Spinach, pineapple, koesister. It sounds like an average shopping list, but these are the fantastical disguises on the new season of The Masked Singer South Africa, the uproarious, mysterious, fun-filled singing competition that recently started on SABC 2.
Just like the first two seasons, the latest one is made up of a “detective panel” that has to guess the identities of some of the country’s most famous faces trying to hide their identities while giving performances in eye-popping — and extremely cumbersome — costumes.
The Daily Dispatch was invited to a recording of one of the episodes in Johannesburg, where maintaining the contestants’ anonymity is the number one priority.
The identities of the personalities behind the masks must be shielded not only from the detectives, which this year are once again celebrity supersleuths Somizi Mhlongo, Skhumba, J’Something and Sithelo Shozi, but can also not be seen by the production crew or even each other.
Only three people know who the celebrities are and they are the producers, one of whom is Mthatha-born media entrepreneur and television and radio personality Anele Mdoda.
The secrecy is a cloak-and-dagger affair.
When one of the contestants is on the way to the bathroom, shouts of “lockdown” reverberate through the darkened studios, glittery sewing rooms and laid-back coffee lounges of the cavernous building where the show was filmed.
Doors are promptly shut, passages cleared and if you happen to be in a toilet cubicle, that is where you remain until the all-clear is announced.
Filming is drawn-out and time-consuming, but the masked singers are confined to small, curtained cubicles behind the sparkling stage where, sweaty in their hefty masks, they await their time before the cameras.
Producer Frankie du Toit said the elaborate costumes were custom-designed to match the personalities they contained.
“The celebrities pick one or two masks that resonate with them and then we go further with the design to fit with the celebrity more. So the celebrities are heavily invested in their masks.”
Du Toit said signing up A-listers for the show had become easier as the concept of the international format became familiar and once the show became a hit in SA.
“In the first season, we had to explain to everyone what The Masked Singer was because no one knew.
“Now we are very lucky because Anele or me picks up the phone and everyone says yes.
“We try to pick a wide variety of celebrities to be behind the mask and this season we have the most famous people behind the masks, and we have been flabbergasted by the kinds of people who have said yes to be on the show.
“They love to be part of The Masked Singer.”
The Safta-award-winning extravaganza, which is produced by Rose and Oaks Media for Primedia Studios, has unmasked the likes of former Miss South Africa Shudufhadzo Musida, Bafana Bafana legend Doctor Khumalo, former Springbok captain Victor Matfield, and investigative journalist Devi Sankaree Govender.
And despite its international format, licence agreements allow it to be distinctively South African.
“The Masked Singer is originally a Korean formula but they know that the format only works if we make it ours, so this season it is especially SA,” Du Toit said.
“We’ve got koesister, we’ve got pap and wors, we’ve got Ponte Tower and we’ve got protea. We’ve even got a King Pie!
“These are all unique to SA.”
Dressed in a sequin-encrusted tracksuit, flamboyant media personality Mhlongo said that given the chance he would design an over-the-top costume to mirror his bigger-than-life personality.
“Obviously, I’m attracted to anything glittery and velvety but it would also have to be something grand and elegant and whimsical.”
J’Something lifts mask on guessing game
Raised in Port Alfred, where his mother still lives, and schooled in Makhanda, musician and restaurateur J’Something considers himself to be an Eastern Caper, though he was born in Portugal.
To celebrate 15 years as lead singer of Mi Casa, he recently redid Johnny Clegg’s heart-wrenching song, Asimbonanga, with Clegg’s son, Jesse.
The Daily Dispatch caught up with him behind the scenes of The Masked Singer where he is one of the show’s distinguished detectives and asked him:
What makes ‘The Masked Singer’ more entertaining than other TV singing competitions?
It’s full of joy. There’s no drama in the show, it’s a feel-good show.
And it’s not a competition of talent, it’s more a competition of guesswork.
It feels as if you’re sitting at home together playing 30 Seconds.
It doesn’t feel like you’re watching people do something, it feels like you’re included and I think that is the big difference.
I’m not just watching and being entertained, I feel included in the show as a viewer — and as a detective! I am just so excited to partake in the game.
How difficult is it to identify contestants?
It is so difficult! To be a great detective you have to be extremely knowledgeable about everything that’s going on and who’s up to what.
It’s so tough. Like a detective, which we take seriously because it’s a game we play internally, you try and pay attention to everything, because there are clues hidden in everything, whether they’re visual clues, or the song choices or the outfits they’re wearing or the characters they have chosen.
My strategy is that I’m a musician and I know voices so I stay in my lane and I figure out that some of the masks are going to be people in my industry so I try and stay focused on that.
What was the biggest surprise reveal that you experienced on the first two seasons?
Well the biggest surprise is the unmasking. I remember last season when we had (mixed martial artist) Dricus du Plessis on the show and I thought ‘Wow, they’ve really gone out of their way to get some top-tier, well-known South African personalities.’
So that was a wild one. I didn’t guess that one. I got it completely wrong!
Are there any clues that viewers don’t see that help you to guess the identity of the celebrity behind the mask?
No. We get to see the visual clues that play on the screen and then every episode there is an additional clue that they give you along the way and then the viewer hears the person sing which we do too, and you see how the person moves, so there isn’t anything that we receive that the viewers don’t.
How does the production ensure that you never see the contestants behind the scenes?
The security around this place is crazy and always has been.
We are literally in another segment of the building. So we are not in the same place as the masks are.
There is a very strict lockdown process so if there is any time that a mask is moving they will call for a lockdown so that everybody stays in their place.
So let’s say Spinach needs to go to the bathroom, a lockdown is called and we stay in our rooms and are not allowed out.
So it’s crazy strict. I actually couldn’t believe how strict the policies are around that.
What is the most outrageous guess you’ve ever made about the identity behind a mask?
You go wild, because anything’s possible. After being a part of Season 1 and 2 and seeing who comes out of the masks, you throw out some wild guesses.
Like I thought one of them was Tyla. You guess Trevor Noah being on the show ... these are our icons and you don’t expect them to be on the show, but some of them are.
If you had to choose a mask for your own identity, what would it be?
I’ve thought about this. I would love to be a rooster because I was born in Portugal and the national bird is a rooster. I think it would be cool. Plus I love chicken!
After all your time on the show, what do you think it reveals about the power of music and performance to bring people together?
The show reveals one thing for me and that is that coming together around something is so powerful.
Whether you’re coming together around music at a concert or around a meal at a table, or whether you’re coming together around a screen, you are gathering.
Many people I know watch The Masked Singer together. It’s not a show you watch alone.
It’s about pulling your friends or your partner and say ‘come, let’s guess this together’, because guessing on your own isn’t that fun.
So it’s got the same power as music and food have.
It brings people together and I think that’s so important especially in today’s day and age.
* The Masked Singer SA airs on SABC 2 on Saturdays at 7pm. Rebroadcasts are on Thursdays at 9pm on SABC 1 and Fridays at 1.30pm on SABC 2.
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