The Elephant packs his trunk and goes on ‘The Masked Singer’

If the first crop of contestants on this season of The Masked Singer (Wednesdays, 8 p.m. ET) was soulful and show-stopping, then the second batch is comical and creative. There’s no other way to describe the six new masked celebs who took the stage in the show’s latest episode, where they performed in costumes that ranged from a banana and a cat to an elephant and a taco. Taco-bout an eclectic group.

Frog hops ahead and Kitty purrs

A show of hands for anyone out there who’s interested in seeing how these celebs are seeded in the competition. Does it go by availability or luck of the draw? Whatever the magic formula is, Group A and Group B featured completely different types of performers with ranging talents. Frog is totally taking the Gronk White Tiger route, for example, but doing it better. He belted out MC Hammer’s anthem, “U Can’t Touch This,” while performing some confident (and kind of magical) dance moves, and won over the audiences without really singing at all. White Tiger should take notes.Then there was Kitty, whose rendition of Ariana Grande’s “Dangerous Woman” was sultry and, although far from purrfect, definitely entertaining. She kind of gave off Kangaroo vibes, but her voice wasn’t as memorable. Actually, you can tell she’s not a pro singer but that’s exactly what makes this show so much fun—seeing stars you know for one thing try to do something else without the pressure of it going anywhere serious. The internet seems divided on Kitty’s identity, while the panelists seemed convinced she’s someone like Paris Hilton or Nicole Richie (based on her stature and mannerisms), or perhaps even former DWTS pro Julianne Hough (based on her clue package).

Who ya'll think is behind the #kittymask? #TheMaskedSinger pic.twitter.com/eMPrOhNVmN

— Nick Cannon (@NickCannon) February 20, 2020

The best of the night, though? That might have to go to Taco, whose performance of Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon” was confident and old-school. Ken Jeong was feeling some serious Martin Short vibes, which has to be pretty satisfying to all of the Canadians out there. After the panelists kept guessing Short was the Skeleton last season (it wound up being fellow Canadian Paul Shaffer), wouldn’t that be the ultimate redemption if Short did do the show? Whoever the guy is, he definitely made #TacoWednesday a thing.[video_embed id='1501883']RELATED: Ken Jeong showed us his infamous dance moves and it was the best[/video_embed]

The Elephant packs his trunk

After seeing performances from the equally captivating Banana (yep, you read that correctly) and Mouse, it was pretty obvious that Elephant would probably be the first Group B member eliminated. His performance of The Cure’s “Friday I’m in Love,” was kind of flat both in vocals and showmanship, and while you don’t have to be a superstar singer to hack it on this show, you do need to make up for your lack of voice by entertaining the audience with a dance number or something. So, with neither under his trunk, the audience voted to send him home.So who was under the mask? None other than skateboarding legend Tony Hawk. To say he wiped out is an understatement, but he seemed like he didn’t really care—he only did the show for a gag and because it looked like fun. Besides, at the end of the day he technically lasted longer than Chaka Khan and Lil Wayne, so he has to be feeling pretty good about himself right now.

? SPOILER ALERT ? #ElephantMask is...#TheMaskedSinger pic.twitter.com/y8g3LF6sow

— The Masked Singer (@MaskedSingerFOX) February 20, 2020

Of course the panelists (which featured no guest-stars for the first time this season) had no clue it was Hawk under there. They came close by guessing people like motorsports champ Travis Pastrana and cycling legend Lance Armstrong, but once again host Nick Cannon was all-knowing. “I knew it!” he said following the reveal, like he does pretty much every other time a celeb is unmasked. (This is why he should be allowed to throw in guesses, guys. To prove himself.) In the know or not, Hawk was sent flying, which leaves five in this group of performers heading into next week.Will the Banana slip and split? Can Frog leap over the competition? At this point it’s anyone’s call, but that doesn’t make the Robin Thicke-inspired puns any less fun. Tune in next week to see which Group B member is eliminated next.The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CTV.[video_embed id='1876450']These are the most anticipated albums of 2020[/video_embed]