The Masked Dancer is a spinoff of the competition series, The Masked Singer. The Masked Dancer, which premiered on December 27, follows various celebrities hidden under a costume. The judges must guess who the star is using their dancing skills and hidden clues. Every episode, a contestant is voted off and must be unmasked, revealing the celebrity’s identity. The last person standing masked at the end of the season will be crowned the winner.
The show is hosted by actor and comedian Craig Robinson, with a panel of judges that include Ken Jeong, Paula Abdul, Brian Austin Green, and Ashley Tisdale. Ten contestants are competing in the dancing series. Some of this season’s costumes include Cricket, Tulip, Hammerhead, Exotic Bird, and more.
The Masked Dancer was first introduced as a segment on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show in 2019. She created the part of her talk show as a spoof of The Masked Singer. However, Craig Plestis, the executive producer for both The Masked Singer and Dancer, stated that the dancing series’s idea did not come from Ellen. According to the New York Post, Plestis stated, “We talked about it a little bit before the Ellen show. But when Ellen did it, it was proof of concept.”
The Masked Singer
The Masked Dancer follows the same premise as its sister show, The Masked Singer. The Masked Singer premiered in 2019 and follows a wide range of hidden celebrities under elaborate costumes. The singing competition show is hosted by Nick Cannon and has a judging panel consisting of Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger, and Robin Thicke.
The two competition shows are nearly identical, except one involves singing while the other involves dancing. Another small difference the shows have is how the singing version has the men in black, while the dancing version has the women in black. Other than a few small differences, the shows are identical. Both shows even have Ken Jeong as a judge.
The Masked Singer is a franchise that began in South Korea and made its way over to America. There are elaborate, over the top costumes like Baby Alien, Broccoli, Mushroom, Jellyfish, and more every season. The winners from the past four seasons include T-Pain as the Monster, Wayne Brady as Fox, Kandi Burruss as Night Angel, and LeAnn Rimes as Sun.
The Masked Dancer Judges
This season on the dancing show, there are four judges, Ken Jeong, Paula Abdul, Brian Austin Green, and Ashley Tisdale. All four are celebrities known for their various talents. Ken Jeong is the only one who judges both The Masked Singer and Dancer. He is a comedian known for his role in The Hangover film series and other infamous comedies.
Paula Abdul is a singer and dancer known for her songs like Straight Up and Ain’t Never Gonna Give You Up. She was also a famous judge on the singing competition show, American Idol. She has also appeared as a judge on The X Factor, Live to Dance, and So You Think You Can Dance. Therefore, she has experience being a judge on a television show, which makes her more than qualified to judge The Masked Dancer.
Brian Austin Green is an actor who is best known for his role in the Beverly Hills, 90210 series. He also has experience with The Masked series since he competed as Giraffe on The Masked Singer’s latest season. Green was eliminated on the third episode, making him the third celebrity to go home. However, he was a good sport and stated the COVID-19 Pandemic motivated him to participate in the show since staying at home was driving him crazy.
Ashley Tisdale is an actress and singer known for her roles on Disney Channel. She played Maddie Fitzpatrick on Disney’s Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Sharpay Evans in the High School Musical film series. She married composer Christopher French in 2014 and is currently pregnant with their first child.
The Masked Dancer Contestants
Ten celebrities are competing in The Masked Dancer. They are split into two groups, Group A and Group B. Viewers watched Group A and made their best guesses on December 27. Group B will take the stage on the second episode of the series airing on January 6.
Group A includes Hammerhead, Tulip, Cricket, Disco Ball, and Exotic Bird. Group B includes Zebra, Ice Cube, Moth, Cotton Candy, and Sloth. While viewers have not seen Group B perform yet, the internet had many guesses for Group A. The guesses ranged from Millie Bobby Brown to Addison Rae for Tulip and Shakira to Paris Hilton for Exotic Bird. It could be anyone under those costumes!
The first contestant eliminated from the season was Disco Ball. When unmasked, the celebrity underneath turned out to be hip-hop legend Ice-T! The rapper and actor is known for his multiple hip-hop albums and appearances in various films. He also had a reality series on E! with his wife Nicole “Coco” Austin. The series was called Ice Loves Coco and followed his relationship with his wife.
