‘The Masked Singer’ panelists really, really think Jamie Foxx is on the show this time

Following time off for a positive COVID-19 diagnosis, Nick Cannon was back in an all-new episode of The Masked Singer (Wednesday, 8 pET on CTV). And with the original gang reunited, it felt just like old times, except this is a game-changer season so it didn’t take long for the emotions to fly. Particularly when one contestant swam out to that stage.

Group A hits all the right notes

Nothing against Racoon and Phoenix, but they were definitely some of the weaker performers on this season. Now that they’ve been eliminated (alongside Snail, Grandpa Monster and Bulldog, who was actually Nick just pulling a prank on his co-stars), it seems like everyone is bringing it—especially in Group A.

So when Seashell, Russian Dolls, Orca and Robopine hit the stage on Wednesday night, there really wasn’t a weak performance from the bunch.

Once again, Russian Dolls had the panelists scrambling to guess their identities, especially after they killed a performance of “Want to Want Me.” Jenny McCarthy and her comically oversized golden ear headband went with 98 Degrees, which totally irked Nicole Scherzinger, while Ken Jeong randomly picked The Jonas Brothers because… well, it’s Ken.

The panelists were equally split following Robopine’s memorable performance of “Killing Me Softly,” as Nicole and Jenny ponied up for their “no-fly” guess of Jamie Foxx, and Ken and Robin Thicke put their own money on Terrence Howard. 

Then there was trailblazer Seashell, who is the only female competitor left in Group A. She had everyone guessing she could be Keke Palmer or Alicia Silverstone following her amazing performance of “Tell Me Something Good.” 

And Orca, whose rock vibes during his initial Wildcard debut had the panelists guessing Dave Grohl, came out strong with a version of “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.”

“I always looked up to my dad and when I told him I was gonna be a dad too, it brought him so much joy,” Orca said in his clue package. “Even though his health was deteriorating, he became laser-focused on the baby’s baptism.”

He then dedicated his performance to his late father, and it got Robin, who lost his own father Alan Thick in 2016, right in the feels. The panelist was choking up towards the end, and his emotion was contagious. Even Jenny started tearing up as they thanked the water-dweller for his honest performance.

An Abominable Addition

As if it weren’t hard enough to pick from those four competitors, Nick had one more Wildcard up his sleeve: Yeti. The latest performer made his debut towards the end of the night with one of the coolest (pun intended) costumes of the season.

While he looked abominable with those light-up eyes, his full costume was kind of cute. Nicole was definitely into it at any rate. 

And, as it turns out, Yeti has the monster vocals to back up the mask. He blew everyone away when he sang “If It Isn’t Love,” leading the panelists to declare Yeti as the new frontrunner. Heck, Nicole even went so far as to guess that it’s Justin Bieber under that mask, but it will be a while before anyone knows if she’s right. This guy is clearly sticking around for a long time.

With the performance solidifying Yeti’s place on the stage, it was Orca who ultimately had to go home with the least number of votes. And yes, this was a real elimination, unlike last week when guest-host Niecy Nash fooled everyone by revealing that she got to decide who was leaving.

Orca sings a swan song

Orca might as well have been singing “When it’s Over” because it was none other than Mark McGrath under that costume.

The Sugar Ray frontman had everyone fooled, despite dropping a ton of clues throughout the night (McGrath has opened up in the past about his twins and how his father planned their baptism before his death.)

So the internet totally guessed his identity before the panelists, who weren’t even close. 

Nicole stuck with her first impression guess of Dave Grohl, while Jenny switched hers to Kelly Slater to coincide with the surfing clues. Meanwhile, Robin and Ken banded together with their guess of Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong.

They may have all missed the mark, but they did make McGrath feel pretty good about himself.

“Dave Grohl? Bon Jovi?" he said following the unmasking. "My head is still as big as Orca’s this right now.”

And with that, another celeb bites the dust, but there are still eight more contestants in this thing. Tune in next week for a massive, two-hour showdown as all of them take the stage.

Watch The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays at 8 pET on CTV and catch up here.

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