In the three previous episodes of The Masked Singer, Group A was whittled down to three contestants from the original six. Tonight we move on to Group B and meet a half-dozen more celebs donning animal kingdom drag…plus a taco.
Usual suspects Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, Ken Jeong and Nicole Scherzinger are here to guide us through the hour, sans a guest panelist this time. Guess they blew a bulk of the reserves on Jamie Foxx on the season premiere?
Frog
Here comes hip-hoppin’ Frog, who tosses out references to iconic MCs of the early ‘90s Hammer and Kriss Kross in his clues package. We also see Olympics imagery and $106 dollars zip by.
Sure enough, Frog goes with Gen X wedding reception fave “U Can’t Touch This,” and does a pretty mean running man while turning the thing out. From the moves and the overall swag, Nicole thinks she knows the person under the Frog mask in real life, yet struggles to offer up a solid guess. Jenny suspects it could be former Olympic sprinter Michael Johnson, while Ken goes with track and field star Carl Lewis.
Elephant
Last week was an utter disaster when god-awful crooner White Tiger made it through and soulful legend Chaka Khan, aka Miss Monster, got the boot. With Group B, Elephant appears to be the weakest vocalist — something clear from his dismal take on The Cure’s “Friday I’m in Love.”
His clues package mentions him being a one-man show, parading through the White House and ramping up to a new calling. That “ramp” bit in particular has me thinking he’s probably a professional skateboarder, but we shall see (hopefully sooner rather than later).
Kitty
Kitty is a compact cutie who causes Jenny to exclaim, “She’s the size of one of my thighs!” The adorable feline says she feels at home among the weird and the wonderful, and that she’s hoping to wipe the slate clean so people will think of her as the person she is now, not who she once was.
Folks, Kitty can sing. She belts out Ariana Grande’s “Dangerous Woman” with ease and even does a sexy chair routine with a pair of striped backup dancers.
Nicole wonders if Kitty is Paris Hilton. God bless the heiress’ iconic 2006 album, but I wonder if Lady Scherzinger needs her ears checked. Ken bounces off of this and goes for the obvious by putting Nicole Richie out there. Ken is, as always, a fool.
Taco
There’s literally a taco singing Frank Sinatra on my TV screen right now. He seems to be an older gentleman, but he’s a taco. And he’s crooning “Fly Me To The Moon.” Even Milton Berle would have been above this in 1951 on The Texaco Star Theatre.
Mouse
Another petite songstress makes her way to the stage in the form of Mouse, though she warns, “Don’t let my size fool you, because my presence is larger than life!” Her clues package gives us a fair amount of football imagery, the year 1979 and golden pom-poms.
When Mouse lets rip on Oleta Adams’ “Get Here,” it’s obvious she’s got the voice of a legend. My first thought is Dionne Warwick, and Robin agrees. Nicole is thinking Mouse might be Darlene Love, while Ken blurts out Maya Rudolph.
My money’s on Ms. Warwick, and I’m loving that The Masked Singer is now the go-to for yesteryear’s soul divas on the hunt for another hurrah.
Banana
Group B winds down with Banana, who cranks out a Vegas-y rendition of Elvis Presley classic “A Little Less Conversation.” His clues are the fact that he’s “a hoot to have at parties,” a blowfish, a literal blue collar and a cowboy hat.
Robin zeroes in on the “hoot” comment and the blowfish and puts Darius Rucker’s name out there. Jenny suggests Blue Collar Comedy Tour jokester Bill Engvall. Whatever the case may be, the singing was decent enough that I don’t think we’ll be seeing this banana peel back his mask for a few more weeks.
Eliminated: Justice is served when Elephant, rather than one of the more skilled vocalists, takes a fall. Pro skater Tony Hawk turns out to be the one behind the trunk, which isn’t really a surprise given that ramp comment earlier in the night. Ah, well — stick with half-pipes and endorsement deals, Tony.