The Wizard Of Oz Night

Hello everybody! Today I am going to share with you all a write up of episode two of Season 11 of The Masked Singer, and what I thought of it!

The theme of the episode was The Wizard of Oz Night, and that was made clear from the first moment of the episode, as Nick was shown coming down to the stage in a hot air balloon, the stage was decorated with many things from the movie itself, Robin was dressed as The Wizard, Jenny was dressed as Glinda the Good Witch, Ken was dressed as the Cowardly Lion, and Rita was dressed as Dorothy. After they all made their way to their seats, they kicked off the episode with a performance of “Over the Rainbow” by Judy Garland by LeAnn Rimes, the winner of Season 4, and she once again showed why she won the season. 

This was also the first episode with Group B, so we got to meet four new contestants. The first contestant of the night was The Gumball, which is a gumball machine that has robotic arms and legs. He also showed off some dance moves as he walked onto the stage. Before each clue package that Night, Nick asked each contestant which Wizard of Oz character they were inspired by. Gumball said that he was inspired by the Tin Man because in his words, “when you met him, he was a little rusty, maybe just like me.” In his clue package, he talked about how his heart took a beating as his path to success came with no directions. He knew that he wanted to be on stage, but he didn’t know how to make it happen, so he did everything to get an audience, such as beatboxing on the street, performing at theme parks, and getting booed off the stage at a competition for winning. He watched everyone else around him have more success than he was, but he refused to give up, and said that he needed a little timing and a lot of luck, and that even if your road isn’t paved with gold, as long as your heart is, you will find your way. The visual clues were a map of the Southern United States with a heart around Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, Gumball playing drums and two other band members playing other instruments, a spider, and a horse pulling a chariot. After this, he started off by singing a great and quick rendition of “If I Only Had a Heart” by Jack Haley before launching into an amazing and powerful performance of “Heartbeat Song” by Kelly Clarkson, which he ended by giving Rita a gumball with a heart on it. After the performance, he gave another clue, which was a heart clock, and he said that “deep down, at the end of the day, Tin Man always had the heart of a superhero, and I actually might too.” From the time between his first performance ending and the following morning, I went through three names that I saw on the internet for who The Gumball could be. These were Skylar Astin from “Pitch Perfect,” Broadway star Jeremy Jordan, and previous “American Idol” winner Kris Allen, but I found that all three of them didn’t fit all the clues or they were busy with something else at the time. The following morning, I saw one guess that seemed to be popular, and I searched to see how the clues applied to them, and after finding a lot of evidence, I am convinced that The Gumball is actor and singer Scott Porter from “Friday Night Lights.” Him saying that the Tin Man was a little rusty just like him could be because the character he played in the movie “The To Do List” was named Rusty Waters, he did get his start as a beatboxer, performed at many Orlando theme parks at the start of his career with his a cappella vocal group 4:2:Five, and they won the talent competition “Star Search.” The map of the Southern United States with the heart around Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama is a reference to him starring on the show “Hart of Dixie,” as those three states are in the region of Dixie, the drumming and the other instruments being played is a reference to him starring in the movie “Bandslam,” the spider is a reference to him starring in “Ultimate Spider Man” and “Spidey and His Amazing Friends,” the horse pulling a chariot could be a reference to him appearing in the movie “Speed Racer,” as that was a popular form of racing in Ancient Greece, and him saying that he might have the heart of a superhero is a reference to all the voice work he has done in superhero shows and video games.

The second celebrity to perform was Miss Cleocatra, who had one of the most unique entrances of any contestant, as she was carried out on an Egyptian litter that was held up by four strong men on each side, and she was also laying on her side at the same time, and she kicked her leg up as well. She said that the character from the movie she related to the most was the Good Witch. In her clue package, she talked about how she was living life in technicolor but was worried that the empire she built could crumble beneath her, and that her days were horribly split, going from gorgeous rainbows to horrendous black and white, and she got the diagnosis she never wanted but so desperately needed. Visual clues included an hourglass, a sign that said “Bel-Air,” a suitcase with a sign that said “vacay,” a blackbird, and a tiara. She then gave an amazing performance of “Stormy Weather” by Etta James, where she showed how much power her voice has. After her performance, another clue was brought out, which was a silver star, and she said that she has already worked her magic on an Emmy Award-winning show. When I first saw her performance, I honestly thought her voice was male because of how deep it sounded, but when I went to the internet to see what everyone was saying, I saw that I was not only wrong with my first impression, but that everybody was saying that it was actress and singer Jenifer Lewis, and I agree with that guess. Her saying that she was living life in technicolor could be referring to her role on the show “In Living Color,” the diagnosis that she was talking about was her diagnosis with bipolar disorder, the sign saying “Bel-Air” is a clue to her role on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” the suitcase that said “vacay” could be referring to her role in the movie “Baggage Claim,” the tiara is referring to her role in “The Princess and the Frog,” and the Emmy-Award winning show that she was part of was “Black-ish.”

The third contestant of the night was The Afghan Hound. A clip of Jenny making a guess for who was underneath the mask was released a day before the episode aired, and from what she was saying, it told me that she was from a reality show with her family, and that there has been drama in her life recently. I couldn’t make a specific guess from this generic statement because there were so many people it could have been. She then said that the character she relates to the most from the movie is the Cowardly Lion. I couldn’t figure out who it was at first, but then she said that her family was “together until recently. Suddenly it was like our whole house came crashing down and I found myself alone, lost and left to pick up the pieces.” After she said this, I figured out that it was none other than Savannah Chrisley, whose parents are currently in jail for tax fraud, and I was even more confident because she was recently on another Fox reality series. She then went on to give an entertaining performance of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” and it was clear that she was having fun, as she even started laughing when she got to the third verse. Even though she is not a singer, I am happy that she had so much fun, and I thought it was funny that she finished her performance by laying down on a pillow on the stage while other people on the stage placed a blanket on her. 

The fourth and final contestant of the night was The Beets, which was a duo costume. A clip of Rita and Ken making their guesses was released earlier that day, with Rita guessing Jason Bateman and Will Arnett, and Ken guessing K-Ci & JoJo to much ridicule from everybody. This told me that they were probably comedians that could sing, and possibly even internet personalities. When they entered the stage, my suspicions seemed to be confirmed even more, as they were bouncing and constantly waving, and so were the people helping them to the stage. They then said that they most relate to Dorothy and Toto because of their loyalty as friends. In their clue package, they said that home for them is wherever they are together, and that for a moment, they had 40 million eyes on them, and that even when it felt like the world was trying to pit them against each other, they have always had each other’s backs, and that going to the stage together will be like going back to their roots. And one also asked which one is Toto, and the other one said him since he’s the feisty one. Some visual clues included an old radio, a book called “Beeting the Odds,” a 2 of Hearts playing card, and a basket of apples. They then gave an amazing performance of “Home” by Michael Buble, where they showed off their amazing harmonizing abilities, and showed me that they were singers and not comedians. There was an additional clue after the performance, which was Toto, and they said, “Like Toto and Dorothy, we’re the best of friends, and we’re pretty good co-stars too.” Halfway through their performance, I focused on the clues I had seen and connected them to the voices I was hearing, and I knew that they were Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard, and then I saw that the internet was saying the same thing. The talk of being friends refers to how close they have been since their time on “American Idol,” their talk of having 40 million eyes on them is how many people watched them that season, and the world pitting them against each other, and the book “Beeting the Odds” refer to how much people wanted one to win over the other, the talk of being the feisty one is a reference to Clay being an extrovert and Ruben being an introvert, and the talk of how this felt like going back to their roots is because they got their start on a Fox singing competition. The two of hearts could be a reference to how they were on the second season of “American Idol,” and the talk of being co-stars is referring to them both being in the Broadway show “Ruben & Clay’s Christmas Show.” 

After this, there was a Smackdown for the two singers with the least amount of votes, which were Gumball and Afghan Hound, and they sang “Ding Dong The Witch is Dead” in their own unique styles. Afghan Hound sang in a style that sounded like it could have come from the actual movie, while Gumball sang it in an upbeat pop style which worked better than I thought it would. Gumball ended up winning, and Afghan Hound had to unmask, and I ended up being right as it was Savannah Chrisley!

Overall, this was another great episode with more great performances, and I look forward to sharing a recap of Billy Joel Night with you all next week!