This week’s episode of the Masked Singer was out of this world. The celebrity contestants in Group B returned for the playoffs and the judges as well as everybody watching at home were blown away by the unveiling of the Baby Alien.
This episode surely did not disappoint as it was filled with amazing vocal performances and tons of energy. Comedian Joel McHale returned as the episode’s guest judges and we were treated with childhood photos of each judge and host Nick Cannon as well. Each contestant would have a childhood clue brought out to help the judges connect the dots to their true identity.
The first contestant to sing tonight was the Serpent. The clue package for the masked celebrity included a reference to not being able to make “rent” possibly a call to the Broadway musical. There are scrubs, a pink Cadillac and a reference to $2 thrown about the package. When we first met the Serpent, he put on a dazzling performance of the Proclaimers “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” and blew the judges away. In the playoff round he tackled Maren Morris’ “The Bones” and absolutely crushed it. The Serpent has such a wide range in his silky, smooth voice.
The judges all moved from their original guesses of John Legend and Daveed Diggs and took some really thought out takes. Jesse Williams of Grey’s Anatomy and R&B legend Brian McKnight were two of them but the guess of Taye Diggs might just be the correct one. Diggs did originate the role of Benjamin “Benny” Coffin III in R.E.N.T. on Broadway and definitely has the singing chops to pull this performance off. I still like my original guess of Leslie Odom Jr. but now I find myself second guessing.
Crawling on to the stage next is the Crocodile. During the clue package for this masked reptile he admits that the show has put breath back into his love for performing that he hasn’t felt since childhood. We see a house with the number 5 on it plus a skull & cross bone flag, a photo labeled 2014 reunion, oranges, and a lightning bolt. The Crocodile completely caught the judges off guard with his sultry rendition of Britney Spears’ “Toxic.” I first thought the celebrity behind the mask is Joey Lawrence after his first performance, but the judges have me scratching my head after their guesses of Adam Lambert, Lenny Kravitz and Harry Connick Jr last night.
The cutest and most puzzling contestant, Baby Alien, performs next with his take on Imagine Dragons “It’s Time.” We find out tonight who the Baby Alien is and neither the judges nor myself were anywhere in the same universe as the singer with who we thought he was. I couldn’t have been more wrong after assuming it could be Matthew Broderick behind the puppet and I wasn’t alone in my thought process. Judges first thoughts included Ralph Macchio, David Schwimmer and Freddie Prinze Jr. and tonight they joined me even further in left field with Eric Bana, Sasha Baron Cohen, Jeff Dunham and Taylor Lautner.
The next singer is Whatchamacallit and gave the most entertaining performance of the night with his version of Ludacris’ “Money Maker.” We discover through the clue package that he was “ready to dance like never before” at the height of his career. We also see planes flying around, balloons, marshmallows and coins with 10 on them.
This is the second look at Whatchamacallit and both times he has performed classic rap songs. I don’t think he is a professional rapper at all but quite possibly an athlete. The judges were mostly on the athlete train as well with mentions of Cam Newton, Terrell Owens and Kyrie Irving.
The final performance of the night came from the Seahorse and I still think most of us are still trying to catch our breath from this amazing display of vocal dominance. We learned that the Seahorse suffered a broken heart that she felt she spent like a “1,000 years” into her writing to ease her pain. There is a Disney reference in her clue package, a pair of daisy dukes and clocks with wings that all read 9 o’clock. She sang “My Heart Will Go On” the love theme to Titanic and her take on the massive hit rivals only that of the original by Celine Dion. It takes big whatever the reproduction organ of a seahorse is to take on a song like that and she definitely knocked it out of the ocean.
I felt really strong with my initial guess of Hailee Steinfeld who is a great singer in her own right but I don’t think she can deliver a performance of that song like the Seahorse did. There was a chicken of the sea reference at the beginning of the episode and my mind went straight to Jessica Simpson. One of the judges agreed with me while the rest of the panel thought it could be Beebe Rexha or Camila Cabello.
After the judges and the audience voted it was time for the contestant with the lowest number of votes to take it off. Judges Nicole Scherzinger and Jenny McCarthy were both upset to see Baby Alien leave as they both had decided to adopt him. The judge’s final guesses were Nick Kroll, Freddie Prinze Jr., Jason Biggs, Jeff Dunham and Eric Bana. After some wiggling to take the mast off we see that it is former New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez. No one was remotely close to being right. The true identity of Baby Alien caught everyone by surprise and is one of the many reasons why the Masked Singer is such a huge hit.
Steven McCash is the Music Columnist for SoBros Network. He is the pioneer of New Music Friday, highlighting each week’s new releases in the world of music, in addition to the occasional live show review. Follow on Twitter: @MC_Cash75
Check out the SoBros Shop. Become a Patron. Give us money for no reason. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Watch on YouTube.
