Masked singer vies for 10th straight win
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The masked singer of his stage name “Our Neighborhood Music General” performs on “King of Mask Singer” on May 22. / Courtesy of MBC
By Kim Jae-heun
The reigning champion of the singing competition series “Mystery Music Show: King of Mask Singer,” known by his stage name “Our Neighborhood Music General” is vying for his 10th straight win next week amid audience expectations that the masked singer is unrivaled.
“If I knew I would come this far, I should have bought my own costume,” said the masked Music General in response to a question from the judging panel asking his feelings ahead of his shot at a 10th consecutive win. “I borrow my clothes every time and the weather is getting hot,” he said. “I will not cling to the results of the competition and try my best to give joy and happiness to the audience.”
According to the rules of the singing program, the participants wear elaborate masks to hide their faces throughout the episodes until they are eliminated. It aims to square singers off against each other on equal footing by removing confounding factors, such as popularity, career or age, which might prejudice audiences in live voting.
The Music General first appeared in the 43rd episode of the competition show, which aired on Jan. 24. He is still unknown but many predict that the singer is Ha Hyeon-woo from indie rock band Guckkasten.
In the 60th episode aired May 22, the champion defeated his challenger with singer Sim Soo-bong’s hit song “1 Million Roses,” securing his ninth win. After the show, his stage video was posted online, tallying over a million views in 20 hours. Last week’s episode drew eight masked singers competing with each other to challenge the Music General in the upcoming final round. Four out of eight of the eliminated participants included actors Kang Ji-sub, Seo Shin-ae, Apink’s Yoon Bo-mi and Yoon Hong-hyun of boy band Big Brain.
Every competition consists of two sections. Four challengers are eliminated in the first part in one-on-one battles. In the first round, two contestants perform with the same song on stage together while they sing solo in the second and third rounds.
The live audience and judging panel vote for the winner right after the stage performance. In the end, the winner of the third round grasps the chance to challenge the previous competition’s Mask King, who has been the undefeated Music General so far.
Before the reigning champion, musical actress Cha Ji-yeon held the title of the most wins with five with the stage name “Amazon Cat-Girl,” followed by the popular singers Gummy and Kim Yeon-woo with four consecutive wins each. Kim’s stage name was CBR Cleopatra and Gummy’s was Young and Innocent Cosmos and they each ruled supreme in the 25th to 32nd episodes and 7th to 14th episodes, respectively.
The singing competition first began as a pilot program on MBC Sunday Night on April 5 last year. Solji of K-pop girl band EXID was the first champion to win the contest.
The television show currently records a 13.5 percent viewership, according to Nielson Korea, and stands fifth in overall ranking.
The Music General’s defending champion stage performance to secure his 10th consecutive win will air on Sunday.