Rapper Negav has become the first contestant to leave The Masked Singer Vietnam 2026 (Ca sĩ mặt nạ). In episode 4, aired on 24 October, his mascot Gauci finished bottom of Group A once audience votes from rounds one and two were combined, with 14.8%, Thanh Niên reported, and had to remove the mask. VnExpress noted that Negav, winner of the 2025 contest Anh trai say hi, is the earliest exit of the season.
Few viewers were surprised. Tuổi Trẻ said many had pinned Negav as Gauci from the very first episode, recognising his mannerisms and gestures, and VnExpress observed that the reveal did not catch the panel or the audience off guard.
How Group A stands
Thanh Niên's figures show how the combined count decided the result. Koalaoke topped round two alone with 35.2%, with Gauci fourth, but over both rounds Báo Berry moved into first and Gauci dropped to last.
| Mascot | Round 2 | Rounds 1 and 2 combined |
|---|---|---|
| Báo Berry | 22.9% (2nd) | 26.7% (1st) |
| Koalaoke | 35.2% (1st) | 24.8% (2nd) |
| Mad Long | 16.2% (3rd) | 17.6% (3rd) |
| Dê du ký | 5th | 16.2% (4th) |
| Gauci | 4th | 14.8% (5th, eliminated) |
Source: Thanh Niên, which did not give round-two percentages for Gauci or Dê du ký.
What Negav said
The episode's panel was Trấn Thành, Bích Phương and Ngô Kiến Huy, joined by guests Đức Phúc and Hà Nhi, according to Thanh Niên. Gauci opened the show with a gentle rendition of Có hẹn với thanh xuân.
Once unmasked, Negav admitted he had once been very insecure about his singing and had never imagined entering a music competition, adding that his breath control had been limited since Covid-19. He said he treated the show as a chance to test his limits and push past his hesitations, VnExpress reported. Tuổi Trẻ described his relief at finally taking off the fully enclosed mascot head, which had no openings for the nose or mouth and made breathing hard.
He also drew laughs by saying he would like to borrow Trấn Thành's life for a day, explaining that he admired the host's deep respect for his passion, his relentless work ethic and his knack for constantly reinventing himself. Trấn Thành joked back that Negav could try out the lives of Bích Phương or Đức Phúc as well.
Trấn Thành praised Negav as natural and instinctive, saying that difference is what makes him stand out in a crowd, but urged him to turn raw talent into solid technique, noting that being loved is hard and keeping that love is harder, Thanh Niên reported. Fellow panellists Bích Phương, Đức Phúc and Hà Nhi credited him for stepping out of his comfort zone and choosing songs that demand real singing rather than leaning on rap (VnExpress).
Negav, whose real name is Đặng Thành An, is 24. His hits include Ngủ một mình (2022, with Hiếu Thứ Hai), Chăm sóc em (2023) and Em khiến anh muốn trở thành người Hà Nội (2023).
Tuổi Trẻ: a season that is too easy to guess
In a commentary, Tuổi Trẻ argued that the show's core appeal is mystery and the performers' ability to disguise their voices, yet the 2026 season has been fairly predictable because many mascots gave away telltale traits as soon as they started singing. Besides Gauci, viewers have already named suspected singers behind mascots such as Dol-La-La, Mimibu, Bò sữa Achu and Rabibuum; the show has not confirmed those identities. The paper added that the sense that many of the faces behind the masks come from the Anh trai say hi universe has taken some of the excitement away.
The newspaper also found the arrangements in the early episodes relatively safe compared with season one, called the skits and filler segments overlong, and said leaning on performers' private lives for buzz diluted the focus on music. It still credited some strong vocalists behind the masks and said the show needs bolder changes to regain its spark.
Background
According to VnExpress, Ca sĩ mặt nạ is the Vietnamese version of the South Korean format The Masked Singer and first aired in 2022. Its first two seasons featured singers such as Hương Lan, Hà Trần, Ngọc Anh 3A, Uyên Linh, Thùy Chi, Myra Trần, Orange and Lâm Bảo Ngọc, with Ngọc Mai (as O Sen) and Anh Tú (as Voi Bản Đôn) taking the titles. The third season premiered on 4 October.
What's next
Four mascots remain in Group A: Báo Berry, Koalaoke, Mad Long and Dê du ký. The sources did not give the date of the next episode. Negav, for his part, used the reveal to introduce a new song, One more night, Tuổi Trẻ reported.