LeAnn Rimes shouldn’t feel “Blue”: The artist radiated on Wednesday night, as she was unmasked as “The Masked Singer” Season 4 winner — the Sun.
Likewise uncovered: Runner-up Aloe Blacc, who had been dressed as Mushroom, and third-place Nick Carter, who had proceeded as Crocodile.
“I never thought I would do anything like this and I don’t think I’ll ever do anything like it again,” Rimes told Variety. “It’s such a unique show. I had no idea what I was getting myself into and I’m so glad I did.”
Panelist Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg and Nicole Scherzinger got it directly with LeAnn Rimes. Ken Jeong thought it was Mandy Moore, while Robin Thicke named Katharine McPhee.
Rimes said she was anxious to show up on “The Masked Singer” after the COVID-19 pandemic left her without a phase to perform. I haven’t been off the road and not performed live since I was 13,” she said. “I was really craving to be on stage. And then, when I thought of what I could bring to this dark moment in time, it felt like perfect timing. This show in itself is just so joyous, unlike really any show on television.”
“It was a million times better than anything I could have ever expected, and also way more challenging,” Rimes said. I never expected the costume to have that much weight. To perform in this costume, it was a workout. I went home every night so sore.” But, she added, “I started so young and I never really got a chance to play. And so for me part of this was like, ‘I get to go play in a costume? OK, cool.’”
Rimes just delivered the new tune “Throw My Arms Around the World,” and furthermore has the digital broadcast “Wholly Human.” In performing camouflaged on “The Masked Singer,” Rimes said she grasped the obscurity.
“One of the beautiful things about being behind the mask was that people got to feel me without any preconceived storyline,” Rimes said. “This is the first time people got to feel my essence, and my voice and my gift where there was no story attached. Especially as a woman, in this business there’s so much [focus on] the way I look and what I’m wearing.”
For Mushroom, Scherzinger sorted out it was Blacc, and Thicke piggybacked off that too; McCarthy Wahlberg named Ne-Yo; and Jeong thought it was Pharrell Williams.
Like Rimes, Blacc disclosed to Variety that the pandemic and the constrained break from visiting allowed him the chance to do “The Masked Singer.”
“Usually I’m on the road, traveling around the world,” he said. “This really gave me the opportunity to be home. Also, I feel like right now in the world, and especially in our country, where there’s so much trauma happening with a pandemic and where there’s so much political division, this show has been one of the moments where we all can come together and celebrate life through music.”
Blacc paid attention to the show’s mystery with the goal that he didn’t tell his better half from the outset, and his children were kept in obscurity until Wednesday’s uncover.
“I didn’t tell [my wife] for weeks,” he said. “Eventually she was asking, ‘why aren’t you coming to hang out with the family? Why do you have to work, why can’t you cancel?’ And so I had to confide in her this very big secret to what was going on.”
Blacc likewise picked the Mushroom outfit over Broccoli (another alternative for him), since he thought his first name, which is additionally a green plant, may be excessively self-evident.
Like a large portion of the entertainers on “The Masked Singer,” Blacc said the ensemble was harder than anticipated to move, however he sorted out a way. “When I’m on stage I like to dance and I like to be physically active and groove with the audience and get them to sing along and clap,” he said. “But in this particular case, I was restricted by this Mushroom head, and the Mushroom has a stem so my legs weren’t free to move around. I had to kind of shuffle around in the skirt. And it definitely reduced my mobility. Plus, singing behind the mask was quite complicated. I’m used to having the mic much closer to my face.”
Concerning the melodies he picked, Blacc went with female force ditties “just so that I could use a completely different part of my voice. Because if I just come out singing with the same tenor, with a little bit of that rasp in there, I think people would have guessed who I was right away.”
For Crocodile, McCarthy Wahlberg got it directly with Carter. The specialists at any rate were all in the kid band outlook: Thicke approached with another Backstreet Boy, Howie D.; Jeong thought it was Nick Lachey; and Scherzinger went with Jordan Knight.
Carter disclosed to Variety that he had initially joined to show up keep going season on “The Masked Singer” as the Turtle. Be that as it may, he at that point needed to quitter, and the ensemble rather went to Jesse McCartney.
At the point when COVID-19 constrained the abrogation of the Backstreet Boys visit in South America, Carter concluded the time had come to return to the show. He quickly inclined toward the Crocodile outfit.
“I just loved the character and what’s meant to be will be,” he said. “And that’s now set in stone. I will forever be known as the Croc. As to why I wanted to do it, it’s about leaning into the discomfort and leaning into a challenge.”
Carter said he was likewise anxious to take a stab at something new all alone. “I’ve been in the Backstreet Boys since I was 11 years old. And I’ve been the younger brother of my group. I’m a team player and I love to be a part of a group. But I’ve always felt as if maybe I haven’t been really good on my own, haven’t come into my own as a solo artist. I tried to put some records out, they failed, and I just felt like it was a way to maybe grow a little bit more as an artist. For my group and also individually.”
Like Rimes, Carter said he additionally loved perceiving how crowds would respond when they didn’t have any acquaintance with it was him. “There’s none of the other extra added noise. It’s just the performance itself and the voice. I was interested to see what people would think about that and I’m actually pleasantly surprised how far I went.”
Carter, who is delivering the new performance single “’80s Movie” on Friday, said the hardest piece of the show was by and large away from his child and infant girl. “I felt like maybe if there was anybody out there who is turning on the show and wants to escape a little bit from the reality of what everyone’s going through right now, if I could just be a little part of that story, to bring a little bit of joy, that would be the reason I’d want to do it,” he said.
This present season’s ensembles were Baby Alien, Crocodile, Broccoli, Gremlin, Mushroom, Jellyfish, Whatchamacalit, Lips, Squiggly Monster, Popcorn, Sun, Dragon, Giraffe, Seahorse, Snow Owls and Serpent.
Recently exposed have been Tori Kelly (Seahorse), Taylor Dayne (Popcorn), Chloe Kim (Jellyfish) Paul Anka (Broccoli), Lonzo Ball (Whatchamacalit), “Dr. Elvis” Francois (Serpent), Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black (Snow Owls), Bob Saget (Squiggly Monster), Wendy Williams (Lips), Mark Sanchez (Baby Alien), Brian Austin Green (Giraffe), Mickey Rourke (Gremlin) and Busta Rhymes (Dragon).
New this season, the show’s specialists sought a “Golden Ear” prize dependent on their early introductions of each concealed entertainer. Going into the finale, McCarthy Wahlberg was in the number one spot with three, while Thicke and Scherzinger had two focuses each, and Jeong had zero.
For Sun, from the start McCarthy Wahlberg picked Demi Lovato; Jeong named Gwyneth Paltrow; Scherzinger thought it was Katharine McPhee; Thicke thought it was Natasha Beningfield.
For Mushroom, McCarthy Wahlberg named Maxwell; Jeong picked Justin Timberlake; Scherzinger’s was Donald Glover; Thicke named Billy Porter.
For Crocodile, McCarthy Wahlberg got another point with Nick Carter; Jeong’s initial introduction was Bradley Cooper; Scherzinger’s was Nick Lachey; and Thicke’s was Jordan Knight.
With four initial introduction wins, McCarthy Wahlberg was the unmistakable victor for the “Golden Ear.”
Here’s a wrap on the three finalists’ last songs, just as past numbers and panel guesses.
Crocodile (Third Place)
Song: “Open Arms,” by Journey
Previous songs: “It’s My Life,” by Bon Jovi; “Toxic,” by Britney Spears; “Bleeding Love,” by Leona Lewis; “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” by Aerosmith
Previous panel guesses: Jon Hamm, Nick Lachey, Donnie Wahlberg, Adam Lambert, Lenny Kravitz, Harry Connick Jr., Jared Leto, Jordan Knight, Justin Guarini, AJ MacLean, Nick Carter
Mushroom (Second Place)
Song: “I Wish,” by Stevie Wonder
Previous songs: “This Woman’s Work” by Maxwell; “If I Could Turn Back Time,” by Cher; “Unconditionally,” by Katy Perry; “Valerie,” by Amy Winehouse
Previous panel guesses: Donald Glover, Usher, Frank Ocean, Adam Lambert, Jaden Smith, Jaden Smith, Taye Diggs, The Weeknd; Jordan Fisher, Leslie Odom Jr., Keegan Michael Key
The Sun (First Place)
Song: “The Story” by Brandi Carlile
Previous songs: “Cuz I Love You,” by Lizzo; “Praying,” by Kesha; “Piece of My Heat,” by Janis Joplin; “When the Party’s Over,” by Billie Eilish
Previous panel guesses: Katharine McPhee, Demi Lovato, Madonna, Mandy Moore, Carrie Underwood, Jewel, LeAnn Rimes, Brandi Carlisle, Kate Hudson, Emilia Clarke
“The Masked Singer” returns in the spring for Season 5. Meanwhile, side project “The Masked Dancer” dispatches Dec. 27 on Fox.