The Masked Singer 9 Week 3 Recap: New York Night!
The Masked Singer season 9 continues with Week 3 theme New York Night, featuring Nick Cannon as host, Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong and Nicole Scherzinger on the judges panel.
The season 8 format remains unchanged. Three costumed celebrities will perform for the studio and judges panel votes. A celeb will be unmasked in the middle of the show. The remaining two celebrities will go head to head in a “Battle Royal.” The winner moves on to compete again in next week’s “DC Superheroes Night.” The loser will be the second celebrity to unmask.
There is a new twist, however, that allows the judges to save one singer per round, and according to promos, the panel will finally use it tonight. Each of the saved celebrities from each of the three rounds will compete against each other in a special wildcard show.
Tonight’s celebrity costumes: New masks Polar Bear and California Roll, and Medusa returns for a third week, hoping to win the round and advance to the quarterfinals.
The show opens with a group number featuring Robin Thicke singing lead. Everybody joins him on stage, eventually.
Medusa
Clues: She’s singing her dad’s favorite karaoke song. Another clue involves a Scottish Terrier head.
Performance: New York New York by Frank Sinatra – It’s the alt/rock version of New York, New York you probably didn’t ask for. Or maybe you did! Her version is all ballady and emo. There is not a very happy vibe happening here. Still, Medusa can sang. She is so moved by the judges praise, she’s tearing up (under her mask). Luann DeLaspes from Housewives delivers the clue, a wire rendering of the Brooklyn Bridge. “Sometimes you have to build a bridge to get over it. Hopefully, it will put you in the right state of mind.” Nicole guesses Florence Welsh or Shirley Manson. Ken guesses Susan Boyle. OMG. The audience is booing, because it’s a ridiculous guess. Robin guesses Kesha.
Prediction: Medusa is fooling the panel so far. That’s certainly singer Bishop Briggs under the mask.
Polar Bear
Clues: His NYC neighborhood has a bad rap. He had an interest in electronics as a kid. He invented something that “turned the tables” in the entire music industry.
Performance: Rapture by Blondie – Polar sings in a painful falsetto. He’s pretty terrible. He’ll be unmasked soon, because I cannot imagine the panel saving him. He might be a rapper who can’t sing. Or maybe a producer or DJ. The Long Island Medium, Theresa Caputo delivers the clue. HER HAIR IS HUGE. She sees him standing at a podium at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame giving a speech. Robin guesses DJ Jazzy Jeff, but Nick reminds him that Jazzy is from Philly, not New York. Ken guesses Diddy. AS IF. Jenny guesses Flavor Flav. Nicole guesses Grandmaster Flash. Polar denied all the guesses…except for Grandmaster.
California Roll
Clues: THERE ARE FIVE ROLLS. Must be a vocal band. Group project. They ended up in California.
Performance: Paparazzi by Lady Gaga – These voices are pretty weird. They sing Lady Gaga like it’s some weirded out rock opera. I wonder if they are trying to disguise their voices? The vocals are exaggerated. HM. OK I wonder if this group is Pentatonix? I think maybe! Pizza rat delivers the clue. “5 billion and growing but who’s counting” is the clue. YEP YEP YEP. In the last 10 years, Pentatonix has racked up massive streaming numbers. Jenny guesses Pentatonix. Robin thinks so too. Nicole guesses the Pitch Perfect cast. Ken guesses the cast of High School Musical.
Prediction: Pretty sure the California Rolls are the acapella group and SIng-Off winners Pentatonix. The Broadway clue points to Kirsten appearing in Kinky Boots on Broadway, she also got married. The from Dolly to Snoop clue: Pentatonix sang with Dolly and Miley Cyrus on The Voice. The “DJ Clue” points to Mitch Grassi, who DJ’d during the pandemic. The tiger clue may point to the group’s Sing-Off victory song, “Eye of the Tiger.” Plus, the group is obviously one girl and five guys. It seems they tried to disguise their voices somewhat during the first song to throw people off.
1st Result
The first celebrity heading home is…The Polar Bear. No surprise there! Final guesses: Jenny: Flavor Flav Robin: LL Cool J Nicole: Grandmaster Flash Ken: Diddy And Polar Bear is…Grandmaster Flash. He literally gave himself away during the judges’ first round of guesses. Grandmaster signed up for the show because he loves it and the fun it brings. Nick stresses how important Grandmaster Flash is to the culture. Hilarious how insulted he seemed by the Flavor Flav guess. Grandmaster’s appearance is fitting, because it’s the 50th anniversary of hip-hop and he is a pioneer. He raps and scratches his way out.
Battle Royale
Medusa and California roll go head to head, Both will sing the same song in their own styles. The song is “Uptown Girl” by Billy Joel. Medusa is first. Gotta give Medusa props, she’s solid on a song that is WAY WAY out of her wheelhouse. California Roll sings a ballad-y version of the song. It’s very very dramatic! The harmonies are exquisite. So, the judges will save the singer they don’t pick for the quarterfinal.
2nd Result
The act moving on to the quarterfinals is…California Roll! The crowd begins chanting for Medusa. Final guesses. Ken: Susan Boyle. He’s actually sticking with that dumb guess. Jenny: Halsey Robin: Kesha Nicole: Lorde. The crowd begins shouting “take it off” until the judges RING THE BELL AND SAVE HER.
The judges save Medusa. No second unmasking
Next week, round 2 begins with three new celebrity masks.
