As Sharon Osbourne joins the fun, the audience again sends the better singers into "Smackdown" danger -- including one of the best of the whole season this week.
Sharon Osbourne came in with confidence, and a little bit randy, as a guest panelist on "The Masked Singer." She also came with one hundred percent certainty that she knew one of the masked contestants.
It was remarkable how sure she was, within seconds of this person hitting the stage. The voice, the body language, everything just gave it away to her right away.
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View StoryWas she right, or was she as bad with her guesses as Ken Jeong? You know, the guy who guessed Larry the Cable Guy for the lithe and slight Banana. That guy. The king of terrible guesses on this show.
He didn't do much better this week, doubling down on wrong and awful guesses throughout the night, including the return of Banana, squaring off against Rhino this week. The other face-off saw Frog take on Kitty, which is a pretty mismatched duo.
After tonight's elimination, we are down to the final six performers, and that should mean we get to see all of them every week from this point forward, which is exciting. There is so much talent this season.
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View StoryThis week's unmasking was yet another icon of the entertainment industry, and thanks to the strange new from-home "After the Mask" after-show, we got to see even more interviews with this person.
While we get why Fox is pumping an extra hour out of the show, this after-show was even more disappointing than when Joel McHale smirked his way through the "Tiger King" after-show (fun fact, he was here, too and only slightly less smirky).
If you're a huge fan of after-shows, then you might enjoy seeing the returns of Kelly Osbourne or JoJo Siwa, as well as an exclusive new performance by the unmasked singer. For us, though, it was just a whole lot of meh.
As always, the weakest performer got the boot, but we're still going to make you power through the terrible (and occasionally good) guesses made by our illustrious panel of Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong and Nicole Scherzinger first. We do this because we love ... to torture you.
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View StoryFACE-OFF 1: Frog vs Kitty
Frog
Frog looked a little overwhelmed by Pitbull's "Fireball." It wasn't a great showcase for his rapping skills and his dancing seemed to suffer as he struggled with breath control trying to keep up with the track. As much fun as he's been to watch, this felt like both his weakest performance and his least confident. Kitty must really have him rattled.
Guesses: Ken took Frog's "TGIF" tag on his luggage this week to "Friday After Next" and Katt Williams' Money Mike (tying to a previous clue). Other new luggage clues this week included the Japanese flag, sneakers, an ice tray and a keyboard.
Sharon thinks it might be Alfonso Ribeiro, while Jenny followed Ken into the "Friday" franchise, but instead shifted to O'Shea Jackson, son of Ice Cube who played his father in "Straight Outta Compton."
Those guesses are all cute, but Twitter locked this up months ago with their Bow Wow guess, and they have not strayed even the slightest in all this time. For them, this is just a statement of fact at this point.
The Frog is Bow Wow. The clue was Japan ... and guess who lived in Japan in Tokyo Drift ... #TheMaskedSinger pic.twitter.com/D6osmEOjI7
@RetweetJoel
Me watching the panelists once again not guess the frog is Bow Wow 🤦🏽♀️ like the sneakers was obviously a clue for Like Mike #TheMaskedSinger pic.twitter.com/MImN39Ddu8
@clerification
Okay if you were unsure if the Frog was Bow Wow before, Fireball has proved otherwise... #TheMaskedSinger pic.twitter.com/Be1ymVbEvr
@kikabelle
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View StoryKitty
Kitty again blew us away with a powerfully tender performance on Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors." This is a song that is so easy to oversing or make to sappy, but Kitty approached with just the right delicacy. She has a lovely quality to her voice, and a breathiness that makes her lower register and softer tones really shine through.
Guesses: When Kitty said 'Grease' after her bag reveal, it only solidified Vanessa Hudges in Jenny's mind, which has been a popular guess for a while now. Other contents included a mouse, Papal hat, dragon and an angel necklace.
Nicole is thinking Emma Roberts, cribbing on Robin's guess of previous weeks. Ken still thinks Kate Bosworth because of her last clue about Robert Redford giving her her big break, which upset Sharon because that was her guess.
For her, she leaned into the fact that Kitty has two different colored eyes, and Kate has that condition as well. She got some love online, but Sarah Hyland remains the internet's favorite ... and by favorite we mean the second most guessed behind "I have no idea."
Still say it's Sarah Hyland and Kitty gonna win #TheMaskedSinger #kittymask pic.twitter.com/KMeGGGAR99
@reloadedneo03
Don't get me wrong I love Kitty but I want to know who she is #TheMaskedSinger pic.twitter.com/XTHjG5QTnF
@_sjcpa
I don't think she will but I want Kitty to be unmasked cuz I am confused!!!! #TheMaskedSinger pic.twitter.com/7IRsDXJFkB
@RegalTay6
FACE-OFF 1 RESULTS
With such dramatically different styles, it's hard to say who the definitive winner overall is between these two performers, but this audience is pretty much basing it on what they saw tonight.
And tonight, we have to give the edge to Kitty, who showed a vulnerability and grace that rose above Frog's most uneven performance yet. But apparently the audience was feeling Frog's energy despite all that, sending Kitty to the Smackdown in what we'd argue is a huge upset!
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View StoryFACE-OFF 2: Banana vs Rhino
Banana
Banana set up behind the piano in a "Masked Singer" first, though he clearly couldn't really play with those gloves on. But there was a rock-and-roll devil-may-care attitude about this performance, even as he never really pushed his voice too far. Either he can't or he's hiding a signature sound that would peg him immediately.
Guesses: Within the first few lines of a very Guns 'N Roses take on Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven' Door" Sharon quickly said Bret Michaels. With her rock pedigree, and considering that's the internet's favorite guess, she might be on to something.
Jenny saw the bag clue of a cat (it's a cat scan) and confirmed for her as well that this is Bret Michaels, who did suffer a traumatic head injury. Robin thinks the bug spray is Poison which further points to Bret, but Ken went another way.
Sharon seemed completely stunned he shied away from Bret to find Keith Urban. Nicole pointed out that Kid Rock has a Nashville restaurant, explaining the Nashville Sheriff star in his bag while all the cowboy references she thinks point to his hit, "Cowboy."
Twitter is right there with Sharon, though, having grown in confidence with every performance that this is Bret Michaels. And with tonight's vocals, we're pretty much right there with them. It's just all there.
Okay but like Sharon Osbourne has been here legit 5 minutes and already guessed who the banana was... #TheMaskedSinger pic.twitter.com/2DZFsGJPl9
@kikabelle
The judges anytime the Banana performs #TheMaskedSinger pic.twitter.com/1d0VUxao8j
@hpcashion
Nicole actually thinks the Banana is Kid Rock? #TheMaskedSinger pic.twitter.com/zcPfANDL7W
@KaraokeMattSays
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View StoryRhino
Rhino kept it low-key and sexy on Dan + Shay's "10,000 Hours." He never really expanded his range, but kept the whole performance in a very soothing pocket with the kind of vocal that can lull you into a peaceful sleep. He's a consummate performer and singer who brought consistency, but did he wow enough?
Guesses: Now that Rhino has pushed the panel away from athletes, Robin is thinking maybe Sam Hunt, leaning on an old Grand Ole Opry clue. Apparently none of the new clues did much for him..
Those included a Christmas stocking, a seal, house and the Tennessee state flag. Nicole jumped on board that idea, noting the coal in the stocking as representing that Sam is known as the "bad boy of country."
Sharon was all over the place with terrible guesses from Gary Busey to David Hasselhoff. Ken, though, went off the deep end seeing a treble clef in the image to finding his way to the "Property Brothers" and Jonathan Scott (attributing the stocking to "Elf" and Jonathan's girlfriend Zooey Descahnel). He outdid Sharon!
Sam Hunt has gotten some love online, but Rhino may have Twitter stumped more than anyone else this season (other than Sarah Palin). Seriously, the clues have led them all over the place and they're still not settling down.
Rhino sounds a bit like Sam Hunt (I like Sam Hunt) but, I don't think he's him or is he? #TheMaskedSinger pic.twitter.com/Rz7Im5XBSf
@MolenaVal
Me trying to calculate the Rhino's clues #TheMaskedSinger pic.twitter.com/k10vDLKjUx
@jsmnmllr93
I'm torn. Rhino sounds like Andy Grammer but I'm also getting Tyler Hubbard vibes too. #TheMaskedSinger pic.twitter.com/IEndU4HEh3
@EmilyOldmixon
FACE-OFF 2 RESULTS
We've already been wrong once tonight, but nevertheless we thought Rhino had the edge on this one, not to mention much of the competition. There's just such an ease to his performances and his voice is so silky smooth.
This time, the audience sided with us and kept Rhino in the competiiton, sending Bret --ahem-- Banana into the Smackdown to take on Kitty. Now that is a match that should be a real nailbiter. We'd give the edge to Kitty, but we tried that once before!
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View StorySMACKDOWN: Banana vs Kitty
Kitty was truly "Unstoppable" on this Sia track, showing even more power in her voice than she did in her first round. It wasn't the most exciting performance, but she has one of the purest, strongest and (after Night Angel faltered last week) most consistent voices left in the competition.
Banana went in a very odd direction taking on The Commodores' "Brick House." We're not sure this was really showing anything about what he can do vocally, but there was a fun energy he brought to his performance. But can it win over the judges?
SMACKDOWN RESULTS
Once again, we have to give the edge to the Kitty, which means the audience probably liked Banana's energy better than Kitty's beautiful vocals. Luckily for us, the audience doesn't vote in this round; the panel does.
At the same time, Sharon is convinced Banana is Bret Michaels and she adores him, so could he get votes based on who people think he is? We think he doesn't deserve to stay over Kitty, and the judges agreed.
She's one of the strongest competitors in this, and despite the likelihood of him being a modern legend of rock (is that you, Bret?), Banana just hasn't been bringing it consistently.
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View StoryUNMASKING
For her final guess, Jenny stood by that Bret Michaels guess based on her 'Nineties' bracelet from a few weeks ago. As for Ken, he quickly backed away from Keith Urban and settled on Brad Paisley.
"I know it's Bret Michaels," Sharon insisted. "I know his voice so well." Further, she recognized some of his body language, telling him, "We've known each other 35 years!"
Nicole was on board with Brad Paisley, but lost her confidence due to how confident Sharon was that it was Bret, so she jumped ship and joined the Bret party. Robin was there as well, leaving only Ken as the odd man out.
Poor Ken, he was the only one wrong as obviously it was Bret Michaels under that mask. Sharon recognized him immediately, and that was good enough for almost everyone. If you've known someone that well that long, you know them.
The internet, of course, was all over this being Bret from day one, too, so another win for them. And in all honesty, it's a win for "The Masked Singer," because the very deserving Kitty gets to continue her journey.
"The Masked Singer" is down to just six performers left, continuing Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
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