The Masked Singer South Africa is finally here and brought to us by none other than celebrated broadcaster Anele Mdoda and her business partners Frankie Du Toit and Paul Bys.

Hosted by comedian Mpho Popps, the show is promising to be one you will hate to miss.

Yesterday, the trio in partnership with Primedia and SABC invited the media and celebrities to the official launch of the show and of course the recoding of the semi final where four singers get to battle it out. We got to see the show’s detectives, Sithelo Shozi who is known for her beauty on social media, her high fashion, quirky sense of humour and extravagant lifestyle. She is breath of fresh air and brings so much to the show in terms of her knowledge of the industry and personality. Next to her is comedian and radio host Skhumba Hlophe whom Mpho Popps regards as the second best comedian on the show (after him).

Somizi is one of the detectives and yes he brings the humour, big English and of course the looks! Somizi is friends with every big celebrity, let’s hope his friends don’t fool him on this show and he can easily identify them.

To complete the panel is MiCasa’s front man, J Something who not only looks delicious but brings a wealth of knowledge as a musician himself and also having mingled and seen a lot of his colleagues, his guesses may just be right.

The event was attended by some of the industry’s darlings, the likes of Zanele Potelwa from 5FM, TV personality Candice Modiselle, singer Buhlebendalo, Former Miss SA Shudufadzo Musida, DJ Sabby from Metro FM among others.

About the show: Celebrated personalities and entertainment superstars sing well known songs while bejewelled in full body costumes and masks, to hide their identities. The flamboyant masks and costumes have a personality of their own, and invite as much commentary as the performances themselves do. A celebrity panel of detectives must guess who is behind the mask. The studio audience is a rich component of the show, voting together with the celebrity detectives for their favourite performance.

The least popular performers are eliminated, but not before she or he removes costume and mask to reveal their true identity. “Take it off”, “Take it off”, roars the audience, along with the judges, in an electric atmosphere, followed by shrieks of surprise and delight as the celebrity is unmasked.
And now a trinity of media players in South Africa, is bringing this showbiz glitz to television screens across the nation. The SABC, Primedia, and Anele Mdoda’s production company, Rose and Oaks, have teamed together to develop and broadcast a local version of The Masked Singer to the nation’s ready audience.

The SABC Head of Local Productions, Lala Tuku speaks with exhilaration about the show, “for years now, we have been wanting to offer this show to our audiences – it is one of the hottest reality show properties in the world and now at last South Africa will have its very own version. This thanks to the collaboration of SABC, Primedia and Rose and Oaks Media. Our audiences are in for a real treat. The show is an entertainment festival, with its magical music, wizardly of masks, and splendour of costumes. This is the biggest musical mystery show on the planet and for our local audiences.

Anele Mdoda and her partners, Paul Buys and Frankie Du Toit, are ready to fire up the media and entertainment industry as their production company, Rose and Oaks, sets its sights on licensing top international programming for local audiences, and on creating new formats that can be sold internationally. Mdoda says “The Masked Singer is the new wave of music shows that has had viewers across the world enthralled for the last three decades. We remember how The Shell Road To Fame show in South Africa many years ago got families sitting together to back their favourites. The Masked Singer is the new generation of singing shows and I am certain South African audiences will embrace this show with the same passion and intensity that they did the earlier generation singing competition shows ”.

Anele Mdoda is not only excited about the high family entertainment value of the show – “it’s what we need right now on our screens” but also about the positive impact on the industry. “It is a boost for the industry, the return of hype. We also have many interns on the team and are opening up much needed opportunities for creatives, dancers, singers, as well as production and technical professionals”.

The Masked Singer South Africa launches in the second quarter of 2023 as a weekly show on SABC 3 and on SABC 1.

At last, South African viewers will have access to their own version of the entertainment worlds’ most exciting guessing game. The Masked Singer South Africa is all set and ready to enchant young and old, dreamer and sceptic.

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