The Masked Dancer recap: Exotic Bird ousted in shocking elimination, revealed as singing star

Warning: This article contains spoilers about The Masked Dancer season 1, episode 6.

Just as she began soaring, Exotic Bird's time on The Masked Dancer was cut short on Wednesday. Remaining competitors Tulip, Zebra, Sloth, and Cotton Candy are officially moving on to the semi-finals.

Tulip kicked off the episode with a bubbly number set to the Chiffon's "My Boyfriend's Back." The panelists have already deduced she's a trained dancer and Tulip once again impressed with great moves, but the best part was her smacking her dance partner with a pillow at the end.

Next was Zebra grooving to Jason Derulo's "Take You Dancing." Like always, his set was entertaining, but it was a lot of the same that he did in previous weeks. Yes, it's fun to see your tassels flouncing everywhere, but what else ya got? Justice for Exotic Bird!

Call Me Kat star Mayim Bialik joined Ashley Tisdale, Paula Abdul, Brian Austin Green, and her fellow doc Ken Jeong at the panelists table, and she showcased some impressive boxing knowledge to predict that Zebra was Oscar De La Hoya (something something the placement of torso above legs?). But really I just wanted an excuse to talk about how much host Craig Robinson made me laugh during Zebra's on-stage segment.

Going to Abdul for her thoughts on Zebra's identity, Robinson implored, "Paula, straight up, now tell me." What a delightful reference, and it's all the more impressive that he had the restraint to wait until episode 6 to make it. Couldn't be me!

Sloth took the stage next for what was my second favorite performance of the night. Set to Neeraj Shridhar's "Twist (Remix)," it was part Bollywood movie, part "a Sloth doing the robot," which is a weird phrase to type out but I can't complain. The furry bopper seems to be as good of a dancer as Tulip, plus he's showcased way more personality, so she'll have to really blossom to be crowned winner (Get it, Tulip, plus Bialik's show Blossom? To quote Jeb Bush: please clap).

Sloth was then followed by Exotic Bird in her best performance yet. It didn't hurt that she brought the heat to Abdul's "Opposites Attract" right in front of the singer, who gave her stamp of approval afterward.

Last but not least was Cotton Candy with the top performance of the episode. She was super creative with the space, with her routine starting backstage and ending up on the main stage, and she spiced up the traditional ballet routine by crumping to a hip-hop remix of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. I give her 10s across the board!

Finally, Robinson announced that Exotic Bird was the competitor going home. She was revealed to be ... Grammy-nominated singer and American Idol winner Jordin Sparks!

Abdul had guessed Sparks a while back, having connected the clue about barely breathing to her song "No Air" and the football hint to her father Phillippi Sparks, who played in the NFL. Tonight, she also clocked the sign reading "Nowhere Diner" on stage (another "No Air" reference), as well as the No. 23 in Exotic Bird's package which was Michael Jordan's number (Jordan = Jordin)!

Exotic Bird's clue segment also showed a bunch of Mondays on a calendar, and Sparks has a song called "Endless Mondays." It all came together for Abdul after Exotic Bird was especially enthusiastic about the two of them having met before, as the panelist was a judge on American Idol when Sparks won season 6 at just 17 years old. Tisdale also hopped on Abdul's train of thought to guess Sparks, while Bialik suggested Eve (not a bad theory), Jeong said Jennifer Hudson, and Green said model Ashley Graham.

Next Wednesday, Lego Masters host Will Arnett will join the show as a guest panelist.

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