Nick Cannon, the "Masked SInger" audience, and the panel all pile on Ken Jeong for his guess only to be stunned later — almost as much as he is — when his wild guess is actually right for once!
It was a shocking week on “The Masked Singer” as two iconic celebrities were unmasked and one Ken Jeong was actually right for a change — and not by picking an athlete.
In the final week of this first phase of the competition, viewers were introduced to the final two masks of the season. Lamp and UFO hit the stage to compete against last week’s champ, Dandelion. Only one could win this week as the panel used the “Ding-Dong-Keep-It-On Bell” last week, meaning two celebs would be unmasked!
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We’re not sure if Ken or everyone else in the studio was more surprised when he actually got one right. It was one of his usual unlikely guesses — he throws out Kendall Jenner tonight, as well — with a rambling explanation as to why. The only difference was that this time the clues actually lined up.
It was a night of three women facing off with very different vocal styles and approaches to their respective songs. It was also one of the tightest nights of the whole competition. Who will emerge victorious to take on California Roll and Macaw in the next round? There’s only one way to find out!
Let’s jump right in with this week’s masks. And don’t worry, before we get to the shocking unmasking(s), we’re going to make you power through the terrible (and occasionally good) guesses made by our illustrious panel of Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong and Nicole Scherzinger first. We do this because we love … to torture you.
Along with the panel’s guesses, we’ll be sharing some internet speculation, too, so if you don’t want to be potentially spoiled (because they are very good at this), you may want to skip past the guesses sections.
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DANDELION
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(“Starlight,” Muse) Dandelion came out this week with a whole new energy and even vocal sound. The texture and quality of her voice didn’t come across quite as rich and we found ourselves wondering if the mask was impacting her sound for the first time. She also added piano to her repertoire, playing the signature melody of the track.
Guesses: Dandelion had people so stumped last week, she actually added several new clues this week to what we’d already seen. The big one was a Santa hat with a crying-laughing emoji on it, making the panel think of funny holiday films.
Add to that a piano, an apple, a zombie and a Wanted poster, and it’s clear the clues she wanted to emphasize. She also said that space has meaning for her because it showed her early what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. On top of that, we saw the actual artist’s real dog visiting with her on set, and we’re in love! What a sweetheart!
Last week, she said she’d worked with Madonna, Flea and Elton John, the living and the dead, and had charted with Olivia Rodrigo. She said she’s performed on television, film and concerts, comparing her life to “The Wizard of Oz” as she also started her career at a young age. Another major clue was that a tornado struck her home in “Music City.”
Her on-stage clue came out on a rover; a flag that reads “Space Star.” “Are you ready for another spicy clue?” Dandelion asked the panel. “The theme tonight is perfect for me because I have plenty of experience with space.”
Robin followed the clues, and the piano keys, to land on Sara Bareilles, with her song “Gravity” tying to the space theme and her holiday music tying to the Santa hat. Jenny, though, was instead thinking of teen musical star and actress Milla Jovovich (though she butchered that last name something fierce!).
Ken almost went on a random string of nonsense about Zendaya over the space clue making him think of “Dune,” but then he thought of the OG “Dune” adaptation and shifted to Alicia Witt instead. It was that and the zombie making him think of her role in “The Walking Dead” that got him going on and on about it, as Robin laid his head on the desk and he was eventually told to “sit yo’ ass down!” But it’s actually a pretty good guess.
Alicia is a musical prodigy who is gifted on piano. She’s also starred in several Hallmark Christmas movies and actually got her start in the 1984 adaptation of “Dune” at just seven years old, which would tie into space and her mention that she’d started her career as a child actor. The Wanted poster could tie to her role on “Orange Is the New Black.”
As for working with all those stars, Witt starred with Madonna in “Four Rooms,” Flea in “Gen 13” and appeared on “Nashville,” which featured Elton John as a guest star. Throw in a tornado destroying her house in 2020 and the random zombie for “The Walking Dead” and it’s all lining up! Oh, she charted her single “Chasing Shadows in 2020 … alongside Olivia Rodrigo!
It seems like Ken may have stumbled on the truth and got disrespected all over the place for his trouble, even being told to “sit yo’ ass down,” but his “Masked Singer” daddy, Nick Cannon. Granted, he’s usually so far off with his guesses he might as well be in outer space, but this one feels right on the money.
The internet was still hearing Vanessa Williams in the voice, and while we don’t disagree, the clues don’t seem to point to her. Ken’s guess had some online sleuths digging and finding some of the same connections we did, adding weight to that pick, while still others were throwing around names like Zooey Deschanel, Brie Larson, and Sarah McLachlan.
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LAMP
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(“Venus,” Bananarama) Lamp said she was terrified to sing in front of people, but she had some great vocal chops. Her stage presence definitely left a lot to be desired, confirming that music is not her main bag. She also gave herself plenty of backing vocals, but she really has a decent voice underneath that. Maybe it’s just been a lack of confidence in this particular skill.
Guesses: Right away, Lamp had the panel scratching their heads with her airline-themed clue package featuring “Captain Nicole” Scherzinger. She also showed a black cauldron in a frame, as well as an energy drink with the King of Hearts on the label and a steering wheel.
She revealed that she’d grown up in front of people, navigating the “silver skies” as a pre-teen. But it also meant she barely had time to figure out who she was, though she acknowledged that she was a “teen queen darling.” She also pegged an era by saying she’d locked lips with Ryan Reynolds, Mario Lopez and James Van Der Beek. Sounds like a ’90s queen to us!
Lamp’s clue came along with Daphne Zuniga, with her “Spaceballs” connection. She then brought in a man dressed as an astronaut holding a rocket labeled “Cover Girl.” “Let me spell it out,” added Lamp. “M-A-X-I-M.”
Nicole was right to think Alyssa Milano was on a lot of Maxim covers back in the day, and she’s definitely the right era. She also tied the cauldron to “Charmed” and her childhood on-screen in “Who’s the Boss?” Jenny, though, threw around Neve Campbell, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Melissa Joan Hart, and even Hilary Duff but didn’t know which guess she liked better.
Robin, though, thought of Ryan Reynolds’ “Van Wilder” love interest, Tara Reid, while also considering James Van Der Beek’s “Varsity Blues” love interest, Ali Larter. But there’s an even better guess — and the cluemaster landed on it without even knowing it.
Melissa Joan Hart has not only locked lips with all three of those fellas at one point or another in her career, but Nicole appeared on an episode of “Sabrina the Teenage Witch (the cauldron!) with Eden’s Crush. She also appeared on Maxim. Throw in her King of Harts fashion line and we think we’ve got a winner.
The internet was definitely thinking ’90s teen queen, too, with similar guesses to what the panel was tossing out. But like us, they found themselves going down the rabbit hole of clues that tied to Melissa Joan Hart, making her their most popular guess.
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UFO
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(“Yellow,” Coldplay) UFO was so understated throughout this performance, and yet a lovely tone carried through. She has such a sweetness in how she performs and the quality of her voice. We heard nerves and what sounded like an emotional break at one point, suggesting she was really dealing with some emotions under there, either anxiety or otherwise. Physically, she just kind of wandered in a circle, but the innocence of it only made us feel her more.
Guesses: Interrupting a broadcast of “Moose on the Loose,” UFO’s clues talked about a “New York runway” before culminating in a shot of her and her “several sister ships” flying over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
We also saw the message “I [Heart] It” on a flag, as well as a headstone reading “R.I.P. Queen Victoria” and a shot of her making a scarf on a sewing machine. While one of the Men in Black wore that, the other was adorned with a sparkly tiara.
UFO came to life after she was done, running to the crowd for some love before admitting to the panel that she was definitely nervous. Then, astronaut Mike Massimino — who famously sent the first tweet from space — brought out her on-stage clue. It was a helmet with the message, “Planet Wide.” “I don’t like to brag, but I’m not just known in America, but the whole galaxy,” UFO explained.
After a solid guess earlier, Ken was back to form, standing immediately to try and argue why this is Kendall Jenner. It’s not Kendall Jenner. Jenny didn’t mind the supermodel angle as UFO does have that physique, but she also pulled out the closing message of her clue package, which read, “GG! Time to Sing!” and instead speculated maybe this is Gigi Hadid, who has a famous sister, Bella. Robin stayed in the fashion and modeling world, thinking maybe it’s an “It”-girl right now, like Cindy Crawford’s daughter, Kaia Gerber.
Gigi is a solid guess, though, as the R.I.P. Queen Victoria could be a nod to the end of the “Victoria’ Secret Fashion Show” she was famously a part of. She went to New York for school. While she’s not known as a singer, she did sing backup for Josh Groban on a couple of Christmas tracks.
Interestingly, the internet started lining up behind Mayim Bialik as the UFO, though there was also a contingency specifically posting just to say they don’t think it’s her! Other guesses included Dido, Paris Jackson, Justine Skye, Victoria Beckham, Julie Andrews, and Miss Universe 2022 R’Bonney Gabriel.
That’s a collective “we don’t know,” and we hate to have to agree with them. We can’t quite put our finger on any one guess that fits the clues — but we do kind of like Olivia Culpo as another Miss Universe with lots of sisters who just got engaged to a San Francisco football player!
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UNMASKING 14
It was a bit of an unusual week, with all three female contenders not too far apart when it comes to their vocal talent. They can all sing, though we’re not sure all of them do so professionally. We’re a little stunned to admit it to ourselves, but probably the singer who faltered the most was last week’s champ.
Dandelion came out with a completely different sound and we just weren’t as sold on it. Her voice sounded oddly tinny with a bit of an echo and there wasn’t that fullness that we’d heard before. With very little to go on, she was our pick, but what did the audience and panel do? They did the same thing, sending Dandelion home.
- Robin Thicke: Sara Bareilles
- Jenny McCarthy: Milla Jovovich
- Ken Jeong: Alicia Witt
- Nicole Scherzinger: Zooey Deschanel
By this point, we were feeling so confident that Ken was right with his guess and even he didn’t seem all that confident in it. We were really hoping he was so we could not only see everyone’s shock, but how he and they reacted to how poorly he was treated. And then, we were not disappointed as Alicia Witt was revealed.
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Everyone in the room lost their ever-loving minds, and no one was more shocked than Ken Jeong himself. Usually his ridiculous ideas go absolutely nowhere, so it was fun to see him revel in this correct guess that wasn’t an athlete. We do feel there wasn’t enough groveling from everyone else for how mean they were to him.
BATTLE ROYALE
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(“Rocket Man,” Elton John) Lamp didn’t quite bring the same level of confidence to this song as she did her first performance. It was a tepid vocal as if she was still feeling her way through the song and not yet sure what she could do with it. She just didn’t do much with it. UFO had more flair in her first line and then started to play with the melody a bit. It was clear right away that one of these women was a bona fide singer who understood how to interpret a song and make a connection to it.
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UNMASKING 15
This one wasn’t even close. As charming as Lamp was throughout the night, UFO touched our hearts with a sweet and nervous performance her first time out and then launched herself to the next level with a real vocal command on the Battle Royale. We had no doubts, and we were right as Lamp was next to get the boot.
- Robin Thicke: Melissa Joan Hart
- Jenny McCarthy: Melissa Joan Hart
- Ken Jeong: Michelle Williams
- Nicole Scherzinger: Melissa Joan Hart
It’s a rare thing when this many members of the panel follow the same trail of clues that the internet and we were all over. Even Nicole was able to piece together that early appearance fro her own career. Of course this was Melissa Joan Hart. This may have been the most straightforward batch of clues yet this season.
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For her, she said the experience of doing the show was for her kids, but also for her. She echoed again her fear of performing live in front of people, saying this was actually the first time she’d ever done it. Then, she doubled down by reprising her performance with the mask off!
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“The Masked Singer” continues next Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
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