Double Elimination Unmasks Rock, R&B Legends

Michaels offered up a solo performance to tease the classic Poison track the Top 2 singers would tackle in the Battle Royale after the first unmasking of the night based on audience votes. That’s right, with the Ding Dong Keep It On Bell saving Gazelle last week, there are no more saves.

Three singers entered the studio stage tonight, but only one would get to keep it on and advance into the season finale to face off against Gazelle and the Group A winner, Cow. Which of tonight’s artists did enough? Well honestly, they all did!

It was clear that all three of tonight’s masks came to fight for their shot at the finals and all three of them delivered with incredible performances. This is the tightest night of competition we’ve seen so far, with everyone worthy of advancing … but only one actually staying alive.

So who survived and which two famous faces were revealed — and did anyone on the panel guess their identities? You know what we’ve gotta do to find out!

Let’s jump right in with this week’s mask. And don’t worry, before we get to the shocking unmasking(s), 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.

Along with the panel’s guesses, we’ll be sharing some internet speculation, too, so if you don’t want to be potentially spoiled (because they are very good at this), you may want to skip past the guesses sections.

(“Nothin’ But a Good Time,” Poison) Bret Michaels could not stop high-fiving the crowd as he came out all energized and in great voice to preview tonight’s Battle Royale song. This is a tough one for others to take on as it’s an uptempo rock anthem delivered with such a distinctive tone on the track and here by Bret. But it was definitely great to hear and see him still on the top of his game.

(“I Was Made for Lovin’ You,” KISS) Tiki was in his lane with rock week, wailing and screaming and belting with all he’s got. It doesn’t look like he has quite as much in his tank as he probably did in his younger years, but you can tell what a powerhouse he was in his day. This is definitely someone who used to rock arenas, and maybe still does. We’re getting ’70s/’80s hair band vibes from what he does

Guesses: The latest clue package revealed that for some reason his buddy agreed to pay him a three-dollar-a-month stipend if he’d try out for the choir. He apparently did so well, he was given lead soprano voice and started touring churches at just eight years old … and has been touring ever since.

He joked about using that money to get “two more KISS posters,” suggesting a possible musical influence (unless this is Paul Stanley himself), while visual images included a cowboy hat, and a green alien.

Season 2’s Ladybug, Kelly Osbourne, brought out this week’s connection clue, which was the word “Japan” on a guitar. “I had the greatest time in Japan,” TIki explained. “I actually ran into Nicole Scherzinger there.”

On Harry Potter Night, Tiki opened up about choosing his family over his hard-rocking, partying lifestyle. Where he used to party until 6am, now that’s when the alarm goes off to get his kid ready for school.

He also said there comes a time when you have to decide whether to “get watered down” or “change with the tides.” New images included a grandfather clock in a trash can, a tissue box with a sad face on it, a piano and a beer tap.

That week’s on-stage clues came from the Sorting Hat, who mused and sorted Tiki into Gryffindor as he’s “brave at heart” and “daring.” To this, Tiki added, “You gotta be brave to be front and center on the types of stages I command.”

The prior week, Tiki opened up about achieving his childhood dreams of becoming a rock star, saying he’d sold millions of records, traveled the world and even partied with some of the biggest names in music. But, his “loose mouth” got him into trouble and almost jeopardized everything.

A friend helped him straighten himself out, where he says he then stepped out on his own. So was he part of a band and then went solo? Images in his first clue package included a chimp with a birthday hat, an alarm clock showing “Snooze,” a globe, and a skull.

His first on-stage clue came on the piano, as one of the Men in Black played, “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues.” He replied, “If you’re ever feeling bluesy, you can come to me for a good laugh.”

Nicole immediately took this week’s “Japan” clue and thought of a 2006 show she did with the Pussycat Dolls there, headlined by KISS with Alice in Chains and Sebastian Bach — which is the internet’s favorite guess. She hoped she “manifested” this by guessing Doll (Dee Snider) was him and maybe that’s who this is.

Robin, though, considered the cowboy hat and wondered if it could be Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction. Jenny, though, tied the hat to the powerhouse vocals of Adam Lambert, but Adam’s voice is cleaner than that and he’s still got all the power and range he ever had.

We’re hearing more of Sebastian Bach, as is the internet, in that vocal. With Skid Row and solo, Sebastian has had one of the most impressive rock vocal ranges of any singer, and he’s also not been able to hit it as consistently in more recent years. Everything fits for it to be him.

(“Always,” Bon Jovi) Husky is such a polished singer, but it did take him a bit to find his way on this rock ballad. It was clear he was out of his wheelhouse in the genre and had to tweak the sound to suit his more classically R&B style, but he did and brought out a heartfelt vocal with a very rich tone. This guy definitely sings for a living as he’s got the goods.

Guesses: Husky opened up about the defining moment of his recent life being the loss of both parents within a year of one another. He said that through that journey he learned to cope in a healthier way with his eye on his children and not wanting to see them hurt.

New visual clues included a clock at one o’clock with a red heart over the one and an orange headband with a basketball on it. On-stage, we got a “wild” chest tattoo. “Well, Nick, this one’s for you,” said Husky. “Sharing the stage with you again is wild.”

On Harry Potter night, Husky talked about being underestimated in his younger years, and even picked on and called “skinny” when he was a kid. He said this led him to “retreat” and work out on his “magical arts.” From there, he went from a “skinny boy to a husky man.”

While he achieved his goals of rising to become “top dog,” he admitted to a bit of imposter syndrome, saying that he still feels like he hasn’t made it yet. This despite him apparently “inspiring some lovemaking” at some point along the way.

Visual clues included a globe, red rose, and three king of heart playing cards. He was sorted into Hufflepuff because he’s “just and loyal,” to which he said, “I actually had a feeling I’d be the Hufflepuff because of my connection to Mr. Puff himself, P. Diddy.”

The previous week, he talked about his connection to his costume, saying that huskies have battled all sorts of landscapes and elements and are energetic, aware, and loving. He describes himself the same way. He also said he has a “strange effect” on women, leading them to swoon and even throw their undergarments at him on stage.

Despite that, though, he sees himself as more of a family man and not someone interested in the “trappings of fame.” He also suggested he’s “gotten on in years.” As for visual clues, we saw Season 6’s Mother Nature aka Vivica A. Fox, as well as a cry-face emoji snowball, a carousel, and a chocolate bar.

His first on-stage clue saw a Man in Black come in riding one of those mechanical rockets. “Well, I skyrocketed up the charts and landed on this platinum album,” Husky hinted.

Ken Jeong went way out on a limb with a whopper of a lie, saying he knows every guest who’s ever been on Nick’s Wild ‘N Out show — even after Nick told him they’d done more than 400 episodes. He went with Nick’s pal DJ D-Wrek, saying the one represented the fact he’s been with the show since Season 1.

Robin, though, is leaning into the voice and the carousel clue to the track “Pony” by Ginuwine, a previous guess of his. “I think you could be Ginuwine-ly wrong,” Jenny said, before guessing Brian McKnight and his “Back to One” song. “Trust me, coming from Brian McWhite, that is not Brian McKnight,” said Robin.

This one still has us stumped, and the internet has not been able to come to a strong consensus, either, throwing out their favorite Cow guess in Ne-Yo and otherwise lining up behind some of the same names the panel has been throwing out. Ginuwine might be their favorite guess, too.

(“To Be With You,” Mr. Big) Sea Queen is an absolute icon who does not sing in this genre at all but has one of the most unique sounds in entertainment. There’s a beautiful, natural rasp in her voice that helps her evoke passion and she was delivering all emotion in her interpretation of this rock ballad. We’re not sure how connected she felt to the track, but we could hear her incredible vocal gifts shining through.

Guesses: In only her second appearance, Sea Queen was already dropping co-star names like Denzel Washington and showing pictures of Tyler Perry while saying she’s worked with multiple Oscar winners who bring their acting coaches to set.

She also revealed that she was once in a hard rock band while we saw a barber pole. On-stage, she dropped another “Co-Star,” adding, “I was lucky enough to share the screen with Ken. Funny, not much has changed.”

Sea Queen said she was down to be the Wild Card on Harry Potter night because she’s always been a bit of a wild card in life. She then detailed her first job at 14 years old giving tours at a museum — and getting fired. She got into a “fancy” boarding school through her smarts — but got kicked out.

She said that the twists and turns of her life, though, are why she’s become such a triple threat. She defines that, though, as “comedy, writing, singing, I’ve done it all!” As for visual clues, we saw a leather bag with four female silhouettes on it, suggesting perhaps a girl group?

We also saw a royal crown on display, trains, and a blue CD player next to a bird cage. On stage, she was sorted into Slytherin for being “cunning” and “shrewd.” She responded, “Slytherin makes sense for me. I’ve always been clever in my career. You never know what genre you’ll catch me in next.”

After learning he’d co-starred with Sea Queen, Ken asked if he could jump on IMDb for a quick research. Denied, he again went with Queen Latifah, though we don’t think being a guest on her show counts as co-starring, Doctor! Nicole wondered if maybe she’d worked with all of them, suggesting Niecy Nash (who filled in for Nick), but Niecy don’t sang like that.

Then, she got back into reality by suggesting a Denzel co-star in Macy Gray. Ken confirmed he’d worked with Macy on I Can See Your Voice, but still doesn’t buy that it’s her … which it totally is (even Robin went that way after a terrible Viola Davis guess. It’s been social media’s favorite guess and this week, we could hear her even when she was speaking in the clue package.

Macy has such a distinctive accent and cadence to her speaking voice and it was shining through that voice scrambler more than ever this week. We heard it there and definitely heard her when she started singing. We’re more confident of this masked identity than the other two tonight.

All three of these masks are and have been professional singers by trade and all of them killed it with these vocals, making this perhaps the toughest night of the competition so far. The fact that two will have to unmask regardless makes it even wilder.

We’d have to say it sounded like Tiki had the most uneven night, but closely matched with Husky. Our winner would be Sea Queen because she really poured everything she had into that vocal, but we were definitely not feeling confident that this studio audience would agree.

First up, though, was the immediate elimination, which we’d have given to Tiki. He was definitely more at home in the genre, but his performance felt shakier to us than Husky. The big dog started off a little … well, off, but he got it back under control pretty quickly. It wasn’t enough for the audience, though, as they wanted Husky out right away.

• Robin Thicke: Ginuwine
• Jenny McCarthy: Brian McKnight
• Ken Jeong: Lil Romeo
• Nicole Scherzinger: Ginuwine

Of the three masks this week, Husky was the one we were feeling least confident about in our guess, so we just piggy-backed on the Ginuwine guess because we could hear that in there. It’s definitely that classic R&B vibe, but didn’t stand out distinctively enough for us to discern a certain vocalist.

Nicole heard this one while Robin recognized the dance moves this week as Husky was indeed revealed to be Ginuwine. We loved the honesty of his answer when Nick asked him what made him do this show and he simply said, “I don’t know, man.” He then dropped a few lines of his “Pony” — and that body roll — to remind us why he’s the top dog!

Knowing they were going to have to take on a Poison classic, it felt like Tiki should have the slight edge in this Battle Royale, but we also feel that he needed it because Sea Queen had the stronger first round. Her rock background helps her take on these types of songs, and that rasp could suit, but it’s definitely something that’s right in line with what we guess Tiki’s been doing his whole career.

(“Nothin’ But a Good Time,” Poison) Tiki was right at home as expected, using his natural rock lead vocals to masterfully tackle the song as if it was his. He didn’t even need the higher-pitched wail at the end to seal the deal, but we knew it was coming as it’s one of his signature moves. He sounded great on it, though, and very comfortable. Sea Queen stepped up even more than we expected with a lot of confidence and swagger as she slayed that track as if it had been written for her. She sounded even more comfortable on a rock track here than the first round, absolutely owning this moment.

We had Sea Queen with the edge going into the Battle Royale with Tiki needing to step up. He did, but then she did, too, sealing his fate if it were up to us, though this was one of the closest Battle Royales we’ve ever seen. Tiki just seems like he doesn’t have quite as much juice in him as he maybe once did, while Sea Queen is still firing on all cylinders vocally.

She rocked the house this week and deserves to represent the group, but is that what the panel thought? They did, sending Sea Queen on to the finals, leaving Tiki to reveal his identity in front of someone who’s probably toured the same circuits in the same era in Bret Michaels.

• Robin Thicke: Perry Farrell
• Jenny McCarthy: Adam Lambert
• Ken Jeong: Jon Bon Jovi
• Nicole Scherzinger: Sebastian Bach

Nicole pulled out the monkey clue to tie to Skid Row’s “Monkey Business” and we were definitely feeling her guess over all the others. The moves, the sense of humor in the characterization here, and that incredible range all pointed to Sebastian Bach.

Add to that the internet has been on this same trail all season long, and it seemed inevitable. And so of course it was Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach under the costume. “Your show’s been on for ten seasons, which is a long time,” said Sebastian when asked why he did this. “And this show is about singing, which I love.”

The Masked Singer continues with the Group C Finals as Anteater, Candelabra, and Donut return to take on the “Soundtrack to My Life” next Wednesday at 8pm ET on Fox.