Sorry 'American Idol' fans but 'The Masked Singer' just does reality TV better (and we’ve got proof)
Over the years, gimmicks have become quite famous in reality TV shows. Since shows like 'American Idol' provide a very surface-level fulfillment of TV entertainment, over the years, shows like 'The Voice' have added various twists to the format. Be it the Blind Auditions of 'The Voice' or the Golden Buzzer of 'AGT,' the majority of these shows have an X factor that keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat waiting for the whole show to flip. That said, 'The Masked Singer' is one such show that has gained quite a lot of traction since the time it aired in 2019.
'The Masked Singer' is a reality singing competition where celebrities come to perform various songs; however, there is one catch: you can only get to hear their voice as they are disguised in costumes and masks to mask their appearance from the audience and the judges. As reported by Gold Derby, the show has had a plethora of significant guest appearances, such as by Caitlyn Jenner as Phoenix or Demi Lovato as Anonymouse. That said, there is an argument to be made about how 'The Masked Singer' is better than 'American Idol' as a reality show. First things first, 'The Masked Singer' has better songs.
While the 50-year-old songs are iconic, none of the young talent that is coming into 'American Idol' will survive in the industry by singing these golden oldies. They need to adapt to the circumstances and give them the latest pop songs, which is exactly what 'The Masked Singer' does. Copyright issues or whatever reason it might be, 'American Idol' continues to lag behind owing to its refusal to incorporate current hits. As reported by Screen Rant, "American Idol and The Masked Singer feature theme nights, but The Masked Singer has the better themes by far."
'American Idol' mostly has genre theme nights based on music genres, similar to the songs of faith and inspiration on Easter. However, 'The Masked Singer' does something quite interesting yet simple by hosting artist theme nights for artists like Elton John, ABBA, Miley Cyrus, or Queen. This is a nice way to include the classics, as the audience gets to discover the entire discography of the artist and maybe, in the process, educate themselves about the artist. 'The Masked Singer' even hosts movie-themed nights for films like 'Harry Potter', 'The Wizard of Oz', 'Ghostbusters', and even 'Shrek', for that matter. Despite having such fun theme nights, 'The Masked Singer' never repeats the same theme night, as per CinemaBlend.
'American Idol' has often faced criticism for the judges not being up to the mark; however, that is not the case with 'The Masked Singer', where judges don't critique the contestants, because that's not the point. The panelists instead try to put two and two together as they piece together the clues and the vocals of the furry contestants to determine who is actually behind the voice. 'The Masked Singer' has seemed to strike a chord with the audience, and it seemingly will continue to turn the tide of reality TV shows.