new format featuring more costumes and celebrity reveals than ever before. The changes will hopefully entice fans to keep watching the reality competition on Fox after the show faced backlash for its controversial casting choice of the former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, last season.
The most surprising contestants on The Masked Singer disguised their speaking voices, changed their stance, or altered their tone for different music genres. While some celebrities successfully concealed their identities, the most obvious contestants were easily identified by their fans on Reddit due to their recognizable voices, heights, mannerisms, and clue packages.
Pineapple - Tommy Chong
Pineapple's laid-back attitude and surfer chic style set a precedent for how the costumes could be clues to the personality of the disguised celebrity. The second Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" came serenely tumbling out of the mouth of the tropical fruit, it was clear the distinctive stoner voice belonged to Leo from That 70s Show, and Cheech Marin's partner-in-crime, Tommy Chong.
As Redditor Katherine_Angel puts it, "Pineapple. I never guessed so quick with anyone else. Tommy Chong's voice is very recognizable, even through the voice changer." Although Jenny McCarthy came close with her guess of Cheech, the most ridiculous guess unsurprisingly came from Ken Jeong. He believed it was former president Barack Obama due to clues linking the Pineapple to Hawaii.
Bee - Gladys Knight
In season 1, Bee was the first of many buzz-worthy legends to take the stage on The Masked Singer and chose to sing popular hit songs, such as Sia's "Chandelier" and Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball." Despite her modern song choices, Bee's fans were able to identify Gladys Knight's iconic voice from a mile away.
Reddit Lost_108 says, "The Bee was completely obvious seconds into her first song. Flower, Miss Monster, and Mouse were also easy. Those voices are dead giveaways if you grew up listening to them." Many fans on Reddit grouped these divas together since the Flower (Patti LaBelle), Miss Monster (Chaka Khan), and Mouse (Dionne Warwick) are all extraordinary singers with recognizable voices.
Rabbit - Joey Fatone
Right from the jump, the judges suspected Rabbit was formerly in a boy band, but they just weren't sure which one. As the weeks went on, Rabbit showcased a wide range of music styles, from a dark version of Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca" to a lively rendition of Bell Biv DeVoe's "Poison," which kept the judges guessing.
Even the Rabbit's character acting and twitching affectation couldn't fool his fans on Reddit, including whereibelong1977, who proudly proclaimed, "Rabbit. Solely by his voice. And they said all that fangirling would never add up to anything!" Despite being mistaken for his bandmate JC Chasez early on, both Nicole Scherzinger and Robin Thicke correctly guessed Rabbit was Joey Fatone from N*SYNC.
Turtle - Jesse McCartney
Slow and steady, Turtle took out his competition in season 3 but was ultimately defeated by Kandi Burruss as Night Angel. The punk-rock-styled reptile was undoubtedly a boy bander, just like Rabbit, but while his warm tone left the judges shell-shocked, his fans instantly recognized his dreamy voice.
One of Turtle's fans, Redditor Mitsuki_Horenake, gushes, "For me, it was Turtle. Literally took me three seconds to realize it was the teen idol I loved since middle school." After his days down on Dreamstreet, Jesse McCartney was one of the few of the boy band to have a successful career as a singer and actor, with memorable recurring roles in Summerland, Greek, and Young & Hungry.
Flamingo & Black Widow - Adrienne Bailon & Raven-Symoné
The Masked Singer's season 2 reunited two Disney Channel stars with impeccable voices and drastically different costumes. Black Widow spun webs around her competition with the greatest hits of Whitney Houston and Cher, and Flamingo shook her tail feathers to Kenny Loggins' "Footloose" and showcased her range with ballads like Loren Allred's "Never Enough."
Fans of these two young divas spotted their voices right away, as Redditor one of the best Disney Channel movies.
Robot - Lil Wayne
Robot geared himself up with a cover of Lenny Kravitz's song, "Are You Gonna Go My Way?" in the season 3 premiere. Although his robotic voice sounded familiar to many of his fans, the five-time Grammy award-winner was able to fool all the judges (including the guest judge, Jamie Foxx, who is often suspected as a contestant), with his confusing clue package.
Ken surprisingly had the closest guess with Flavor Flav, but it didn't take much for the rapper to get recognized by his fans, as one Reddit puts it, "Robot literally BREATHED and my mom said, 'Lil Wayne.'" This comment and many others were upvoted by The Masked Singer fan on Reddit since they were shocked by the judges' inability to detect Lil Wayne's signature cadence and tone.
Llama & Fox - Drew Carey & Wayne Brady
The sly singing and dancing from Fox may have fooled some judges, with many of them leaning towards their old standby guess of Jamie Foxx, while the silly song choices and hilarious choreography from the Llama led to the judges' sheer guesses of comedians like Adam Corolla and Joel McHale.
For improv comedy fans, there was no doubt who these two multi-talented stars were, as one Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Drew Carey, performed as a beach tourist Llama in season 3.
Peacock - Donny Osmond
The Masked Singer's season 1 opened with a vibrant and energetic performance of "The Greatest Show" by Peacock, a confident singer with a strong voice and captivating stage presence. Although some magical clues made the judges speculate that it could be Neil Patrick Harris, Peacock's voice made it obvious to long-time fans that it was Donny Osmond.
As Redditor relied on the ists' cliché judging critiques.
White Tiger - Rob "Gronk" Gronkowski
When singers as tall as the White Tiger come on stage, the judges and fans start to deduce that they are likely famous athletes. While his clawing renditions of Queen's "We Will Rock You" and Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy" were memorable, it was not due to White Tiger's vocal talent that earned the audience's attention but because of his signature dance moves and stage presence.
Between his retro dancing and blatantly obvious clue package, tons of football fans, like Redditor contestants who were unfairly eliminated on The Masked Singer.
Rottweiler - Chris Daughtry
Rottweiler was chomping at the bit to win season 2, and his tough exterior made some judges and fans believe he was a famous rapper. But the distinctive tone of his voice was instantly recognized by his fans, who believed he not only deserved to win The Masked Singer but American Idol as well.
Through a series of rock anthems, R&B chart-toppers, and ballads, Rottweiler kept the judges on a tight leash, but one of his many fans on Reddit, bijouforever, threw spectators a bone when they simply said, "Rottweiler," was the most obvious contestant in the history of The Masked Singer. This led to a chain reaction of upvotes and comments as Chris Daughtry's fans agreed his voice was unmistakable.
