Girl Group Night

After three great episodes with Group C and three great episodes with Group A, it was time to return to Group B. I was looking forward to this, as not only had it been over a month since we last saw them, but there were also three amazing singers in the group that we were going to hear again. With the theme being Girl Group Night, I was interested to see what songs they would perform, and with the final wildcard contestant of the season joining in this episode, I had high expectations for this episode.

The episode began in an entertaining way, as it started with the panelists performing “Wannabe” by Spice Girls. From there, we went to the first performer of the night, who was Miss Cleocatra. In her clue package, she said that she had a gang of great women that shaped her, starting with her own mother, who was a maid, so she didn’t have to be. She then said that the best gift she ever got from her mother was her work ethic, as it made her the hardest hustler in Tinseltown, and now all the brightest stars look to her, including Michelle Obama and her mother. Visual clues included a snake, a domino with a 5 on it, and pictures of Bette Midler and Whoopi Goldberg. She then went on to give an amazing performance of “Free Your Mind” by En Vogue, during which she showed all the power she has in her voice. For additional clues in this episode, past contestants that are also girl group members came out to give clues by singing karaoke of other girl group songs. For Miss Cleocatra, Carnie Wilson came out and sang a bit of “Stop! In the Name of Love” by The Supremes. Miss Cleocatra then said that The Supremes aren’t just on her playlist, they are also a part of her career. As the panelists were all making their guesses, Ken’s guess was the one that was correct, as he said Jenifer Lewis, which surprised me as this was the second contestant in a row that he had guessed correctly.

The second performers of the night were The Beets. In their clue package, they said that like the best girl groups out there, they both bring their own spice, as one was the total ladies’ man, and one was the tough guy, and they couldn’t have been more different. They then said that they didn’t try to outdo each other, and that like a good girl group, they teamed up, and that it was their organic friendship that made them a delicious duo and kept them on menus worldwide, and that they are still touring and hitting the town. Visual clues included a dumbbell, mistletoe, a boarding pass for a flight, a restaurant menu, and a castle made of bread. They then went on to give an amazing performance of “I’m So Excited” by The Pointer Sisters, during which they both showed off their impressive vocal ranges, and they also took turns singing, with one Beet singing the first half of the song, and the other Beet singing the second half of the song with the first Beet singing backing vocals during the second chorus. For an additional clue, Raven Symone came out and sang part of “Weak” by SWV. The Beets then said that they made their audience weak in the knees on Broadway. The clues in this episode made me even more confident as to who they are, and even though the panel has not said the correct names yet, my dad says that they are coming up with other names to make it look harder even though they know that they are Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken. The dumbbell could be referring to Ruben Studdard being a contestant on “The Biggest Loser,” they recently went on a tour celebrating 20 years of them being on “American Idol,” Clay Aiken was a heartthrob with his fans, which is why he was called a ladies’ man, the mistletoe is referring to their Christmas albums they have released and the holiday show that they did together, and they have both been on Broadway, as Clay Aiken played Sir Robin for a while in “Spamalot,” and they both starred in “Ruben & Clay’s First Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show.”

The third performer of the night was The Gumball. In his clue package, he said that it was exciting to perform on Girl Group Night, because there is one girl who has been singing lead in his life for years, which is his wife. He remembered the first night he met her, and he knew right then and there that he would spend the rest of his life with her, and everything was perfect until she was diagnosed with a disease that will impact her later in life, and the forever they were planning looked very different and they had a decision to make. They could let what’s on the horizon define them, or they could choose to be present each and every moment to say “yes” more and explore more of the wide-open spaces out there. Visual clues included angel wings and a halo, a moon, a bowling ball that looks like a globe knocking down bowling pins, and a prom sash. He then gave a beautiful and moving performance of “Wide Open Spaces” by The Chicks, where he showed off his amazing range. For an additional clue, Carnie Wilson returned to sing part of “Don’t Cha” by The Pussycat Dolls, and Gumball then said, “don’t you wish you could have starred with Channing Tatum like me.” After these clues, I am even more confident that Gumball is actor and singer Scott Porter. The angel wings and halo could be referring to his guest role as an angel on the show “Charmed,” the moon is referring to his starring role on the show “Friday Night Lights,” the prom sash is referring to his role in the movie “Prom Night,” he starred with Channing Tatum in the movie “Dear John,” and his wife was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease.

The last performer of the night was also the last wildcard contestant of the season, The Seal. When the first few trailers for this episode came out, there was very little information presented to us as to who this could be, as all I could tell was that it was somebody with a fun personality, which could have been anybody. Then, another trailer came out, and I was confused as to who it was. The trailer showed Robin guessing Sean Astin, Jenny guessing Derek Hough, and Rita and Ken talking about how it could be her husband, Taika Waititi. I was confused because those were three completely different celebrities that have nothing in common, and I was even questioning if all those guesses were actually for The Seal. I ended up going through a bunch of different names in the days leading up to the episode, and I wasn’t even sure it was any of them. During the episode, I found out that the guess of Derek Hough was for Gumball, which didn’t surprise me, and started to give me an idea for who The Seal was. In his clue package, it started off with a narrator talking about how for thousands of years, it was buried in the ice, waiting for the perfect time to strike. Seal himself then started talking, saying that he is cute, cuddly, and friendly, and that it makes sense that he’s the wildcard because he was mistakenly perceived as a wild child. He then said that we all might know him from our screens, radios, or posters that we have on our walls. He also said that he was excited to be on Girl Group Night, because he was in one of the most famous groups in the world. Visual clues included a treasure chest, a science lab, a driver’s license, a polar bear, and a vampire. He then gave a great performance of “Hold On” by Wilson Phillips, which he sang in a rock style, which I feel was perfect for his voice. For an additional clue, Raven Symone returned to sing part of “Bo$$” by Fifth Harmony, and Seal then said that it’s easy to be confident when you have a boss like Steven Spielberg. After reading a bunch of comments on social media that were all the same guess with clues explained and hearing Jenny make the same guess, I am confident that The Seal is Corey Feldman. He was viewed as a wild child when he was younger, he was in a lot of movies in the 80s, and he was on a lot of posters. The famous group that he was a part of was “The Goonies,” which also explains the treasure chest, the science lab could be referring to him voicing Donatello in the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” movie, the driver’s license is referring to him starring in the movie “License to Drive,” the polar bear is referring to him starring in the show “The Bad News Bears” and playing Teddy in the movie “Stand By Me,” the vampire is referring to his role in the movie “The Lost Boys,” and Steven Spielberg was his boss when he was the executive producer for the movie “Gremlins” and wrote the story for “The Goonies.” 

After all four performances, it was time for the smackdown, and the two singers with the least amount of votes were revealed to be Miss Cleocatra and The Seal, and while I thought they were both great, I was not surprised they landed in the bottom. They then took turns performing their own spin on “Waterfalls” by TLC. Both performances deviated from the original song, as Miss Cleocatra did a jazz version, while Seal did a rock version. I enjoyed both renditions, and me and my parents were confident that The Seal was going to get unmasked, so we were surprised when it was revealed that Miss Cleocatra was going to be unmasked. Much like with Starfish in the previous episode, Ken was the only one to guess correctly, as she was revealed to be Jenifer Lewis. Right after she was unmasked, several interviews she had done about her time on the show were released, and she revealed that while she was on the show, she was still recovering from falling off a 10-foot balcony, and she was still using a walker, which explains why she was sitting whenever she was not performing. She also said that the show took care of her, as during her first performance, she was bolted down to the floor in a harness, and in her second performance, she never let go of the mic stand, which was bolted down because she couldn’t walk, and she could only kick her legs low. I am impressed that she even took part in the show with what happened to her.

Overall, this was another amazing episode of Season 11 of The Masked Singer, and I’ll see you all next week with the Group B Finals in Soundtrack Of My Life Night!