Hidden Voices (
Vietnamese: Giọng ải giọng ai; English: Who is the voice?; abbreviated as GAGA) is a Vietnamese television mystery music game show series formally recognised as part of the I Can See Your Voicefranchise.[1][2] Since the show's premiere on 5 November 2016,[3][4] it has aired five seasons on
HTV7.
Gameplay
Format
Presented with a group of seven "mystery singers" identified only by their occupation, two opposing guest artists 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 three rounds. At the end of the game, the last remaining mystery singers are revealed each as either good or bad by means of a duet between them and one of the guest artists.[5][6]
Under the battle format, both opponents can eliminate one singer each in a single round, and then both can choose one singer each to join the final performance in the final round. At the end of the game, the conditions for winning mystery singers chosen by opposing guest artists, depending on the outcome of each final performance, if:
One opposing guest artist has chosen a "good singer" and the other one has a "bad singer", or
Both two opposing guest artists have chosen a "good singer" or a "bad singer".
Every mystery singer is rewarded on following conditions:
The guest artist gets
₫50,000,000 if a good singer was chosen; in case of a two-way tie, the main prize is halved, leaving with ₫25,000,000 each. Both winning singers, regardless of being good or bad, receive ₫10,000,000 each.
For the fifth season, the eliminated good singer gets a consolation prize of ₫2,000,000.
Rounds
Visual round
The guest artist is given some time to observe and examine each mystery singer based on their appearance. Afterward, a muted video of each mystery singer that reveals only 0.3 seconds of their singing voice is played as an additional hint.[a][b][c][d][e]
Lip sync round
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.[a][b][c][d][e]
Interrogation round
The guest artist may ask questions to the remaining mystery singers. Good singers are required to give truthful responses, while the bad singers must lie.[a][c][d][e]
Talent round
The guest artist must describe one of the mystery singer's other talents, except "singing" itself. This may not be related to the "stage of truth", but depends on their identity.[b]
VTV has initially made interest to produce a local adaptation of I Can See Your Voice in Vietnam in October 2015, with the show being produced by
Cát Tiên Sa [
vi].[7][8] HTV would later acquire the rights in July 2016,[9] including with production duties assigned by Điền Quân Media, Color Entertainment and Pixel Factory.[10]
Naming and gameplay format
The show's Vietnamese title Giọng ải giọng ai can be directly translated to "Who is the voice?"; it has an English subtitle of Hidden Voices.[3] Being the formally recognised Vietnamese adaptation of I Can See Your Voice,[1][2] the introduction of a "battle format"[5][6] would later implement to existing ICSYV counterparts in
Indonesia,[11][12]Thailand,[13] and
Mexico.[14]
Filming
Filming of the show took place at the Pixel Factory Studios in
Gò Vấp,
Ho Chi Minh City.
According to a statement with director Khương Dừa on 5 April 2020, the series was initially planned to temporarily suspend broadcasts for an upcoming fifth season due to the
COVID-19 pandemic with a possibility of discontinuation, which he later decided to reverse its plans and commence "digital auditions" anyway.[15][16]
Broadcast history
Hidden Voices debuted on 5 November 2016.[3][4] The fourth season began airing through linear television on 27 July 2019. With its finale provisionally scheduled for 2 November 2019, it was later pushed back to 18 January 2020.[a] Despite with the COVID-19 pandemic, the fifth season premiered on 28 June 2020.[22][23]
The series has a panel of celebrities who assist the guest artist(s) to decipher mystery singers' identities throughout the game. Alongside with mainstays, guest panelists also appear since the third season. Overall, 4 different members have been assigned, with the original lineup being (co-hosts since the third season)
Trấn Thành and
Trường Giang [
vi], as well as
Ốc Thanh Vân [
vi] and
Thu Trang [
vi] who also appointed their duties until the second season.
^
abThe 4th season initially aired 15 episodes,[17][18] as
Phan Mạnh Quỳnh [
vi] defeated
Thùy Chi on its tentative [15th episode] finale on 2 November 2019;[19] this was then added by 11 episodes released by various
YouTube channels[20] until the formal conclusion on 18 January 2020.[21]