S01.E08: Semi Finals: Double Unmasking

[OtterMommy]

Quote

Two celebrities are unmasked, leaving only the top three singers; Kenan Thompson guest judges.

Airdate: February 20, 2019

[Was-MArsenault]

Kenan will also be a guest judge for the season finale.

And just like last week's episode, all of the singers will be performing.

Edited February 20, 2019 by MikaelaArsenault

[Mockingbird]

I’m all in on Monster. ALL IN. 

[Popples]

@SimoneS

I got them off Twitter. They're the official emojis of the singers. They were too cute for me to not use.

I'm glad Kenan will be back next week, he's been my favorite guest judge of the season.

ETA: I was replying in the other thread and it closed when I clicked the button.

Edited February 21, 2019 by Popples

[SimoneS]

I predicted the Lion, but thought the Peacock would also go so I really am shocked that the Rabbit was unmasked. 

2 minutes ago, Popples said:

I'm glad Kenan will be back next week, he's been my favorite guest judge of the season.

I enjoyed Kenan also. We are getting two more episodes so we will be down to two finalists in episode 10.

The emojis are cute!

Edited February 21, 2019 by SimoneS

[mtlchick]

20 minutes ago, SimoneS said:

We are getting two more episodes so we will be down to two finalists in episode 10.

Next week is a 2 hour finale.  What is this, Dancing With the Stars or Idol?

I had guessed everyone a while ago, so it was a matter of who was getting bounced.  The blonde hair doesn't work on Rumor at all.  

[RTS]

Ok, I fast forward all the clues and chatter to only watch the performances, and I TOTALLY guessed Nick Lachey for Rabbit right before Kenan said it.  98Degrees dance moves and a really competent classic male voice.  Equally wrong heh.  (In retrospect, 98Degrees couldn't really dance.)

I thought on the bod/dancing that it could be Joey with a flattering corset like costume heh.  Those strappings around the waist.

Edited February 21, 2019 by RTS

[Guest]

Kenan is the best judge so far. I loved his certainty about the Bee. 

I thought the Rabbit and Lion were the right choices to go home. The Bee and Monster had amazing vocals and the Peacock is the best performer. 

I thought I was going to lose interest once I figured everyone but I am still enjoying the show. 

For the 3 remaining the only new clue I heard was the Peacock referring to his soldiers of affection —> Donny Osmond’s Soldier of Love. 

The judges are never going to get T-Pain. 

[Commando Cody]

I considered it could be Nick Lachay because of the "chicken of the sea" comment.  Otherwise I agreed it would be someone from a boy band. 

I figured on lion going. It was a toss up on Rabbit or Monster on who would go next. 

Edited February 21, 2019 by Commando Cody

[SimoneS]

Kenan: "Who in their right mind doesn't know that is Gladys Knight?!" Bwah! "Who can do Gladys, like Gladys?" You tell'em Kenan. I love how he refused to pretend not to know who the Bee is.

Edited February 21, 2019 by SimoneS

[SimoneS]

If next week is a 2 hour finale, then it must start at 8 p.m. I have to remember that.

[MsJamieDornan]

I think this is fixed even more than I thought it was.As soon as Nicole said she didnt like Joey's song, I knew he was leaving.

They want a Monster win, and it shows.

[dmeets]

Did Mr. “seen-gurr” really criticize someone else for mispronunciation? At least Ken was pronouncing En Vogue the way the French would, even if it’s not how the group pronounces it.

[MsJamieDornan]

He also annoys me when he says "lair". When he says it it sounds like layer.

[possibilities]

I was amazed by how negative the judges were on the Rabbit's performance tonight. They almost seemed angry at him. Usually these things are done more tactfully. I mean... whoa. It was obviously edited-- they didn't even show all the judges' comments, and there was a hard cut in the middle of Nicole's comments, so clearly there was some kind of deliberate decision to make it look that way. It really stood out to me. They never did that before that I can remember. I wanted him to go because the twitching was driving me crazy, but I didn't think his performance was so terrible. His vocals were better than Peacock's and you don't dance around when you sing a ballad. There's a real agenda going on and it was very visible tonight.

I have an issue with Monster. He keeps talking about how he hit rock bottom and people turned away from him, and he wants to be redeemed. But he never says anything about having regretted whatever it was people didn't like that he did. He doesn't seem to feel any remorse for whatever it was. He just wants a second shot and to basically trick people into forgiving him. For that reason alone, regardless of who else is in contention, I don't want him to win. I think it's really bad news for the show to promote that attitude, and basically manipulate the audience into giving someone a comeback who apparently was disgraced, without that person addressing their past behavior.

I want the Bee to win, but I have a feeling the show is on another track. I think they want a shock, someone who no one would expect to win based on their known reputation. I think that is part of their storyline, i.e. the masks are there so we can all be surprised to discover we like someone we thought we didn't. So if someone generally acknowledged to be a great singer with a high cool factor wins, it undercuts the narrative. Thus, Gladys Knight is probably not someone the show wants to give the recognition. She gives them a thrill by deigning to participate, but she doesn't fulfill the storyline that justifies the masks as a device to sell the show.

Based on the agenda that I think was really showing tonight, I think they want either Monster (manipulative fake redemption) or Peacock (clean cut dude from another era who might be considered uncool to the current generation turns out to be popular today) for the win. Gotta have a payoff for the hidden identity!

But if they give it to the Bee, I'll be happy because she's the one I think deserves it and she's the one I personally like the best.

[Athena5217]

4 hours ago, SimoneS said:

Kenan: "Who in their right mind doesn't know that is Gladys Knight?!" Bwah! "Who can do Gladys, like Gladys?" You tell'em Kenan. I love how he refused to pretend not to know who the Bee is.

I almost felt bad for Ken when he was reciting his unconvincing “Anita Baker in the style of Gladys Knight” theory that he has clearly been told to say.

Monster has been unexpectedly good, but Bee is so far above everyone else. I can believe some audience members don’t recognize Bee because they are too young, but not the judges. They know they are watching a living legend perform.

[MsJamieDornan]

I just listened to Joey Fatone's podcast. He talks about a few behind the scenes stuff. They also spoke with Donnie Wahlberg and then Robin Thicke. It was interesting.

[Eolivet]

I like that Monster has reinvented himself week after week. It would be interesting to see them have to do "themes" like on Idol (ballad week! Broadway week! the Year You Were Born?) I enjoyed Bee until she started doing older songs -- I want to hear "Locked out of Heaven" and "Wrecking Ball" with that voice, not already-sung-well classics like "What's Love Got to Do with It" and "Natural Woman."

Peacock has a problem with song choice, too -- but it's more like ... forgettable song choice. I'd be curious if there were song choice shenanigans going on, like those that happened on Idol.

I've been Team Monster since the first week -- to me, he's the best performer, and the only one who's figured out this is basically Idol-in-masks. You can't just stand-and-sing. You have to have a progression, you can't get stuck in a box, and song choice is key. Monster for the win, for me.

[SimoneS]

I have to agree that the show has an agenda in terms of who it wants to be the finalists and ultimately win.  The Peacock was not good last night, but the judges hyper-praised him. The Rabbit was much better and yet they only played Nicole's negative comment even though the other judges must have praised him. Based on this, I think that the Bee will definitely be one of the two finalists. The show will want people to keep watching for Gladys. I don't know who will be the other finalist, but it might want to keep the bigger name so it will be Donny over the Monster.

Edited February 21, 2019 by SimoneS

[blackwing]

I was disappointed that they sent home Rabbit over Peacock.  Joey got criticised for his song choice, but I thought he sang much better than  Donny.   Donny was boring and I’m tired of his showboating.  

Rumer Willis is a good singer but she’s the only one that isn’t a professional so it was her time to go.  When they showed that newspaper with Hailey on it some time back didn’t at least one of the judges say “Hailey Idaho?”   If they knew Hailey was in Idaho wouldn’t they have known about the Willis connection?  Especially “pop guru” Jenny.  

Nobody compares to Gladys Knight and she should win.  But I think the fix is in and Monster is going to win. Of the judges panel, Jenny and Nicole will vote for Monster.  Robin is about the music and will definitely vote for Gladys.  Kenan also recognises her greatness and will vote for her.  Not sure about Ken.  But somehow combined with audience voting I can see her losing to Monster in the final two.  It’s ok though because between this show and the Super Bowl, she did what she wanted to accomplish, introduce herself to a new generation of fans.  She has already won in that respect.

[justjen]

4 hours ago, MsJamieDornan said:

I just listened to Joey Fatone's podcast. He talks about a few behind the scenes stuff. They also spoke with Donnie Wahlberg and then Robin Thicke. It was interesting.

But did he explain they weird tic he kept doing in his performances? 

Edited February 21, 2019 by justjen

[AZChristian]

12 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

It never occurred to me that "The Peacock" might be Weird Al Yankovic.

Because Peacock is Donny Osmond.  Unless Weird Al did a parody of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  Google doesn't know about it, if he did.

[Catgyrl]

4 hours ago, MsJamieDornan said:

I just listened to Joey Fatone's podcast. He talks about a few behind the scenes stuff. They also spoke with Donnie Wahlberg and then Robin Thicke. It was interesting.

Where can I find this podcast?

[Enigma X]

I also thought the Peacock was bland last night and the Rabbit was way better. I thought the Lion was better than the Peacock as well. As far as voice goes (to me) the Bee is the best. But I love me some Gladys. 

I am the new person on the forum and this may have been discussed before. What are they being judged on? Performance? Voice? Ability to fool everyone? I mean, for most the Bee is going to win on voice every time. Peacock (and Rabbit) will usually have performance in the bag. And so on.

[12catcrazy]

Yep, as I said a couple of weeks ago, the fix is in.  I'm kind of shocked that Lion got dumped (though she should have been - I never thought she was that good), so it's going to be Monster for the win.  

You can already see how they're setting things up.  Frankly, it will be a crime if Bee doesn't win this thing, and despite a couple of poor song choices, Peacock is miles away a better singer than Monster.  Somebody upthread mentioned wondering about song choices and if the singers are made to do songs that are not good picks for them, and I'm wondering if this is happening to Peacock.  The song last night sounded vo-coded to hell (is that what they now  call "autotune"?) and it didn't do him any favors.  

I really like Possibilities' post above.  Its a long post so I'm not going to quote it, but I think she/he hits the nail on the head re Monster, and the show in general.   Frankly, I don't know what all you Monster fans are hearing, but I hear a guy who isn't that great a singer yet between the costume tweaks each week and the song picking, is appealing to people.  Again, as I've said previously, they put this guy in an outfit that is guaranteed to make everybody's inner 5 year old go "squee" and the whole sinner who wants to make a comeback story appeals to people.  

On a final note, for anybody who wants to see and listen to a now-almost forgotten real "triple-threat" (before that term was coined), watch the PBS American Masters show about Sammy Davis Jr.  "nuff said!

[MrsEVH]

2 hours ago, blackwing said:

 Rumer Willis is a good singer but she’s the only one that isn’t a professional so it was her time to go.  When they showed that newspaper with Hailey on it some time back didn’t at least one of the judges say “Hailey Idaho?”   If they knew Hailey was in Idaho wouldn’t they have known about the Willis connection?  Especially “pop guru” Jenny.  

I think it was Robin who guessed (or said) Haliey, Idaho.

[justjen]

39 minutes ago, 12catcrazy said:

Yep, as I said a couple of weeks ago, the fix is in.  I'm kind of shocked that Lion got dumped (though she should have been - I never thought she was that good), so it's going to be Monster for the win.  

I posted this in another thread, but do you think it is a coincidence that we think Monster is T-Pain and he has new music coming out soon?

http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2019/01/t-pain-finished-new-album-1-up/

[halopub]

1 hour ago, Catgyrl said:

Where can I find this podcast?

I haven't listened yet but the podcast is here: https://www.podcastone.com/episode/The-Masked-Singer-UNMASKED-with-special-guests-Donnie-Wahlberg-and-Robin-Thicke

[Was-MArsenault]

11 hours ago, SimoneS said:

If next week is a 2 hour finale, then it must start at 8 p.m. I have to remember that.

It is going to be at 8 PM.

[Eolivet]

1 hour ago, 12catcrazy said:

Frankly, it will be a crime if Bee doesn't win this thing, and despite a couple of poor song choices, Peacock is miles away a better singer than Monster. 

And this is (the new) American Idol. [/Seacrest voice]

[MsJamieDornan]

3 hours ago, justjen said:

But did he explain they weird tic he kept doing in his performances? 

Yes, he did.

He explained song choices and they discussed the judges not seeing all the same clues that we at home see.

Edited February 21, 2019 by MsJamieDornan

[12catcrazy]

48 minutes ago, justjen said:

I posted this in another thread, but do you think it is a coincidence that we think Monster is T-Pain and he has new music coming out soon?

http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2019/01/t-pain-finished-new-album-1-up/

I didn't know this, but now Monster for the win makes sense.  

I don't watch shows like Idol or Voice or even DWTS.  I've watched a few seasons of that show where it's acapella singing (didn't watch the season where Pentatonix won).  And I was able to guess the winners every time because it's all about marketing.   Can the record company market 6 70-something year old black guys, or market 5 twenty-something white guys - yup - base it on that and you have your winners every time.   If T-Pain has been off the music grid (I never heard of the guy before this show but I'm not the generation who listens to Rap) and he's dropping product, yeessss indeedy, he's going home with the prize.  This clinches it, and I'll watch season 2 if I'm wrong!

[adhoc]

The judge who immediately connected Hailey with Idaho was Joel McHale.

Apparently he did not get the memo that judges were supposed to pretend they had no idea who was behind the mask (even if they indeed had a pretty good idea).  But Robin Thicke quickly jumped in with the comment "maybe Halley's comet?" to divert us from McHale's faux pas of starting to zero in on the correct celebrity. 

I suppose that when McHale was on, it was too early in the season for a judge to make a correct guess. I was amused though.

[Cowgirl]

I'm kind of bummed that they don't seem to be explaining as many clues as they did earlier in the season.  If it weren't for this forum I wouldn't have understood 70% of them.  

Weird Al Yankovich tweeted a picture of the peacock with a caption saying something like, "I'll never tell!!"  

I did laugh at moster's styling the past few weeks.  Last night was he supposed to look like a lounge lizard?  It cracked me up that they had all his monster hair combed down and looking a bit like it was slicked down.  I also noticed that Lion's costume was different last night too.  Had they been changing her up a bit each week? The Bee and Alien seemed the same every time.  The Rabbit had a black bow tie on last night, which I didn't notice until Mr. "seen-gurr" pointed it out. (@dmeets, that is the best name for him I've heard!)

Edited February 21, 2019 by Cowgirl

[Catgyrl]

2 hours ago, halopub said:

I haven't listened yet but the podcast is here: https://www.podcastone.com/episode/The-Masked-Singer-UNMASKED-with-special-guests-Donnie-Wahlberg-and-Robin-Thicke

Thank you very much!

[2727]

If Monster really is T-Pain and is being set up for the win, I wonder how big of a letdown that would be for some viewers? Enough to put them off watching next season?

Not trying to stereotype, but I'd guess T-Pain is the least recognizable celebrity for people over 30ish or those who don't follow rap. Older viewers may also be less likely to search online for clues. It seems like a certain segment of the audience might be slightly disappointed during the winner's reveal if their only response is: "Who the heck is that?"

[OtterMommy]

2 minutes ago, 2727 said:

If Monster really is T-Pain and is being set up for the win, I wonder how big of a letdown that would be for some viewers? Enough to put them off watching next season?

Not trying to stereotype, but I'd guess T-Pain is the least recognizable celebrity for people over 30ish or those who don't follow rap. Older viewers may also be less likely to search online for clues. It seems like a certain segment of the audience might be slightly disappointed during the winner's reveal if their only response is: "Who the heck is that?"

I will admit I have no clue who T-Pain is... (and, yes, I'm over 30 and I don't follow rap...)

[Guest]

2 hours ago, 2727 said:

If Monster really is T-Pain and is being set up for the win, I wonder how big of a letdown that would be for some viewers? Enough to put them off watching next season?

Not trying to stereotype, but I'd guess T-Pain is the least recognizable celebrity for people over 30ish or those who don't follow rap. Older viewers may also be less likely to search online for clues. It seems like a certain segment of the audience might be slightly disappointed during the winner's reveal if their only response is: "Who the heck is that?"

I think that’s why Donny Osmond and Gladys Knight are the other two in the finals. Between the three of them they will hit most age groups. 

The two most recognizable stars will help offset the “Who the heck is that” response. 

Edited February 21, 2019 by Guest

[Whimsy]

12 hours ago, possibilities said:

I have an issue with Monster. He keeps talking about how he hit rock bottom and people turned away from him, and he wants to be redeemed. But he never says anything about having regretted whatever it was people didn't like that he did. He doesn't seem to feel any remorse for whatever it was. He just wants a second shot and to basically trick people into forgiving him. For that reason alone, regardless of who else is in contention, I don't want him to win. I think it's really bad news for the show to promote that attitude, and basically manipulate the audience into giving someone a comeback who apparently was disgraced, without that person addressing their past behavior.

I don't have an issue with this- yet.  I think it depends on what it is that he did.  I'm just going along with everyone's guess that it's T-Pain.  I recognize the name but have no idea what he looks like or what he sang/rapped.  I don't know anything about his history (haven't cared enough to google).  If he did something that tainted his image but wasn't actually that bad, then I don't think he needs to be apologetic (fans can be very fickle, so it may not be anything bad).  But, if it were, say, Chris Brown- then I would absolutely agree with this statement. 

16 hours ago, Commando Cody said:

I considered it could be Nick Lachay because of the "chicken of the sea" comment.  Otherwise I agreed it would be someone from a boy band. 

I figured on lion going. It was a toss up on Rabbit or Monster on who would go next. 

Joey was throwing out every single boyband reference he could to throw us off, I think.  Didn't work for me.  I knew it was him pretty much from the beginning from the clues. 

7 hours ago, blackwing said:

Rumer Willis is a good singer but she’s the only one that isn’t a professional so it was her time to go.  When they showed that newspaper with Hailey on it some time back didn’t at least one of the judges say “Hailey Idaho?”   If they knew Hailey was in Idaho wouldn’t they have known about the Willis connection?  Especially “pop guru” Jenny.  

2 hours ago, adhoc said:

The judge who immediately connected Hailey with Idaho was Joel McHale.

Apparently he did not get the memo that judges were supposed to pretend they had no idea who was behind the mask (even if they indeed had a pretty good idea).  But Robin Thicke quickly jumped in with the comment "maybe Halley's comet?" to divert us from McHale's faux pas of starting to zero in on the correct celebrity. 

I suppose that when McHale was on, it was too early in the season for a judge to make a correct guess. I was amused though.

Yeah, it was Joel McHale and I'm pretty sure he leaned over and said it to Ken.  I don't think he really said it very loudly at the time, but Hailey, Idaho was mentioned again in a future episode he wasn't on.  So, continually ignoring that was just downright dumb.  I think they don't really coach the guest judges on what to say or not since they've been pretty candid.  But, I fully suspect the regular judges are told to mostly say stupid guesses with a real guess thrown in occasionally. 

5 hours ago, Enigma X said:

I am the new person on the forum and this may have been discussed before. What are they being judged on? Performance? Voice? Ability to fool everyone? 

Yes.  

[possibilities]

1 minute ago, Whimsy said:

I think it depends on what it is that he did.  I'm just going along with everyone's guess that it's T-Pain.  I recognize the name but have no idea what he looks like or what he sang/rapped.  I don't know anything about his history (haven't cared enough to google).  If he did something that tainted his image but wasn't actually that bad, then I don't think he needs to be apologetic (fans can be very fickle, so it may not be anything bad).  But, if it were, say, Chris Brown- then I would absolutely agree with this statement.  

That's fair. I don't know T-Pain, either, or what he did.

[MsJamieDornan]

The show is trying to help T Pain make a comeback, that doesn't seem fair to the others.

Joey talked about song choices on his podcast. They had to sing songs that they've never done before. So people couldn't google them singing it and possibly know who they were under the mask.

[vibeology]

5 minutes ago, possibilities said:

That's fair. I don't know T-Pain, either, or what he did.

The only things I can remember was having police called after he refused to stop a concert on time, spending a very short time in jail for driving on a suspended license and accidently bringing a gun to an airport. (I know that last one sounds crazy, but it does sound like an accident when you read the story.)

I really do think the Monster is more referring to the auto-tune backlash where other Hip-Hop acts called him out by name and the decline in popularity of his music as a result. T-Pain has done interviews talking about dealing with depression after the industry seemed over him and being in a dark place and struggling to get new music out.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, MsJamieDornan said:

The show is trying to help T Pain make a comeback, that doesn't seem fair to the others.

Joey talked about song choices on his podcast. They had to sing songs that they've never done before. So people couldn't google them singing it and possibly know who they were under the mask.

The monster second song was “ I Don’t Want to Be” and there is a video of him covering it on YouTube. It isn’t even hard to find since it was posted over a decade ago. It seems really unfair to all of the others. 

Edited February 22, 2019 by Guest

[12catcrazy]

3 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

For me personally, I think searching the internet takes all of the fun out of guessing. 

Donny Osmond was in a Weird Al music video.  I think it's called Nerdy White Guy (or something like that).  Donny is dancing in the background.  It's pretty funny. 

[Pallida]

This article from the New Yorker does a nice job showcasing T-Pain's rise to fame and the cruelty of plummeting and being delegitimized into a joke. Fame and popularity are fickle beasts, and I think this show would provide a great way for people to hear him without all of their preconceived notions about his artistry. 

7 hours ago, AZChristian said:

Because Peacock is Donny Osmond.  Unless Weird Al did a parody of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  Google doesn't know about it, if he did.

Weird Al's parody of Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines is pretty great. 

[AZChristian]

2 minutes ago, Pallida said:

This article from the New Yorker does a nice job showcasing T-Pain's rise to fame and the cruelty of plummeting and being delegitimized into a joke. Fame and popularity are fickle beasts, and I think this show would provide a great way for people to hear him without all of their preconceived notions about his artistry. 

Weird Al's parody of Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines is pretty great. 

Al's parody of almost everything is pretty great.  

[SimoneS]

44 minutes ago, vibeology said:

I really do think the Monster is more referring to the auto-tune backlash where other Hip-Hop acts called him out by name and the decline in popularity of his music as a result. T-Pain has done interviews talking about dealing with depression after the industry seemed over him and being in a dark place and struggling to get new music out.

Yes, this is what the Monster is referring to. In particular, Jay-Z scapegoated him and it got ugly as major artists refused to work with him. As far as I am concerned T-Pain has nothing to be apologetic for. The whole thing was a bunch of created out nothing Hip-Hop drama. I really hope that T-Pain is able to re-launch his career after his Monster stint.

Edited February 21, 2019 by SimoneS

[Bucket]

18 hours ago, mtlchick said:

The blonde hair doesn't work on Rumor at all.  

No it doesn't!  I have not been able to guess any of them.  I assume the final 2 are the bigger 'stars.' 

[Gel]

Is it just me or did the Lion not sound as good as previous nights? I have always been favorably impressed with her singing, but last night both she and the Monster sounded off to me on a couple of notes.

[blackwing]

I think it’s interesting that Nicole guessed that Lion was a “white Kelly Rowland”.  All of the others guessed African-American women that were in girl groups.  Curious as to how Nicole could tell that Rumer had a “white tone” to her voice while none of the others including professional singer Robin could tell and pretty much from the start everyone assumed it was an African-American woman.

As far as fame/recognition, I’ve never heard of T Pain before this show, but I’m not a follower of rap music.  I didn’t even know some of the names they were guessing for Monster in the first episode... G Money or whatever they said.

My wife has never heard of Rumer Willis and the fact that Bruce and Demi had several daughters seemed like an alien concept to her.