On the premiere of Fox’s The Masked Singer, fans of the show (or new viewers, like me, looking for some light in the 2020 darkness), met Group A of the costumed contestants. First up, singing Lizzo’s “Cuz I Love You,” was The Sun, a gold-masked performer who completely slayed the soulful notes and emotional depth of this ballad.
Because this was the first performance of the season, the judges, Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy Walberg, Nicole Scherzinger, and Robin Thicke, were all blown away at all this power right off the bat. This masked singer, wearing a gold dress that doesn’t look unlike Belle’s gold ballroom gown in Beauty and the Beast, did not tiptoe through the song like a Disney princess created by the patriarchy might: She absolutely belted it. “When I put on this mask, I thought it was a reflection of who I am personally, and I liked it,” The Sun said, their voice disguised by high-pitched voice-changing software.
So, who is this optimistic, gold-adorned powerhouse? The judges had a few theories.
Scherzinger said this character topped her previous favorite performance, from Peacock, who ended up being Donny Osmond. Before they announced their guesses, host Nick Cannon announced that the panel of judges will also be competing against one another this season: They each write down their first-impression guesses. The judge who gets the most first-impression guesses right at the end of the season wins the “Golden Ear” trophy. The judge who wins that ear will have a very weird bookend for their home office.
Here were the panel’s first guesses for The Sun, who will perform again tonight:
Demi Lovato
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Based on the Mickey Mouse ears in the clue package, McCarthy thought it might be former Disney-kid star Lovato. She also caught on to the clue that the artist “went through a really hard time,” and then “transformed,” which she thought might have something to do with Lovato’s public journey with mental illness. Jeong said “that’s a great guess, but completely wrong.”
Madonna
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Jeong’s guess, based on the clue “ray of light,” was Madonna, who had a 1998 single of the same name. The clue package also referenced “Frozen,” the name of another Madonna song. Jeong bragged about running into Madonna “like, almost every other day” at hot yoga in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles. “You have never experienced life unless you have done a downward dog with Madonna,” he said. McCarthy questioned whether “Madonna could sing like that,” but Jeong stuck to his guess.
Idina Menzel or Kristen Bell
Albert L. OrtegaGetty Images
That clue in the clue package about the word “frozen” really had Scherzinger hooked. She thought The Sun could be either one of the Frozen franchise’s leading ladies, Menzel or Bell.
Katharine McPhee
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Scherzinger said she saw the jaguar clue and thought it could be a reference to “cat,” or Broadway signer Katharine McPhee. The clue package also said “Gold Member”: Scherzinger reasoned that McPhee’s married to Canadian musician David Foster, who has “oodles and oodles of gold records.”
Here are some fan guesses.
People definitely support the Demi Lovato theory.
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Christina Aguilera
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Miley Cyrus
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Leann Rimes
The first person revealed on week one was Busta Rhymes. Could this be another R[i]mes?
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One thing we know is this singer has some serious pipes under those sunbeams. Who else is with me on Team Demi?
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