Reality TV Judge Stumps Panel, Shocks with Incredible Singing Voice

Last season saw some pretty lackluster voices, with some nights positively dominated by weak singers. This time, it looks like the show might be going back to basics with a steady lineup we can follow across several weeks. Even better, these masks can sang!

Tonight, we met the final four costumes, which included an adorable Poodle Moth, a crazy clock, a cool lizard, and the most ridiculous Spaghetti & Meatballs mustache we’ve ever seen. These costumes are getting more and more outrageous.

What we loved about the night, though, was that it wasn’t immediately obvious who should go home as everyone brought some genuine singing ability to the stage. It was refreshing to bite our nails as we tried to figure out who these people were right along with the panel’s usual terrible guesses.

Let’s jump right in with this week’s mask. And don’t worry, before we get to the shocking unmasking(s), we’re going to make you power through the terrible (and occasionally good) guesses made by our illustrious panel of Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong and Rita Ora first. We do this because we love … to torture you.

Along with the panel’s guesses, we’ll be sharing some internet speculation, too, so if you don’t want to be potentially spoiled (because they are very good at this), you may want to skip past the guesses sections.

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(“My Life,” Billy Joel) We weren’t expecting Robin to start so high with this Billy Joel cover but it suited his vocal style and gave him the range to really explore the song. This was like a lounge star just caressing a familiar tune in fun and unexpected ways, a truly seasoned professional just out there having a good time. On top of that, no pressure, but it was a great vocal to kick off a new Group (no pressure!).

(“Just the Way You Are,” Billy Joel) Poodle Moth defines effortlessness with this vocal performance. This is clearly a seasoned professional who’s been doing this a long time. It’s amazing to think she started off helping others achieve their dreams because her instrument is magnificent. She commanded this room with very little movement, just with the subtle nuances and control of her voice.

Guesses: While holding a black cowboy hat, Poodle Moth said she’d always told herself she wasn’t pretty, funny, or talented enough to make it. And that’s how she wound up helping others achieve their dreams. Finally, though, she took that first step toward her own dreams and got discovered.

Additional visual clues included an American flag on a black book cover, and a candelabra with six candles in it, though along with Chinese lanterns and street lights, this could have all just been about her being a moth.

We also learned that only one Venezuelan Poodle Moth has ever actually been found (and it was not sampled) making it truly one of a kind, like this Poodle Moth. Her on-stage clue was batted just shy of the panel, but was a baseball emblazoned with the message, “OPRY.”

“I felt like a big shot when I performed at the Grand Ole Opry,” said Poodle Moth. The country path took Robin to Trisha Yearwood, while Rita considered the book could refer to Wynona Judd, who is a published author.

Once again, Ken was ready to dub someone Rita Wilson, this time tying the six candles as the “heat equivalent unit” when you combine her songs “Fire” and “Spark.” Does it sound ridiculous? It’s Ken-diculous!

But the internet wasn’t doing much better. There were guesses ranging from Frenchie Davis to Mandy Moore to Mickey Guyton to Tamar Braxton to Diana Krall. In other words, she’s got everyone stumped! Vocally, we could hear Trisha Yearwood and Wynonna Judd, but we’re not married to either guess.

(“Piano Man,” Billy Joel) Clock traded the elegance of Poodle Moth for power, immediately grabbing everyone by their eardrums and singing to the back of the room in a very theatrical delivery. She performed it with confidence and strength with a beautifully rich tone that left the panel speechless.

Guesses: All the clues pointed to a disco diva who managed to survive the era. She talked about having the whole world dancing from dusk ’til dawn while we saw a giant disco ball and said that everyone knew her name. Then, trends changed, years passed and she felt “frozen in time.”

As such, she said that she reinvented herself and achieved massive success again. At this point, she was spinning a golden globe. She even said that she enjoyed a career highlight of singing for the president.

A prominent visual clue in the package was when she cradled a baby, while her on-stage clue was some bars from Billy Joel’s “Vienna” played live on piano. “Vienna is all about seizing the day, and I actually have a day in my name!”

Jenny skipped the “day in my name” part to go to “365 Days in a Year” and find Anita Baker. Robin, though, leaned into the disco clue and tipped a glass for Evelyn “Champagne” King. Ken, though, thinks this might just be Diana Ross, who’s survived through many musical eras.

The internet definitely thought it could be Diana Ross, but there was even more momentum behind the idea of another multi-talented musical threat, Bette Midler! It was nigh unanimous, though there were (as always) a few outliers.

(“Only the Good Die Young,” Billy Joel) Spaghetti & Meatballs surprised us with a solid voice that didn’t quite sound professional, but sounds very capable. He even dropped a falsetto on us toward the end that hit the mark. The real surprise, though, was how much he actually sounded like Billy Joel on this, or like a very, very good karaoke version. He sounds like an extremely confident amateur who maybe could have had a shot if he’d pursued music.

Guesses: As it turns out, Spaghetti & Meatballs has explored different careers, starting in Wall Street, per his clue package, chasing dollars. He then said he “mastered the recipe to success” in a new industry. A visual clue of a white chef’s hat and red sports car make us think that industry was cooking. Another visual clue was the word “BANCA” on a building.

The Men in Black brought out an enormous pizza for his on-stage clue, with the pepperoni arranged to spell “SHOW TIME.” S&M explained, “I spend a great portion of my time on a hit show.”

Jenny immediately thought actor, before the panel added “or a chef,” “or a host.” Rita, though, went big on her chef guess with arguably the biggest one on television, Gordon Ramsay. Jenny likes the direction, but instead wondered if maybe it was Guy Fieri, with the red hat, red sports car and Italian flag.

Robin, though, shifted to Stanley Tucci, who’s played with food and reality television on his Searching for Italy show. The internet was a little all over the place, though a few sleuths managed to find a reality chef who used to work on wall street — and he can sing. Could it be?

(“Uptown Girl,” Billy Joel) Lizard makes up for what he’s lacking vocally with energy and showmanship. He was capable enough on a song that didn’t particularly challenge him with much range, and he didn’t have the breath control to fully wrangle the song. In other words, he’s fun, but he’s definitely no singer, as he proved by petering out by the end.

Guesses: This former ladies man and bad boy wasn’t quit what his “better known hits” represented. Instead, he said he tends to see people for who they are inside. Still, his “superstar shenanigans” almost cost him the love of his life.

It was at this point, he said, that he had a “premonition” that she was pregnant, which turned out to be true. Now, his focus is on being a good husband and “cool dad.” Visual clues included a heart-shaped red lollipop, a red crab on what looked like ice cream, and a red ornament with a lizard on it.

His on-stage clue came out as a tiny remote-controlled taxicab with a note on it that reads, “Billboards.” Lizard explained, “I’ve had a number one billboard and I’m not talking about Times Square.”

Ken dropped some “real talk” before sharing his awful guess of Michael Bivins of Bell Biv DeVoe (because Michael sings way better than this). If the Billboard refers to music, we think this is a hip-hop artist. But Ken tied it up to New Edition’s “Candy Girl” hit.

The panel then shifted through the members of New Edition, though we’re not buying any of them. Robin, instead, found himself wondering if maybe it was Ray-J, but neither Lizard nor Nick seemed to be able to handle that guess, with Lizard collapsing on the stage.

The internet was feeling SisQó as a good guess for Lizard. Like, it’s not even close as we saw an onslaught of people guessing him, with the usual random names thrown about (just not very many). These folks aren’t guessing or speculating, they know!

For us, this went downhill from start to finish when it came to the quality of the four performers. That meant we were anticipating a Smackdown between Spaghetti & Meatballs and Lizard. Of the two, though, S&M was stronger in their first outing, but we’ve seen amazing Smackdown turnarounds.

If either Poodle Moth or Clock wound up in the Bottom 2 — first of all, as Ken would say, “how dare you!” and second of all — we know for sure that either of them would survive over the boys. They guys were fun this week, but not nearly up to the level of the ladies.

Thankfully, the audience and panel got this one right, sending the ladies on to the next round, leaving the guys to battle it out to see who deserves a second chance.

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(“Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)”, Billy Joel) Spaghetti & Meatballs once again delivered a solid vocal that almost sounded like he was channeling Billy Joel himself. It’s such an interesting tone, we’d love to see him take on another artist, but he’s definitely strong on this one. Lizard, though, actually put a lot of extra sauce on it, remixing the vocal arrangement and throwing out runs we had no idea he was even capable of. He was having fun the first time around, but now he’s fighting for his spot on the show like this was his anthem.

Well, we thought this was a foregone conclusion. But then Lizard threw it down, picked it up, and threw it down again. His voice was so in the pocket that both Rita and Robin suddenly declared they knew who it was. All of this was very, very bad news for Spaghetti & Meatballs, who fell just short.

• Robin Thicke: Stanley Tucci
• Jenny McCarthy: Guy Fieri
• Ken Jeong: Bobby Flay
• Rita Ora: Gordon Ramsay

With a growing consensus that S&M is a celebrity chef or someone involved with one of a trillion cooking shows, there were just too many pasta-bilities. The panel went with some of the most well-known names even outside the world of culinary shows, but for those who watch, those options expand exponentially.

In the end, it was longtime MasterChef judge Joe Bastianich, who’s been part of the show since 2010. Rita gets a fraction of a point for being physically closest to the actual right answer, as Ramsay and Bastianich have been working together for years.

While he may not be a pro singer, Bastianich definitely held it down for the chefs with some great performances throughout the night.

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The Masked Singer sticks with Group C next Wednesday for “TV Theme Night” at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.