Paley Center Masked Singer Exhibit

I recently made a blog post about a Masked Singer exhibit that is happening at the Paley Center in New York City, and I have an update regarding this event, which is that I recently went to see it in person! In this post, I will be sharing everything that was there and what it was like. 

The exhibit began right when I walked in the building. A few feet from the entrance was a giant screen that played four looping videos, which were every unmasking before Season 10, all the unmaskings in Season 10, and two trailers for Season 11. On both sides of the screen were two costumes. One of them was The Gumball, which is one of the costumes in this current season. Me and my parents were amazed by how big the costume was, though I shouldn’t have been too surprised considering the celebrity that I think is underneath it is six feet tall. It was also cool seeing it right in front of me, as it made me wonder what it was made of, as there were parts to the costume that looked like they were made from wood, even though they weren’t. Right in front of all the costumes there were signs saying what they were, who they were revealed to be, and a standout performance of theirs. For Gumball, they couldn’t say who he is because he hasn’t been unmasked yet, and they said that his standout performance was “Heartbeat Song” by Kelly Clarkson, which makes sense because it was a great performance, and it is his only one so far. On the other side of the screen was The Flamingo Costume from Season 2, who was revealed to be Adrienne Bailon-Houghton. The sign in front of the costume said that her standout performance was “Never Enough” by Loren Allred, which I agree with because it was one of the most heartfelt performances of the entire show. Me and my parents were also shocked by how small the costume was.

We then walked into a little room that had four costumes in it. The first costume that we saw was one of The Mummies from Season 8, which were revealed to be The Brady Bunch brothers. At first, I didn’t know which brother this costume belonged to, but when I looked the sign in front of the costume, I saw that it was the one that was worn by Christopher Knight. The sign also said that their standout performance was the theme song to “The Monkees,” which was their only performance, and one that I feel was very good. Right next to The Mummy was a display case that was holding the Golden Mask Trophy. When I saw the trophy, I wondered if it was heavy at all, as it is gold, but the panelists and the contestants can hold it without any struggles. My parents were also wondering if the winners get to keep the trophy, and I didn’t answer them because I wasn’t sure, but I think they do. Next to the display case was The Gazelle costume from Season 10, who was revealed to be Janel Parrish. I was amazed by all the details on the costume, such as the dress that was made of several crafted flowers, the antlers that also had a few crafted flowers on them, and the eight long eyelashes the costume had. The sign in front also said that her standout performance was “Uninvited” by Alanis Morrisette, which I agree with as it was also the perfect way to start the season. 

Across from them on the other side of the room was two more costumes. The first costume that we looked at was The Yeti from Season 5, who was revealed to be Omarion. While I remembered from first watching him on the show that the costume was short, I was surprised by how short it really was. I also thought all the little details on the costume were cool, such as pieces of armor that were designed to look like ice and a face, feet, and hands that were made to look like they were made of rocks. There were also some pictures of the costume during performances on the wall as well, and the sign in front of the costume said that his standout performance was “Lonely” by Justin Bieber and Benny Blanco, which I agree with because it was a very heartfelt performance, and he did the entire thing on roller blades. The costume across from The Yeti was Miss Monster from Season 3, who was revealed to be Chaka Khan. I remember that when I first saw the costume, I was fascinated by the dome that was covering the eye, as it was aa detail that I never noticed when I had seen the costume on the show before. When both of my parents saw the costume, they both commented on how small it was, saying that Chaka Khan must be short if the costume was that tall. I became curious as to how tall she is, so I went into my phone to see how tall she is and when I told my parents that it said she is 5’4, they didn’t believe it. The sign in front of the costume also said that her standout performance was “Something to Talk About” by Bonnie Raitt, which I agree with. 

After that, I walked into another room, and the first thing that I saw was a wall that had the pictures of all the winners at that point in the show. These were The Monster from Season 1 who was T-Pain, The Fox from Season 2 who was Wayne Brady, The Night Angel from Season 3 who was Kandi Burruss, The Sun from Season 4 who was LeAnn Rimes, The Piglet from Season 5 who was Nick Lachey, The Queen of Hearts From Season 6 who was Jewel, The Firefly from Season 7 who was Teyana Taylor, The Harp from Season 8 who was Amber Riley, Medusa from Season 9 who was Bishop Briggs, and The Cow from Season 10 who was Ne-Yo. 

We then continued into the room and all over the wall in the room was 43 pictures of several unmasked contestants from all ten seasons. It was so cool seeing so many large pictures of the contestants on the wall and reminding my parents of who some of them were. I thought it was great that they had pictures of celebrities who are legends, like The Gnome from Season 9 who was Dick Van Dyke, celebrities who were only on one episode like The Wolf from Season 9 who was Michael Bolton, and celebrities who were unmasked in the previous season like The Pickle who was Michael Rapaport.

As we went around the corner, we saw a section that was all about the panelists and Nick Cannon. This section featured pictures of all of them and said what their strengths and weaknesses were. I found some of them funny, as they said that Ken’s strength was knowing exactly who this is and his weakness was not knowing exactly who this is, they said that Jenny’s weakness was Cluedle-Doo, who was her husband that she failed to guess correctly, they said that Nick’s weakness was never getting to guess, and they said that Rita’s weakness was being “wrong and strong,” which is what she said in the Season 11 premiere. There were also five pictures from different points during the series, which were a basic picture of the original panel, a picture of Jenny with her husband after he got unmasked, a picture from 80s Night in Season 9, a picture from NFL Night in Season 10, and a picture from the upcoming Girl Group Night in Season 11, which I find cool as the episode has not aired yet. 

Right across from this section was more costumes and pictures. The first costume we saw in this area was The Leopard from Season 2, who was revealed to be Seal. I found all the details on this costume to be great, as the costume designers went to all the trouble to have the costume be dressed in a Victorian outfit, and it also had glowing green eyes. I was also surprised by how tall the costume was. The sign in front of the costume also said that his standout performance was “Big Spender” by Shirley Bassey, which I agree with because he did a great job at sounding like he was in a Broadway musical. There was also a TV screen right next to the costume that was playing this performance and the footage of his unmasking on a loop. The next costume that we saw was The Chameleon from Season 5, who was revealed to be Wiz Khalifa. Me and my parents were amazed by how tall the costume was, the glittery sequins that covered it, and the gold necklaces that it was wearing. The sign in front of the costume also said that his standout performance was “Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio featuring L.V., which I agree with because it is a great song, and he did a great performance of it for the finale. Right between the two costumes was the official images of all the costumes from Season 11. I had already seen almost all of them on television and the internet, but I had not properly seen the last two wildcards yet, so I was excited to see them and what they looked like. 

Next to that, we saw all the different times that the show has used outside sources as ways of promotion, as they promoted it at Pacific Park in Santa Monica, on the giant donut on top of Randy’s Donuts in Los Angeles, as part of a float at the Rose Parade, having past costumes on display at businesses, being promoted on the Ferris wheel at the Santa Monica Pier, having two costumes with an NFL mascot at the Super Bowl, having Happy Meal toys of costumes, and making appearances in a variety of other shows. 

Across from that was a wall that showed all the group costumes that the show has had over the years. These were The Snow Owls from Season 4, who were Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black, The Russian Dolls from Season 5, who were Hanson, The Beach Ball from Season 6, who was Honey Boo Boo and Mama June, The Banana Split from Season 6, who was Katharine McPhee and David Foster, The Hydra from Season 7, who was Penn and Teller, The Queen Cobras from Season 7, who were En Vogue, The Mummies from Season 8, who were The Brady Bunch Brothers, The Lambs from Season 8, who were Wilson Phillips, and The California Roll from Season 9, who was Pentatonix. Right in the center of the wall was a promotion for the duo costume this season, The Beets. 

Next to that was The Mushroom costume from Season 4, who was revealed to be Aloe Blacc. I was amazed by several details on the costume, such as how the entire body was made to look like a stem, there were several little mushrooms around the body, and some pieces of grass as well. The sign in front of him also said that his standout performance was “Valerie” by Amy Winehouse, which I agree with, but I also feel that he has several other great performances from his time on the show, such as “Unconditionally” by Katy Perry. Near this costume was a display case that had some of the Happy Meal toys of costumes from the show. Also in this area was The Rottweiler costume from Season 2, who was revealed to be Chris Daughtry. I knew that the costume wasn’t super tall, so there were no surprises about height when I saw it in person. I also liked seeing all the little details on the costume, such as the gold chain around its neck and the Rolex it had on one hand. The sign in front of him also said that his standout performance was “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi, which I agree with because I feel that it is one of the most beautiful performances of the entire series, and it’s also the performance that got my dad interested in the show. Next to the costume was pictures of the contestants that were saved by the Ding Dong Keep It On Bell, which were The Mantis from Season 9 who was Lou Diamond Phillips, The Gargoyle from Season 9 who was Keenan Allen, Medusa from Season 9, and The Gazelle from Season 10.

On the other side of the room from this was a display talking about the accolades that all the contestants have had over the years and showed pictures of some of these contestants as well. These were The Mouse from Season 3 who was Dionne Warwick, The Flower from Season 2 who was Patti LaBelle, The White Tiger from Season 3 who was Rob Gronkowski, The Knight from Season 8 who was William Shatner, The Bee from Season 1 who was Gladys Knight, The Leopard from Season 2, The Jellyfish from Season 4 who was Chloe Kim, The Robot from Season 3 who was Lil Wayne, The Fox from Season 2, and The Gnome from Season 9. Right next to these pictures was The Seahorse costume from Season 4, who was revealed to be Tori Kelly. I was amazed by all the details on the costume, such as the jewels that covered the costume and made it sparkle, the colorful seaweed that was on it, and the small seashells that were among the seaweed. The sign in front of her also said that her standout performance was “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion, which I agree with because she did an amazing job with that song.

After that, we made our way to the last part of the exhibit and saw the Don’t Talk To Me visor and hoodie, which is what all the contestants have to wear once they arrive on the set. I found it cool to see such an important part of every season of the show, and I’m also impressed at how it can conceal a celebrity’s identity. On the wall on the other side was a gallery of the original sketches of several costumes. It was cool seeing that each costume takes three months to complete, and that many of them look different during the original drawing phase. Some examples include The Macaw from Season 9, which was originally going to be wearing a blue outfit, but got changed to a red outfit, The Bull from Season 6, which in concept drawings was called Matador, and The Mummies from Season 8, who were originally going to be a male and female duo. After that, we walked over to an interactive screen to do a Masked Singer trivia game, where I got every answer correct. After we had walked around the exhibit several times, we went up to a craft making area where we got paper masks of the heads of two costumes, The Banana from Season 3 who was Bret Michaels, and The Space Bunny from Season 7 who was Shaggy.

Overall, this was such an amazing experience that I am so grateful I had the chance to go to! If any of you reading this want to go, it goes until May 19 on Wednesdays to Sundays!