Claim to Fame is the latest ABC reality TV show that’s becoming a summer obsession. Similar to The Real World, it puts a group of strangers in a house together to see what happens. However, it’s not about them trying to stop being polite and start getting real. Lies and deceptions are encouraged. The goal of Claim to Fame is to hide one’s identity. This makes it a guessing competition show, similar to The Masked Singer.
The Masked Singer may be one of the weirdest singing competitions, but it has a winning formula. Seven seasons later, The Masked Singer still produces great ratings for Fox. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that other networks would want to create their own version of this hit TV series. ABC may have created a worthy rival for The Masked Singer with Claim to Fame.
Let me tell you more about it.
Claim To Fame Is A Celebrity Guessing Game, Without The Celebrities
Claim to Fame is all about guessing each contestant's celebrity relative. They are connected to these celebrities as their siblings, grandchildren, children, and cousins. Some of the contestants look very similar to their celebrity relatives, and for others, it’s harder to see the family resemblance.
The celebrities may not be on the show, but a lot of the series revolves around them and their relationship with the contestants. The Masked Singer is all about guessing the celebrity underneath the mask. Claim to Fame is all about guessing who has a blood connection to a mysterious celebrity.
Each Episode Has New Clues To The Identity Of The Celebrity Relative
Fox works hard to hide the identity of The Masked Singer contestants. ABC isn’t as strict about keeping the identity of the contestants and their celebrity relatives a secret. Some of the contestants’ connections to a celebrity are revealed during the episode—even without an elimination. However, ABC doesn’t expose all the celebrity connections. Instead, they give the contestants and the viewers clues to help them guess.
Each week, the contestants compete in mini challenges to win an advantage. The advantage is a cryptic clue about any contestant of their choice. The clues are mainly a series of pictures to help them guess. Many of the weekly challenges also tell viewers something about the identity of the contestants. There is even a wall of clues. It’s like an adult version of Blue’s Clues. Hints are everywhere, and if you try hard enough, you should be able to figure out many of their celebrity relatives' identities.
Every Episode Ends In An Elimination
The Masked Singer has had plenty of shocking reveals and eliminations. Part of the fun of each episode of The Masked Singer is to see the celebrity behind the mask. Claim to Fame has a similar fun reveal. Each episode of Claim to Fame ends in an elimination.
After each week’s challenge, the bottom two performers then become eligible for eviction. The other contestants vote between the two bottom players to see who must make a guess on the identity of another contestant’s relative. The player with the most votes becomes “the guesser.” They then must pick one of the contestants to try to guess their celebrity relative. The only person who is ineligible for elimination is the person who won that week’s challenge.
If the guesser correctly identifies the contestant’s relative, then they stay and that person is eliminated. If they guess wrong, they’re eliminated and their celebrity relative is revealed. It’s a high-stakes version of Guess Who.
Claim To Fame Has Charismatic Hosts
Nick Cannon is good at many things, but he may be best at hosting The Masked Singer. He fits right in with the show’s lighthearted strangeness. Claim to Fame went big and bold with their host choice by getting two of the Jonas brothers.
Kevin Jonas hosts alongside the youngest sibling, Frankie. It’s a little too early to criticize their hosting skills, but it’s fun to see them tease each other and play off one another. We’ve seen Kevin, Nick, and Joe together, but we rarely get to see Frankie do something televised with his brothers. The Jonas brothers also have a very dedicated fanbase, so we’re sure that ABC hired them in the hopes of attracting some of the Jonas brothers fans.
Frankie hosting with Kevin is also a clever nod to the whole celebrity relatives element of Claim to Fame. Many know The Jonas Brothers and the members of that bad, but not as many non-Jonas Brothers fans are familiar with Frankie. He could be a contestant on the show and many would have a hard time figuring out his relatives unless they’re already deep JoBro fans.
Viewers Will Have Fun Trying To Guess The Celebrity
One of my favorite parts about The Masked Singer is trying to guess each contestant. Whether trying to give my best guesses for The Masked Singer's Queen of Hearts or guesses for The Masked Singer's Caterpillar, I try to use the clues, the singing voice, and my pop culture knowledge to uncover these masked celebrities. It’s entertaining.
Claim to Fame is also entertaining to watch and play along with. In each episode, I try to figure out the celebrity relative only based on their appearances and the clues given during each episode. Guessing for Claim to Fame has been just as fun as it is to guess each week during The Masked Singer. After a couple of episodes, the celebrity relative reveals have been pretty shocking. They’ve also been related to very well-known celebrities.
It Blends Drama With Lighthearted Entertainment
The Masked Singer Season 7 was all about dramatic moments, but most seasons of the show are lighthearted. If there is drama, it’s nothing too dramatic that takes away from the silly, fun nature of The Masked Singer.
Claim to Fame is a bit more dramatic. Because it follows people living together in a house, there is some conflict. Personalities clash and people start strategizing against each other. This makes it similar to shows like Big Brother, however, the conflicts are usually resolved, and the show resumes its lighthearted nature. The first two challenges involved a talent show and touching things in a box; it’s a very playful TV show.
If you love The Masked Singer, then you may want to check out Claim to Fame. It’s the perfect guessing game/reality TV show for summer to add to your 2022 TV schedule. Claim to Fame airs every Monday at 10:00 pm EST on ABC. It’s also available to stream on Hulu.
Before you go, make sure to check out the CinemaBlend interview with Claim to Fame hosts Frankie and Kevin Jonas.
