The Masked Singer has been a monster hit since it debuted and Fox brought a panel to the 2019 Television Critics Association winter press tour to talk about it. Monsters & Critics is there and we have your exclusive from this huge panel.
The Masked Singer panel started off with a huge sizzle reel to get everyone excited about the show. The reality series has celebrities facing off in a singing competition where they are dressed head to toe in elaborate costumes.
Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong, and Nicole Scherzinger serve as the panelists while Nick Cannon hosts the show. On the first episodes of the season, Antonio Brown, Tommy Chong, Terry Bradshaw, Margaret Cho and Tori Spelling wer unmasked.
The panel then showed tonight’s episode, which was followed by a Q&A with the eliminated celebrity.
The Masked Singer recap
The first performance was by The Bee, who gave the hint that “baking is my second favorite thing to do.” Jeong guessed Anita Baker and Scherzinger guessed Chaka Khan.
Next was the Peacock, who sang All Of Me by John Legend.
Robin Thicke guessed Neil Patrick Harris, to which
“Because of the wig, I was thrown in jail,” The Peacock revealed. McCarthy still thinks it is Donny Osmond while Scherzinger guessed Wayne Brady.
The Raven is next.
Raven sang Brave by Sara Bareilles. Jeong said that something about her seems “actory.” He then added that the song was full of heart and McCarthy said it was “powerful.”
The One-Eyed Monster is next.
Scherzinger thinks it is Lil Jon. Jeong said that the clues were baseball, golf, tennis, cricket. The song is American Woman, and Scherzinger admitted he sounded “amazing.” Thicke added that he sounded “athletic,” impresses him more every week, and has to be a “professional entertainer.”
Jeong thinks he is a comedian, and mentions names like David Alan Grier and Tommy Davidson. He reveals a special type of headset and said he makes his best calls in the headset.
Who was unmasked tonight on The Masked Singer?
The Bee, Peacock and Raven are all back on the stage. The audience starts their voting process. The unmasked singer is … The Raven.
Jeong guesses Sheryl Underwood from The Talk. Scherzinger guesses Meghan McCain from The View. Thicke guesses Ricki Lake. McCarthy guesses Raven Symone.
After the event, Lake said that she lost her husband last year. Taking part in The Masked Singer was a way for her to get through her grief process and she wanted to do this.
Thicke mentioned remembering the hand of the heart moment from one of her performances.
Lake also said that she is turning 50-years-old this year and “its a wrap.”
The Masked Singer TCA panel
The panel saw eight people arrive on the stage to talk at the TCA winter press tour. All of the cast is there — Jenny McCarthy, Robin Thicke, Nicole Scherzinger, Ken Jeong, Nick Cannon, executive producers Izzie Pick Ibarra, Craig Plestis, and Rob Wade, the President, Alternative Entertainment & Specials, Fox Entertainment.
According to Jenny McCarthy, there is a moment on the season finale where people just looked at her after she made her guess and were like “what?”
When asked about the costumes, Ibarra said that all the contestants get to look at their sketches of costumes and choose the one that they want to wear. If they didn’t like any, they could
A huge moment came next when Ricki Lake came out to greet the audience.
“I had sciatica while making this show I could barely walk, I was in a lot of pain,” Laker revealed. “It was a blast. An ode to my beloved.”
She also said that she disappeared from social media because she wants people to know she is truthful and didn’t want to lie when fans asked about the show.
Speaking of that, Colucci said that everyone signed non-disclosure agreements to ensure that the results would not get out and all phones were confiscated to keep leaks from getting out.
According to Plestis, everyone had one chance to sing live and only one take each, so they had to make sure the masks were perfectly made for the audio levels.
When it comes to making guesses, Robin Thicke said that when he has no idea who someone is, sometimes he will just throw out a name like Judge Judy just to have a guess.
With that said, Thicke said that all the panel is goofy but they take the guesses very seriously.
Ibarra also excited everyone when he said that they can “carry on pretty much as is” for a second season of The Masked Singer on Fox.
As for keeping the celebrities secret, the casting process was interesting. A car would pick up the celebs and the driver did not even know who they were picking up. Even the managers kept covered and in secret.
Rob Wade said the show was a huge gamble for Fox. They thought it would do well at launch, but they did not know how it would do until after the first episode’s ratings came in.
McCarthy added that it was a huge success and actually pulled her kids away from video games to watch the live event with their family.
To keep things a secret after the increased popularity of the first season, Plestis said that all security will be increased in season two because “that’s the magic we got from the show. We want America to guess.”
When it comes to The Masked Singer Season 2, they will wait to see how the audience reacts to the end of this season. Plestis had experience with Dancing with the Stars and America’s Got Talent, and that was invaluable, but they still had a learning experience with the new format.
Finally, they have to look and see what worked and what didn’t work in Season 1 and will return with an even bigger show in Season 2.