'The Masked Dancer': Zebra Is a Major Athlete

The Masked Dancer semi-finals Wednesday proved to be the most exciting week of the competition [...]

By Stephanie Downs

The Masked Dancer semi-finals Wednesday proved to be the most exciting week of the competition yet. The competition was stiff between the four remaining competitors Tulip, Cotton Candy, Zebra and Sloth.

Cotton Candy kicked the night off dancing to 2 Unlimited's "Get Ready," followed by th Sloth who applied his comedic dance style to Sam Smith's "Dancing With a Stranger."

Zebra danced to the classic Bobby Darin hit "Mac the Knife" in a weird Vegas-themed performance that saw him plow through a paper poker chip as a finale. The show closed with Tulip dancing a Polka in the Swiss Alps.

At the end of the show after votes were cast and counted, Zebra was eliminated from the competition. The black and white striped dancer was unmasked as boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya.

De La Hoya, who has been considering a return to boxing, said it was a lot harder to dance as the Zebra than to dance around a boxing ring. He added that he was happy about being on the show sing it was "probably the best experience I've ever had."

With their elimination, that means that Sloth, Cotton Candy and Tulip will put on their final performances next week in order to try to take home the win. The remaining three competitors will dance their hearts out in The Masked Dancerseason finale, which will air on Feb. 17.

Over the past few weeks, numerous masked celebrities tried their hand at The Masked Singer's spin-off series. Everyone from Bill Nye the Science Guy (Ice Cube) to activist Elizabeth Smart (Moth) competed on the show. In last week's episode, the show said goodbye to the Exotic Bird. After the judges — Brian Austin Green, Paula Abdul, Ken Jeong, Ashley Tisdale, and guest judge Mayim Bialik — shared their final guesses behind Exotic Bird's identity, they were revealed to have been American Idol winner Jordin Sparks. Abdul, given her past as a judge on American Idol, correctly guessed Sparks' identity.

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Sparks opened up about her time on The Masked Dancer, including the fact that she got to reunite with Abdul. She even addressed the fact that being on the Fox series was like a "full-circle" moment given the fact that she got her start in the entertainment industry by appearing on and winning American Idol when she was only 17 years old.

"I could not believe it," Sparks said. "So first off, I was terrified when they sent the email over asking if I wanted to be a part of The Masked Dancer. I was taken aback just because I thought that it would be The Masked Singer, and I didn't even know Masked Dancer was in the works."

Even though she was initially surprised to get a call for The Masked Dancer instead of The Masked Singer, she admitted that she still had a fantastic time on the spin-off.

"So when it came through, I was like, wait a minute," the "No Air" singer continued. "But then I realized that I was the only person telling myself that I couldn't do it. So I thought, even though I'm a little bit scared about this, I'm going to do it because I wanted to prove to myself that I could take on challenges, even if they scared me a little bit. It was a lot of fun to do. I had the best time."

Masked Dancer Reveals

Here are all the celebrity dancers who have been unmasked on season one of The Masked Dancer:

  • Ice-T (Disco Ball)
  • Bill Nye (Ice Cube)
  • Elizabeth Smart (Moth)
  • Brian McKnight (Cricket)
  • Vinny Guadagnino (Hammerhead Shark)
  • Jordin Sparks (Exotic Bird)
  • Oscar De La Hoya (Zebra)
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