Late To The Party: The Masked Singer

Do you ever stumble upon a piece of media and wonder, “How has this not been in my life before now?” Every Friday, I will be bringing my belated discoveries to you. The Masked Singer on Fox is my first belated discovery. (Is three episodes into a series actually belated? The world may never know.)
This show is the definition of fascinating. It is based on a South Korean show (because all of the best competition shows were originally from Asia) called "The King of Mask Singer." The Masked Singer is a wild (literally) singing competition with a major twist. Hosted by Nick Cannon, celebrities perform a song every week in elaborate animal costumes that hide their identities. Each contestant takes on an animal persona (like I said, literally wild) and provides clues (with distorted voices) about who they are in a video before each performance. A panel of judges (along with the studio audience) votes for their favorites and tries to guess the identity of the singers. Each episode, the singer with the fewest votes is eliminated and must take off their mask. This happens while the audience yells, "Take it off!" in a strangely mob-like manner. Possible identities range from actors, singers, and athletes.
This is a truly captivating show. The mystery of the contestants' identities adds a layer of interest that other singing competitions do not have. When a singer is good (and there are several fantastic singers on this show), you think, "This is great! I wonder who it is." When a singer is not so good (those exist here as well), you think, "This is bad. I wonder who it is." None of the singers are altogether terrible. This show doesn't bask in the schadenfreude that other singing competitions often do (i.e. American Idol, America's Got Talent, etc.) The judges do point out when a singer isn't the best, often saying, "That sounds like an athlete," but it's a fairly positive show, focusing more on the identities.
Speaking of the judges, the panel isn't entirely necessary, but there is certainly an interesting range of celebrities in the group. The panel consists of Nicole Scherzinger (if she wasn't one of the judges, I would think that she is Lion), Robin Thicke (why are we giving him jobs?), Ken Jeong (an interesting but fun addition), and Jenny McCarthy Walhberg (why?). Joel McHale is serving as a guest judge for a few episodes and definitely adds a reality check, often repeating that this is the strangest thing he's ever seen. Even after only three episodes, the panelists already have their own recurring characteristics. Ken Jeong's guesses are usually jokes, Robin Thicke always insists the he knows the voice, and Nicole Scherzinger doesn't believe that anyone is a professional singer.
The contestants at the beginning of the season were: Alien, Bee, Lion, Monster, Peacock, Poodle, Rabbit, Raven, Unicorn, Deer, Pineapple, and Hippo. The last three have all been eliminated. I will let you find out who they are on your own, but two of them are athletes and one is a comedian. My favorites so far are Lion, Monster, and Bee (who let slip that she has been singing since the '50s!), with honorable mentions to Raven and Poodle.
I know that we're all burnt out on singing competitions, but do yourself a favor and let yourself feel joy and wonder for an hour every week. Watch on Fox (or Hulu like I do), Wednesdays at 9/8c.
P.S. - I also would suggest not making the mistake that I did by looking up theories about the contestants' identities. I disagree with some, but it was definitely more fun trying to figure it out on my own.