Jonathan Ross on The Masked Singer: Simon Cowell will think "wow, what a great show"
The new singing show launches in the UK only shortly after The X Factor: Celebrity flopped
It looks set to be one of the most bizarre shows we’ve ever seen on British television (and that’s truly saying something) with The Masked Singer set to hit UK screens on 4thJanuary.
Already a hit in Korea, America and Australia, the gaudy game show puts a spin on the established singing contest genre by adding a unique sleuthing twist.
With our 12 celebrities donning a series of outlandish disguises as they belt out a number of hits, the aim of the game is guessing who is behind each mask.
And it’s The Masked Singer’s very original format which will have Simon Cowell ‘kicking himself’, claimed panellist Jonathan Ross, with the show airing on ITV just weeks after his Cowell’s new X Factor spin-off’s, X Factor: Celebrity and X Factor: The Band, failed to draw in big audiences.
“This is a great idea for a show,” he told RadioTimes.com and other journalists at The Masked Singer press launch. “When you see it written down on paper, you think this isn’t necessarily going to work, but when you see it produced this way, the costumes are amazing, the setting is amazing, the clues are great, the way they cut to other people responding to their performance they see, their rivals, all that really works.
“I think it’s one of those formats which is super strong anyway and I suspect Simon will be thinking, wow, what a great show.”
After low ratings, The X Factor only has one guaranteed year left on its contract with ITV. It is currently unknown what form the show will return in when it hits screens in 2020.
Ross’s comments come after The Masked Singer Australia judge Dannii Minogue described the show as “the future” for talent shows.
“The Masked Singer is just so funny, it’s so much fun. It’s the most fun show to work on,” she told RadioTimes.com last year.
“It’s not been going on as long as The X Factor, but it could be the way [for talent competitions] to go.
“I think globally, there’s a lot going on in the world and in world news, and a lot of things people are finding quite scary.
“I think [The Masked Singer] is a great antidote to that, to have something super fun.”
The Masked Singer launches Saturday 4th January 2020
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