Masked singer
Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Masked Singer season 3 episode 6.
Sorry Taco — you’ve been chopped. No, this isn’t a Food Network competition. It’s The Masked Singer, where a celebrity dressed as a Mexican dish was sent home after being bested by a cat with a voice of an angel and a possibly cannibalistic banana. Yes, these are real things that happened Wednesday night.
And boy, was it an exhilarating hour of television, as Group B’s remaining four competitors sang their hearts out for three spots in the show’s Super Nine. Returning panelists Ken Jeong, Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy, and Nicole Scherzinger were joined by season 1 winner T-Pain, while Nick Cannon (a.k.a. Jeong’s “daddy,” as the two reminded us today) served as host once again.
Before they got down to the competition, the four contestants performed Backstreet Boys’ “Larger Than Life” as a group. The song choice was perfect because those are the exact three words I’d use to describe The Masked Singer.
Like with Group A, this time around the clue packages featured contestants’ loved ones providing hints about their pals’ true identities. First up was Kitty, whose childhood friend revealed a few secrets about the furry singer. Then she busted out Miranda Lambert’s “Mama’s Broken Heart” and it was yeehaw-rific.
Next, Taco’s famous friend — in disguise, of course — talked about the zesty performer, who then did his version of the Four Tops’ “Can’t Help Myself.” Afterward, Scherzinger, very genuinely and emotionally said, “Babe, I love Taco.” I have no idea if “babe” was directed at Cannon or Taco.
Going third was Banana, whose fam presented clues about him. Unrelated to the actual performance, in the clip kicking off tonight’s episode, Banana was shown leaving his trailer with a banana peel in hand. Is The Masked Singer implying Banana is a cannibal?
THE MASKED SINGER: The Taco in the “Friends in High Places: Group B Championships” episode of THE MASKED SINGER airing Wednesday, March 4 (8:00-9:01 PM ET/PT) on FOX. © 2020 FOX MEDIA LLC. CR: Michael Becker/FOX.
Michael Becker/FOX
Anyway, Banana sang Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me” as the imagery of the slippery contestant devouring his brethren continued to haunt me.
Finally, Frog’s “team member” (who knows what that means) let us inside his world, and then he did a fun performance of the Gap Band’s “You Dropped a Bomb on Me.”
At some points during the episode, I forgot this was a singing competition because of the panelists’ ludicrous antics (coincidentally, Ludacris was a guess for Frog tonight). Like when McCarthy busted out an enormous cutout of Jeong’s head and imitated his catchphrase, “I know exactly who this is” (cue EW’s drinking game). Props to whichever production assistant had to fetch that from the FedEx office.
Also, one of the special elements from tonight was that each competitor had to give a panelist a friendship bracelet, and just like in the Valentine’s Day episode, Jeong was left out. Every person — even guest panelist T-Pain — got one with hints about their connection to the celebrity contestant, except the comedian.
This prompted Scherzinger to ask Jeong, “Maybe your daddy gave you a bracelet?” referring to Cannon, calling back to a past joke that I wish they would retire.
Okay, back to the results. The audience and panelists voted for their favorite performers this round, and unfortunately, Taco ranked last. He looked shocked (or as shocked as a person wearing a tomato for a face can look), which mirrored the panelists’ surprised reactions.
Taco was unmasked and revealed to be Dancing With the Stars host Tom Bergeron!
All the judges looked disappointed with themselves for never even guessing his name.
“Y’all were waaay off. Not even a little,” T-Pain scolded them.
“This was the most work I’ve done in years,” Bergeron joked about being on the show.
Two groups down, one more to go! Come back next week to watch — and judge — a whole new group of masked singers: Astronaut, Swan, Rhino, Bear, Night Angel, and T-Rex.
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