43 0.58 5.3 8.6 Average 1.46 0.66 5.2 9.9
Spin-offs and related shows The Masked Dancer – red. Special Like in the original show, a companion show with the name The Masked Dancer – red. Special'' was shown on ProSieben immediately after the main show. The show features interviews with the panelists and the unmasked celebrity from that episode. Viviane Geppert (episodes 1–3) and Annemarie Carpendale (episode 4) were the presenters of the show.
References
External links Official website The Masked Dancer on fernsehserien.de The Masked Dancer Germany on IMDb