Masked Singer Pilipinas is a Philippine reality singing competition television series broadcast on TV5 which premiered on October 24, 2020. It is an adaptation of the Masked Singer franchise and features celebrities singing covers of famous songs while wearing head-to-toe costumes and face masks that conceal their identities. Hosted by Billy Crawford, the program features several panelists who are given various clues regarding the celebrities' identities to guess who they could be after each performance. At the end of each episode, the panelists and the audience vote for their favorite singer and the least popular is eliminated, taking off their mask to reveal their identity.
The first season was won by Daryl Ong as "2-2-B", with Katrina Velarde as "Diwata" and Carlyn Ocampo as "Pusa-way" as the first and second runners-up, respectively.
A second season was announced during the final episode of The Wall Philippines and premiered on March 19, 2022.
Format
Masked Singer Pilipinas features a pre-determined number of celebrity contestants per season. In a regular episode, three to four contestants each hide behind a costume and sing a cover in front of the panelists and a virtual audience. A clue package is played before the start of a performance to provide hints to the contestant's identity. After each performance, the panelists are allowed to comment and make their guesses based on their notes from the clue package. Additionally, one pre-determined panelist may ask a question to a contestant. Once all the celebrities for the episode have performed, the audience and the panelists vote for their favorite singer. The panelists' and the audience members' votes are worth 50 percent each and combined to form a score. The contestant with the least score takes off their mask and reveal their identity. The elimination continues every episode until three singers are left in the season finale to compete for the "Golden Mask" trophy. The unmasked celebrity sings once more at the end of the episode.
Season 1
In the first round called "Face-off", four contestants are grouped into pairs. In each pair, contestants perform separately after the other. After each pair, the audience members and panelists vote for their favorite contestant. The one with the highest combined votes wins the face-off and proceeds to the next round. The losing contestant becomes at risk of elimination. One final vote is done to determine who is saved from the two contestants at risk. The contestant with the lower votes is eliminated and unmasked.
The second and third rounds are called "War of Three" and "War of Three: Level Up". In these rounds, the remaining masked singers are assigned into groups of three. After all three performances, the contestant with the lowest vote is eliminated and unmasked. The winners of the third round proceed to the finale.
The three remaining contestants perform for the final time in "The Final Battle". After the performances, a vote for the winner is done. The contestants are unmasked starting with the one with the lowest votes. The winner receives the "Golden Mask" trophy.
Season 2
For the second season, the "Face-off" round was replaced with the "Battle of Four". In the new first round, the 16 contestants are divided into four groups. One group performs each week. In each group, contestants perform separately after the other. After the entire group has performed, the audience members and panelists vote for their favorite contestant. The one with the lowest combined votes is eliminated and unmasked.
The twelve remaining contestants proceed to the "Battle of Four: Level Up" where they are divided again into three groups. The same voting mechanics are used to determine the contestants proceeding to the next round.
In the third round, the nine winning contestants from the previous round are regrouped for the "War of Three". After all three performances in each group, the contestant with the lowest vote is eliminated and unmasked. The two winners from each group proceed to the semifinals.
In the two-round semifinals, all six remaining contestants perform. The five contestants with the highest votes proceed to the second round of the semifinals wherein only four masked singers proceed to the finals.
After the performances, the audience and the judges vote for the winner. The contestants are unmasked starting with the one with the lowest votes. The winner receives the "Golden Mask" trophy.