The Masked Singer kicked off Season 8 by eliminating three contestants, but only two were unmasked. Viewers had to wait a week to find out how was under the giant Hummingbird mask. That turned out to be none other than a boy band legend. (if you weren’t already watching via FuboTV or another live service). Spoilers ahead!
Some of the clues were tailored to lead the judges and viewers at home to think Hummingbird was a sports legend after he sang Gavin DeGraw’s “I Don’t Wanna Be.” During the character’s monologue, Hummingbird said he got his start with the help of Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal) and he “dominated” a Super Bowl. This led Ken Jeong to guess Hummingbird was Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, while Robin Thicke guessed Deion Sanders. However, it was really former NSYNC singer Chris Kirkpatrick!
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NSYNC did play the Super Bowl. In 2001, they performed at the Super Bowl Halftime Show with Aerosmith and Britney Spears. The reference to Shaquille O’Neal came from a 2018 interview Lance Bass gave, in which he said NSYNC recorded early demos at O’Neal’s home studio. The line in the clue package – “I promise you this Hummingbird knows a thing or two about competition” – might have been a reference to the NSYNC song “This I Promise You.”
The panelists were stunned when Kirkpatrick was revealed under the Hummingbird mask. As Thicke noted, they had been guessing him several times each season, but none of them did the one time he was on the Masked Singer stage! In fact, none of the panelists guessed boy banders. (Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg guessed Rob Thomas, Uncle Kracker, and Chad Kroeger, but she gave no explanation for those picks.)
The Masked Singer producers booked 22 contestants for the new season, as well as several celebrity guest panelists. Wednesday night had a Las Vegas theme and featured Donny Osmond joining the panel. Harp won the first episode after performing Pink’s “Perfect.” William Shatner was the Knight and performed the standard “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” Eric Idle wore the Hedgehog costume and performed The Beatles’ “Love Me Do.”
How to Watch
The Masked Singer airs on Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. If you don’t have a traditional cable package, FuboTV allows you to watch The Masked Singer live (there’s even a free trial available). Additionally, all episodes of The Masked Singer are available on Hulu the following day.
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THE MASKED SINGER: Anonymouse in the all-new "Season 10 Kickoff" episode of THE MASKED SINGER airing Sunday, Sep. 10 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/5:00-6:00 PM PT live to all time zones) on FOX. CR: Trae Patton / FOX. ©2023 FOX Media LLC.
