You’re sitting on your couch rocking out to the latest wild and wacky performance on “The Masked Singer” when you feel the urge to vote for your favorite fruit/animal/monster. They’re so good, they just have to survive the next elimination! Strangely, host Nick Cannon never reads off a phone number for you to call or text, and he doesn’t provide a voting app, so you start scratching your head in confusion. How do you vote for “The Masked Singer,” and how does the voting process work anyway?
It’s simple, really. Since “The Masked Singer” is a pre-taped reality TV show (meaning not filmed live week to week), viewers at home have absolutely no say in who’s eliminated and who ultimately wins. Womp womp.
SEE Are ‘The Masked Singer’ celebrity contestants lip-syncing or singing live?
Instead, voting for this popular series is done entirely on the spot via electronic keypads. The in-studio audience votes for their favorite performance of the night, and their tallies are added to those from the panel of super sleuths: Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger and Ken Jeong. The costumed celebrity with the lowest number of votes is then forced to unmask in front of America and reveal their true identity, while all of the safe contestants advance to the next round.
Does this voting process sound familiar? Think “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” That family show burst onto the scene in 1989 and tasked its studio audience with using electronic keypads to vote for their favorite video of the night. It’s not rocket science, but it works.
Other reality TV shows like “American Idol,” “The Voice” and “Dancing with the Stars” that air live have the ability to empower viewers at home into engaging with the content by voting in droves. But in the case of “The Masked Singer,” it was filmed in advance so fans can only watch as the audience members and judges control the narrative each week.
Last year we urged the Fox network to produce live episodes as a way of letting people at home have a say in the outcome. In addition, live shows would prevent “The Masked Singer” spoilers from leaking out since everyone would be finding out the celebs’ identities at the same time. Maybe next year?
So far the “Masked Singer” voting process has resulted in two fan-favorites winning the Golden Mask: T-Pain (Monster) in Season 1 and Wayne Brady (Fox) in Season 2. The current third season has whittled down its list of aspiring celeb-contestants to eight: Night Angel, Kitty, Turtle, Frog, Kangaroo, Rhino, Banana and Astronaut. Who will join “The Masked Singer” winners list from this group?
SEE exclusive predictions: Who will win ‘The Masked Singer’?
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 Season 3 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.
