Masked singing shows such as “The Masked Singer” have grown popular all around the world. Why? There’s universality in its simplicity.
“Since Korea has been leading that trend, we’ve continued to create music entertainment with guessing game elements,” said Kim Il Joong from FormatEast at the Variety Streaming Room presented by KOCCA. FormatEast is a subsidiary of SBS, a private broadcasting company in Korea, focused on researching, developing and distributing formats.
Recently, the company developed a new game show called “DNA Singer,” a show that utilizes the trend of adding guessing game elements to music entertainment. Joong spoke to why he believes shows in this format are so successful.
“We created the format with this key point of interest: Do people who share the DNA of famous celebrities, especially singers, also share the gene of being a good singer?” asked Joong. “We’ve pitched this to many formats and production companies across the world, and it never takes longer than a minute for them to understand this concept. We take pride in how easy it is to understand this format and generate interest.”
A key element of a successful masked singing show is getting the casting right. Already in the middle of production, Joong and his team have created a list of about 100 celebrities in Korea and are reaching out to them one by one. The secret to this format’s success however truly lies in its universality in simplicity.
“Personally, I’ve realized that in order to sell Korean content in the global market, the concept itself must be universal, intuitive and high-concept, but the content relaying that concept must be incredibly simple,” said Joong. “Like the simple games in ‘Squid Game,’ the content itself must be entertaining, and we’ve experienced that it’s an effective strategy in the global market.”