The Masked Singer is an American reality singing competition television series that premiered on Fox on January 2, 2019. It is part of the Masked Singer franchise and features celebrities singing songs while wearing costumes to conceal themselves. The program employs panelists who guess the celebrities' identities. In most episodes, after the last performance, a vote of the panelists and the audience eliminates a contestant, who is then revealed. The costumes were inspired by haute couture and designed in the first six seasons by Marina Toybina (pictured), who won a Costume Designers Guild Award and two Creative Arts Emmy Awards. The first five seasons received the highest Nielsen ratings for a non-sports program in the key demographic of adults 18–49. Its success has been credited to the growth of the Masked Singer franchise and interest in adapting South Korean reality television series and other television formats centered on costumes. The tenth season premiered in September 2023.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Masked_Singer_%28American_TV_series%29

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1959:

The Soviet Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon, was launched by a Vostok rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_1

1967:

Ronald Reagan began his career in government when he was sworn in as the 33rd governor of California. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan

1976:

An extratropical cyclone began affecting parts of western Europe, resulting in coastal flooding around the southern portions of the North Sea and leading to at least 82 deaths. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gale_of_January_1976

2009:

Sri Lankan Civil War: The Sri Lankan army captured the town of Kilinochchi from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, concluding the Battle of Kilinochchi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kilinochchi_%282008%E2%80%932009%29

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

dragoon: 1. (military) 2. (weaponry, historical) Synonym of dragon (“a type of musket with a short, large-calibre barrel and a flared muzzle, metaphorically exhaling fire like a mythical dragon”) 3. (by extension) Originally (historical), a soldier armed with a dragoon musket (sense 1.1) who fought both on foot and mounted on a horse; now, a cavalier or horse soldier from a regiment formerly armed with such muskets. 4. (by extension) A man with a fierce or unrefined manner, like a dragoon (sense 1.2). 5. A variety of pigeon, originally a cross between a horseman and a tumbler. 6. (Christianity, French politics, historical) To subject (a Huguenot) to the dragonnades (“a policy instituted by Louis XIV of France in 1681 to intimidate Protestant Huguenots to convert to Roman Catholicism by billeting dragoons (noun sense 1.2) in their homes to abuse them and destroy or steal their possessions”). 7. (by extension) 8. Chiefly followed by into: to force (someone) into doing something through harassment and intimidation; to coerce. Synonym: compel 9. (military, historical) To cause (someone) to be attacked by dragoons. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dragoon

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

There is no belief, however foolish, that will not gather its faithful adherents who will defend it to the death.   --Isaac Asimov https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov