TV critics says ‘The Masked Singer’ shows why ‘American Idol’ isn’t interesting anymore

Mar 27, 2019

By Herb Scribner

TV critic Maria Sherman wrote Monday that “American Idol” just isn’t as good as “The Masked Singer.”

“American Idol” has been running through its 17th season over the past few weeks. But it has seen ratings decline, which isn’t surprising when you see a show like “The Masked Singer” have so much success, according to Sherman, who writes for The Muse, a vertical of Jezebel.

“Viewers have clearly lost interest in the show, and considering that ‘The Masked Singer’ is an option stateside in 2019, it’s not all that surprising,” Sherman writes.

Sherman points to specifically to ‘N Sync star Joey Fatone, who revealed himself as the Rabbit on “The Masked Singer.” She said he had so much fun on the show that he added a tattoo of that character. She said no one on “American Idol” will want to get a tattoo of Ryan Seacrest.

Sherman writes that “The Masked Singer” is far from perfect. But it does the job that “American Idol” sets out to do.

“‘The Masked Singer’ offers nothing but mindless joy and a secretion of dopamine, with the added benefit of absurdity,” she writes. “That’s what viewers deserve from their singing shows in the modern age: absolute madness. That, and AutoTune. Not a poorly aging, uninteresting 17th season of ‘American Idol.’”

Context: “The Masked Singer” had its season finale a few weeks back with T-Pain winning the show and revealing himself to be The Monster. Utah icon Donny Osmond revealed himself to be The Peacock on the show, and Gladys Knight revealed herself to be the Bee.

Bigger picture: The show has been criticized for being a bit absurd. T-Pain even called it the stupidest things he ever heard of before he signed on for the show.

The New Yorker’s Emily Nussbaum explained that “The Masked Singer” has a unique and fresh take on the reality TV show genre, which makes it a better experience than your run-of-the-mill competition show.

“One of reality TV’s most impressive, and underpraised, achievements has been its ability to find ultra-talented nobodies, like Kelly Clarkson, and reveal that they’re secretly stars. ‘The Masked Singer’ is a pleasantly goofy, undemanding diversion, but too often it does the opposite: it makes you miss the mask.”