Vocal carnival: the premiere of the show "Mask" took place on Russian television

On March 1, the NTV channel premiered the show "Mask". This is an unusual vocal competition where professional musicians as well as athletes, showmen, comedians and many other famous personalities perform.

The intrigue lies in the fact that the performers go on stage in costumes that do not allow them to be recognized: the identities of the contestants will become known as they leave the competition.

The victory or defeat of the participants is determined by the vote of both the spectators in the hall and the jury. First, the project audience selects three nominees (candidates for elimination), then “saves” one of them, and the fate of the remaining two will be decided by professional judges.

According to the producer of the show, Timur Weinstein, the project involved more than a hundred security guards who make sure that the participants are not declassified, and the speakers themselves cannot talk about their participation in the show even to relatives.

The host of the project was a comedian, a player in KVN Vyacheslav Makarov. The jury consisted of singers and showmen - Philip Kirkorov, Garik Martirosyan, Regina Todorenko, Valeria and Timur Rodriguez.

The show was opened by a participant in the image of an ice cream with the song “Traffic Light”. According to the jury, it could be Stanislav Kostyushkin or another performer over 40 years old. It is interesting that after speaking with the contestants you can talk, but their voices are significantly distorted, and answering the questions, each of them remains in the image and does not give any clues.

The second contestant is hiding under the mask of a lion. He sang the song Chandelier. Traveler Regina Todorenko suggested that it could be British singer Sam Smith, but it turned out that the artist knows Russian well.

The remaining members of the jury put forward many versions: among them were Alexei Chumakov, Nikita Presnyakov, Emin Agalarov, Vlad Topalov. “Something tells me that a man came in his own way,” suggested Garik Martirosyan. Guesses immediately appeared that under the mask one of the Zapashny brothers or Nikolai Tsiskaridze.

Next on stage was a participant in a spider costume with the song “Tu-Lou-La”. The features of Sati Casanova, Julianna Karaulova and even Svetlana Khodchenkova were found in it.

The performance of the elephant caused fewer versions: the jury named the names of Grigory Leps, Pierre Narcissus and Alexander Marshall.

An especially lively reaction is the appearance of eggs on the stage - Garik Martirosyan and Philip Kirkorov immediately discussed health problems. The participant performed the song Verka Serduchka "Good."

The judges agreed that the costume was not a professional singer - for example, producer Joseph Prigozhin (however, Valeria noticed that she would recognize her husband's timbre) or businessman Potanin. Also proposed were Valentin Strykalo and Alexander Oleshko.

Garik Martirosyan christened the man in the suit of the robot the “classmate of Darth Vader.” The image surprised the jury even more when it became clear that the singer owns academic vocals - she performed a fragment from Bizet's opera Carmen. Timur Rodriguez suggested that this artist acts in different genres. According to his colleagues, it could be Anastasia Makeeva, Anastasia Stotskaya or Anna Netrebko.

The performer in the parrot costume, who performed the song Lambada, told the audience that she "fluttered out of the cage and soared into the sky", and also loves everything fashionable. Before the performance, the jury was inclined to the version that was in the costume of Natasha Korolev.

"This is a parrot of the highest qualification!" - noted Kirkorov, listening to the song. The timbre of the singer reminded the judges of the voices of Elena Vorobey, Anita Tsoi and Jasmine.

The image of a deer caused the most controversy: even when the participant began to sing, the jury did not immediately guess whether it was a woman or a man. However, Valeria and Regina Todorenko soon firmly decided that Larisa Dolina was wearing a mask. However, they also speculated that in the costume of Lolita or Taisia ​​Povalius.

According to the jury, Natalya Vetlitsaya, Nadezhda Kadysheva, Sofia Rotaru or even the ballet dancer Svetlana Zakharova could act as a cloud with the song “On the Titanic”. However, during the conversation, the judges changed their minds: it seemed to them that the cloud could be Elena Malysheva, Zhanna Aguzarova or Elizaveta Boyarskaya.

The performance of the participant in a panda costume with the composition Perfect (known by Ed Sheeran) made Regina Todorenko cry. “This song plunged me into very vivid memories,” the host admitted. It turned out that Todorenko danced under her at her wedding with her husband Vlad Topalov.

Therefore, many members of the jury decided that the panda is the ex-member of Smash !!. They did not rule out the candidacy of Sergei Lazarev, as well as Dima Bilan.

The chameleon, who sang the hit of Alexander Revva “Hooked”, reminded the judges of the politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky and the leading weather forecast Alexander Belyaev - however, in any case, not a professional vocalist.

The wolf admitted that he “lived in a pack” and, recently, does not like fat. Philip Kirkorov hastened to assure his colleagues that he recognized Anita Tsoi by gait. The singer also proposed his own candidacy for the presidency of the jury (believing that he had guessed the identities of many participants).

Ice cream became the first nominee. Among the second four vocalists, the robot received a nomination. The last candidate to drop out was a chameleon.

The audience “saved” the robot, and Valeria, Philip Kirkorov and Timur Rodriguez decided to reveal the identity of the chameleon. The latter guessed who was hiding behind a mask - the host of the “You're Super!” Program Vadim Takmenev.

The first vocal competition in this format appeared in 2015 in South Korea. The show, dubbed The King of Mask Singer, is broadcast on MBC as part of the popular Sunday Night program.

Unlike the Russian version of the project, the original competition consists of three stages: on the first, two contestants perform the same song, and on the second and third perform with different solo numbers.

Masks that completely hide the appearance and any distinctive features, created by the South Korean couturier Hwang Zhe Geun. Thanks to this technique, jury members and spectators can objectively evaluate the vocal abilities of performers.

Launched five years ago, the show quickly became popular in the country and still stably shows high ratings. At the moment, more than 240 issues of the program have been released. In addition, the format has been sold to over 50 countries. In 20 of them, adapted versions have already been released, having won more than half a billion fans in total.

One of the most popular adaptations of The King of Mask Singer is the American The Masked Singer, released in January 2019 on the Fox channel. The program showed the highest rating since The X Factor: 9.4 million viewers watched the first episode of the music show.

During the year, more than 20 episodes were released, each of which consistently attracted about 10 million people. Among the participants are rapper T-Pain, singer Gladys Knight, actress Tori Spelling, football player Terry Bradshaw, basketball player Victor Oladipo, singer Kelly Osbourne, boxer Leyla Ali and others.