Presented with a group of "mystery singers" identified only by their occupation, a guest artist and contestants must attempt to eliminate bad singers from the group without ever hearing them sing, assisted by clues and a celebrity panel over the course of several rounds. At the end of the game, the last remaining mystery singer is revealed as either good or bad by means of a duet between them and one of the guest artists.[a]
Rewards
If the singer is good, the contestants win £10,000; if the singer is bad, the same amount is given to the bad singer instead.
Rounds
Visual round
First Impressions
The guest artist and contestants are given some time to observe and examine each mystery singer based on their appearance.[b]
Lip sync round
Lip Sync Challenge
Each mystery singer performs a lip sync to a song. Good singers mime to a recording of their own performance, while bad singers mime to a recording by someone else.[b][c]
Evidence rounds
Unlock my Life
The guest artist and contestants are presented with a video package in which one of the mystery singers discusses their life and musical qualifications.[b][c]
Home Truths
The guest artist and contestants "tour" one of the remaining mystery singer's homes for clues (which may include red herrings) for 60 seconds.[c]
Interrogation round
Interrogation
The guest artist and contestants must choose one mystery singer to question with. The host is given a list of 15 questions shown on the screen and the artist can ask any of 15 questions within the 30 second time limit.[b][c]
Notes:
^For the show's gameplay changes, based on playing time of an episode:[3]
The number of mystery singers are set to six, with a group of two contestants.
An earlier report from CJ ENM during broadcasts for the recently aired (South Korean) sixth season of I Can See Your Voice in March 2019 reveals that the said company has been formally announced for developing a local adaptation in the United Kingdom,[4] which would subsequently confirm by the BBC in July 2020.[5] It is co-produced by Naked and Thames (which are both companies by Fremantle);[6] the staff team is managed by executive producers Tom O'Brien for Naked, and Amelia Brown and Louis Hutchinson for Thames.[7]
In the first series, the programme was filmed under health and safety protocols due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Broadcast history
I Can See Your Voice debuted on 10 April 2021[1][2] at the time during the mourning period after Prince Philip had died the previous day.[10][11] During the first series broadcasts, the programme has been already recommissioned for a second series[12][13] that premiered on 15 October 2022.[14][15] The BBC discontinued the show after airing two series.[16][17]
Special episodes
During the 42nd appeal show of annual Children in Need charity broadcasts on 19 November 2021, the ICSYV segment featured mystery singers Kate Silverton (newsreader), Jason Mohammad (Final Score host), and eventual winner, declared bad singer Mike Bushell (BBC Breakfast presenter).[18][19]
As a prelude to the second series, Leona Lewis played alongside former gymnastGabby Logan as contestant in the holiday special on Christmas Eve of 2021.[20][21]
^ abcIt refers to the total number of guest artists having played the game, based on its first appearance. Also, returning guest artists (highlighted in italics) are not counted.
^These are the list of foreign guest artist(s) having played for the show:
^@Ratings_UK (1 November 2022). "UK TV Weekly Ratings — 17—23 October 2022" (Tweet). Retrieved 2 November 2022 – via Twitter. The official BARB database made the S2 ep. 2 of #ICanSeeYourVoice into 47th place at 3.015 million combined viewers, with a share of 18.8%.
^@Ratings_UK (5 December 2022). "UK TV Weekly Ratings — 24—30 October 2022" (Tweet). Retrieved 7 December 2022 – via Twitter. The official BARB database made the S2 ep. 3 of #ICanSeeYourVoice into 20th place at 4.57 million combined viewers, with a share of 24.6%.
^@Ratings_UK (15 November 2022). "UK TV Weekly Ratings — 31 October—5 November 2022" (Tweet). Retrieved 16 November 2022 – via Twitter. The official BARB database made the S2 ep. 4 of #ICanSeeYourVoice into 25th place at 3.788 million combined viewers, with a share of 26.4%.
^@Ratings_UK (6 December 2022). "UK TV Weekly Ratings — 21—27 December 2022" (Tweet). Retrieved 7 December 2022 – via Twitter. The official BARB database made the S2 ep. 5 of #ICanSeeYourVoice into 35th place at 3.652 million combined viewers, with a share of 19.8%.
