Critics are steaming after the international talent show “Your Face Sounds Familiar” struck a chord with viewers for continuously allowing contestants to wear blackface. A recent episode of the competition especially prompted outrage when the Poland version of the competition greenlit pop singer Kuba Szmajkowski’s controversial transformation into Kendrick Lamar.
The show pits celebrities against each other as they vie to win money for charity, similar to the popular U.S. series “The Masked Singer.”
Szmajkowski shared multiple clips of his performance as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the makeup and hair crew’s process of caking brown makeup onto his face, neck and hands and securing textured hair to his head and face.
On the episode, which aired last week, he rapped Lamar’s popular record “Humble.” As if appearing in blackface before millions of viewers was not cringe-worthy enough, the 21-year-old also neglected to censor himself when the N-word came up in the song.
Just as the Compton artist did, Szmajkowski rapped, “Finesse a n—ga with some counterfeits.”
The studio audience and panel of judges were floored by his performance, as they were seen dancing and smiling as he and a team of dancers commandeered the stage. But elsewhere online, his actions were condemned.
“This is wildly racist and offensive. also, you really thought blackface would automatically give you the pass to say the N word on that performance? honestly you should delete this and make a public apology,” wrote one person.
“How are you not ashamed,” asked another.
A third individual wrote, “Blackface in 2023 is definitely not a good look,” while a fourth commented, “Pathetic and sad. You have to have 0 understanding of the world if you allow for blackface and a racist slur being used “for entertainment”. Embarrassing.”
This season also saw blackface utilized by contestants, two of whom transformed into Kanye West and Beyoncé. Each of those instances sparked similar outrage. Producers were “surprised by the negativity,” according to Metro.
But “Your Face Sounds Familiar” is all too familiar with the offensive makeup look. Popularized during the Antebellum era, blackface was used by white actors to demean and dehumanize Black people.
A similar incident took place in 2013 on the Greek iteration of the talent show. Contestant Mando had handlers help her on stage as she donned blackface and pretended to be blind for her performance of Stevie Wonder’s “Part-Time Lover.”
Like Szmajkowski, she was also voted that week’s winner. And in 2018, Polish musician Bogumil (Boogie) Romanowski took the same approach to appear melanated when he impersonated Drake for a performance of “Hot Line Bling.”
