“Tatort” star Jan Josef Liefers was revealed as the first participant in the new season of the ProSieben show “The Masked Singer”. “It’s definitely the absolute craziest thing I’ve ever done in my life. And I’ve done crazy things. I think I lost six kilos here,” said the 58-year-old actor on Saturday night.

Dressed as a kangaroo, he performed the song “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke. In the end he got the fewest votes and therefore had to take off the mask. “I would have liked to have been there,” Liefers said afterwards. He can only advise everyone to take part. They are all nice people and nothing can happen “except that you sweat and are a little slimmer”.

Singing toast causes confusion

It kicked off the music show’s eighth season, which has featured celebrities as singers but hiding their identities under heavy masks. They are only exposed when they don’t get enough votes from the audience – or win the final at the very end.

Of the evening’s “Masked Singer” guessing team – Ruth Moschner, Rea Garvey and Wincent Weiss – Garvey alone had the right instinct and literally identified the actor at the last minute. The two know each other as friends and as musicians. In addition to Liefers, show fans on the net also suspected Michael Bully Herbig, Elyas M’Barek and Joko Winterscheidt as the cheerful kangaroo.

New unknown costumes were also presented that evening. For example, a singing piece of toast confused spectators and guessers with a conspicuously high voice, but rocked the stage with party hits by Technotronic and the Pointer Sisters. As a shy guest on the stage, however, was a singer in the costume of a “terry elephant” – a big cute plush elephant with impressive singing talent.

Who is behind “Diamondula”?

However, the gig of the evening was given by the spider creature “Diamantula”, whose female voice smashed the Shirley Bassey hit “Diamonds are forever” so devotedly that Rea Garvey could only reply that he was going crazy and probably in a Bond film had landed.

Rate ace Ruth Moschner suspects world star Ute Lemper behind the mask. The majority of the internet community leaned towards Patricia Kelly. Viewers can also be excited because the “Diamantula” will apparently turn into a spider with every performance, as you can hear between the lines.

The show import “The Masked Singer” has so far been a safe bet for ProSieben for good ratings in the younger audience. The show lives mainly from the wild speculation about the names of the top secret participants. With the mask of the tall raccoon wearing a tank top, Daniel Boschmann is considered safe by many viewers. Or is it Olaf Schubert?