If you’re like me, one “The Masked Singer” mystery has been plaguing you all season long: Is Donny Osmond the Peacock? Okay, well, maybe two mysteries. So are the celebrity contestants on Fox’s reality TV show actually singing live during their costumed performances, or are they instead lip-syncing to pre-recorded tracks? Per TV Line, executive producers Craig Plestis and Izzie Pick Ibarra have finally come clean on the answer.
“The great thing about the show is that everyone had to sing live and they only had one take each,” reveals Plestis, effectively putting an end to the season-long conspiracy theory about lip-syncing. And just as you’d expect, he adds that because designer Marina Toybina‘s costumes were so elaborate it was “really difficult designing the masks and getting that great audio level.”
Thanks in part to the fact that there were no second takes or pre-recorded lip syncs, production on this 10-episode first season absolutely flew by. Confirms Pick Ibarra, “We did it extremely quickly, in about four weeks.” So far six episodes have aired, with Episode 7 debuting tonight, Episode 8 airing February 20 and the two-hour Season 1 finale scheduled for February 27.
Of the half-dozen celebrities who’ve already unmasked to reveal their true identities, none called themselves professional singers. Three were actors/comedians: Tommy Chong (as Pineapple), Margaret Cho (as Poodle) and Tori Spelling (as Unicorn). Two hailed from the world of sports: Pittsburgh Steelers football player Antonio Brown (as Hippo) and NFL personality Terry Bradshaw (as Deer). Finally, there was talk show host Ricki Lake (as Raven).
Knowing now that all of these contestants from different fields were singing live underneath their extravagant costumes, that makes their work on the show all the more impressive. Tune in Wednesday on Fox as the six remaining celebs — Alien, Bee, Lion, Monster, Peacock and Rabbit — come together for the first time as a group to sing [live] in the hopes of staying in the competition.
Be sure to make your predictions to influence our reality TV racetrack odds. You can keep changing your predictions until just before the next episode airs on Fox. You’ll compete to win a spot on our leaderboard and eternal bragging rights. See our contest rules and sound off with other fans in our reality TV forum. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s newsletter with experts’ latest predictions
