If it feels like it was just two weeks ago that Wayne Brady won the The Masked Singer Season 2 trophy with his incredible singing and dancing, you’re not entirely off — Season 2 finished right before Christmas, which was barely more than a month back. Fox, clearly not one to let a good thing go to waste, brought The Masked Singer back right after the second most important holiday in America — no, not Groundhog Day, but The Super Bowl.
The Masked Singer promised to be bigger and bolder this season and it wasn’t kidding around; megastar Jamie Foxx was a guest, and in the opening, Masked’s monsters were stomping and frolicking around iconic American landmarks including Mount Rushmore, the White House and Times Square.
Is The Masked Singer a full-on institution now? I guess we’ll know by the end of the season, when the masked performers are delivering the state of the union and starring in movies with Meryl Streep . For now, here’s what happened in the premiere, when Group A kicked off Season 3, and Robot got sent packing.
The White Tiger
It’s probably redundant to talk about how awesome The Masked Singer costumes look, but man, this Tiger looks wicked cool, like a character from a video game brought to life. He sang “Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice — or, at least, he tried to. Whoever this is doesn’t have a professional singing background, as evidenced by this cat sounding winded and flat. He did his best with the dancing, but that wasn’t so great either. Maybe it’s an athlete?
Clues: He’s tall! His clue package showed pads being put on his body, like a football player or a wrestler, and he said he’s chased perfection his whole life. We saw a trophy for clam-chucking. A sign read Masked Singer tryouts 5/3 male; another had presidents on it and said “Four score and seven years ago.” The whole package took place inside a high school, and we saw Tiger in the library.
The guesses: Ken Jeong wisely noted ran with the clue about clams by guessing Tiger was from New England, and connected that clue to John Cena, who’s from Massachusetts. Jamie Foxx thought it was Rob Gronkowski — not a bad guess since he’s turned into a reality star now and comes from a family of athletes whose parents made sure they studied hard, too. Meanwhile, Nicole Scherzinger stopped thirsting over Tiger and Jamie long enough to guess it was Jason Momoa.
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Masked Singer, Tiger
The Turtle
Whoa! Turtle can saaang! Even Jamie Foxx perked up when Turtle sang “Kiss From a Rose” by Seal and rightfully so — Turtle had soul and riffed while performing to let us know he was no amateur. “That’s boy band right there!,” Jamie Foxx said, and he might be right.
The clues: We saw him on a track, competing against guys wearing bunny ears. He was holding a surfboard and said he’s always taken it “step by step.” Then, we saw him on a grill making burgers. He said he wants to make a big slash.
The Guesses: Boy banders Joey McIntyre and Donnie Wahlberg were floated up as possible players, as was Zac Efron because Nicole.
Llama
Looking like a goofy tourist with a camera around his neck, Llama looked and sounded like he’s just in this competition to have a good time, and he said as much in his clue package. Singing “She Bangs” by Ricky Martin, Llama couldn’t hold a note if it was in a backpack, but, hey, we’re all here for fun and games, right?
The clues: We saw him in a radio station, 23.3 The Wool. We saw a picture of a bull on the wall, a statue of a Buddha, and two playing cards signaling the ace of spades. We saw an album titled songs of Seattle. During his address to the judges, he did a Jay-Z impersonation, signaling he could be a comedian.
The guesses: No one had a real clue who this could be, but Howard Stern, Joel McHale and David Spade’s names all came up.
Miss Monster
Singing “Something to Talk About” by Bonnie Raitt, Miss Monster left no doubt who she was the second she opened her…mouth. This is Chaka Khan!
The clues: Also inside a high school, she said she started off shy and that it didn’t take long for her to be misunderstood. We saw her using hairspray and lipstick, and we saw her at a locker bearing the number 10.
The guesses: Ken said it was Dolly Parton. Jenny McCarthy said Mary J. Blige, and Nicole said Dionne Warwick. None of these are right though… this is the one and only Chaka Khan!
Everything We Know About The Masked Singer Season 3
Robot
Um, is this Lil Wayne?! Robot sounded just like the rapper as he sang Lenny Kravitz’s “Are You Gonna Go My Way.” He doesn’t sing that well, but looked like he was having a blast up there.
The clues: Robot’s package took place in a lab. We saw Pt on a period table, and a mini skateboard colliding with a fire truck. He said he had his potential stunted but that he’d had his fair share of fame in certain circles. We saw a joystick. He mentioned that he could tip the scales.
The guesses: Jenny guessed Johnny Knoxville, Jamie guessed Steve-O, and Nicole thought it might be Floyd Mayweather.
Kangaroo
Singing Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own,” Kangaroo stunned the audience and the judges; she might look silly in that costume, but she’s a great performer, and she knows it.
The clues: She said she’s a survivor and that she lost someone recently and had to bounce back. We saw her in a desert-type environment with a sign that read “Outback.” She said she had been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. We saw a gramophone.
The guesses: Kelly Rowland, Iggy Azalea, and Jordin Sparks.
In the end, it was Robot went his own way alright and when the mask came off it was revealed to be Lil Wayne!
The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays 8/7c.
