Caution: Spoilers ahead!
The Masked Singer season 11 returned on Wednesday for a fun, high-energy night of powerful performances as four costumed contestants duked it out for Girl Group Night!
This week’s slate of singers gave it their best shot to secure their spot in the ongoing race for the Golden Mask Trophy, while a new Wild Card contestant shook up the competition.
The show’s panel of celebrity “detectives” — including Robin Thicke, Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy and newcomer Rita Ora — did their best to deduce the secret identities of the costumed contestants with some help from host Nick Cannon.
The Beets, Miss Cleocatra, The Gumball and The Seal hit the stage to belt out hits from the biggest girl groups in music history in an effort to win the audience’s votes and move on to the Group B Finals.
Miss Cleocatra was the first contestant to hit the stage, bringing her diva-esque charisma and gravitas to the stage for her performance of En Vogue’s “Free Your Mind.” The number showed a different, funkier side to the songstress’ range and left the judges impressed.
Thicke and McCarthy praised Miss Cleocatra’s dance moves, as Ora exclaimed, “I was just looking at the kick! I was like, ‘OK! You did not come to play.’ The claws came out.”
The singing duo The Beets were the next to come out and show off their vocal chops. The stylish root vegetables proved they’ve got some real talent with a cover of “I’m So Excited” by The Pointer Sisters.
“I did not expect that!” Ora gushed. “I’m your biggest fan. I love you more and more every time I see you. You’re so jolly, so cute, and I just wanna hang out with you guys. What an amazing performance!”
For the third act of the night. The Gumball came out and sweetened things up with a colorful and poignant deliver of The Chicks’ “Wide Open Spaces” that got the audience swaying and singing along — and left Jeong wiping tears from his eyes.
“I know that you’re married to your beautiful wife, and she must be so proud to hear you sing that song,” McCarthy said. “It’s one of her favorite songs, you said, and you won our hearts tonight as well. What an amazing, beautiful performance tonight.”
“Great job,” Thicke added, applauding the singer’s remarkable number.
The final performance of the night came from the newly introduced Wild Card contestant — The Seal!
The Seal came out to a great deal of fanfare and his adorable look won over the panelists even before he began belting out Wilson Phillips’ “Hold On.”
“What a wild card!” Ora marveled. “The cutest thing I’ve ever seen!”
“He’s definitely one of the most charming characters we’ve ever had,” Thicke added.
After all the songs were sung, it was time for the audience to vote for their favorite performer of the night, sending the two singers with the lowest scores to a Battle Royale showdown.
Once all the votes were cast, Cannon revealed that The Gumball and The Beets would be moving on to the Group B finals! However, Miss Cleocatra and The Seal were sent to face off one last time for a final chance to keep their Masked Singer dreams alive.
For their Battle Royale, both singers delivered very different reimagined versions of TLC’s “Waterfalls” that showed off different aspects of their range and talent. However, The Seal’s adorableness seemed to give him the edge, and it was Miss Cleocatra who got the axe.
After the judges made their finals guesses (with Jeong actually nailing his guess), Miss Cleocatra unmasked and revealed herself to be legendary actress, singer a Black-ish star Jenifer Lewis.
When asked why she wanted to be a part of The Masked Singer, Lewis explained, “I took a long break. And when they called, I said, ‘You know, I haven’t been on stage singing for a long time.’ So I said, ‘Come on, let’s go!'”
“And it was fun!” she added with a warm laugh. “I had a blast.”
The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.
Check out the gallery below for a look at every single contestant who has ever had to “take it off” throughout the history of the show.
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