'The Masked Singer' Live Updates: Grandpa Monster Unmasked
The Masked Singer Season 5 is picking up steam as Group B returns for its second round on [...]
The Masked Singer Season 5 is picking up steam as Group B returns for its second round on Wednesday. The Black Swan, the Chameleon, the Grandpa Monster and the Piglet will sing their hearts out this week, and one will be sent home. Check back here for live updates throughout the episode.
9 p.m. ET: The episode ended with Grandpa Monster being unmasked. The monster fell to his knees and pressed his oversized monocle against the stage, as the other performers scurried off to sing another night.
Niecy Nash reminded the judges of their first impression guesses. Thicke guessed Johnny Manziel, which he said he would stick with, but McCarthy guessed Morgan Freeman, which she recanted. Jeong had guessed Emmett Smith, but said that he wanted to change his guess to Kevin Hart, as he mentioned earlier in the episode. Finally, Scherzinger's first impression guess was Cam Newton, which she changed to YouTuber Jake Paul.
With the final guesses in, Grandpa Monster wrestled the mask off his head to reveal the face of Logan Paul. Scherzinger was close, but still a long ways off from Logan's younger brother. With his mask off, Logan said meekly: "You thought I was Jake?"
Logan bowed out gracefully, saying he had fun but felt out of his depth. He said he would be rooting for the other performers — especially Black Swan.
8:53 p.m. ET: After the fourth commercial break, this week's wildcard performer took the stage: The Crab. Crab came out with an underwater clue package, standing in a submerged city of Grecian style. He said that he achieved his dream of becoming a star and a trend-setter at a young age. However, he soon found himself and his family mired in "darkness," as dancers wrapped up his crab claws. He said that he is on the show to banish that darkness.
Crab then launched into a soulful performance of "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers. His voice clearly affected the panelists, who seemed close to tears before the last verse was even over. The impact was only slightly undercut by his crooked crab smile and tentacle-eyes.
"This is the wildcard we needed!" McCarthy said "We needed you in this competition, we needed someone to pull our heartstrings! You deserve it!" The judges then had to submit their first impression guesses, and all seemed pretty dubious. Jeong suggested Lenny Kravitz or Bobby Brown, while Thicke suggested Johnny Gill.
Finally, Niecy called out the Crab's "wall," where his childhood crush turned out to be Janet Jackson. She then called on the audience to vote from home on which performer should be forced to unmask in this episode.
8:41 p.m. ET: The Chameleon sat at an easel painting during his clue package, with a prominent close-up on a peach and a wedge of cheese. Chameleon then described losing a loved one at a young age, with an emphasis on a model dummy with a tape measure. He said that now he fights for those who are under-represented so they can "feel accepted" as he swung a paint brush covered in rainbow colors.
Chameleon sang "21 Questions" by 50 Cent, to the delight of the judges. The vocal range was nothing to write home about, but the skillful rapping and choreography more than made up for it. Once again, Niecy Nash hinted that she might have dated this contestant, although Chameleon's childhood crush turned out to be Salma Hayek.
Jeong guessed Iman Shumpert, while Scherzinger guessed Dwayne Wade. McCarthy went with rapper 2 Chainz, with a few clues for references, but none of them seemed as confident as Niecy.
8:31 p.m. ET: Black Swan started off by admitting that she was not entirely confident in their first week on the show, and thanking the judges for their supportive words. Black Swan then had an old-timey clue package about writing a thank-you letter to the person who supports her the most in her career, before cutting to her mid-air rendition of "In My Blood" by Shawn Mendes.
Black Swan sang from on top of a suspended perch for the first verse, then stalked around the stage between bird-like dancers. She hit some impressive high notes with a pyrotechnics show flashing in the background. After the song, the men in black wheeled out Black Swan's "wall," revealing that her childhood crush was D'Angelo. This helped the judges surmise her age, but fans could practically see the singer blushing through her mask.
Scherzinger and Jenny McCarthy both guessed Demi Lovato with relative confidence. Ken Jeong went with Lindsey Lohan, although the other judges rolled their eyes since Lohan was on The Masked Singer Australia just last year.
Before the next commercial break, Niecy Nash revealed a surprise: She had dug up all of the judges' childhood crushes as well. For Scherzinger, it was one of the New Kids on the Block, while for Jeong it was Wynona Rider. She saved the rest for later in the episode.
8:19 p.m. ET: Cluedle-Doo showed up after the first commercial break to divulge the discontent between Grandpa Monster and Piglet. He said that the two have been arguing backstage, and that things are looking tense between them. After that, Piglet introduced himself further in a new clue package with a sports theme. Piglet seemed to suggest he had played professional football.
Piglet sang "Good to be Alive" by Andy Grammer, dancing in perfect step with four others. The judges said that this performance was "game-changing," highlighting Piglet's voice in a way that his previous performance had not. The Piglet's childhood crush, it turns out, was Meg Ryan, whom he called "the queen of romcoms."
As for guesses, however, the judges did not have much to go on. Ken Jeong through out the members of *NSYNC as guesses, while Nicole Scherzinger guessed Austin Mahomes — saying the Texas connection might explain the "Friday Night Lives" football connection.
8:09 p.m. ET: This week, Grandpa Monster dropped some new clues about his origin story as a "castaway," with a clue package set in the wilderness. His montage showed a barking dog, a pair of headphones and a few other clues before he launched into a rendition of "Reputation" by Joan Jett. The judges were all on their feet by the time the song was over.
Afterwards, host Niecy Nash introduced the new clue of the night -- the contestants will reveal their childhood crush. For Grandpa Monster, that means Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. This prompted Ken Jeong to immediately guess that it was Kevin Hart, while Robin Thicke suggested Jack Black. None of the night's guesses really seemed to land with the singer, or the fans online.
How to Watch The Masked Singer Season 5, Episode 4:
The Masked Singer airs on Wednesday nights starting at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. You can catch the show with a cable subcription, satellite or digital TV antenna, as well as a few streaming services. Skinny TV bundles will air the show live, and FuboTV is offer PopCulture.com readers a free trial here. Each episode is available the following morning on Hulu as well, which you can find here. Stay tuned for live updates on this week's episode of The Masked Singer Season 5!