‘The Masked Singer’: From the Egg to the Thingamajig, What We Know About Season 2

If you’re worried about that being too much Masked Singer… It’s not. Sorry. Fox is doubling down with two seasons of its guessing show premiering in 2019 and with Season 3 starting after the Super Bowl. “For sake of comparison, by the end of this season, The Voice and The Bachelor franchise each will have aired at least 75 hours,” Fox CEO Charlie Collier said at the Television Critics Association’s 2019 summer tour.

We hope you liked The Masked Singer‘s original lineup because right now they’re here to stay. Nick Cannon will be returning to host the bonkers reality show. Likewise Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger, and Robin Thicke will once again be judging and making wild guesses. Based on Season 1, we can probably expect to see some new guest judges in the mix, but for now that’s all we know about our celebrity panelists.

According to Nick Cannon in Season 2’s promo, this season will feature performances from “actors, authors, radio and talkshow hosts, and international recording artists.” But let’s break down what really matters: those stats.

Last year’s contestants had a combined 65 Grammy nominations, 16 multi-Platinum albums, 16 Emmy nominations, nine Broadway shows, four Super Bowl titles, and four stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. By comparison Season 2’s stars have a combined 69 Emmy Award nominations, 42 Grammy nominations, 22 Broadway shows, three New York Times Best Sellers, and two have been named Time magazine’s Most Influential People.

So what does all that mean? It seems that for Season 2 The Masked Singer has dropped its sports stars to focus more on television and theatrical performers. This year’s batch of performers have 53 more Emmy nominations and have been in 13 more Broadway plays than Season 1’s contestants. The one thing they don’t have is the professional singing cred of Season 1. Last season boasted having 23 more Grammy nominations and 16 more multi-Platinum albums than Season 2. Bottom line? Watch for actors.

During his executive session at TCA 2019, Fox CEO Charlie Collier teased that some of this season’s contestants will be actively be trying to throw off audiences. Don’t trust anything, and that includes performers’ genders or heights. “All the performers know what the show is, so they’re raising their game. And literally they’re some are wearing heels. Some are trying to throw the audience with their costumes,” Collier warned.

Butterfly is only one of two contestants we’re heard perform so far. In the “Show Up and Drop the Mic” preview, they were shown performing “Bang Bang” by Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj. Not only is this diva-led pop banger a major clue, but so is Butterfly’s feminine sounding voice.

Likewise Butterfly was one of four costumes that were shown during TCA 2019. Even with heels it was a distinctly small outfit. Whoever is behind this glittery ensemble is a very petite human.

If you’re wondering what the heck that thing is, welcome to the club. According to Fox’s promos for this new season that’s a Thingamajig. And it’s the second performer we’ve actually heard so far. In the “Show Up and Drop the Mic” preview they can be heard performing a soulful version of Kacey Musgraves’ “Rainbow.”

Based on that performance it seems likely that this contestant is male. But what’s more telling is that crazy costume. Will going wacky pay off like it did for T-Pain and the Monster?

Flamingo was another costume that appeared at TCA, and I will be the first to tell you it is tall. But underneath that giant beaked head, the costume didn’t appear to be much taller than me (I’m five foot six for reference). Be on the lookout for someone who prefers the extravagant things in life.

The Skeleton has a Día de Muertos meets parade leader thing going on. Is it too early to throw out one of the My Chemical Romance guys as a possible contender?

Now here’s an interesting change. At TCA the fox costume was labelled as “Mr. Fox.” But in all The Masked Singer‘s promotions on Twitter have simply referred to this character as “Fox.” The fact that Mr. Fox / Fox’s left arm and right eye are steampunk themed seems important. Also this costume was intimidatingly tall. Be on the lookout for someone tall who likes to combine technology with art.

Who would pick an eagle costume with lots of turquoise? Someone with strong ties to the Southwest? Someone with American Indian ancestors? So far all we know is that they really like feathers.

Thanks to The Masked Singer’s promos, we’ve glimpsed two performances from Ice Cream, both of which involve group dancers. Is that bright, blue smile hiding some insecurity about going solo?

Last season’s resident diva was Bee, who turned out to be Gladys Knight. Based on Leopard’s costume it seems they took a fabulous cue from Bee and are ready to be the queen of this jungle. You don’t go into a singing competition dressed as royalty unless you’re incredibly confident in your vocal range. I’m guessing a professional singer for this one.

That’s right, we’re getting a rapping panda. Be jealous, the rest of television. Based on the background imagery, Panda is likely someone with strong connections to Asian culture. Let’s hope that means we get some K-pop this season.

There’s some darkness lurking behind this beautiful flower. Remember, contestants work closely with the show’s costume designer to make their character. That means whoever Rose is likely requested to have purple petals instead of red and at the very least approved of having blackout eyes. This flower has some thorns.

Remember PaRappa the Rapper? That was an excellent video game. Anyway I’m getting serious Monster vibes from this particular singing dog. Be prepared for a star everyone loves to dunk on pursuing a redemption arc much like T-Pain did in Season 1.

The promos have only shown us two performances from Spider so far but they’ve been defined by two things: risk and extravagance. This arachnid knows their way around a stage and knows how to make a show work. This is almost definitely an experienced performer.

At the moment its unclear if Tree is going to remain a bright-eyed Christmas tree of if there’s going to be some costume changes involved. Either way that thrilled expression is staying. Please let them start Week 3 with a somber ballad.

I’m calling this one now: Egg is this year’s wildcard. Who the heck would ever choose to be an egg with a yolk hat and a getup that would make The Young Pope proud? I have no idea but they have my heart.

The Masked Singer premieres on Fox, September 25 at 8/7c following a special sneak peek special on September 15.

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