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    May 20, 2020

    Here Are 17 Behind-The-Scenes Secrets About "The Masked Singer" That Just Might Blow Your Mind

    "Sometimes people aren't just rooting for the best singer or entertainer. They really do have their favorite costume."

    In honor of The Masked Singer's Season 3 finale, the show's costume designer, Marina Toybina, chatted with BuzzFeed and answered some of our burning questions about the show.

    Rich Fury / Getty Images, Fox

    Here's everything we learned:

    1. Before The Masked Singer, Marina built costumes for So You Think You Can Dance, World of Dance,The X Factor, and the dancers' costumes from Katy Perry's Super Bowl halftime show.

    Christian Petersen / Getty Images

    She told BuzzFeed that after working in reality TV for so long, she was used to the short time constraints and quick turnaround.

    2. Each costume takes about three to four weeks to build, and typically six to seven costumes are being built at the same time.


    Before filming, Marina typically gets a month of pre-production to work on illustrations and concepts, and then she gets an additional two to three months to build each costume.

    3. The celebrity contestants get to pick their costumes when they sign onto the show.


    During these early stages, Marina meets with the show's casting director and talks about who's being pitched to join the show and who's already signed on. Then, she's able to send out concepts and sketches to the talent, and they give her feedback.

    4. And if the costumes seem suuuuuper specific to each celebrity, it's because they are!


    Marina said, "We go and really analyze what the character is like and what [the celebrities] like about it. A majority of the time, they're drawn to certain things based on personal preference." She also explained that she'll often take it "a step further" and customize specific elements for each celebrity, and that way she still gets to keep her work original.

    5. The masks aren't as heavy as they seem — they're actually pretty light.


    As the seasons have progressed, Marina has gotten feedback from the celebs and sound crew, which helped make the masks as lightweight as possible. The masks are actually built on top of helmets, which helps them attach to the talent's heads. From there, they use lightweight foam to create the features.

    6. And the celebrities have an initial fitting that's dedicated solely to becoming accustomed to their new mask.


    She also explained that the first fittings are where the talent gets used to wearing the masks, plus they have a chance to give Marina any feedback on their costumes and customizations they want her to include.

    7. Marina also likes her cast of characters to be as "artistically diverse" as possible.

    Fox, Marina Toybina / Fox

    She said that during the beginning stages, she and her team collaborate to "strategically figure out what's best for the show," meaning what kinds of characters have yet to appear on the show and what kinds of characters different demographics, like kids, want to see. She's even looked online to see what characters fans want to see.

    8. Believe it or not, there haven't been any insane wardrobe malfunctions yet.


    A lot of minor things get fixed, like screens being shifted to enhance sound quality. The costume team also does a lot of work testing the costumes so they can figure out what restrictions they may have.

    9. On set, safety is key. So the celebs have a signal that they can give whenever they need to take off their masks if they get too hot.


    There are also cooling rooms backstage. Every contestant has specifically assigned costumers who carry water bottles and fans. But because the celebs get so used to wearing their masks, Marina explained that there are rarely any overheating issues while filming.

    10. The celebs don't actually spend that much time wearing their costumes offstage anyway.


    Marina explained that the masks come off immediately after performances. Each celebrity has their own trailer or dressing room where they wait between performances.

    11. Some costumes — like the Monster, the Banana, and any masks with LED effects — even have built-in fans and ventilators.

    Fox, Marina Toybina / Fox

    Marina explained, "Season 1 was our trial run to see what will happen to a costume that's cylindrical. We did have some issues with overheating inside. So we had to open up the vents and make sure that we could build in fans. We do turn them off during the performance so there's no sound effects going through. Now, with [costumes] that allow me space to build any kind of cooling system, we build it in right away."

    12. Contestants do dress rehearsals in their masks only, just to make sure they can see through the masks and under stage lights.

    @jojosiwa /

    If there are any other last-minute issues, Marina is around to fix them.

    13. The celebs don't perform with hair and makeup done beneath their costumes, but they do have the option to quickly get made up if they're about to be eliminated.


    There's a little bit of prep time before a celeb is finally unmasked. However, if they're comfortable, some celebs don't even bother getting their hair or makeup done before the reveal.

    14. Marina's favorite costumes from each season are: the Lion and the Peacock from Season 1, the Ladybug and the Leopard from Season 2, and the Swan and the Robot from Season 3.

    Marina Toybina / Fox, Fox

    She said that every season she tries to push the boundaries even higher, not only creating brand-new creatures, but adding a lot more intricacy and detail to everything they design.

    15. As for Season 4, production still is in very early stages, and producers are trying to figure out the best way to make sure talent and the production family are safe and healthy.


    She said that the team is still waiting to hear about production protocols and that her creative process is going to change a little as she ensures the costumes abide by safety regulations. She said, "As of right now, we're really hoping that we start filming or start prepping in the next couple of months and hopefully have a show by the end of the year. But unfortunately, a lot of it is out of our hands right now."

    16. But Marina did reveal that Season 4's costumes will be "even more interesting and different" than the past three seasons.

    Marina Toybina / Fox, Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images

    She explained that they'll have a more cartoonish approach and that she's "really diving into a lot of technical aspects to costuming that we haven't seen yet."

    17. And finally, Marina hopes that her work on The Masked Singer has been able to show just how important costume design really is.


    She said, "I really do hope to see more shows — or more emphasis — on the idea of costume design, and how much it really affects the visuals of production. In this case, it really is something that people fall in love with. Sometimes people aren't just rooting for the best singer or entertainer. They really do have their favorite costume."

    Be sure to watch the season finale of The Masked Singer tonight at 8 p.m. on Fox.

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