Overview
- ProSieben quietly recorded season 13 in Cologne in August and will begin airing the pre‑recorded episodes on Wednesday, 16 September on ProSieben and Joyn.
- The show expands to a record 16 masked contestants and speeds up early rounds so two of four performers are unmasked in each of the first four episodes.
- Public voting has been replaced by studio‑audience voting because episodes are no longer live, and tickets were available for the in‑studio audience.
- The network says the change lets producers compress filming and book higher‑profile talent who cannot commit to six weeks of live shows, but executives accept a residual risk of spoilers leaking before broadcast.
- Media experts note the move trades the show's real‑time communal viewing ritual for production predictability, which could change how audiences interact with the programme and what drives next‑day conversation.