The Masked Singer (Belgian TV series)

The studio audience could vote for the best performance, giving this singer a pass for the next round.

The singers didn't wear masks only but specially made costumes that hide their faces and bodies completely.

The judges and the home audience had to guess the true identity of the masked singers.

Throughout the series, they got clues of the identity by the hints the singer gave during the pretaped mini-movies or after his performance.

A channel pays the rights holder about 5 percent of their local production budget to purchase the format.

[16] The production was commended by The Economic Times for the set design and the clever use of lighting to give the impression there was a bigger audience.

After seeing the South-Korean format, the production knew that the costumes had to be high level to make the concept work in Flanders.

[20] The costumes are made by Alexandra Brandner in Germany and the masks by Marianne Meinl in Austria.

The temperature inside the costume of Cyclops was measured 56 degrees Celsius one time and the head only of Red Deer weighed 10 kg.

[28] The limited visibility due to the costumes became apparent when Foxy Lady almost fell off a stage.

[31] Winner was 11-year-old Fiona with her costume Mister Withlove, based on the typical Belgian green chicory, called "witloof" in Dutch.

Only 8 people knew the identity of the participants in advance: the executives of VTM, the singing and dancing coaches and directors of the series.

Contestants had to get permission of the production team if they needed to inform their partner, family or children.

VTM also asked the press not to leak any information about the identity of the participants if something was discovered.

During their arrival and exit at the recording studios the singers wear concealing black clothes, including the hoodie with the message "Don't talk to me" and masks.

The contestants were brought with anonymous cars to the recording studios and had to put their personal belongings in a black bag.

During rehearsals contestants had to use sign language or a chalk board to communicate with the crew because it was forbidden to use their real talking voice.

For the second season the departure of the singers was strictly organised since people already knew the show and were more attentive.

[39] By the end of January 2020 Jens Dendoncker and Karen Damen were announced as members of the panel.

These guest judges were Sean Dhondt, Leen Dendievel, Guga Baúl, Ingeborg, Laura Tesoro, Vincent Banić, and Lize Feryn.

Julie Van den Steen, Kevin Janssens and Andy Peelman returned as judges.

Participants of the second season, Tine Embrechts and Bart Cannaerts were added to the judge panel.

[52] The final established a record with more than 2 million viewers, the highest rating for VTM in 20 years.

Channel manager Janssen and creative director Parmentier called it an unseen start.

Executive producers pointed three reasons for its popularity: it's one of the little programs that can be watched by the whole family together, the excitement and curiosity about who's behind the masks and the visual attractive show with eyecatching costumes, popular music and beautiful staging.

Commenters pointed out their return was fixed and the voting was pointless, since the season was recorded months before the broadcast.

[66] The unmasking of party chairman Conner Rousseau also sparked the question if an important politician should participate at an entertainment show.

On 4 November De Geheimen achter The Masked Singer aired on VTM.

Also appearing for the first time was a masked guest singer, Mysterium, who was unmasked during the concert.

[81] Hoodies using the show's branding were purchasable on the aligned newspaper online store since the first season.