Photo by John Noonan on Unsplash
By Kayla Brown, Arts and Entertainment
Grammy winners, professional athletes, Broadway stars and more, who can sing and dance all while dressed in bulky mascot-like costumes: only one show gives viewers this.
“The Masked Singer” became a hit when it premiered two years ago, and has only continued to grow since then. Hosted by Nick Cannon, this singing competition follows celebrities as they perform for the panelists and live audience. The only catch is, no one knows who’s who, not even the family members of the celebrities.
Backstage, contestants are required to wear hoodies that read, “Don’t Talk to Me,” and face masks to hide their true identity. Even their entourage must go incognito to keep the celebrities’ identities secret.
Each week, the contestants share a video clue package about themselves with hints about everything from their first job to their favorite movie. From these clues and the performances, the star-studded panel of actor and comedian Ken Jeong, actress Jenny McCarthy, singer-songwriter Nicole Scherzinger and singer-songwriter Robin Thicke does its best to uncover the mystery.
The best guesser in the early seasons is often Thicke, but McCarthy has been known to have a few accurate guesses. By far, the worst guesser is Jeong, who always thinks he knows, but is usually way off, except when it comes to NBA players. This may be due to the amount of talent on the show and the vast number of possible celebrities under the mask.
This talent was evident as early as season one, which took viewers by surprise with how strong the performances were, especially from the non-musician celebrities. Even the winner, T-Pain, who has a serious musical background was a surprise. Known for his rapping abilities and use of Auto-Tune, T-Pain, who competed as “Monster,” showcased vocals that no one expected. His best performances were arguably “Stay With Me” by Sam Smith and “I Don’t Want To Be” by Gavin DeGraw, the latter of which gave him a chance to show off his riffs.
T-Pain’s performances throughout the season were so strong and so different from his normal work that only Nick Cannon was able to decipher who he truly was.
All of Monster’s Performances: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7r3seBU9VE
After a strong first season, season two of “The Masked Singer” was packed full of even more talented celebrities from singers to NBA players and actors to celebrity doctors. A fan-favorite, and Nicole Scherzinger favorite, was “Thingamajig,” who was revealed to be NBA player Victor Oladipo. Casual NBA fans may not know of the musical talent that Oladipo possesses, but those who have seen past NBA All-Star weekends know that he can more than hold a tune.
From the moment he stepped on the stage singing “Easy” by the Commodores, he had won over everyone. His best performance was “Rainbow” by Kacey Musgraves, which had the panelists and audience in tears.
Unfortunately, Thingamajig was eliminated, finishing in fifth place behind singers Seal, Adrienne Bailon and Chris Daughtry and actor Wayne Brady.
All of Thingamajig’s Performances: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKQRGZcsxdg
The third season featured even more variety of celebrities including politicians, professional skateboarders and past MLB players. This season also hosted the youngest contestant, “T-Rex,” who was revealed to be former “Dance Moms” star JoJo Siwa. Siwa, who has always been known for her energy while performing, carried that with her on the “Masked Singer.” Although she is not the greatest singer in the world, she held herself with confidence and self-assurance, which kept her in the competition until about halfway through.
In a competition for singing, it’s not unsurprising that the top three contestants in this season all had a background in singing including the first female winner, Kandi Burruss or “Night Angel.”
All of T-Rex’s Performances: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhWSerE50J8
All of Night Angel’s Performances: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TUvdcXEFnU&t=1666s
Season four began during the COVID-19 pandemic, so extra precautions were taken including panelists sitting at least eight feet from each other and an electronic voting system for viewers.
However, none of this stopped the season from living up to the hype of previous seasons. This season featured its first two-person costume, “Snow Owls,” as well as eight contestants with a background in singing. “Sun,” revealed to be singer LeAnn Rimes, was the winner of this season beating out singers Aloe Blacc and Nick Carter in the finale.
All of Sun’s Performances: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEpXfi4Uhck
The current season of the “Masked Singer” has already brought some twists and turns including a guest host in Niecy Nash, the introduction of Wild Card contestants and the first three-person costume, “The Russian Dolls.” With at least another five episodes to go in this season, there’s a lot more to look forward to.
Biggest Reveal So Far: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw96wN5ucu8
“The Masked Singer” premieres Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on Fox and can be streamed the next day on Hulu. If you’re looking for more shows like this, “The Masked Dancer” just wrapped up season two, which is also available on Hulu.
