I Can See Your Voice (South Korean game show)

I Can See Your Voice (abbreviated as ICSYV; ) is a South Korean television mystery music game show series. Since the show's premiere on February 26, 2015, it has aired 10 seasons on two different networks — Mnet and tvN.

Format
Presented with a group of "mystery singers" identified only by their occupation, a guest artist 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. At the end of the 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 original program has two different game formats:
 * Original format
 * Under the original format, the guest artists can eliminate one or two mystery singers in each round, and the last mystery singer standing will perform a duet.


 * Star Wars format (season 1 special only)
 * Ten former mystery singers were separated into two teams. For each round, a mystery singer is chosen for a showdown. Afterward, voting is done through audience majority, and the votes are accumulated for the winning team.

A winning mystery singer is rewarded on following conditions:
 * If the singer is good, he/she will have release a digital single; if the singer is bad, he/she wins.
 * In the Global Invasion special (of its fifth season), the winning singer, regardless of being good or bad, receives a trophy.

Visual rounds

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

Introduction round

 * 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

 * 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.
 * A mystery singer and a substitute lip sync together in a single song, with one of them is an owner of that recording.
 * The mystery singer lip syncs to the good singer's recording, then a bad singer's recording comes in the middle of the performance.
 * All of mystery singers perform their lip sync on separate phases, with the good singers' recordings first, and then the bad singers last.
 * Each mystery singer self-introduces to guest artist and panelists and then performs a song, both on lip sync renditions.

Interrogation rounds

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

Evidence rounds

 * 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.
 * The hosts have randomly assigned clues about the mystery singer, and then the guest artist must choose a clue for each one.
 * 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

 * 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.


 * Notes

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. 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.

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. The game show is originally produced by CJ ENM, which would later join co-production duties by the Signal Entertainment Group. According to a presscon for its sixth season, I Can See Your Voice refers to the "second National Singing Contest" because of its sudden impact on their local music industry.

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. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it has filmed under implementing health and safety protocols since from seventh to ninth season. Spectators are now allowed on filmings for the tenth season.

2015–2016: Yoo Se-yoon, Leeteuk, and Kim Bum-soo era
In a span of three seasons with 38 episodes, the original hosting lineup consists of Yoo Se-yoon, Leeteuk (of Super Junior), and Kim Bum-soo.

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

2017–2023: Yoo Se-yoon, Leeteuk, and Kim Jong-kook era
In a span of seven seasons with 89 episodes, Kim Jong-kook became the new host, while Lee Sang-min, Cha Tae-hyun, and Hyojung (of Oh My Girl) also appointed as interim hosts.

The fifth season began airing regular episodes on February 2, 2018. It is followed by four consecutive seasons that premiered the same month — sixth season (with Hwang Chi-yeul and Lee Sun-bin) on January 18, 2019, seventh season (with Park Joong-hoon) on January 17, 2020,  eighth season (with Rain) on January 29, 2021,  and ninth season (with Eun Ji-won (of Sechs Kies), Kim Jong-min, Tiger JK, and Jang Su-won) on January 29, 2022. A tenth season began airing on March 22, 2023, breaking the pattern of "January seasons".

Special episodes
A week after its first season finale, the Star Wars special was aired on May 14, 2015, featuring mystery singers from the past playing on a team-based battle format. As a prelude to the fifth season, Block B played in the Global Invasion special on January 26, 2018, featuring mystery singers from local ICSYV counterparts.

After each season finale, the Postseason Showcases featured mystery singers returning to perform one last time, as well as rankings on mystery singers' performances for the previous seasons.

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, with the original lineup being Kim Sang-hyuk (of Click-B), Ben, Julian Quintart, and Yoon Sung-ho.

Beside them, subsequent members joining on that lineup also include Han Hee-jun, Lee Sang-min, Park Hwi-soon (from second season); Jang Do-yeon (from third season); Joon Park (of g.o.d), Shindong (of Super Junior) (from fourth season); Jang Dong-min, DinDin (from sixth season); Hong Yoon-hwa, Sleepy (of Untouchable) (from seventh season); Heo Kyung-hwan, Jang Wooyoung (of 2PM), Hanhae, Mijoo (of Lovelyz) (from eighth season); Eun Ji-won (of Sechs Kies), Kim Na-young (from ninth season); Hwang Chi-yeul, Park Myung-soo, and Jonathan Yiombi (from tenth season).