Season 13 Premiere

After two months that felt like they would never end, it was finally time for the premiere of Season 13 of The Masked Singer! I had been looking forward to this a lot, as the trailers had shown a lot of potential, the snippets of performances in the trailers sounded great, the theme nights sounded great, and the costumes looked great as well. It seemed like the show was firing on all cylinders, and after watching this episode, I can safely say that it was!
The episode started off in an entertaining way, as it showed the panelists getting on an elevator that kept on making stops at every floor, with each floor letting on a contestant that won the season of the same number. By the time they got to the thirteenth floor, Nick Cannon, all four panelists, and all twelve past winners entered the stage. From there, they jumped into a performance of “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk that was performed by Robin, Rita, and last season’s runner up Mario. I think that this was a great way to kick off the season, as I always enjoy it when the panelists get to sing, I enjoy it when they bring back past contestants for a guest performance, and I also think that it was the perfect song to introduce the Lucky 13 theming they have for this season. 

After that, it was time for the first performer of the night, and also the season, which was Honey Pot. At the start of every clue package in this episode, they showed a clip of each celebrity seeing their costumes for the first time while still in their hoodie and blacked out visor, which I thought was fun to see, and I hope that they do the same in the premieres for Group B and Group C. In his clue package, he said that he became the Honey Pot because he has always said that you can catch flies with honey, but you can catch even more honeys being fly, and he will do anything for a laugh. His clue package then turned into a game show, where he said that he is one of the founding fathers of modern day comedy, sold more than two million dollars at the box office, and said that while ladies consider Brad Pitt the sexiest man on the planet, he was a close second. Visual clues included a lion and a wig that he started trimming with scissors. He then went on to give a very entertaining performance of “SexyBack” by Justin Timberlake. While he wasn’t the best singer, he ended up picking a song that was perfect for him and his voice, which also in a weird way made it a great first performance of the season. Halfway through his clue package, I figured out by myself that Honey Pot was Cedric the Entertainer, as the game show setting was because he hosted “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” for a season, the lion was because of his role in the “Madagascar” movies and playing The Cowardly Lion in a production of “The Wiz,” and him trimming the wig was referring to his role in the “Barbershop” movies. I was excited that he was on the show not only because I guessed that it was him without any help from the internet, but also because he is on my list of celebrities that are perfect for the show. I also wasn’t surprised that Ken figured out it was him fairly quickly, but I was surprised that none of the other panelists agreed with his guess at the time.

The second performer of the night was The Ant. In her clue package, she said that the reason she is an ant is because they are small and mighty, and they can carry over 50 times their body weight. She then said that just because you can carry a heavy burden doesn’t mean you should have to, as she has been forced to bear a deep, dark secret for her entire career, and because of this secret, powerful people tried to erase her, brush her off, and stomp her out, and the weight of it broke her and her spirit. She then said that she recently made a decision, which is that she could either stay broken, or she could be a warrior, and the reason she is on the show is to fight for her voice, to be heard, and to march towards real change. Visual clues included a dollhouse, an “X,” and a wizard hat. She then went on to give an amazing performance of “Just Give Me a Reason” by Pink, during which she showed all the power and emotion she has in her voice. After the performance, she said that she was on the stage for all the survivors, and told everyone that has had to endure, she saw them and supported them, and that together, no one will be able to stomp them out. At first, the internet did not come to a consensus on who it was, so I came up with my own guess, which has since become the consensus on the internet, which is that Ant is Aubrey O’Day from Danity Kane. The story that she told about the secret she was forced to hide is referring to her former mentor Diddy, the dollhouse is referring to her album “Welcome to the Dollhouse,” the “X” is referring to her time on the show “Ex on the Beach,” and the wizard hat is referring to her playing Dorothy in a production of “The Wizard of Oz.” I am excited that it is her for two reasons, the first one is that I guessed it by myself without any help from the internet, and the second one is that I recently wrote about how she would be perfect for the show. 
The third performer of the night was Paparazzo. In his clue package, he said that becoming Paparazzo was perfect because the lens has been pointed in his direction his entire life, and while we have seen him do so many things in his career, the one thing he has never had a chance to do is sing on a big stage, until now, and he was terrified. He then said that he has worked with the greats, took over the silver screen, and even took America’s sweetheart to prom, but this was so far outside of his comfort zone and he was freaking out. He then said that he felt that was the reason to give it a try and that he knew he wasn’t going to be perfect, but he was going to dig deep, put his fears aside, and hopefully capture everyone’s hearts. Visual clues included a picture of Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, and Chris Farley, a race car, a welcome mat, and a dog. He was also wearing socks that had globes on them. He then went on to give a great performance of “The Door” by Teddy Swims, which was perfect for his voice, and for someone who has never performed on stage, he did a great job singing it, and he had a lot of power in his voice. During the performance, a lot of camera themed visual effects were added, such as two points where it looked like it was being recorded, and a point where there was a grid with nine squares that were showing the same shot. After the performance, he said that another celebrity that was a friend of his was Steve Martin. Much like with Ant, it took a while for the internet to come to a consensus on who Paparazzo was, but they have since agreed that Paparazzo is actor and singer Matthew Lawrence. He got his start as a child star, which is why the lens has always been pointed in his direction, he has worked with the greats, like Steve Martin, Robin Williams, Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, and John Candy, starred in quite a few movies, which is why he took over the silver screen, he dated his costar Danielle Fishel for a while and took her to his high school prom, the picture of Adam Sandler is because they were both in the movie “The Hot Chick,” the race car could be referring to his role in the movie “Planes, Trains, & Automobiles,” the welcome mat is referring to his first name, the dog is referring to his role in the movie “Rusty: A Dog’s Tale,” and the globes on his socks are referring to his starring role in “Boy Meets World.” I am also happy that he is on the show, because he is yet another celebrity on my list of celebrities that are perfect for the show.

The fourth performer of the night was Fuzzy Peas. In his clue package, he said that if anybody told him that one day he would be dressing up as Fuzzy Peas, he would believe them. He then said that he is third generation in his field, and they all fought for what they believed in, and add a dash of his mother’s passion of music, and now he is known for his hits, some of which are Grammy nominated, and he even fulfilled her dying wish of securing a gold record. Visual clues included a rubber chicken, an Xbox controller, and a golden globe. He then went on to give a very good, fun, and entertaining performance of “La Bamba” by Richie Valens, which was also perfect for his voice. After the performance, he said that when he won the Grammy Award, he was up against Shakira and Christina Aguilera. I agree with the popular guess on the internet, which is that Fuzzy Peas is former boxer Oscar De La Hoya. He is the third generation in his field, as his father and grandfather were also boxers, his mother was a musician, he won a Grammy for his album that he released in 2001, the rubber chicken could be referring to him winning US boxing national championships in the featherweight class, the Xbox controller is referring to him being on the cover of many boxing video games as well as literally being an ex boxer, and the golden globe is referring to him winning gold at the 1992 Olympics and his nickname The Golden Boy of Boxing. Him being on the show is also very interesting, as he was already a contestant on “The Masked Dancer,” which Ken was a panelist on, so it’s going to be interesting to see if Ken guesses him correctly this time. I’m also excited that he’s on the show because he is yet another celebrity that is on my list of celebrities that are perfect for the show.

The final performer of the night was Coral. In her clue package, she said that the costume was majestic, but it also had hard, tough edges, the kind that are tough and resilient, which is why she relates to her. She then said that ever since she was young, she dreamed of being a star and asked everyone to let her sing for them, but for eight years, she faced many rejections. She then said that just when she was about to give it all up, a small victory turned into her voice being heard across the globe. Visual clues included a house with an American flag, a heart breaking on a TV screen, and a “live” sign. She then went on to give a beautiful performance of “Mad World” by Tears for Fears, during which she showed off all the power and emotion she has in her voice. I agree with the popular guess on the internet, which is that Coral is actress and singer Meg Donnelly. She has been open about how she started auditioning for roles at age eight or nine, but consistently got rejected until she was sixteen, and tried to audition for “American Idol,” the house with the flag is referring to her starring role in “American Housewife,” the broken heart is referring to her role in the TV movie “The Broken Ones,” and the “live” sign is referring to her role as the understudy for Louisa in “The Sound of Music Live.” She is yet another celebrity that is on my list of celebrities that are perfect for the show, so her being on the show right now has me feeling excited. 

After everybody had performed, it was time for the first unmasking of the season. The first singer to unmask was Honey Pot, which didn’t surprise me as while he was entertaining, he was the weakest singer of the night. Before the panelists made their final guesses, Nick introduced a new addition to this season, which was the Crack the Case Clue Cases, which is opened right before they are unmasked and reveals their most personal clue of all. When Honey Pot’s case was opened, it was revealed to be containing a Walk of Fame star. Much like earlier in the show Ken had the correct guess for Honey Pot, but this time he managed to convince Jenny to go along with his guess. Honey Pot was then unmasked and Ken and Jenny were correct, as he was revealed to be Cedric the Entertainer. I found it funny that when he was unmasked, much of the costume still covered his face a little bit. I also found it interesting that his show Cedric the Entertainer Presents was also Ken’s first TV appearance, as I find it cool when contestants have such specific connections to the panelists. Nick then asked Cedric if there were any clues that the panel missed, and he said that the bees on the top of his costume were wearing fedoras, which he famously wears all the time, and was wearing underneath the costume. This has resulted in me looking at all the subtle details on each of the costumes this season to see if any of them look out of place with the costume itself and are clues to the celebrity underneath.

Overall, this was an amazing start to Season 13 of The Masked Singer, and I’ll see you all next week when we return to Group A for Shrek Night!