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The third season of The Masked Singer continued Wednesday with its 18th and final episode. Last Week, The Rhino was revealed to be Barry Zito. This week features the final three performers battling for the golden mask.
We have guessed all but 3 singers correctly and we are feeling pretty confident about these final 3 contestants.
With some help from her dad, The A.V. Club’s Angelica Cataldo will attempt to guess the identity of each singer before they’re unmasked on the show. Watch this space for weekly unveilings to see how their final guesses stack up.
Night Angel
Song: “River Deep, Mountain High,” Tina Turner
Our guess: Kandi Burruss
Actual celebrity: Kandi Burruss
New Clues:
- “When I didn’t find success as a solo artist, I decided to develop other businesses behind the scenes in music”
Past Clues:
- “I’m the Night Angel because years ago someone close to me passed.” (Burruss lost her aunt back in 2018, whom she was very close to.)
- Says “Blaze” (Burruss has a daughter named Blaze)
- Shows a soccer ball and football
- Shows a moon pin on her costume (Burruss has a song with Rasheeda Frost “Legs to the MOON”)
- Night Angel’s Bonus clue: Football
- Shows Night Angel playing the piano
- Shows three shades of red lipstick (During Burruss’ time with the group Xscape, they released their third album Traces of My Lipstick in 1998)
- “[The judges’] comments made me reflect on how far I’ve come since my musical journey started when I was just 4 years old”
- Shows a framed map of Columbia (Burruss was signed to Columbia Records in 2000)
- Night Angel’s favorite song is “Last Dance” by Donna Summer
- Shows mailing envelopes, one saying: “Say baby I love you” (This could be a reference to Destiny’s Child. Though it is a lyric from “Say My Name,” Burruss did write “Bills Bills Bills” for them.)
- Night Angel brought snow gear on stage and says “I figured I’d help you out and help you get warmer since you’re very cold.”
- “I’ve gotten a lot of calls in my life. Some good. Some bad. Some that upended my life, but the key to my success is that I answer them all.”
- Shows a retro tube TV and old school rotary telephone
- Shows Angel holding a lighter
- Fish bobs and hooks
- Shows the “Angel hotline”and “Must be 2000 years or older to call. $2.85 minute” (285 is the Georgia interstate)
- Masked Munchies: Shish kebabb bugs on a stick (references to the cockroaches episode of season 6 episode 9 of the Real Housewives of Atlanta?)
- Showed the X-Ray scan of a travel bag with a tag reading “BOSS” that contained:
- A bee, a crown, a snow globe, and an ostrich
- “I usually fly out over security…I gave you these heavenly clues so you can stop winging it with your guesses”
- “[This] Feels like Cloud 9.”
- SUPER CLUE: Shows a tricycle (meaning a trio or triple threat?)
- “I’m not just a voice, I’m a mogul.”
- “Becoming the Night Angel has been so therapeutic. I’ve been doing this since I was a teen, but I’ve never felt as free as I do under this mask.”
- The Night Angel’s high school friend (whose face is covered by a disco ball) is the clue giver this time around
- “Night Angel always had to juggle school with chasing her dream, so she missed out on a lot, like senior prom.”
- Shows a rotary dial phone that is off the hook
- “One thing she was determined not to miss was earning her diploma.”
- Shows a multiple choice quiz all about the moon
- “Our graduation conflicted with a huge career opportunity for her, but she refused to miss that day she worked so hard for, because that’s just not Angel.”
- The last clue is a Lego diorama for Jenny McCarthy that says “Good Times” and The Night Angel said McCarthy has said The Night Angel’s real name many times on her show.
- “I was sitting up in my room surrounded by other angels, but got lost in the crowd.”
- “I had a thirst for more, so BANG BANG I left my safe place and chose to fall down to Earth.”
- Shows a drawing of a castle and a strawberry
- Shows sweet tea and a fan (They are from the south?)
- “…With hard work and commitment, [I] built an empire.”
- Showed 4 “gangster grandma” as Robin Thicke said (a hint to the Night Angel winning 4 Grammys?)
- “Doors have always opened for me”
- “Fame has brought me down like a landslide
- #6 Key to my success
- “My prerogative to have a little fun y’all”
Turtle
Song: “Before You Go,” Lewis Capaldi
Our Guess: Jesse McCartney
Actual celebrity: Jesse McCartney
Past guesses: Jordan Knight or Joey McIntyre
New Clues:
- “In my career i definitely had a lot of “almost” moments”
- I entered the next stage of my life with Mrs. Turtle (McCartney is newly engaged)
Past Clues:
- “As an artist I was so pigeonholed, I never felt good about stepping outside my wheelhouse”
- Turtle said he has looked up to Robin Thicke for years and Thicke’s “sweet falsetto” inspired his own
- “Robin, you don’t know how much I’m geeking out. For my first car, I bought a special CD adapter for my car just so I could listen to [Thicke’s] album Beautiful World.”
- Shows a BACK on a street sign! (Back Street? McCartney has opened for the Backstreet Boys before)
- Turtle’s “closer look” clue is a big ring
- Turtle’s bonus clue: Photo album
- “Being the Turtle makes me feel like a superhero.”
- Shows a wanted sign with a reward of $1,999 (McCartney joined Dream Street in 1999 and his perfume line is called Wanted)
- Shows Turtle’s head in a “bat signal” (McCartney voices Robin in Young Justice)
- Shows poker chips strewn all over the road (Reference to Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip? McCartney has been the voice of Theodore since the first installment of the franchise in 2007)
- Turtle brought out a zombie corpse on stage (McCartney had a very brief role of Fear the Walking Dead)
- “My whole career, I’ve been riddled with insecurities.”
- Shows a chess board (McCartney has a song called “Checkmate”)
- The Queen piece had a heart on it (Another reference to Princess Diaries?)
- Clocks show the time 3:23 and 9:14
- Shows a diary with a biohazard symbol on it (McCartney was in Chernobyl Diaries
- Masked Munchie: Chips with apple salsa (Perhaps a reference to his role on Young & Hungry?)
- Shows a travel bag with tags reading “Never Keep Open This Bag” (NKOTB) and an arrow pointing left.
- The bag contains:
- A bottle of cologne (McCartney has his own line of cologne)
- A diary with a queen’s crown on it (McCartney is on the soundtrack for Disney’s The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement)
- A block and gavel (McCartney voices Robin in Young Justice)
- A baseball glove
- “It’s not easy going through security when you’re covered in metal spikes, but what should be easy is figuring out these clues. Take it slow, like a turtle, and I promise they’ll all fit like a glove.”
- “Just like my costume, I’m hardcore.”
- “To win, I had to become a method actor.”
- He runs a 10K before each show wearing a 40lb vest, “1/4 of my body weight”
- Adds tons of choreography even though he’s not a dancer
- SUPER 9 CLUE: “Shellboy” comic book
- He is not known for just one thing.
- Miss S. was his favorite teacher in high school. She said “he always came into the class singing.”
- Showed a map of Korea. (…?)
- Alpha and Omega Greek letters drawn on chalkboard (beginning and end of alphabet. McCartney appeared on TV show called “Greek”)
- Turtle sent Valentines to Nicole Scherzinger: “Nicole, I’ll never forget the morning we spent together” (McCartney performed on the Today Show in 2008).
- “People have always expected me to act a certain way.”
- Clues show Turtle playing in a punk band.
- Slow-cooked beets and cookies on a tray. (…?)
- Simpsons reference with chalkboard text that says: “Don’t Rave Ever At My School.” (Could stand for DREAMS?)
- Voted “most likely to hunt for booty. And I have, often.”(Jordan Knight has a signature booty-shake dance move.)
- Last week, we had a surfboard as a clue. (Knight crowd surfs—and still does.)
- “At the starting line, I was surrounded by newcomers” (Newcomers…New Kids?)
- “Always taken it ‘Step By Step’.” (“Step By Step” is an NKOTB song.)
- “I don’t want anyone to cross the line before me.” (A possible reference to the “Hangin’ Tough” lyric “Don’t cross our path ’cause you’re gonna get stomped.”)
- Jenny McCarthy thinks it is someone she and her husband (Donnie Wahlberg, a former NKOTB member) know.
- The Turtle was also grilling burgers in the clue package. (Possible reference to the restaurant Wahlburgers.)
The Rhino- Eliminated
Our guess: Barry Zito
Past guesses: Chase Rice
Actual Celebrity: Barry Zito
Clues:
- “It blows my mind wide open that I’m still here in the semi finals surrounded by heavy hitters” (a baseball reference, Zito is a pitcher)
- “I literally wore a mask to hide from others- to hide my shame. Here. I wear a mask for all the right reasons.”
- Shows a toy plane
- Shows a trombone
- “I’m so blessed to share this song that I share with my little rhinos every day”
- Rhino’s “closer look” clue: A baby rhino on his lapel.
- Rhino’s bonus clue: Globes
- This show is complete crazy town…I need quiet, tranquility, serenity.”
- “I need to take my time with nature”
- Focus on his chief source of power: love for his wife and “baby rhinos”
- Shows yoga and guitar picks (Zito played guitar)
- “I wanna show my family it’s never too late to rewrite my story”
- Missouri highlighted with a crown on it (Zito’s wife, Amber Seyer was Miss Missouri)
- Masked Munchies: Spaghetti and meatballs. “When I’m in Rhino Country, cheese, spaghetti and meatballs – now is my name on the tip of your tongue?”
- Shows Rhino’s bag containing:
- The Tennessee state flag
- A stocking with a lump of coal in it
- A seal (animal)
- A tag reading “RhiNO Secrets”
- A tag with a bass clef
- “[This] Pushing me and forcing me to grow in ways I’ve never dreamed.”
- “Earlier in life I tried to be what everyone wanted me to be. I was comfortable playing a role.”
- Shows Rhino playing with a toy plane.
- “I was built to take to the sky.”
- “I’m doing my most dancey song yet”
- SUPER CLUE: “It’s funny the panel thinks I am an athlete, but music has been my passion since I was a child. I’ve risen up the billboard charts, and you may even have an album of mine. For a quarter, I’ll fish you a clue.”
- Shows a slot machine
- “I’m the risk-taking, gambling type.”
- “I’m not nearly as tall as you think I am.”
- The Rhino’s best college bud is his guest clue giver
- “Rhino was the first person I met in college.”
- Shows his friend with a beach ball for a head and two body boards as hands.
- Both Rhino and his friend wanted to try surfing and were terrible, at first
- Shows three quarters and an arrow pointing up
- Rhino is good at surfing now after practicing
- Shows a planet with a little cowboy at on it
- The final clue is a Lego diorama of Robin Thicke that says “1,000.” The Rhino says it means he and Thicke think alike and are on the same track, literally.”
- “You’re probably wondering what I’m doing on this plane… I’m flying high.”
- Shows the Rhino standing on the wing of a plane.
- “Just like on stage, standing on these wings is wild and nerve-wracking, but I’ve always been a risk taker which has led to many ups… and downs”
- Shows a sign pointing South
- His wife is his “guardian angel.”
- Shows the dude with him cutting a slider burger in half while wearing a huge diamond ring
- “Family is very important for success, especially when performing for a King is in your blood.”
- “I am really just a gentle giant”
- I was the “toast of the town every week”
- “When I suddenly wasn’t the best, I crashed and I burned.”
- “I was center stage.”
- “Being on top became an addiction”
- Shows the guitar outside the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville
- Shows the Rhino riding a bike and jumping off a ramp over the sunset
Frog
Song: “Bad Boy For Life,” Black Rob, Mark Curry, and P. Diddy
Our guess: Bow Wow (Shad Gregory Moss)
Actual celebrity: Bow Wow (Shad Gregory Moss)
New Clues:
- “With what people were saying on social media I really started to doubt myself”
- Sign that says “No Limits”
Past Clues:
- “I can be smooth and I can be silly.”
- “I am redefining who I am to the world and that feels like a slam dunk.”
- Shows hair rollers (another reference to Bow Wow’s role in Roll Bounce?)
- Frog’s “closer look” clue: A “mom” pin
- Frog’s bonus clue: A hat
- Shows Frog getting a call from “Little Frog” (Bow Wow has a daughter)
- Shows three French bread rolls lined up in a row (could be a reference to Bow Wow’s role in Roll Bounce?)
- Shows a falcon figurine (Bow Wow is an avid Atlanta Falcons fan)
- Frog had a model jet plane brought up on stage (Bow Wow once posted a pic of a private jet airplane suggesting it was his form of travel to an event. It was later revealed that he was not on the private jet, but instead, was on a standard commercial flight)
- Shows “Frog PD”
- “Joining the show with ‘singer’ in the title was a tough case to crack.”
- Shows chocolates
- Shows Frog playing with a basketball
- Shows a red jersey for #23 (Michael Jordan’s jersey in reference to Like Mike)
- Shows the number 13 (He released his first album at 13)
- Shows a Twinkie (Twinkie is Bow Wow’s character’s name from Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift)
- Shows a scan of Frog’s bag containing:
- Sneakers with a lightning bolt
- A keyboard with the letters “I” and “L” missing
- A Japanese Flag
- An ice tray
- And a luggage tag reading “Thank God It’s Frog Day”
- “This getup allows me to do things that I couldn’t do when I was concerned about my image.”
- “There are a lot of crazy talented vocalists here, but I’m busting my butt to entertain you in ways they can’t.”
- SUPER CLUE: Shows a medieval knight’s suit of armor
- “[I’m] not a trained dancer, at all”
- “I’m too ribbit to quit. Makes me think backwards to when my career jump started and a woman who was so instrumental but barely seen”
- Frog’s guest clue giver is a personal friend who’s known him since he was a tad pole
- “I knew immediately he’d be a superstar”
- Shows an “invisible” woman in a fur coat and fedora
- Shows a shampoo bottle and wide-tooth comb
- “I looked after him when he was in LA. Even then he had an entourage. I remember taking him to his first midnight talk show. It was way past his bedtime, but I let it slide. He was cool, calm, and collected— way beyond his years.”
- Shows a green bowtie
- “But I’m most impressed with the man Frog has become. Life hasn’t always been easy for him, but he’s persevered and paved the way for so many people. I couldn’t be more proud.”
- Frog’s friendship bracelet is for T-Pain and says “All we do is win” ( Could be a reference, not to the song, but to the collaboration Bow Wow and T-Pain did together).
- The letters C-S-I highlighted on an old typewriter (Bow Wow was on CSI:Cyber as recurring character Brody Nelson)
- $19.00 price tag on “Fame” (Bow Wow has a song called Price of Fame)
- The Frog is “always shootin’’” and then shows a basketball -(Bow Wow was in “Like Mike” when he was Lil’ Bow Wow)
- Toy Army soldiers (Bow Wow collaborated with Soulja Boy in 2016)
- Typewriter page reads “Not every frog wants to be a prince” (Lil’ Bow Wow changed his name to just Bow Wow in 2002, and in 2013 has since stated in interviews that he also thinks “Bow Wow” is no longer fitting for his career.)
- Says “Newsflash” and talks about his “metamorphosis.”
- Says he was plucked from large creek,
- Leftover hush puppies in brown lunch bag,
- He’s short, especially when standing next to Nick Cannon who is 6 feet tall.
- Lightning bolt reference (Fast as lightning, maybe?)
- “Never had a chance to evolve my image and do things my way”
- “Slithering with the big frogs”
- There is a 1996 Olympic Games 1000 Meter “LeapFrog” poster
- “Now it’s time to Write my own masterpieces”
- Shows a $100, $5, and $1 bills next to a classic chrome microphone (Bow Wow hosted 106 & Park in 2012)
SPOILER ALERT: The next slide reveals the winner of Masked Singer season 3
2 Comments
In 2020, every singer is the Masked Singer *10 year standing ovation for me*
Hey Angelica, for the South Korea hint for Jesse McCartney, if you look closely on the map it highlights the capital of South Korea which is Seoul. Seoul is pronounced like “soul”. I think it’s a reference to Jesse’s hit song “Beautiful Soul”