The first “mystery” has been solved: The opera singer Rolando Villazón was the first celebrity to hide under the newly introduced changeable mask in the ProSieben show “The Masked Singer”. The 52-year-old tenor slipped out of the “Mystery” costume during the show.

The mask is a new addition to the show – each episode of the new season features a different celebrity underneath it. So he only has a kind of short appearance in the format – and Villazón made the start. “It was fun,” said the opera star, who was born in Mexico City.

It quickly became clear that there was a real singing professional under the mask – the performance with the song “Somebody To Love” by Queen was too good. “It’s unbelievable how good this performance was,” said presenter Palina Rojinski (38), who has recently joined the show’s advice team.

Her colleague Max Giesinger (35) said that there had to be “a real performer behind it”. The “mystery” “hit all the high notes really well”. “I would almost say with classical singing training,” speculated Giesinger.

The puzzle didn’t seem so simple

However, the guessing team didn’t come up with the name Rolando Villazón. For example, Rojinski guessed comedian and presenter Thomas Hermanns (61), Giesinger guessed the German chansonnier Max Raabe (61). The viewers had a better nose – they voted Villazón third in a ProSieben vote.

In the next episode of “The Masked Singer” another celebrity is said to be under the “mystery” costume. Until now there had never been such a flying change under a single mask in the show. The costumes were always assigned to a celebrity. If a mask received too few votes, it was thrown out of the competition. However, the “Mysterium” now sings outside of the regular competition.

In the show, celebrities appear as singers but hide their true identities behind large costumes. Only her voice and mysterious clues give any idea who is on stage.