This was easily one of the most feel-good episodes of “The Masked Singer” in a long time, and that’s because they had a fun theme that really brought a lot of nostalgia to the room. “TV Theme Night” even brought out some television legends.
As part of this week’s special on-stage clues, special guests were invited to participate in the show. “Masked” welcomed back Unicorn Tori Spelling and Jodie Sweetin — and how has she not done this show yet? In keeping with the spirit of the theme, the contestants all sang television theme songs, which worked better than you might think.
Once again, Harp was back to defend her crown. But if you thought she was going to have to hang in there all season long, it turns out that every three episodes, the Queen or King then “wins” this round and automatically advances to the semi-finals. At least, that’s how we think it works. Honestly, it sometimes seems like they’re making it up as they go along.
This week, Harp faced off against two new competitors and four people. That’s because Mummies was a trio of performers, while Fortune Teller had one of the most intricate and fun costumes, as they were like one of those fortune teller machines, complete with the box.
Along the way, the show poked fun at its host and panel with some chryons on the screen that seemed to suggest their television preferences. But if you think a little harder, you’ll see the roasts:
Nick Cannon Favorite Show: ‘All My Children’Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg “Blue Bloods” SuperfanRobin Thicke Loves an “American Dad’ JokeNicole Scherzinger Favorite Rewatch: “The X Factor” (Her Seasons Only)Ken Jeong Guesses Inspired by “Lost”
In keeping with the night’s theme, Robin actually opened the song with a tribute to a television classic by performing the theme song to “Growing Pains,” starring his dad, Alan Thicke.
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.
“(Theme From) The Monkees,” The Monkees) Mummies definitely had harmonies tight enough to be siblings, but we weren’t as sold on them individually as singers. It sounded like one of them was pretty good, another just so-so and the third one should stick to harmonizing. We did love their stage presence, staying in character even as they performed. It wasn’t bad singing, but it wasn’t mind-blowing, either. They were, however, very entertaining performers.
Guesses: The “Whoa!” by itself had us wondering if this trio could be the Lawrence brothers, who seemed to crop up in a bunch of different sitcoms over the years, and even with one another sometimes. Joey Lawrence, of course, found that monosyllabic catch-phrase on “Blossom” as Mayin Bialik’s older brother.
Other clues included the phrase “Lucky #5,” a blueprint of a house with “ICONIC” written on it and a beach ball flying in out of nowhere. They said that America watched them grow up, and that some might even feel like the boys are part of their family.
They talked about their sibling bond, learning a lot from one another and shared that they’d been off the grid for awhile. An image hinting at TIger Beat magazine only had us more convinced that this could be Joey and Matthew and Andrew, oh my!
Tori Spelling (aka Unicorn) came out as part of the “TV Dinner” clue. Hers was Blended Berry Bros Smoothie Packets, which the guys said was “good for the soul,” “refreshing,” and “classic.”
On a show where everything could be a clue, Nicole wondered if Tori was maybe pointing to her “Beverly Hills, 90210” co-stars Brian Austin Green, Jason Priestley and Ian Ziering. She also wondered about the blended referencing a blended family, and the blueprint pointing to “The Brady Bunch.” Could it be Barry Williams, Christopher Knight and Mike Lookinland?
Ken picked up on that same clue we did, speculating that this could be the Lawrence brothers. Should the fact that he agrees with us have us second-guessing our knee-jerk theory? He is a doctor — but he’s also a terrible guesser.
The internet had some interesting theories of its own, including the three “Blue’s Clues” hosts, the Jonas brothers, the “Home Improvement” kids and some love for our favorite guess!
(“Movin’ on Up,” Ja’net DuBois) Fortune Teller had a much softer and gentler singing voice than we expected, and especially on this particular strong. This is an anthem of empowerment and should be sung with exuberance, but this was so mellow and laid back. He has a pleasant enough voice, but it didn’t offer much range or variety. It was rather sleepy, actually.
Guesses: The Kardashians tied in with his clues, with Fortune Teller sharing that were it not for them, he’d have missed out on a huge opportunity. He said he’d grown up wanting to be a big-time music star, but he wasn’t the best singer. When he tried his hand at dancing, Jermaine Dupri beat him out.
Imagery included a lottery wheel, game show set, rack of clothing, and a suitcase with money inside, and an angel statuette. He did say he got his big break when he and his mom got creative, leading everyone to want “a dash” of him in their videos.
Jodie Sweetin was the celebrity bringing out this “TV Dinner Clue” and it was “New York Fresh Pizza Dough.” “With a little time, you too can turn dough into your own piece of pie,” said Fortune Teller.
Jenny was all over the place with her guesses, stuck on that Kardashian connection. Jonathan Cheban might have been her best guess, because it sure wasn’t Diddy or Steve Harvey. Ken wondered if it was billionaire Daymond John, who started a clothing line with them.
The whole panel was stunned that this was a good guess, with Nicole even lamenting his might be better than her Ryan Seacrest guess. She tied the business card, suit line and the fact that he was a producer on “KUWTK,” which makes it not a terrible guess. Did he pick up that quality of singing from all those years with “American Idol”? Jenny thinks not.
Twitter was speculating all over the place, though there were some guesses with Kardashian’s Dash connection, Damon Dash, or even just wondering which Kardashian ex-husband it might be — but he’s way too short for that … unless we’re talking about Ray J. We’re not talking about Ray J, are we?!
(“Thank You for Being a Friend,” Cynthia Fee) Harp took on a song that didn’t have as much power or range, but she still found her moments as it went along. And despite that, the sheer quality of her voice had no problem shining through even the more melodic parts of the song that stayed in the pocket. She’s just such a natural talent.
Guesses: We didn’t really get any new clues about Harp, but we’re not sure we really need them. The new one in her clue package was a Christmas cupcake with green icing and a Santa Claus on top, with her quipping about “getting royalties for these, right?”
We do have to wonder why “The Masked Singer” couldn’t book a third TV celeb to bring out Harp’s “TV Dinner Clue” as we had to settle for a “reboot” from Tori Spelling. The clue was “Purple Mashed Potatoes.”
Then Harp made it even more confusing by saying, “These purple mashed potatoes are almost too beautiful to mash, but– I mean, who doesn’t love a good mashed potato.” We suppose the key is in her saying they were almost too good to mash, because we’re sitting her like, they’re already mashed … they’re mashed potatoes. This show has us pondering the weirdest things.
What we’re not pondering, though, is the identity of the Harp because we and the internet have been feeling rock solid since almost her first breath that this is “Glee” alum Amber Riley. But the panel is still making their own terrible guesses.
Nicole tied the purple to Prince, as you do, and that took her to Jill Scott, who went on tour with the Purple One, but she also wondered about Fantasia, coming out soon with “The Color Purple.” But this doesn’t sound like either of those singers — especially the raspy Fantasia.
Jenny wondered if maybe it could be Ariana DeBose, but the audience revolted immediately on her with this guess. The audience was feeling what we’re feeling when Nicole tapped the wizard had to “The Wiz” remake and guessed Amber Riley. Of course that’s who she is.
An interesting choice this week. We were still feeling pretty confident that Harp would three-peat as Queen of “The Masked Singer,” punching her ticket straight to the semi-finals, but how the other two acts would rank was less clear. Technically, Fortune Teller had the more consistently quality vocals, but Mummies were far more entertaining.
For overall quality of performance, we’d give the edge to Mummies in a competition that means nothing, as we still predicted that both them and Fortune Teller would go home tonight. But who went home first? Not our pick, as it was Mummies knocked out first. That one came as a bit of a surprise.
Robin Thicke: “Brady Bunch” BrothersJenny McCarthy: “Home Improvement” BrothersKen Jeong: Lawrence BrothersNicole Scherzinger: “The Brady Bunch” Brothers
We were still feeling the Lawrence brothers overall, but honestly, the panel came through with some solid guesses of their own with both “Home Improvement” and “The Brady Bunch.” So who was it under the mask? Well, we learned to never trust our first instincts — and especially if Dr. Ken agrees with them.
Instead, it was, in fact, “The Brady Bunch” boys, Barry Williams, Christopher Knight and Mike Lookinland. The Bradys did tour and sing and perform together musically, so there is precedent. Barry said that they hadn’t actually performed together since those days, calling this experience a blast.
(“Everywhere You Look,” Jesse Frederick) Fortune Teller actually talked directly, and we still weren’t sure who it was, but he had Jodie’s heart in the VIP lounge by tackling the “Full House” theme. It was all very charming, with us getting subtle Alfonso Ribeiro vibes. At times it sounds like him, but most times it’s not him at all. Harp then took it to church and into her soul with a beautifully impactful and emotional stripped back take on the classic track. It was hauntingly perfect. For Ken, it was an emotional moment, with that theme song and Jodie in the audience, he couldn’t help but think of his friend and her TV dad, Bob Saget, looking down and smiling.
We knew it before they started to sing, but it was even more obvious afterward. And we still stand by our assertion that Fortune Teller should have gotten the boot before Mummies. In the end, it doesn’t matter as both had to go. Harp is just on another level and could well win this whole thing. Of course, Fortune Teller was next to fall.
Robin Thicke: Ray JJenny McCarthy: Damon DashKen Jeong: Daymond JohnNicole Scherzinger: Ryan Seacrest
Robin went there, guessing that maybe this was Ray J. We all know the connection he shares with the Kardashians, but he was trying to tie it to the Jermaine Dupri clue. Let’s just say, Nick did not see that one coming, and couldn’t stop himself from cracking up a bit, with everyone else joining in. But that wasn’t it.
All props to Ken on this one, as we had no idea. But it was indeed “Shark Tank” star and FUBU founder, Daymond John. Daymond said he grew up not seeing people who looked like him on TV, and being a short guy, he really connected with George Jefferson’s story.
“The Masked Singer” continues Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
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