# The Masked Singer (Belgian TV series) season 4

The fourth season of The Masked Singer based on the Masked Singer franchise which originated from the South Korean version of the show King of Mask Singer. It premiered on VTM on 20 September 2024 and is hosted again by Jens Dendoncker.
The season had a first in the Belgian series and featured for the first time a masked guest singer, multiple-time cyclocross world champion Wout Van Aert. Also for the first time in this Belgian series, a fictional character participated. This was the television dog Samson who participated with his fictional owner Marie. For the second time, an international artist participated, Ruslana, who was unmasked just before the semifinals. The winner of the season was Francisco Schuster as 'Labradoodle'.

## Production

After three successful seasons, it was quickly apparent that The Masked Singer would return for a fourth season. For the first time, a contest was organized to create a costume for the new series. The winning design, Mister Withlove, was designed by an eleven-year-old girl named Fiona, and featured in the first episode of the series.
The filming took place in May 2024. The jury was presented in August 2024, and consisted mainly of a mix of contestants from the previous three seasons.

## Cast
### Panelists

Panel members Ruth Beeckmans [nl] and Tine Embrechts [nl] returned.
Aaron Blommaert [nl], Boris Van Severen, Erik Van Looy and Véronique De Kock who participated at the previous seasons as masked singers, joined the panel. Elisabeth Lucie Baeten [nl] and Frances Lefebure [nl] were new members. Of this group of 8 judges, a few of them would be selected for each episode.
The Masked Singer Judges :
| Judge | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes |
| Judge | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Aaron Blommaert [nl] | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Boris Van Severen | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Elisabeth Lucie Baeten [nl] | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Erik Van Looy | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Véronique De Kock | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Tine Embrichts [nl] | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Ruth Beekmans [nl] | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Frances Lefebure [nl] | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Guest Judge | Olga Leyers [nl] | Fien Germijns [nl] | William Boeva [nl] | Dany Verstraeten [nl] | Jeroom Snelders | Lynn Van den Broeck [nl] | | Kelly Pfaff-Gooris [nl] | Manu Van Acker [nl] | | | |

## Contestants

Some costumes were revealed through actions during the first weeks of September. On September 10, 2024, the first 12 contestants were presented. Additional characters Poppemie and Labradoodle participated for the first time in the third and fourth episodes, respectively. One-time guest participant Squirrel appeared in the fifth episode.
Once again a duo participated, this time best friends Joris Hessels and Dominique Van Malder. During Space Babe's first appearance in the second episode, it was made surprisingly clear that she is a duo with her spacecraft, Scooter, so there were two duos participating this season.
The participants again started in two groups of which unmasking happened in turn in group one. In the seventh episode, the remaining four contestants from each group in the Big Bang were merged into a group of eight masked singers. The bell of truth (bel van de waarheid) appeared in the ninth episode. As a result, a video of a prime suspect of a masked singer appeared, allowing it to be removed from the list of possible candidates.
There was a one-off appearance by a masked singer. This celebrity was unable to make more time due to his schedule. Between the two episodes of his participation, the identity of this singer was much discussed on social media. This was Wout Van Aert, multiple world cyclocross champion, which got a lot of attention in the press.
| Stage name | Celebrity | Occupation | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes |
| Stage name | Celebrity | Occupation | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Labradoodle (WC) | Francisco Schuster [nl] | Actor/Singer | | | | WIN | | SAFE | WIN | WIN | WIN | SAFE | SAFE | WINNER |
| Feniks ("Phoenix") | Gustaph | Singer | | WIN | | WIN | | SAFE | WIN | RISK | WIN | SAFE | SAFE | RUNNER-UP |
| Poppemie ("Doll") (WC) | Nathalie Meskens | Actress/Singer | | | WIN | | SAFE | | WIN | RISK | RISK | SAFE | SAFE | THIRD |
| Medusa | Linda Mertens | Singer | WIN | | WIN | | RISK | | RISK | WIN | WIN | RISK | OUT | |
| Zeeduivel ("Monkfish") | Ruslana | Singer | WIN | | WIN | | SAFE | | WIN | WIN | RISK | OUT | | |
| Giraf ("Giraffe") | James Cooke | TV presenter/actor | WIN | | RISK | | WIN | | RISK | RISK | OUT | | | |
| Zebra | Céline Van Ouytsel | Miss Belgium/blogger | | RISK | | WIN | | WIN | RISK | OUT | | | | |
| Space Babe | Samson en Marie [nl] | Music duo | | WIN | | RISK | | RISK | OUT | | | | | |
| Dame Blanche | Zita Wauters [nl] | Actress | | RISK | | RISK | | OUT | | | | | | |
| Tik & Tok | Joris Hessels [nl] | Radio presenter | RISK | | RISK | | OUT | | | | | | | |
| Tik & Tok | Dominique Van Malder [nl] | Actor | RISK | | RISK | | OUT | | | | | | | |
| Eikeltje ("Acorn") | Frank Verstraeten [nl] | Disc jockey | | WIN | | OUT | | | | | | | | |
| Boom ("Tree") | Wim De Vilder [nl] | News anchor | RISK | | OUT | | | | | | | | | |
| De Mike ("The Mike") | Hugo Sigal | Singer | | OUT | | | | | | | | | | |
| Mister Withlove | Karl Vannieuwkerke [nl] | Journalist | OUT | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Eekhoorn (Squirrel) | Wout Van Aert | Road and cyclo-cross racer | | | | | GUEST | | | | | | | |

## Episodes
### Episode 1 (20 September)

* Group number: "What I Like About You" by The Romantics

### Episode 2 (27 September)

* Group number: "Came Here For Love" by Sigala & Ella Eyre

### Episode 5 (18 October)

* Guest Performance: Squirrel (Guest Mask) performs "Song 2" by Blur

### Episode 10 (22 November)

The masked singers were given a duet partner in the tenth episode.

### Episode 11 (28 November)

Each contestant performed two songs. Two contestants were saved from elimination by the judges, one contestant was saved by the audience. The remaining contestant was unmasked.

### Episode 12 (6 December) - Finale

* Group number: "Spice Up Your Life" by Spice Girls
After each contestant performed two songs, two of them were saved by the audience and the third one was unmasked. The remaining two contestants went up against each other in a sing-off. The audience chose the winner, after which both the runner-up and the winner were unmasked.