The Muppets took over “The Masked Singer” set for plenty of hijinks, including explosions, bad puns and Fozzy Bear interviewing this week’s contestants.
Robo Girl came back to try and defend her crown against two newcomers, and once again, both of them proved they actually have some singing chops. Maybe the show should have started with this group instead of the group The Harp mowed through, because she was the only real contender in that one.
In a season where there’s no real draw to follow someone’s growth and journey, it’s not a great incentive to lure us in with terrible singers for the first three weeks.
Tonight, Robo Girl was definitely facing some stiff competition. Beetle brought some old-school cool, while a trio of Lambs killed it with their harmonies.
At the top of the show, it was fun seeing Nick Cannon, Ken Jeong and Jenny McCarthy joining in on the fun with Kermit the Frog, Nicole Scherzinger, and Robin Thicke singing “The Rainbow Connection.” The other three hardly ever get to take part in singing elements — for obvious reasons — but they handled this rendition very sweetly. It was a warm and charming way to kick off “Muppets Night.”
Miss Piggy joined the panel with the other judges, and immediately got in a great dig on Ken, joking, “After tonight, you can start name-dropping working with moi.”
Of course, as he reminded her, they’d already worked together on the 2011 Muppets movie, with her quipping, “You were that PA that got me coffee.” We have always appreciated how quick-witted the Muppet performers are, as it makes their appearances on shows like this instant classics.
Let’s jump right in with this week’s masks. And don’t worry, before we get to the shocking unmasking, we’re going to make you power through the terrible (and occasionally good) guesses made by our illustrious panel of Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong and Nicole Scherzinger first. We do this because we love … to torture you.
Along with the panel’s guesses, we’ll be sharing some internet speculation, too, so if you don’t want to be potentially spoiled (because they are very good at this), you may want to skip past the guesses sections.
(“Bohemian Rhapsody,” Queen) Robo Girl show a lot of diversity in this performance both in the layers of her voice and in her ability to convey emotion through it. Through a full-body costume, that’s not easy to do, but we could feel the different pieces of her personality coming through with the gentle opening, energetic mid-section and melancholy close. Her voice didn’t hit quite as hard this week, but it was still fantastic.
Guesses: The new clue in her package this week was a picture of Lindsay Lohan, with Robo Girl asking, “Does this mean anything to you?” Obviously, the use of the word “mean” has us quickly thinking about “Mean Girls,” so we found ourselves combing through that iconic cast.
Miss Piggy was so impressed, she said that if she wasn’t up on the dais, she’d be convinced it was her under that mask. For this week’s on-stage clue, it was a rapid-fire question-and-answer session where Piggy got to ask all the questions.
So the panel learned that Robo GIrl’s favorite color is pink, she’s both a singer and actor, and has been in at least six movies. Jenny, though, picked up on the “Euphoria” clue to guess Zendaya, but the “Pretty Little Liars” clue from last week has her considering Shay Mitchell.
Nicole, though, didn’t like any of those guesses because of the new Lindsay clue, making her wonder if it could be America Ferrara (Lindsay featured in “Ugly Betty”) and Liza Koshy. Piggy finally concluded that it is her, though she’s not sure how they’re pulling that off.
Twitter took the time this week to start pulling receipts for their favorite guess, Kat Graham. Once you hear the name, if you weren’t already on board the guess, you can start hearing Kat’s voice in those vocals. That said, there were still guesses for Amanda Seyfried, Sofia Carson and others mixing it up, so maybe Twitter isn’t as confident as they seem.
(“The Way You Look Tonight,” Frank Sinatra) Beetle had a playfulness about him, but it was all with very small and slow movements, making us wonder if he’s an older performer. He is fairly in tune enough, but this is a standard that can be done well enough by non-singers who can carry a tune … which is definitely what we’re dealing with here.
Guesses: This package was packed (like a suitcase) with clues including a sticker that reads “I [Heart] MS,” but the heart is the Masked Singer logo. Is it just about the show, or is it about Mississippi?
His story was that he was born “in a land far away,” went into public service and then became a household name, breaking records in his field. Despite all of that, though, he’s been considered among the worst of all time, at the same time. He also said we’ve definitely heard his voice and probably yelled it at our TVs.
Visuals included that suitcase floating in the ocean, sunglasses, a judges’ desk and gavel that he repeatedly slammed down. He also shared that he was in one of the biggest movies of the ‘90s, and that he never let the negativity give him the “blues, brother.” Is that a reference to the classic “SNL” duo (Jim Belushi joined later, as did John Goodman) — or is it Hulk Hogan!
When Piggy asked if he was really wearing a mask, Beetle joked, “At the end of the show, people will be shouting, ‘Keep it on! Keep it on!’” Someone doesn’t have faith that they’ll survive the night. We don’t either. She also asked if he was known for his haircut, which is a big no, but he has won a number of Emmys, lending credence to the idea that this could be Mr. John Goodman.
Piggy took the clues about Emmys and the courtroom to “Night Court” star John Laroquette. Nicole wondered if the “bean” is reference to Mr. Bean himself, Rowan Atkinson, who was in “The Lion King.”
Ken, though, kind of just went with the big movies angle and guessed Mike Myers, who dominated the ‘90s with “Wayne’s World” and “Austin Powers” films, while Jenny took the name-screaming to a great guess with Jerry Springer, as everyone has screamed his name in a chant at one time or another.
Twitter was liking this guess, and it is the one that fits the clues the best (he was in public office as mayor of Cincinnati), so maybe we should all just start screaming at this show, “Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!” We are a little perplexed at how many Simon Cowell guesses there were. It’s definitely not him!
(“Hot N Cold,” Katy Perry) The Lambs came out and Jenny immediately thought these very Little-Bo-Peep looks might be dudes. She was wrong, but it was a fun idea. What we did get was a trio of fantastic singers who had magical harmonies. Each solo section, small though they were, sounded great, too, but when they sang together, it was clear this is what they’re about. They may have found success in something other than singing, as well, but that’s where their hearts are.
Guesses: They talked about growing up with Miss Piggy, which really puts them at almost any age as Piggy is timeless! But they also shared their story of playing pretend growing up and then getting to do that together with a massive career on stage and screen.
They said they’ve been on “countless” red carpets, and graced billboards. Visual clues included a massive diamond ring, the girls playing golf with a shepherd’s crook, a pair of blue jeans with “FAMOUS” across the butt (Jenny wondered if fame was in their “genes”), and a sign reading Venice.
Piggy’s rapid-fire interrogation revealed that the biggest celebrity they’ve ever worked with is Paul McCartney. Ken, for the first time tonight, revealed he knows “exactly who this is,” and then offered up a ridiculous Kardashians guess. The Lambs are the same height, just stop it!
Nicole’s guess was much stronger, musing if maybe it’s Los Angelino’s HAIM up under those masks. It’s perhaps the most obvious and logical guess, considering it’s a trio. Robin, though, was feeling a country music vibe and guessed The Chicks.
The Twittersphere isn’t feeling super confident about The Lambs just yet, but we did see some consistent love for ’90s super trio Wilson Phillips, which is a great guess. They definitely have famous genes (with parents from The Beach Boys and The Mamas & the Papas). There’s also a little love for SWV, too.
Once again, we had a much stronger lineup this week, but there was definitely one act that fell below the other two. Beetle has a charm about him, but he was outclassed all around by the high-energy Robo Girl and stunning harmonies of The Lambs. This one, at least, should be simple.
The audience seemed to think no one would leave, which is obviously impossible. Instead, it was Beetle, which is just right. The next round, though, could be based on who emerges triumphant in the Battle Royale, as both acts are great.
Miss Piggy: John LaroquetteRobin Thicke: Jerry SpringerJenny McCarthy: Jerry SpringerKen Jeong: Mike MyersNicole Scherzinger: Rowan Atkinson
The best guess based on the clues we did get; particularly the gavel and the yelling his name at the TV; was Jerry Springer. So it wasn’t a huge surprise when the Emmy-winning news anchor and trash talk show host emerged from under the mask.
Jerry Springer kept the quips coming after he was unmasked and said he agreed to do the show because there are so many serious things going on in the world, he just wanted to be part of something fun and silly — and this show is definitely that.
(“Call Me,” Blondie) Robo GIrl actually sounded like she was a little intimidated on this one; we could hear a slight hesitation in her voice. She was also possibly straining the upper limits of her range on this. It sounded solid, and her voice fight the rock vibe well, but she lacked last week’s confidence and attack. The Lambs didn’t even attempt to reach those higher notes, instead rearranging the track a bit. The gave pitch-perfect three-part harmony on this one with incredible command as if they’ve been singing this song together for years. The interpretations were pretty similar, with Robo Girl bringing a bit more of that rock edge, while The Lambs had a cleaner and more pure sound.
A very close match-up, all four singers are clearly incredibly talented with great voices and a lot of control and understanding of what they can do, and what they maybe shouldn’t’t try to do. That suggests experience in their artistry. It also makes this harder to decide. For us, though, we had to go with the more confident and consistent performer, which were The Lambs.
But did they win over the hearts of the panel? Did they do enough to supplant the reigning Queen or would Robo Girl rise again and hold her crown? She did not, sending The Lambs to the throne where they’d have to save the title of the current Queens.
Miss Piggy: Miss PiggyRobin Thicke: Keke PalmerJenny McCarthy: Shay MitchellKen Jeong: Sydney SweeneyNicole Scherzinger: Liza Koshy
We’re pretty sure that it’s not Miss Piggy. Yes, Kermit did the show, but Piggy can’t be in two places at once, can she? We were feeling the Keke Palmer guess best from the panel’s choices, but Twitter had this all along as “Vampire Diaries” star Kat Graham was revealed.
After she was unmasked, Nicole said that she “feels so stupid, Nick,” with Kat confirming that they were literally just together, singing and dancing backstage at the Black Eyed Peas show.
“The Masked Singer” heads into ‘90s Night next Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox (if the World Series wraps up in four games).
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