In this article, we’re going to take a look at Jihyo’s performance on MBC’s ‘King Of Masked Singer‘ and how her golden voice left the viewers and panelists alike amazed.
About The Show
King Of Masked Singer (미스터리 음악쇼 복면가왕) is also known by the title Mystery Music Show: Masked Singer’s King and was aired on MBC TV every Sunday at 16:50 KST. The show is a singing competition program in South Korea that revealed its guest stars wearing a mask, and each set of masked singers would compete against each other for two episodes. The masks that the singers wear are made by the designer Hwang Jae-geun, to hide their real identities. The format for King Of Masked Singer has two sessions. In the first session, the singers perform the same song together, and in the second session, the singers had to sing a solo song. The winner is chosen by an instant live vote from the audience and celebrity panelists. The contestants can’t reveal their identity and take off their masks unless they are eliminated or become the new Mask King.
First Battle
TWICE’s Jihyo was a contestant of King Of Masked Singer‘s 35th Generation Mask King and appeared on the Episode 69 broadcast on July 24, 2016. The mask she wore was called “You Hold Me, Little Ghost”. On her first appearance on stage, Jihyo was already wearing her mask and walked to the stage wearing a red robe with a bodyguard by her side. The panelists who saw her immediately remarked that she was so cute. Once the contestants were on the stage, Jihyo had a chance to sing a song with her opponent, SEVENTEEN’s DK, performing Dream, a duet song from Suzy and EXO’s Baekhyun. The panelists kept commenting that the two contestants were so cute as they started to sing the song.
Jihyo sang in a romantic voice which was a far cry from her scary-but-cute “You Hold Me, Little Ghost” mask, and her voice was very clear and beautiful.
Comments From The Panelists
After the contestant’s first performance together, Kangnam, as a panelist, commented that her moves looked old, but as soon as Jihyo started to sing, he approved of her sweet, beautiful voice. Another panelist also commented that Jihyo and SEVENTEEN’s DK’s performance while singing together was so cute. Oh My Girl’s YooA who was one of the panelists that day, agreed that their voices were really nice, and the other panelist who was sitting next to her agreed. After Jihyo and DK performed the song together, the legendary MC and Gag Man, Kim Gura, also commented that they sing very well, along with another panelist’s comment saying that they were very pretty. The panelists were also saying that they should collaborate together to release an album since their voices were really unique and beautiful.
The soft tones of the two masked singer were a perfect match for each other and became the sweetest harmony that they could perform on stage. One of the panelist, Young Seok, said that it was just like watching a romantic French movie when they sang together. Both of the singers are very cute and Young Seok commented that Jihyo voice sounded perfect for a lotion commercial for teenage girls, since she has a very fresh tone. The other panelist, Cho Jang-suk, said that he got the impression that they were still very young and commented about their soft voices when they sang. He also said that their voices were really strong and it was really hard to sing perfectly without ever being off-tune, so their voices are really well trained. It was really surprising that they could sing in such way. Kim Gura also added the comment that they may have surpassed the original singer, Suzy and EXO’s Baekhyun. Kim Gura explained that a more specific hint about the two masked singers was that when they entered the stage, they bowed at 90º, but he was certain that they were idols. The other panelist, Han Dong-geun, commented that he used to give lessons to SEVENTEEN’s members when they came out to this show, and they should give a hint with a special talent. He almost guessed that DK was one of the members of SEVENTEEN. In the other panelist’s, EXID’s Jeonghwa, opinion, she thought that the “You Hold Me, Little Ghost” mask was a member of a girl-group, since she acted so cute from the beginning, but as soon as she heard her voice, Jeonghwa changed her mind and thought that she wasn’t a girl-group member, after all. Another panelist, Shin Bong-sun, commented that her looks showed her to be an older singer who was already in her 30s, based on how her shoulders looked. She compared how Jihyo looked compared with Oh My Girl’s YooA, who had a slimmer figure from her shoulders.
Second Songs
Although she couldn’t win until the second round, the panelists still couldn’t guess who she was behind her mask. The second song that she performed on ‘King of Masked Singer‘ was Like an Indian Doll, by Nami.
Her choice of song surprised everyone and she sounded much more seductive compared to her delivery in the first round. Her voice exuded a sense of ripe beauty and was so catchy that everyone really enjoyed her performance.
Revealing Behind The Mask
In the first round, Jihyo earned 48 votes and her rival earned three more votes than she did. As soon as she revealed her face to the panelists and viewers, everyone was very surprised with her appearance on the stage. Even the panelists were curious about the real identity of the singer behind the “You Hold Me, Little Ghost” mask. Soon as she revealed her face on the stage, the panelists and viewers were shocked that Jihyo, vocalist for the hottest girl-group, TWICE, was the face behind the mask. No one knew that Jihyo had such an attractive voice inside her small body, and everyone who already knew it was her, enjoyed her performance while she finished the rest of the song she brought. After she revealed her face, the MC introduced her to the panelists, saying she was born in 1997 and that her trainee period lasted for 10 years, making her a professional singer when she debuted. One of the panelist added a comment that her voice sounded very mature for her age and it was hard to believe that a 20 year old girl could be such a good singer. That’s why the panelists mostly thought that she was older. Later on, Jihyo said that it would be nice if she could have moved to the second round, but she said that she gets very anxious and nervous when she needs to perform alone on the stage. She was thankful for hearing a lot of positive responses from the panelists and planned to take the opportunity to become a better singer in the future. After her appearance on ‘King Of Masked Singer‘, the show received some criticism over panelist’s comments about Jihyo. One of the panelists commented about her looks, saying that they weren’t the right size for a girl-group member, that her shoulders looked a bit too muscular. PD Noh Shi-yong said that the comments were made because it was one of the concepts for the show that the panelists should try to guess the identity of the singer behind the mask. The producer might know about fans who felt uncomfortable about the previous comment towards Jihyo, but he promised that the production staff would prevent any similar issues in the future.
