A Tribute To James Van Der Beek And A Recap Of Twilight Night

After another great episode last week and having met all the contestants of the season with Red White And Clue Night, it was time for Twilight Night! When I first heard about this Theme Night, I had no idea what it would entail, but I knew that the song A Thousand Years would be performed in some way.

Before I get into the episode though, there is something that I need to bring up. I was initially on the fence about even talking about it, but after seeing that the show addressed it, I feel that I should as well.

On Wednesday, February 11, we lost another member of The Masked Singer family. James Van Der Beek, The Griffin on Season 13, has passed away after a years long battle with colorectal cancer. 

I am going to be completely honest with you all, five other past contestants have passed away over the years, but out of all of them, this one hit me the hardest, and for a little while, I couldn’t understand why. But now I know why it hit me as hard as it did. It’s because it felt like I was following him along during this time. What I mean is that he was very open about his cancer battle, even talking about it while he was a contestant. And another reason why it hit me as hard as it did was because I had prior familiarity with him, as he had been a panelist on four episodes of Match Game, and provided us with some great moments there as well, including all the times that he told a contestant that the answer he wrote was terrible, the time that he helped two contestants win $25,000 in one episode, and provided us with this amazing quote towards a contestant whose name was Deric: 

“You know, I’ve got to admit, I love how you spell your name. Some people would have gone with two R’s, some people would have thrown a K at the end, but not you.”

And not only was he great on Match Game, he was also great on The Masked Singer, giving four great performances for someone who is not a professional singer, easily being among one of the best contestants on Season 13.

As soon as this news broke, I was really hoping that The Masked Singer would do a tribute for him, much like how they did for other past contestants like Jerry Springer and George Foreman. I initially had no idea how it would work, as I figured that it was impossible to make a dedication for him in the same day that he died, I knew that next Wednesday is going to be a repeat, so they probably wouldn’t want to do it then, and I knew that waiting two weeks to do it wasn’t the right thing to do. 

So, later that night, I turned on my TV to Fox so that I could watch Twilight Night on The Masked Singer, and right when the show started, right there on the screen was a dedication card that read “In loving memory of our Griffin James Van Der Beek. March 8 1977-February 11 2026,” accompanied by a photo of his unmasking. I am surprised that the show was able to put this together so quickly, and I am glad that they did, because they paid tribute to him in the nicest and most respectful way they could.

Thank you for being a part of two of my favorite shows James. You really are funny and a great singer. You will truly be missed.

Thank you to everyone who actually bothered to read all this, and now, I feel it’s time to get into the actual episode.

The episode started off the only way that it could have: with Christina Perri giving a performance of her song A Thousand Years. As I said at the start of this post, I knew that this song would be performed in some way, but I had no idea that they would be bringing in Christina Perri herself for the performance. It was still a great performance though, and I’m sure that Christina Perri will end up being a contestant on the show someday as a result.

From there, it was time for the first performer of the night, which was Cat Witch. I am not going to get into her clue package for reasons that you should already know if you have read all my other blog posts for episodes that she has performed on. 

After her clue package, she went on to give an amazing performance of It Will Rain by Bruno Mars, during which she showed off all the power and emotion in her voice.

As a reminder, the reason why I am not getting into her clues is because she is our Masked Insider for the season, Kylie Cantrall.

The second performer of the night was 14 Karat Carrot. In his clue package, he told his love story, which started when he first met his wife when they were both 18 and he saw her across campus. He then said that their first interaction was fiery, and they did not see eye to eye, and he finally realized that the way to her heart was serenading her, and when she heard his voice, that did the trick, and they have been together ever since. Visual clues included a basket of vegetables that said “Family,” a big number 3, and a picture of him that said “Winning Image.” 

He then went on to give a great performance of Tainted Love by Gloria Jones, which was surprisingly perfect for his voice, but there was a very bizarre moment during the performance where the backup dancers interrupted it and started pretending to sing about how they love carrots. Still a great performance though.

After the performance, an additional clue was brought out, which was a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

I still agree with the popular guess on the internet, which is that 14 Karat Carrot is Judge Greg Mathis. Yeah, who would have thought that he would be a good singer? He met his wife Linda when they were both students at Eastern Michigan University, they did have a rocky start to their relationship, as she and her friend spoiled a game of Three Card Molly for him that cost him money, and he had some harsh words for her friend, which she didn’t like, however, he won her over by following her around the college campus and serenading her with songs like Bette Davis Eyes, the basket of vegetables that said “Family” is referring to his show Mathis Family Matters, the picture that said “Winning Image” is referring to him winning an NAACP Image Award for his show Judge Mathis, and he has a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

The next performer of the night was Stingray. In his clue package, he said that after years of running around, the girl of his dreams came dancing into his life. He then said that he knew she was the one, so he bought the ring, hid it in his pocket, and practiced the proposal over and over. He then said that when the time came, a tarantula the size of her head was staring right at him, so he screamed “Look,” got down on one knee, and she said yes. Visual clues included a basketball, a witch’s hat, a cat, and a coconut.

He then went on to give a great performance of Bad Habits by Ed Sheeran, which was perfect for his voice.

After the performance, an additional clue was brought out, which was a phone call from a mystery woman, who it turned out was his wife. 

I still agree with the popular guess on the internet, which is that Stingray is Evan Ross. The basketball is referring to his role in the movie She Ball, the witch’s hat is referring to his role in the show Wicked City, and he is married to Ashlee Simpson, who is also on this season. 

The final performer of the night was Owl. I’m not going to get into his clue package for reasons that will become apparent to you later on, but I will say that his clues had to do with him getting out of a bad relationship and his name being dragged through the mud, until someone said they were on his side, and they started a relationship.

He then went on to perform White Wedding by Billy Idol, which was one of the most unique sounding performances on the show so far, with my dad saying he sounded like Leo Kotke, and my mom saying that he sounded like Steven Wright. For those of you who have no idea who either one of them is, which I imagine is almost every one of you, Leo Kotke is an Americana singer with an unconventional baritone singing voice, and Steven Wright is a stand up comedian with a lethargic voice and slow deadpan delivery.

While the panelists were making their guesses after the performance, I was surprised that not only were none of them saying Billy Ray Cyrus, but none of them were even close.

After that, it was time for the panel and the audience to vote, and the two contestants with the least amount of votes would be competing in the Vampire Royale. It’s just the Battle Royale, but with the name changed because, you know, vampires and Twilight.

The two contestants that ended up there were Stingray and Owl, and they took turns singing Love Is A Battlefield by Pat Benatar. Stingray did a great job at singing it, while Owl sounded like he always does, and me and my parents found it funny that the panelists said that it was close, because we felt that Stingray was the far better singer. 

After that, it was time for Nick to announce who won the Vampire Royale, and unsurprisingly, it was revealed to be Stingray.

This meant that it was time for Owl to unmask, and the internet was proven right yet again, as he was revealed to be Billy Ray Cyrus, much to the shock of the panelists who all failed to guess correctly, especially with how many times they have guessed him in the past. 

Also, and this is my personal opinion, I think they very heavily edited his unmasking and the interview that followed, as they only showed him talking twice, and the panelists spoke more than he did. I know that they edit out a lot of footage, as Tiffany Haddish’s unmasking last month was only a few minutes on the show, but lasted a total of ten minutes in real life, but it felt like he said absolutely nothing about his time on the show, and he didn’t even really say anything to the panelists directly. 

And in case you were wondering, yes, his unmasked encore was Achy Breaky Heart, but they did something weird with it. They played the actual song over the speakers, and he either lip synced along or was singing but was drowned out by the song playing. This was such a bizarre choice, because we all heard what he sounded like on three episodes already, and this was completely different, and it just sounded too much like the original song.

Overall, this was another great episode of Season 14 of The Masked Singer, and as of right now, we are at the halfway point of the season! Unfortunately, there is no new episode next week, perhaps due to the Olympics, but I will see you all in two weeks when the show returns for Spice Girls Night!

And thank you again for being on this show and having one of the last things you did in your career be showing everyone what a great singer you really are James.