(Warning: This post contains spoilers for Wednesday’s episode of “The Masked Singer.”)
Fox celebrated St. Patrick’s Day on Wednesday with its “Shamrock and Roll”-titled second episode of “The Masked Singer.” And at the end of the hour, the show eliminated its second unlucky contestant from the Season 5 competition for the pot of gold — er, Golden Mask Trophy.
Following last week’s big premiere and the introduction of Group A, tonight’s episode saw the five competitors in Group B — Phoenix, Grandpa Monster, Chameleon, Black Swan and Piglet — perform for the first time in front of judges Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong, Robin Thicke and Nicole Scherzinger, along with guest host Niecy Nash (filling in for Nick Cannon, who is recovering from COVID-19).
The panelists all made their initial guesses about who is under these masks, in hopes of winning the Golden Ear Trophy, which goes to the judge with the most correct “first impressions” come the end of the season. (McCarthy won the inaugural statue last year.)
After the five Group B contestants sang their little hearts out and Season 5’s “clue-meister,” Cluedle-doo, gave fans a few extra hints, it was time for the judges and at-home audience to cast their votes for Wednesday’s top contestant.
The performer who came out on the bottom was Phoenix, who sang “Tik Tok” by Kesha. Before the Phoenix was unmasked, Thicke guessed the contestant was Laverne Cox, Scherzinger guessed Jonathan Van Ness, Jeong said RuPaul (after first guessing Caitlyn Jenner) and McCarthy picked Caitlyn Jenner. The Phoenix turned out to be none other than Caitlyn Jenner.
Last week, Russian Doll, Snail, Raccoon, Seashell and Porcupine (or Robopine, as he would like to be called) competed in Group A on “The Masked Singer” Season 5 premiere, with Snail being the first one eliminated from the competition. He was unmasked to reveal Kermit the Frog.
Fox has said “The Masked Singer” will start Season 5 with 10 scheduled contestants, who will be broken into two groups of five competitors, Groups A and B. But the broadcast network also said that throughout the season, the show will introduce “several” surprise contestants at the end of episodes in “Wildcard” rounds, giving these crashers a chance to unseat the regulars.
So next week when Group A returns, there’s a chance a “wildcard” competitor could be coming in, too.
Per Fox, “The season five contestants boast a combined 26 Grammy nominations, nine multi-platinum singles, four Academy Award nominations, three Super Bowl appearances, six gold medals and two world records.”
“The Masked Singer” airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on Fox.