The Masked Singer Season 10 officially crowned its winner during the finale after several “moo-ving” performances.
The Cow’s vocal abilities throughout the season wowed panelists and viewers, and it helped him claim the coveted Golden Mask trophy.
Singer Ne-Yo was underneath the character mask when Cow was announced the winner over the Donut in the finale’s second half.
Two panelists were correct with their guesses, as Robin Thicke and Nicole Scherzinger believed it was the singer based on his voice and other clues presented.
Other guesses ahead of the unmasking included Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg, who believed it was Billy Porter, and Ken Jeong, who guessed it was Usher.
However, Ne-Yo claimed the Golden Mask trophy in the season’s grand finale.
The Cow wins The Masked Singer 10 and unmasks
As Cow unmasked to reveal singer Ne-Yo, confetti rained down, and he was handed his Golden Mask trophy. The crowd chanted the singer’s name as part of the celebration.
Host Nick Cannon called him his “real-life friend” and “real-life brother.”
When discussing his choice for the Cow performance, Ne-Yo revealed he wanted to fool everyone with his performances.
“I was giving real girl, cow, realness, damnit,” he joked about his character.
Nicole said no performer had ever fooled them as Ne-Yo did with his earlier performances.
“I chose the female cow because I knew I can’t disguise my singing voice, but I can disguise my speaking voice,” he said.
He revealed he never got to give an acceptance speech for winning a Grammy because he won for non-televised categories.
“I didn’t know they had categories that weren’t televised until I won my first one. They were like, “Congratulations, we’ll send it to ya in the mail,’” he joked.
In a powerful part of his speech after unmasking, Ne-Yo spoke about what growing up in a home with mostly women meant to him.
“I grew up in a house full of women: my mother, my sister, my grandmother, five aunts, and me til I was 16. Couldn’t tell you what the color of the walls in the bathroom was because I never got in there,” he said.
“What I learned in that house is the strength of a woman. I’m talking physical and mental. I learned how to be a listener. I learned how to not be afraid of emotion. I learned how to stand on my own two. I learned these things from these women,” the 44-year-old singer revealed.
“My mother has been my rock my entire life. She still is to this day. So this one is for you, Mom!” Ne-Yo said as he held up the trophy.
Ne-Yo won the finale against three talented competitors: The Masked Singer 10’s Gazelle, Donut, and Sea Queen.
As the Season 10 finale closed out, Ne-Yo performed his hit song, Miss Independent, with the panelists joining him on stage to dance.
Ne-Yo performed the hit song he wrote for Rihanna
For his first performance of the evening, Ne-Yo as the Cow performed Janet Jackson’s hit song Rhythm Nation from the album of the same name.
Later in the evening, Ne-Yo was one of two performers left in the contest and had to battle with Donut. Ne-Yo performed Rihanna’s Take a Bow.
Ne-Yo, real name Shaffer Chimere Smith, wrote the singer’s No. 1 ballad and her top-10 songs, Russian Roulette and Unfaithful.
Along with that, he’s had top 10 hits of his own on the charts. He reached No. 1 with his song So Sick in 2006 and No. 2 with Because of You in 2007.
Ne-Yo has released nine studio albums, with his first two, 2006’s In My Own Words and 2007’s Because of You, reaching No. 1 on the chart. His most recent is 2022’s Self Explanatory.
This isn’t Ne-Yo’s first time on a Masked Singer stage. In 2021, he competed as Badger on the second season of the British version of the show.
The Masked Singer Season 10 episodes are available on Hulu. The Masked Singer Season 11 is TBA for March 2024 on Fox.