There was some heavy discussion on Twitter and other social media about who the celebrities behind the masks on The Masked Singer might be, and also, what’s going on? The newest reality show on Fox has a panel of expert judges who don’t actually judge and singers sharing mysterious clues about their identity.
The New York Post reports that The Masked Singer debuted last night to a large viewership that, judging by Twitter, took a beat to figure out what was going on. Many assumed that the new reality show was a singing competition, but that’s not exactly the case. The panel of judges asks the masked characters questions, but the voting is up to the audience which often votes on a whim, based on their appearance, backstory, and voice, which makes it more game show than anything.
The show is based on a South Korean series called King of the Masked Singer , and both take camp to a new level.
The New York Post suggests that the judges are all doing some level of penance by sitting on the panel.
“Robin Thicke (fresh from his $5 million payout to Marvin Gaye’s family), Jenny McCarthy (billed as a ‘pop culture guru’), funny guy Ken Jeong ( Crazy Rich Asians ) and the vocally gifted Nicole Scherzinger, who seems determined to extend her run of reality TV slumming, I mean judging, on both sides of the pond.”
The show, taped in June, features various celebrities from today and yesterday dressed as creatures ranging from a peacock to a unicorn. While watching the show it’s easy to fall down a Twin Peaks -like rabbit hole assuming everything is a clue, and the Twitterverse took the bait starting with a hip-hop hippo who most people agreed sang and danced like a football player.
Next was the peacock, and Twitter is sure this is Donny Osmond. His clues are that he was a friend of Michael Jackson, and he’s been in the business since age 5. His last hints were, “It’s been a while since your mom had a poster of me on her bedroom wall,” and that he was part of a magic act.
But with all of the creatures, height and build are likely the best clues. The peacock is 5-foot-10, and Osmond is the same.
Onto the unicorn, who grew up in Beverly Hills and always wanted to be a singer. Twitter is certain that this is Tori Spelling and thought that the performance was heartfelt, but not really on tune.
Next was the lion, and the panel had a selection of guesses which all missed the mark. Jenny McCarthy guessed Lady Gaga, but it’s a good guess that this is below Gaga standards. The best maybe that came out of this conversation was one of the Braxtons, as the stage work was on point.
One of the most curious creatures was the monster, who most people guessed as Cee Lo Green. We know Cee Lo likes to dress up, and the build and voice seem right, as were his clues.
“I am a monster because that’s what the world labeled me. I was at the top of my game, but the game turned on me. So I retreated into my cave to take a break from the public eye.”
The last contestant was a deer, and by his size, the best guess is that the deer is or was a football player as he’s anti-Ravens, and likes horses. The guesses for the deer range from Peyton Manning to Terry Bradshaw (the deer is 6-foot-3) and some went for Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger, but Big Ben is 6-foot-5.
The hippo got voted out last night, so all of the other creatures are still available for guesses.