If you are a fan of competitive music shows like America’s Got Talent and The Voice, maybe don’t ruin that by watching this show. Alter Ego is that show that tries so hard to be different only to find itself on the insufferable end of idiosyncrasy. I personally don’t understand why anyone wants to watch more terribly designed and blank-faced avatars with alien-themed skin colors and neon mohawks croon Eilish’s Bad Guy or belt out Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You’. Notwithstanding, here is everything we know about Alter Ego season 2.
Alter Ego Season 2 Release Date
Following an order announcement by Fox on May 17, 2021, a sneak peek of The Masked Singer and Alter Ego special was first released on September 12, 2021. Alter Ego contestants had been announced before this, on September 10. The special garnered over 2.9 million views in the US. Alter Ego then premiered on September 22, 2021, its first episode airing on FOX. The game show has eleven episodes, the last of which aired on December 8, 2021.
Alter Ego Season 2 Plot
Alter Ego is a game show where contestants sing backstage wearing motion capture suits that allow them to control computer-generated avatars on stage. Each contestant decides what his or her avatar should look like and is able to control this avatar with the use of motion capture technology and virtual reality. Although the stage is actually empty during the performance, the use of some display tech allows the avatars to be shown on large screens which broadcast to both the live audience and the TV audience.
At the end of each performance, Judges make comments and vote. Alter Ego hits like a try-hard version of The Masked Singer after a mediocre alien invasion. The competition proceeds like your regular The Voice, with contestants performing alone, then going head to head, and then back to singles. Contestants compete for a grand prize of $100,000 and no promise of fame.
With their incongruous comments, which tend to dish high praises underserved, the judges are not exactly there to help these contestants build a music career anyway. They are more focused on being the first music show that’s based solely on virtual reality, never failing to remind us how impressive it is. If only the show would bother to really think about the message it is trying to pass, maybe then it might gain some more praise for its technological efforts.
Alter Ego Season 2 Cast
Alter Ego is hosted by American radio and television personality, Rocsi Diaz, and executive-produced by Matilda Zoltowski with Fox Alternative Entertainment as the production company. Emmy Award-winning director, Sam Wrench, directs Alter Ego while Ann Connor, Will.i.am, Will Davalos, Fallon Jethroe, Connor Malbeuf, Jessica Molina, and Dani Steele serve as producers on the musical series. The competition is judged by the following artists:
- will.i.am
- Alanis Morissette
- Nick Lachey
- Grimes
Alter Ego Season 1 featured 20 contestants. Some of the contestants and their avatar names are:
- Jacob Thosen as Dipper Scott – Winner
- Kyara Tetreault as Seven – Runner up
- Samara Hirsch as Misty Rose – Third
- Israa Darwich as Night Journey
- Chase Padgett as Orlando Deville
- Matthew Lord as Wolfgang Champagne
- Anthony Flammia as The Loverboy (very original)
- Kaleia Ayelett as The Dawn Majesty
- Erny Nunez as Bernie Burns
- Yasmin Shawamreh as Siren
Alter Ego Season 2 Review and Ratings
For a show that was supposed to be game-changing, it has done the exact opposite of changing the music show scene and has only intensified our appreciation for music shows we were skeptical about. It has certainly unraveled everything the Greatest Showman hit song ‘This is me’ ever stood for. You are telling a bunch of stigmatized and bullied people to hide behind soulless avatars that are supposedly a representation of their inner selves. So basically we just watch contestants choose to look like the pipe dreams they cherish only out of vanity.
We see a Muslim contestant claiming that she wants to prove Muslims can be pop stars too, yet she takes the stage in the form of a Snapchat-filtered blonde avatar with no headgear (hijab), the exact opposite of the contestant herself. But no worries, we can still call Alter Ego empowering. It doesn’t uphold stigma or encourage low self-esteem at all.
That said, Alter Ego has ratings ranging from poor to abysmal. Most people that watched the show didn’t even bother to rate it, and there was a noticeable decline in US viewers after the first episode. That leaves Alter Ego with a 34/100 on Metacritic derived from only five reviews. Common Sense Media gave the show a generous 3 out of 5 stars, and IMDb crowns the failure of Alter Ego with a 4.4/10.
Will there be an Alter Ego Season 2?
On May 16, 2022, Alter Ego was shelved indefinitely. At least the producers made one decision right. Alter Ego has neither been renewed for season 2 nor canceled. However, the show’s fate leans more towards the latter as it gathers virtual dust on the shelf.
Where to Watch Alter Ego?
Aside from the possibility of reruns on the Fox television channel, you can stream all eleven episodes of Alter Ego on Hulu, Tubi, and on the FOX streaming platform.
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