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Singing Cricket eliminated on ‘The Masked Dancer’

Would the latest elimination have fared better on ‘The Masked Singer'?
by Murtz Jaffer
January 21, 2021 9:20 a.m. EST
CTV CTV

The judges on The Masked Dancer (Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CTV) are riding a hot streak. Two weeks ago, Ken Jeong correctly predicted Ice Cube was Bill Nye ‘The Science Guy.’  Last week, Brian Austin Green was, in all likelihood, the only person in the world to have figured out that Moth was actually activist Elizabeth Smart. Would Ashley Tisdale or Paula Abdul be able to keep the momentum going by correctly identifying the next contestant?

This week, they had some help as well as actor Rob Lowe also joined the panel.

The show began with host Craig Robinson telling us that the top three performers from Wednesday’s Group A would advance to next week’s Super 6 round.

Let’s get to the performances.

Exotic Bird flu?

When we last saw Exotic Bird, the judges believed tennis star Venus Williams or singer Jennifer Hudson could be underneath the mask. In this week’s opening video, our finely feathered friend told us that she once got a “savage bird flu” right before the biggest opportunity of her life. Should we take that to mean that she was sick right before her debut on The Masked Dancer?  Exotic Bird also credited her mom with helping her get through the illness and we also saw a football trophy in a nearby frame. Could the under-the-weather performance refer to getting sick before a Super Bowl halftime show?  The dancer also said that her “hips don’t lie,” and an apple pie was also shown to us.

The Bird chose to dance to “Latch” by Disclosure featuring Sam Smith. So much for us thinking it was Shakira based on the hips clue… then again, would Shakira actually choose to dance to one of her own tracks?  Wouldn’t that be giving it away?  After a flirty performance that Ashley described as “enticing,” Ken confidently predicted that it was Janet Jackson.

For the Word Up! Clue (where the dancer is asked to say one word in their real voice), Exotic Bird chose “Number One.”  Hey, wait a minute! That is more than one word!  Ashley asked the dancer what made her feel exotic and Exotic Bird said that she liked showing a different side of herself.

Paula Abdul switched her guess from one former American Idol contestant in Jennifer Hudson to another in Jordin Sparks. Pretty good guess as Jordan’s father, Phillippi Sparks used to play in the NFL. Brian Austin Green changed his mind from soccer player Hope Solo to Megan Thee Stallion because the word “savage” was used in the video. He thought that the apple pie was a reference to her ‘Suga’ EP. While there are many reasons to disagree, topping our list is the obvious idea that Megan would totally be "The Stallion" if she did decide to be on The Masked Dancer.

Cricket shows us how to do it

In this week’s opening video, Cricket told us that he got his big break in the ‘90s and some flags with the numbers 1-9-9-8 were featured. The video also showed Cricket standing on a podium wearing two silver medals. A “Super Phone” booth was used along with a medieval knight preparing for battle. Cricket also said that he was ready to start “back at one,” before taking an elevator to the “PH” which we presume referred to a penthouse. Then again, the letters could also just be the dancer’s initials.

Cricket chose “This is How We Do It” by Montell Jordan to groove to, offering a smooth performance, but one that didn’t really stand out. We noticed that many of the back-up dancers were wearing yellow suits that looked like Jim Carrey’s costume in The Mask. The same dancers also had clocks that read 1 PM on their masks which was another reference to the “Back at One” from the opening video. Wasn’t that the title of a Brian McKnight song? A quick Google search tells us that the song was released in 1999 and not 1998, so now we aren’t so sure. Also, in the category of “questions we never thought we would ask until we watched The Masked Dancer,” does anyone know if Brian McKnight ever won a silver medal?

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The Word Up! Clue was “All-Star,” which now put us back in the competitive swimmer frame of mind. Despite our reservations, Paula remained undeterred. She doubled down on singer Brian McKnight, pointing to a possible Vegas residency, the “knight” and the “Back at One” word choice as her clues. Ken was just as steadfast and stuck with Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps. Brian and Rob both also thought it was a swimmer, but went with our pick from week one, Ryan Lochte, instead. Just before the commercial break, the audience was given an extra clue where Cricket revealed that he was the youngest member of his family.

Hammerhead wants one shot and one opportunity 

Next up was Hammerhead. In his opening video, he referred to having “one shot, and one opportunity.” Oh come on!  It can’t be that obvious can it? For anyone unaware, these are the famous lyrics from Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.” The next clue was a seeing eye chart with the scrambled letters, “ETH IS ISAHU GE CLUE!”  We unscrambled it to mean THIS IS A HUGE CLUE! with an emphasis on one of the E’s, once again pointing us to Eminem. Hammerhead then said he didn’t want to “Lose Himself,” only adding more weight to our theory. The shark said that he gave up his dream of being a lawyer and had also been locked in a cage. A book, titled Navigating the Shores of Life by author “E.E.” was also featured. The remaining clues included a jersey with the #1 and a wedding cake with two grooms on the top of it.

As for the performance itself, Hammerhead hit the floor to “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd. It was a pretty good performance as the shark continued to entertain us and the live audience as well. “Heartbreaker,” was the Word Up! clue.

Ken diverted from his previous guess of comedian Carrot Top to the “King of E! Television” Ryan Seacrest. Jeong said that the TV and radio host is known for breaking a lot of hearts.

The show’s newest bromance of Brian and Rob agreed once again, both choosing UFC commentator and former Fear Factor host Joe Rogan as their selection.

Paula Abdul said that Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino spent some time behind bars and recently got married going with the star of Jersey Shore as her pick. 

Tulip twirls again

Next up was Tulip, who has been the best dancer in the competition thus far. In her opening video, she said that it was hard to keep the secret of being on the show from her best friend. She referred to their relationship as being competitive and mentioned TikTok again. She also clapped her hands with chalk, something that both gymnasts and LeBron James are famous for. Tulip said that whenever she felt “frozen in place,” the same best friend was there to hype her up.

Tulip’s contemporary performance to “Fields of Gold” by Eva Cassidy was breathtaking as usual. The best part of the performance? Rob Lowe was reduced to tears within the first 10 seconds of it (and no, we aren’t kidding!)

For her Word Up! clue, Tulip went with “Princess,” prompting Paula to immediately guess Kristen Bell, who voiced the Princess Anna character in Frozen. Ashley stuck with her guest of TikTok superstar Charli D’Amelio and thought that the friend that was referred to in the video was actually Dixie D’Amelio. Brian thought that it might be Simone Biles, the gymnast who stole the hearts of many and became America’s “Princess.” As for Rob Lowe? What’s new? He just copied Ashley’s guess of Charli D’Amelio. Really adding a lot to the panel there, Rob.

The elimination

After the audience vote, Craig Robinson announced that the singer going home would be Cricket.

Before the unmasking, it was time to get a little more info.

Cricket answered the judges’ questions and said that he had been famous for a long time, had won an award, didn’t really boast a multitude of talents and had baby crickets (or kids, for our purposes).

For their final guesses, Ashley went with Ashton Kutcher. She said that the former star of That 70s Show played a swimmer in The Guardian and was also in The Butterfly Effect with the butterfly being a swimming stroke (a reach, if you ask us). Ken held to his guess of Michael Phelps and said that the “PH” meant the level of acid in pool water. Rob and Brian both went with our guess of Ryan Lochte.

With the unmasking, the streak continues thanks to Paula Abdul! The Cricket was her guess of Brian McKnight.

Let’s recap. The bombs in Cricket’s package were a hint to Brian’s song “You Got The Bomb.”  The knight was a reference to McKnight (duh). The 1998 wasn’t in reference to when “Back at One” was released but the year when the singer released his first album with Motown Records. The 90210 clue was in reference to Brian McKnight not only being featured on the show’s soundtrack, but also guest starring in an episode as well. We were right about the clock masks referencing “Back at One.”

Our only question is why he chose to go on The Masked Dancer and not The Masked Singer. Luckily, Craig Robinson had the same question. McKnight admitted that his unique voice would have likely given him away on The Masked Singer, and that’s why he chose a new challenge.

And there you have it!

Watch The Masked Dancer Wednesdays at 8p ET/5p PT on CTV.

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