(Warning: This post contains spoilers for Wednesday’s “The Masked Singer.”)
The Yeti got kicked off “The Masked Singer” Season 5 at the end of tonight’s semifinals round and was unmasked to reveal singer Omarion. While he’s been removed from the running for the Golden Mask Trophy — which will go to either Black Swan, Chameleon or Piglet on next week’s finale — Omarion walked away from the Fox singing competition with a prize he might be even more proud of: his deep, newfound knowledge of Yeti mythology.
“So initially when I first saw it, I was just like, OK, what is this?” Omarion, whose real name is Omari Ishmael Grandberry, told TheWrap of his first time seeing the Yeti costume. “I’m like, OK, you know what, he is really adorable, like his eyes. I was like, well, let me try the suit on. I tried the suit on and I couldn’t really do a lot of my movements. I didn’t have any head movement. And as a performer, your hands, your arms, your feet and your head is what moves the most when you’re a dancer. I didn’t really have that kind of mobility, so I was not sure how this is going to work. And then I started really getting into the character.”
No, seriously. He really got into the character.
“I started doing my research on the Yeti and the myth, where it came from, why the Yeti is called the Yeti,” he said. “I read the old folk stories, because the Yeti is viewed in different ways to other cultures. And as a performer, I come from a class of performers where mystique was important — and this was before the internet, this was before you had to pretty much divulge your whole life on Instagram and all the other platforms. So as I got the suit, I started getting into the character more and I saw how similar it was to me. The Yeti, he comes from the Himalayan mountains, which means he’s a traveler, he’s a loner. I’ve been kind of viewed that way among my peers. I’m not always out. And like I said, it has to do with the class of performer in the time that I entered in as an entertainer, which was, you know, since 15 years old I’ve been performing. So I started to see how the Yeti was very similar to me, and that made me fall into the character more and kind of step outside of me as a performer. That aspect of it was super fun because I got to kind of create some signatures for the character because I couldn’t move my head, so I had to move my arms.”
Before Omarion was unmasked as the Yeti on Wednesday’s “The Masked Singer,” the judges took their final guesses about his identity, with only Robin Thicke picking Omarion. The incorrect guesses included singers Justin Bieber, Sisqo, Ne-Yo and Mario. And Omarion ain’t mad at those.
“I think that it’s awesome to be in that class,” he said. “We all know that Ne-Yo is an amazing songwriter. We all know that Justin Bieber — there is a small class of entertainers that do what he does. And his name is Justin, just like one of the greats that came out of a group, Justin Timberlake. Justin Bieber makes great music. Sisqo was definitely a huge influence on me. He was another artist that entertained in the class of Michael Jackson-esque performers that do choreography. So everybody that they mentioned, I feel like I was in such great company. All of their successes were major. So I’m actually happy. Omarion is happy about all of those comparisons. Mario is a great vocalist and he has some great songs as well. So I feel like I’m definitely in the right class.”
“The Masked Singer” finale airs next Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.