'King of Mask Singer' leads Sunday for first time

SEOUL, July 20 (Yonhap) -- A masked singing contest has surpassed the adventures of celebrity stay-at-home dads for the first time, Nielsen ratings showed Monday.

This week's "Mystery Music Show: King of Mask Singer," a television show in MBC's "Sunday Night" lineup, led the Sunday night primetime viewership with 16 percent, edging out its chief competitor "Superman Is Back" on KBS 2TV's "Happy Sunday."

In "Mask Singer," singers perform while wearing masks to ensure that the audience and a panel of judges evaluate them solely on their vocal merit and not on factors like age, fame and image.

These singers are referred to by nicknames and are only allowed to reveal themselves after losing the final round of each episode.

On Sunday, Chemical Weapon Cleopatra, as his nickname is translated into English, was finally revealed to be Kim Yeon-woo, a vocalist for 90s band Toy, after much anticipation that lasted for 10 weeks.

At the same time, this week's "Superman Is Back" featured comedian Lee Hwi-jae, fourth-generation Korean-Japanese martial artist Chu Seong-hoon and actors Song Il-gook and Uhm Tae-woong going on summer vacations with their children. It posted a viewer rating of 13.7 percent, down from last week's 17.5 percent.

SBS again failed to keep up with its "Good Sunday" lineup, with its most popular show "Running Man" only hitting 8.9 percent.

In comedy, KBS 2TV's "Gag Concert" led the pack with 11.5 percent, followed by SBS' "People Looking for a Laugh" with 5.8 percent.

sojungpark@yna.co.kr
(END)