The Masked Singer Recap: Semi-Finals Delivers Two Shocking Reveals

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What a brutal night on “The Masked Singer’ as the semi-finals demanded not one, but two unmasking sacrifices if the remaining singers wanted to make it to next week’s grand finale.

Five celebrities entered, but only three would exit with their masks intact, leaving three finalists looking to take that Golden Mask from Season 1 winner T-Pain. And they really brought out their best.

Flamingo, as the last woman standing, brought her most heartfelt and powerful performance yet, making a bold statement for the finale. And while many believe they know exactly who this is, to quote Ken Jeong, there is still some doubt.

In fact, most of the remaining contestants have the internet pretty convinced they know who it is, except for one. Leopard has done a great job with the flamboyant characterization of keeping everyone guessing, and on the edge of their seats.

But perhaps the biggest shocker of the night, aside from the identities of the two celebs unmasked, is that Ken Jeong did in fact “know exactly who this is” for one of them. Ken! We’re still shocked ourselves.

Tonight, the weakest performer got the boot, but we’re 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.

FOX

Fox gave a very breathy performance of “This Christmas” that was full-throated and while limited somewhat in range, had a very pleasant warmth to it.

Guesses: It also sounded exactly like Wayne Brady to us, or maybe the internet is in our heads on this one. The panel has started thinking about the “Whose Line Is It Anyway Star” — one of the early clues was classic improv phrase “Yes, and.”

New clues included the word “richard” and mentioning different facets to his career. He revealed that last season’s Rabbit (Joey Fatone) talked him into doing the show. Ken and Jenny, though, can’t let Jamie Foxx go. Robin is on the Wayne train now, but Nicole jumped back over to Tyrese.

The internet was ready for “richard” in all lower-case, as every clue only reaffirms their conviction that this is Wayne Brady and nothing will change their minds. Honestly, we’re totally on board with them on this one.

ROTTWEILER

Rottweiler has a killer rock vibe to his voice and absolutely nailed The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside.” His is such a natural talent, he soars without even trying.

Guesses: And like Fox, all we can hear is Chris Daughtry’s distinctive voice. He was robbed on “American Idol” and we think he sees this is a shot at redemption for him.

Jenny jumped to Arnell Paneda, Journey’s lead singer, but Nicole wasn’t feeling it and neither are we. Nicole thinks Darren Criss, despite him not having kids, which is one of Robin’s favorite guesses.

Apparently, Daughtry is just far enough removed from the panel’s memories that they’re not recognizing his signature tone. Honestly, at this point if it’s not him, we’ll be stunned … probably with everyone online.

THINGAMAJIG

Thingamajig once again has a very natural tenderness to his voice, but his intonation and how he phrased this one makes us definitely think he’s an amateur at this, albeit a talented one. He definitely has that swing style and kept the range very small for himself here.

Guesses: The internet remains convinced this is Indiana Pacers’ Victor Oladipo, which is not a name the panel has even considered … until now..

His gift for the panel was a hat and whip reminiscent of Indiana Jones. He said this clue involves more digging than just being a movie buff. Shockingly, it was Ken who did that digging to connect Indiana to the Pacers and come up with Victor.

Robin won’t let Montell Jordan go, though, but new clues showed a knee injury, kinesiology and suggestions of a tough year, which only solidified Victor for fans online, and they’re probably right … which also means Ken is right! What reality is this?

FLAMINGO

Flamingo slowed it down with Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah” and gave a really affecting performance. Her voice positively soared, hitting some powerful notes toward the end. It was heartfelt and showed a new side, and strength, to her abilites.

Guesses: While she showed a few more hints of Fantasia’s signature grit in this vocal, we’re still not sold on this popular guess, while new clues had a visual feast including lots of cupcakes, pancakes, luggage and a basketball.

She talked about singing in the choir but having singing as a hobby, so does that mean she never did it professionally? That would rule out Fantasia and Paula Abdul, another popular panel guess.

Her gift for the panel was the clue that she was baptized in Isreal, but Jenny is sticking with Adrienne and Nicole is on that clue as well, because Adrienne’s husband’s name is Isreal. The Twitterverse, meanwhile, is standing firm behind Adrienne.

LEOPARD

CLUES: British accent, “spotted with the president,” costume designed to hide “natural silhouette,” “move meown-tains,” tall, heavy-hitter in her career, no one could catch her. All anyone wants to talk about is celebrity aspect, focus on clothing, relationships.male voice, Adoption? Lived my life in color. Has kids. Flip script, actor, set self free as a teen, older white women, runway, remember moment he chose to just be him. Tennis. Tofu. $20 million check. Motorcycle crash. Has kids, long career, nativity play at 11, slow james, brahm’s lullaby, canceled, music for animals, snowboarding, remind world of talents
GUESSES: Julie Andrews, Omarosa, Monica Lewinsky, Mel B, Sharon Osbourne, Billy Porter, Keenen Ivory Wayans, RuPaul, Laverne Cox, Seal

Leopard brought a rich vocal with real depth to Shirley Bassey’s “Big Spender,” as well as a lot of sass and power. This was one of his most confident vocals, proving he’s really grown as a singer and performer throughout this competition, though we still don’t think this is a professional singer.

Guesses: Probably the most secretive celeb remaining in this competition, as we have never had any consensus from the panel or internet on who this might be. His new clue was a blueprint of his dream home.

Ken got shut down by the Leopard himself with his terrible Jeff Goldblum guess, while he remained silent when Jenny guessed Eric Benet and Nicole and Robin stood by their guess of Seal.

The Twittersphere has been a bit all over the place on this one, as well, but more and more are starting to hear Seal’s vocals in these performances week after week, though RuPaul is still getting some love there. Could it be?

UNMASKING I: Thingamajig

After finally coming up with Victor Olidapo, the internet’s favorite guess, could Ken actually get one right? NBA fandom certainly helping him out on this one … maybe. One thing’s for sure, though, no one on the panel agreed.

Jenny pulled out Paul George from the Clippers, while Nicole stood by her Markelle Fultz guess from last week. Robin, though, is standing by professional singer Montell Jordan. But we kind of think this might be a big moment for Ken.

And just like that, Ken got the biggest head in the competition, though we’ll give him props for pulling this one together as Victor Oladipo was revealed as the man beneath the very tall mask.

UNMASKING II: Leopard

Perhaps the most exciting reveal of the season because no one has been able to pin down this performer, including the internet. And they’ve actually been pretty good at collectively pulling this together. Could it be Seal (perhaps their most popular choice)?

Robin definitely thinks its Seal, with Nicole also thinking so — saying he has a diploma in architecture, and it’s as good a guess as any for us, too.

Jenny is still feeling Eric Benet as her guess, while Ken boldly and ridiculously stands by Jeff Goldblum as his guess.

Well, we have to feel bad that we’ve said he didn’t always sound like a professional singer, because Seal definitely has one of the biggest voices of the modern era. Oddly enough, though, it was inconsistent here.

But we loved the characterization he created for the character of the Leopard, and how consistently he played in it. His British accent was so over the top, we didn’t believe it was real.

“The Masked Singer” wraps up with a two-hour season finale next Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.

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