I Can See Your Voice

In 2012, television producer Lee Seon-young initially planned to develop a singing reality competition show "involving only good singers", which she would later add unusual elements such as "bad singers", lip sync, and a "guessing game" flair, thus creating the "mystery music game show" format in the process. I Can See Your Voice made its debut on Mnet and tvN on February 26, 2015, with host Kim Bum-soo playing the game as a guest artist. ==Gameplay==

Formats Original format Presented with a group of "mystery singers" that identified only by their occupation or alias, the guest artist(s) and/or contestant(s) must attempt to eliminate bad singers from the selection without ever hearing them perform live, over the course of several rounds. They are also assisted with clues regarding singers' backgrounds, style of performance, and observations from a celebrity panel. At the end of a 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. Battle format The "battle format" is a variation of the original South Korean rules that introduced in Giọng ải giọng ai, when two opposing guest artists eliminate one singer each during the proper game phase, and then remain one singer each to join the final performance. At the end of a game, the following conditions for winning mystery singers chosen by opposing guest artists, depending on the outcome of final performances, if: {{olist|type=lower-alpha|One opposing guest artist remained a good singer and the other had a bad singer, or For Veo cómo cantas in Mexico, two opposing contestants must eliminate one mystery singer from an assigned group. At the end of first two or three rounds, the contestant having of a least one or two bad singer eliminations will proceed to the next round. Players The game's main element, "mystery singers", are a lineup of selections catered to guest artist(s) that divide into uncertain number of good and bad singers. Actually, the winning mystery singer can perform freely without accompanying guest artist(s). Aside from that, it also includes civilian or celebrity contestants, taking the role of "eliminators". ==Reception==

Legacy I Can See Your Voice can be preferred as a game show alternative, unlike the existing reality competition programs such as Idol, Rising Star, The Voice, or The X Factor. It also served as a "stepping stone" for participants to perform effortlessly, describing it as the "second coming of National Singing Contest", specifically due to significant impacts on their careers, as well as its contribution to the local music industry. Certain mystery singers such as Hwang Chi-yeul and Samantha Irvin went on to have successful careers, while others like Lee Sun-bin, Kim Min-kyu, Ninety One, and Black Pearl also performed there, despite having already established their careers earlier. Concerns and controversies Plagiarism According to TV Report in August 2015, CJ ENM was suspected of plagiarism on two Chinese programs, God of Singing by Shenzhen TV and X-Singer by Beijing TV, as they both implemented on "modified" game mechanics strikingly similar to I Can See Your Voice, without granting permission from the said company. One unnamed employee also stated in a phone call that they did not emulate the original South Korean program, proving both broadcasters had acquired rights to produce local adaptations, likely of Is That Really Your Voice?, another game show format created by the Turkey-based Global Agency in 2013; as a follow-up, CJ ENM would immediately enforce countermeasures to avoid such future occurrences. FormatBiz later revealed in an interview by CJ ENM's head of formats Diane Min in June 2020 that there was also a dispute of its own with the latter, in which I Can See Your Voice was accused as being plagiarized from their format. In a subsequent similar case by the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange Berlin correspondent Lee Yu-jin published on the Korea Creative Content Agency in July 2021, CJ ENM had been also suspected on a then-upcoming ProSieben program '', citing its comparisons to I Can See Your Voice in terms of format elements, that was noticed on his deleted tweet by Oliver Pocher. Production company Brainpool TV and producer Stefan Raab were also concerned of the issue, describing their show was an original concept, which is leaning on The Voice-styled competitive approach with singers performing inside a soundproof dome. Later, an RTL Deutschland spokeswoman formally responded in an interview from Focus'' that both two programs have "good and bad singer" elements, but they were different formats; she had also initially refused to comment about ProSieben's attempt to acquire rights for another South Korean program as it succeeded in The Masked Singer. Gameplay issues An example of intentional cheating in-game occurred in the second season episode of Peesh ili luzhesh on November 24, 2024, when Orlin Goranov committed to remain with good singer Beatris, Judy Halvadjian's daughter, as the winner. Prior to that game, they were previously performed during BNT's Christmas Matinee concert in 2023. As for the case of flaws on gameplay, situated in the third season episode of Sedato on April 14, 2025, contestant Akhil Royinbagh went left empty-handed by eliminating five good singers, with sole bad singer Amir Fadajan remaining as the winner for a duet performance by returning guest artist Amir Mohammed Kamirpour; this game actually implemented the American-modified original format for the entire season. Accolades I Can See Your Voice has been nominated for Best Non-Scripted Entertainment Program at the 44th International Emmy Awards, Best Light Entertainment Program at 2020 Venice TV Awards, and Studio Entertainment Award at 2023 ''Rose d'Or''. ==International versions==

I Can See Your Voice commenced franchising with a joint agreement by CJ ENM and Chinese broadcaster Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation in June 2015, to acquire the rights for producing its first locally licensed adaptation. On the other hand, Thailand was the first country to air its own local adaptation, debuting on January 13, 2016. Aside from locally licensed ones, other countries such as Vietnam (Giọng ải giọng ai) and Russia (Catch Me If You Can) had produced programs with different formats, but they also contributed to existing I Can See Your Voice counterparts, technically resulting in their inclusions to the franchise. Overview Pending adaptations Apart from these adaptations having already adapted, 14 other countries have formally announced their intention to produce local adaptations of I Can See Your Voice: • Slovakia and Czech Republic — Slovakia first reported the inclusion by The Korea Economic Daily in December 2018, and then a press release by CJ ENM in March 2019; Czech Republic also followed, as both countries signed a co-deal between CJ ENM and Fremantle in November 2020, with a possibility of producing a multinational adaptation of I Can See Your Voice in the former Czechoslovakia. • Australia and Italy — Both two countries first reported the inclusions through a press release by CJ ENM in December 2019. • Poland and Turkey — Both two countries first reported the inclusions by El Español in October 2020. • Poland was one of the countries to have signed a co-deal between CJ ENM and Fremantle in November 2020. • In Turkey, Acun Medya acquired the rights to produce a local adaptation of I Can See Your Voice, as per dealing with Eccho Rights in April 2021; TV8 is assigned to air under its tentative title, ''''. • India and Norway — Both two countries signed a co-deal between CJ ENM and Fremantle in November 2020. • Serbia — In September 2021, Videostroj initially planned to produce a multinational adaptation of I Can See Your Voice consisting of all countries from the former Yugoslavia, with assigning as the broadcaster prior to its launch on 21 December 2021. Amidst the U.S. sanctions linked to then-president of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik, Una TV would also halt operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia (as it went on to produce Tko to tamo pjeva?), Montenegro, and North Macedonia in July 2024. As for the Serbian counterpart (under co-management of Srđan Praštalo and Aleksandar Radoš), there is also a possibility that they will produce its own local adaptation. • Colombia — The country first reported the inclusion by iMBC News in February 2023. • Japan — The country first reported the inclusion through a press release by CJ ENM in April 2023; Mnet Japan's official website had also a translated title of . • Brazil — The country first reported the inclusion by El País in February 2024, as related to then-upcoming Uruguayan adaptation of Veo cómo cantas. ==Notes==