The first season of the The Masked Singer South Africa premiered on SABC 3 on 3 June 2023, and concluded on 26 August 2023. The season was won by musician Holly Rey as "Lollipop", with singer-songwriter Kurt Darren finishing second as "Rhino", television presenter Maps Maponyane placing third as "Tree", and actor Abdul Khoza placing fourth as "Lion".
Panelists and host The announced host of the inaugural show was Mpho Popps. This coincided with the announcement of the following celebrities: actor and television personality Somizi Mhlongo, musician and chef J Something, socialite and media personality Sithelo Shozi, and actor and comedian Skhumba Hlophe were announced as the inaugural panel for the show, shared alongside with some guest appearances.
Guest panelists Episode Name Notability 5 Boity Thulo Musician 6 Tbo Touch DJ 9 Moshe Ndiki Television personality
Production The first season is produced by Rose and Oaks Media for Primedia Studios under the leadership of executive producers Anele Mgudlwa. It is sponsored by Andolex, King Pie and Mentos. The show airs on Saturdays at 19:00 on SABC 2. Repeats are shown on SABC 1 and SABC 2 throughout the week, with episodes also dropping for streaming on Netflix. The season 1 of The Masked Singer South Africa premiered on 3 June 2023. The competition features 16 celebrities battling in extravagant, brand new costumes for the coveted Golden Mask Trophy.
Contestants Stage name Celebrity Occupation(s) Episodes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Lollipop Holly Rey Musician WIN WIN SAFE SAFE RISK SAFE WINNER Rhino Kurt Darren Singer/songwriter RISK WIN SAFE SAFE WIN SAFE RUNNER-UP Tree Maps Maponyane TV Personality WIN WIN SAFE SAFE WIN SAFE THIRD Lion Abdul Khoza Actor WIN RISK SAFE SAFE RISK SAFE FOURTH Fox Zikhona Sodlaka Actress WIN WIN SAFE SAFE WIN OUT Elephant Jason Goliath Actor RISK RISK SAFE SAFE OUT Doughnut Shekinah Singer/songwriter WIN WIN SAFE OUT Sunflower Makhadzi Musician WIN RISK SAFE OUT Robot Zozibini Tunzi Model RISK RISK OUT Watermelon Devi Sankaree Govender Journalist RISK WIN OUT Warrior Mmusi Maimane Politician WIN OUT Hippo David Kau Actor WIN OUT Banana Bongani Bingwa TV Personality OUT Soccerball Doctor Khumalo Former Soccer Player OUT Rooster Victor Matfield Rugby Player OUT Zebra Lazy Makoti Chef OUT
Episodes Week 1 (3 June) + Performances on the first episode # Stage name Song Identity Result 1 Tree "Mamela" by Mi Casa WIN 2 Elephant "Lovely Day" by Bill Withers RISK 3 Zebra "Ngiyazifela" by Lira Lazy Makoti OUT 4 Warrior "Mthande" by Musa WIN
Week 2 (10 June) + Performances on the second episode # Stage name Song Identity Result 1 Hippo "Kona" by Mafikizolo WIN 2 Rooster "Numb" by Marshmello & Khalid Victor Matfield OUT 3 Watermelon "We Don't Talk Anymore" by Charlie Puth feat. Selena Gomez RISK 4 Sunflower "Akanamali" by Sun-El Musician feat. Samthing Soweto WIN
Week 3 (17 June) + Performances on the third episode # Stage name Song Identity Result 1 Soccerball"Burn Out" by Sipho Mabuse Doctor Khumalo OUT 2 Doughnut"Happy" by Pharrell Williams WIN 3 Rhino"I Gotta Feeling" by Black Eyed Peas RISK 4 Lollipop"Roar" by Katy Perry WIN
Week 4 (24 June) + Performances on the fourth episode # Stage name Song Identity Result 1 Banana"So Amazing" by Luther Vandross Bongani Bingwa OUT 2 Lion"Fairytale" by Liquideep WIN 3 Fox"Respect" by Aretha Franklin WIN 4 Robot"American Boy" by Estelle feat. Kanye West RISK
Week 5 (1 July) + Performances on the fifth episode # Stage name Song Identity Result 1 Watermelon"Feel Good" by Lira WIN 2 Sunflower"Ibhanoyi" by Blaq Diamond RISK 3 Tree"Home" by Michael Bublé WIN 4 Hippo"September" by Earth, Wind & Fire David Kau OUT 5 Elephant"Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran RISK 6 Rhino"Dance with My Father" by Luther Vandross WIN
Week 6 (8 July) + Performances on the sixth episode # Stage name Song Identity Result 1 Doughnut"Pluto (Remember You)" by DJ Clock feat. Beatenberg WIN 2 Lion"I Swear" by All-4-One RISK 3 Lollipop"No Scrubs" by TLC WIN 4 Robot"Nizalwa Ngobani" by Thandiswa Mazwai RISK 5 Fox"Emini" by Kelly Khumalo WIN 6 Warrior"Easy" by Commodores Mmusi Maimane OUT
Week 7 (15 July) + Performances on the seventh episode # Stage name Song Identity Result 1 Watermelon"Dancing Queen" by ABBA Devi Sankaree Govender OUT 2 Sunflower"Asibe Happy" by Ami Faku feat. DJ Maphorisa & Kabza de Small SAFE 3 Tree"Hell Naw" by Nasty C SAFE 4 Elephant"Location" by Khalid SAFE 5 Rhino"Can't Stop the Feeling!" by Justin Timberlake SAFE
Week 8 (22 July) + Performances on the eighth episode # Stage name Song Identity Result 1 Robot"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" by Whitney Houston Zozibini Tunzi OUT 2 Doughnut"Lengoma" by DJ Sbu feat. Zahara SAFE 3 Lollipop"Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman SAFE 4 Lion"IMali" by Karyendasoul & Zakes Bantwini feat. Nana Atta SAFE 5 Fox"Killing Me Softly" by Fugees SAFE
Week 9 (29 July) + Performances on the ninth episode # Stage name Song Identity Result 1 Sunflower"Destiny" by MalaikaMakhadzi OUT 2 Fox"I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston SAFE 3 Lion"Can We Talk" by Tevin Campbell SAFE 4 Lollipop"Vuli Ndlela" by Brenda Fassie SAFE
Week 10 (5 August) + Performances on the tenth episode # Stage name Song Identity Result 1 Tree"When I Was Your Man" by Bruno Mars SAFE 2 Rhino"Jerusalema" by Master KG feat. Nomcebo SAFE 3 Elephant"Moves like Jagger" by Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera SAFE 4 Doughnut"Pon de Replay" by Rihanna Shekhinah OUT
Week 11 (12 August) + Performances on the eleventh episode # Stage name Song Identity Result 1 Elephant"The World is Yours" by AKA Jason Goliath OUT 2 Tree"Frontin'" by Pharrell Williams feat. Jay-Z WIN 3 Lollipop"Never Too Much" by Luther Vandross RISK 4 Fox"Banomoya" by Prince Kaybee WIN 5 Lion"Koze Kuse" by DJ Merlon feat. Mondli Ngcobo RISK 6 Rhino"Diamonds" by Rihanna WIN
Week 12 (19 August) Semi-Final + Performances on the twelfth episode # Stage name Song Identity Result 1 Lollipop"If I Were a Boy" by Beyoncé SAFE 2 Rhino"All of Me" by John Legend SAFE 3 Tree"Abo Mvelo" by Daliwonga feat. Mellow & Sleazy SAFE 4 Fox"Phakade Lami" by Nomfundo Moh feat. Sha Sha & Ami Faku Zikhona Sodlaka OUT 5 Lion"U Mama" by Sjava SAFE
Week 13 (26 August) Finale Guest Mask: Mpho Popps as "Pangolin" + Performances on the thirteenth episode # Stage name Song Identity Result 1 Rhino"No Air" by Jordin Sparks feat. Chris Brown WIN 2 Tree"Knock You Down" by Keri Hilson feat. Ne-Yo & Kanye West Maps Maponyane THIRD 3 Lollipop"Treasure" by Bruno Mars WIN 4 Lion"U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer Abdul Khoza FOURTH Sing-Off 1 Rhino "Baby" by Justin Bieber feat. Ludacris Kurt Darren RUNNER-UP 2 Lollipop Holly Rey WINNER
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