Queen Night

After an amazing return to Group A with Transformers Night last week, I had high expectations for the Group A Finals this week, especially considering the theme of the episode was Queen Night. I have enjoyed all the other episodes that were centered around a specific artist, such as Andrew Lloyd Webber, ABBA, Elton John, and Billy Joel, so I was sure this one would be just as good, as Queen is one of my favorite bands. This along with the fact that I knew we had three amazing singers had me looking forward to the episode.

The episode started off with a group performance between all three contestants singing “We Are the Champions,” which I enjoyed as it gave all three contestants a chance to stand out. After this performance, it was time for the first contestant of the night, which was Ugly Sweater. In his clue package, he talked about how he has inspired a variety of artists, from Snoop Dogg to Nirvana, and he even got to work with Tupac. Visual clues included a pool float, a praying hands emoji, a bar of 24 karat gold, and a crying face emoji. He then gave an amazing performance of “I Want to Break Free,” where he showed how much power he has in his voice. As an additional clue that night, each contestant said who on the show they had a connection with. Ugly Sweater said that he had a connection with Nick, and he said to him that he has never forgotten giving him dating advice, and that Nick obviously didn’t forget either. When the panelists made their guesses, my mom laughed at some of the incorrect guesses they made, which were Smokey Robinson and Aaron Neville, because she knew they sounded nothing like Ugly Sweater. When Robin made his guess, he said the correct celebrity that was under the mask, which was Charlie Wilson.

The second performer of the night was The Starfish. In her clue package, she said that two of her best friends got her dream job, so the pressure was on for her to become a star on her own. She then said that she got a call for another potential job to replace someone who had just been fired. During her first day on the job, she felt like her every move was being scrutinized, but she knew that this was her chance. She decided that nothing was going to stop her, so she put her own spin on it, and it ended up working. Visual clues included a telescope, a rabbit, and a desk bell. She then went on to give an amazing performance of “Under Pressure,” which I found impressive because that is not an easy song to sing, and she is not a professional singer. After the performance, she said that the panelist she is connected to is Jenny, as she said that the last time they hung out, she offered her tickets to her show. For the first time this season, one of the panelists guessed her identity correctly, and much to my surprise, it was Ken, who is typically wrong and almost never guesses people he has worked with correctly, that said The Starfish was Kate Flannery from “The Office.”

The third and final performer of the night was The Goldfish. In her clue package, she said that she has learned that life comes in waves. One time, she had just landed her dream role, but the night before her debut, she received the worst news she could have ever imagined, which was that she had lost her number one supporter. She felt like she couldn’t move, but then she remembered that there was no one in the world who enjoyed watching her perform more, so she reached down and found the courage to take the stage, and she performed for the one seat that wasn’t filled, which was heartbreaking, but it felt beautiful to honor them. Visual clues included a map of an island, a wizard hat, and a poster with a rose on it that says Goldfish is headlining The Masked Singer. She then went on to give a powerful performance of “The Show Must Go On,” which you could tell she was putting her whole heart into. It also brought us the first time this season that a panelist was in tears because of a performance, as Rita was crying after she was talking about how much she loved the performance and again when she shared her guess. She then said that the panelist she had a connection with was Ken and said to him “you’re ridiculous and you have so much heart. I love it so much. You obviously haven’t changed since the last time we worked together.” After this episode, I am even more confident in the popular guess on the internet, which was also Rita’s guess, which is that The Goldfish is Vanessa Hudgens. The map of an island is referring to the fact that her mom is from the island of Mindanao in the Philippines, the wizard hat is referring to the fact that she played Dorothy in a production of “The Wizard of Oz” when she was younger, and she has worked with Ken before, as they both starred in the movie “My Little Pony: A New Generation.” The story that she told during her clue package also confirms that it’s her, as in 2016, she starred in the role of Rizzo in a live TV production of “Grease,” but one day before the special aired, her father died. She decided to go forward with the performance and dedicated it in his memory.

After all three performances, it was time for the first unmasking of the night. I knew that no matter who got eliminated this episode, two strong singers would be unmasked. The first singer to be unmasked was Ugly Sweater, which did not surprise me, as while he is a professional singer, he didn’t have as much energy as Starfish. He was then revealed to be Charlie Wilson, as I expected, but what I found funny after he was unmasked was that the costume seemed to barely cover his mouth, and typically the show gives celebrities costumes that allow their faces to be perfectly visible following the unmasking. I also found it funny that when the panelists asked him what dating advice he gave Nick, he said that he couldn’t say it because he didn’t want to get censored. It was also cool hearing him do some scat singing after he got unmasked, and it was great that he continued the tradition of an artist performing their most famous song after being unmasked, as he performed “You Dropped a Bomb on Me” as his encore performance.

After that, it was time for the Battle Royale between The Goldfish and The Starfish. They took turns performing their own renditions of “Another One Bites the Dust.” Both singers were very good, and while I was sure Goldfish was going to win easily, Starfish put up a good fight with her performance. In the end, Goldfish ended up winning and moving on to the Quarterfinals, which meant that it was time for Starfish to get unmasked. For the first time this season, Ken was correct with his guess, as Starfish was revealed to be Kate Flannery. I found it funny that after talking with Nick and the panelists, she started to walk off the stage, prompting them to ask her where she was going and remind her that she had to sing again, to which she responded that she forgot. 

Overall, this was another amazing episode of Season 11 of The Masked Singer, and I’ll see you all next week when we return to Group B with Girl Group Night!