I Can See Your Voice (South Korean game show)

For the franchise itself, see I Can See Your Voice. For the most recent season, see I Can See Your Voice (South Korean game show) season 10.

I Can See Your Voice (abbreviated as ICSYV; Korean: 너의 목소리가 보여; RR: Neoui moksoriga boyeo; MR: Nŏŭi moksorika poyŏ) is a South Korean television mystery music game show series.^[1] It premiered on Mnet and tvN on February 26, 2015,^[2][3] and has aired for 10 seasons.

I Can See Your Voice
Promotional poster
Genre	Game show
Created by	Lee Seon-young
Presented by	Kim Bum-soo (1–3) Leeteuk (Super Junior) (1–10) Yoo Se-yoon (1–10) Kim Jong-kook (4–10)
Starring	The celebrity panelists (see cast)
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of seasons	10
No. of episodes	Regular: 122 Special: 5 Overall: 127
Production
Producers	Hwang Na-hye Lee Seon-young
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Production companies	CJ ENM Signal Entertainment Group
Original release
Network	Mnet tvN
Release	February 26, 2015 (2015-02-26) – May 10, 2023 (2023-5-10)

Gameplay

Format

Presented with a group of "mystery singers",^[a] the guest artist(s) 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.^[a] At the end of a 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.

The program has implemented two different game formats:

• Original format

The guest artist(s) eliminate mystery singers at the end of each round, with the last remaining mystery singer ended up in a duet performance by one of the guest artists.

• Star Wars format (s1 special)

Ten reinvited mystery singers are divided into two teams of five (with each of are represented by four good singers and one bad singer). In each round, a mystery singer is chosen by their team's panelists for a showdown. Afterward, voting is done through audience majority, and are accumulated for the winning team.

The winning mystery singer, regardless of being good or bad, gets a reward on the following conditions:

• If the last remaining mystery singer is good, they are granted to release a digital single; if a singer is bad, they win ₩5,000,000.
• In the Global Invasion special (of a fifth season), the winning mystery singer, regardless of being good or bad, receives a trophy.

Rounds

Visual rounds

• s1–3, 9: The guest artist is given some time to observe and examine each mystery singer based on their appearance.
• s1–2: A muted video of each mystery singer that reveals only 0.3 seconds of their singing voice is played as an additional hint.
• s4–7: Each mystery singer is given two different identities as a good and bad singer, with one of them is a real identity.
• s8: The host is given three "keywords" based on mystery singer's identity.
• s10: The guest artist is given some time to observe and examine five out of six mystery singers, according to year of birth.

Introduction round

• s1: Each mystery singer self-introduces to guest artist and panelists. Good singers are telling the truth, while bad singers are allowed to lie.

Lip sync rounds

• s1–3: Each mystery singer performs a lip sync to a song; good singers mime to a recording of their own, while bad singers mime to a recording by someone else.
• s4–5: A mystery singer and a substitute lip sync together in a single song, with one of them is an owner of that recording.
• s6–7: The mystery singer lip syncs to the good singer's recording, then a bad singer's recording comes in the middle of the performance.
• s8–9: Each mystery singer performs a lip sync on separate phases, with the good singer's recording first, and then the bad singer's last.
• s10: Each mystery singer self-introduces to guest artist and panelists and then performs a song, both on lip sync renditions.

Interrogation rounds

• s1: 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.
• s8: The guest artist must pick one of three given "keywords" to question one of the mystery singers after detailing additional information about them.
• s9: Each mystery singer has to confess what kind of identity they have if the singer is bad.

Evidence rounds

• s1–3: A proof of each mystery singer's singing ability (i.e. photo, video, certificates, etc.) is shown on the screen. Good singers have own evidences, while bad singers had their evidences fabricated.
• s6–7: The hosts have randomly assigned clues about the mystery singer, and then the guest artist must choose a clue for each one.
• s10: The guest artist is presented with a video package including witnesses reacting to one of the mystery singers when they hear on its own performance that would appear on the show.

Rehearsal round

• s4–5: Three random panelists are wearing headphones to listen to a recording of assigned mystery singer that lasts for 15 seconds. Afterward, the panelist defends the mystery singer and convince the guest artist to choose them as the winner.

Background

Creation

In 2012, producer and creator Lee Seon-young planned to develop a singing reality competition show. Besides with initial genre that entirely includes "good singers", she added some unusual elements such as "bad singers", lip sync, and "guessing game" flairs (à la Identity), creating a unique format that would become the "mystery music game show" in the process.^[8][9] Also, she originally envisioned a program that will allow anyone to be the main character regardless of their appearances, inspired by Kim Bum-soo who struggled to gain recognition because of his look.^[10][11]

Production and development

I Can See Your Voice was formally announced as part of the programming lineup for Mnet's 20th founding anniversary in January 2015.^[12][1] The game show is originally produced by CJ ENM, which would later join co-production duties by the Signal Entertainment Group.^[13] According to a presscon for its sixth season, the game show was referred as a "second coming of National Singing Contest" because of its sudden impact on their local music industry.^[14][15]

Filming

Filming of the show took place at various locations, such as in-house CJ ENM studios in Ilsanseo-gu, Goyang and Mapo-gu, Seoul.^[16] During the COVID-19 pandemic, it has filmed under implementing health and safety protocols since from seventh to ninth season.^[17] Spectators are now allowed on filmings for the tenth season.^[7]

Broadcast history

I Can See Your Voice made its debut broadcast on February 26, 2015.^[2][3] Despite the poor reception in its first season, the series was forced to renew for a second season^[18] that premiered on October 22, 2015.^[19][20] In the third season having premiered on June 30, 2016,^[21][22] Kim Bum-soo hosted for the last time, with Davichi playing at the finale on September 15, 2016.^[23]

With Kim Jong-kook assigned as the show's new host,^[24] he also played as a guest artist in the fourth season premiere on March 2, 2017.^[25][26] The fifth season began airing regular episodes on February 2, 2018,^[27][28] followed by a period of four consecutive seasons that premiered on the same month — starting with sixth season (with Hwang Chi-yeul and Lee Sun-bin) on January 18, 2019,^[29][30] seventh season (with Park Joong-hoon) on January 17, 2020,^[31][32] eighth season (with Rain) on January 29, 2021,^[33][34] and ending with ninth season (with Eun Ji-won (of Sechs Kies), Kim Jong-min, Tiger JK, and Jang Su-won) on January 29, 2022.^[35][36] A tenth season began airing on March 22, 2023, breaking the period of "January seasons".^[37][38]

Special episodes

In the first season, a Star Wars special was played on May 14, 2015, featuring reinvited mystery singers in a team-based showdown.^[39][40][41] As a prelude to the fifth season, Block B played in the Global Invasion special on January 26, 2018, featuring representative mystery singers from local ICSYV counterparts.^[42][43]

Since from fourth to sixth season, a postseason showcase that has aired after its finale, includes the mystery singer performance rankings for the past seasons, as well as an encore concert featuring some of invited guest artists and mystery singers return to perform one last time.^[44][45]

Cast

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 first season. Overall, 23 different members have been assigned as panelists, with their original lineup being Kim Sang-hyuk (of Click-B), Ben, Julian Quintart, and Yoon Sung-ho [ko].

Beside them, subsequent members that have assigned panelist duties also include Han Hee-jun, Lee Sang-min, Park Hwi-soon [ko] (from 2nd season); Jang Do-yeon (from 3rd season); Joon Park (of g.o.d), Shindong (of Super Junior) (from 4th season); Jang Dong-min, DinDin (from 6th season); Hong Yoon-hwa [ko], Sleepy (of Untouchable) (from 7th season); Heo Kyung-hwan, Jang Wooyoung (of 2PM), Hanhae, Mijoo (of Lovelyz) (from 8th season); Eun Ji-won (of Sechs Kies), Kim Na-young (from 9th season); Hwang Chi-yeul, Park Myung-soo, and Jonathan Yiombi (from 10th season).

Cast type:
✱ Main member
✚ Additional member

s#	Host(s)			Panelist(s)
1	Kim Bum-soo	Leeteuk (Super Junior)	Yoo Se-yoon	Yoon Sung-ho (✱)	Julian Quintart (✱)[b]	Ben (✚)	Kim Sang-hyuk (Click-B) (✱)	—
2				Han Hee-jun (✱)	Lee Sang-min (✱)			Park Hwi-soon (✱)	—
3						Jang Do-yeon (✱ s3–4; ✚ s5)		—
4	Kim Jong-kook			Joon Park (g.o.d) (✚ s4, 6–7; ✱ s5)				Shindong (Super Junior) (✱)	—
5
6						Jang Dong-min (✚)		DinDin (✱)
7						Sleepy (Untouchable) (✚)			Hong Yoon-hwa (✱)	—
8				Mijoo (Lovelyz) (✚)		Heo Kyung-hwan (✱)		Hanhae (✚ s8; ✱ s9)		Jang Wooyoung (2PM) (✱)
9				Eun Ji-won (Sechs Kies) (✱)	Kim Na-young (✱)				—
10				Hwang Chi-yeul (✱)	Jonathan Yiombi (✱)[b]	Park Myung-soo (✱)		—

Series overview

Main article: List of I Can See Your Voice (South Korean game show) episodes

Season	Episodes		Originally released		Good singers	Bad singers
			First released	Last released
1	11		February 26, 2015 (2015-2-26)	May 7, 2015 (2015-5-7)	4	7
2	14		October 22, 2015 (2015-10-22)	January 21, 2016 (2016-1-21)	6	8
3	12		June 30, 2016 (2016-6-30)	September 16, 2016 (2016-9-16)	7	5
4	18		March 2, 2017 (2017-3-2)	June 29, 2017 (2017-6-29)	9	9
5	11		February 2, 2018 (2018-2-2)	April 20, 2018 (2018-4-20)	3	8
6	12		January 12, 2019 (2019-1-12)	April 5, 2019 (2019-4-5)	8	4
7	12		January 17, 2020 (2020-1-17)	April 3, 2020 (2020-4-3)	9	3
8	12		January 29, 2021 (2021-1-29)	April 16, 2021 (2021-4-16)	7	5
9	12		January 29, 2022 (2022-1-29)	April 16, 2022 (2022-4-16)	6	6
10	8		March 22, 2023 (2023-3-22)	May 10, 2023 (2023-5-10)	6	2
Sp	5		May 14, 2015 (2015-5-14)	April 12, 2019 (2019-4-12)	1	0

Accolades

Event	Year[c]	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref(s)
Cable TV Broadcasting Awards [ko]	2016	Best Production in Music Category	I Can See Your Voice	Won	[46][47]
Rose d'Or	2023	Studio Entertainment Award	I Can See Your Voice (season 10)	Nominated	[48][49]

Notes

1. For the show's gameplay changes, based on playing time of an episode:^[4][5]

   • The number of mystery singers are set to six (from 4th to 10th season), seven (from 1st to 3rd season), eight (from 1st to 2nd season), or nine (for the 1st season).
     • In the 10th season, the "surprise" entrant(s) refer to mystery singer(s) standing inside an enclosure to remain concealed, until its revelation by being eliminated or a final performance by one of the guest artists.^[6][7]
   • The number of rounds are set to three (from 2nd to 10th season) or four (for the 1st season).
2. These are the list of foreign panelist(s) having assigned for the show:

   • Belgium — Julian Quintart (1 szn: 1)
   • DR Congo (Zaire) — Jonathan Yiombi (1 szn: 10)
3. Indicates the year of ceremony