# The Masked Singer Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 3, 2019, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149 "2019-01-03T14:54:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149/61 "2019-01-11T20:09:58Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > . . . > Rabbit: Boy George (yeah, probably not but I can dream) > . . . That’s a really good guess, actually. I think he lives in Beverly Hills with one of the “Housewives of BH”. > [@SykoSkotty](#): > > Wife and I thought Gladys Knight as well, or maybe Patti LaBelle? > > The Raven is Ricki Lake - she mentioned a recent loss, and Ricki’s husband committed suicide not too long ago. > > Alien might just be Miley Cyrus Gladys and Ricki are both great guesses. I don’t think that’s Miley though. > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > OMG, how did I not know who Robin Thicke’s dad was? :smack: That just proves I shouldn’t be watching this show. > . . . > Shut up and let us hear them! OMG, I knew something was wrong with Alan Thicke! ROFL! I just thought he’d had a lot of bad work done. I may be too old for this show. :o In all seriousness, the talking over the singers is incredibly annoying. I just want to smack them. I also wish the camera would stay on the singers while the panel asks their questions. I want to see the body language to gauge which guesses hit the mark. The twitching bunny is still annoying me two days later. What was that about? It was Kanye-esque ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149/62 "2019-01-11T23:12:56Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > OMG, I knew something was wrong with Alan Thicke! Well, there is. A somewhat permanent thing. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149/63 "2019-01-12T01:05:23Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Well, there is. A somewhat permanent thing. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149/64 "2019-01-14T04:36:57Z")
I immediately thought Margaret Cho for poodle but now I’m thinking Kathy Griffin. My initial thought for Raven was Ruthie Ann Miles. Bee bothered me because Robin Thicke clearly knew who it was by the voice but then couldn’t guess. Alien I have no clue. Bunny is clearly me. ---
**Author:** ![BobBitchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@BobBitchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobBitchin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149/65 "2019-01-14T05:17:13Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Hmmmmm…I am that cynical too, and this seems very believable. I’m thinking no celebrities are present 'till you see their face. Vocals must be lip sync in the mask anyway, why pay the star all the extra money? :eek:Reality TV, huh? First they get rid of the writers…😃 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149/66 "2019-01-14T08:06:39Z")
Anybody said Maya Rudolph as Poodle? That’s what YouTube is guessing and that sounds right to me. Her mother was singer Minnie Riperton. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149/67 "2019-01-14T13:16:33Z")
I agree with all who are saying the judges are the worst part. Except for JM, they’re all perfectly fine individually, but the inane banter and obviously lame guesses really detract. For Rabbit, it was said that he had a “Jake Gyllenhaal method actor vibe” and some other reference to _Donnie Darko_ and I thought “would someone as big as JG be on this show?” Cause that creepy bunny persona sure makes me think of Frank. Ditto the alien. Would a Kardashian ever deign to participate in this? She’s built like a model, has lots of sisters and is constantly in the public eye. I’m not sure I know which is which, but maybe Kourtney? I definitely go the Ricky lake vibe, mostly due to her voice. I didn’t know about her husband’s suicide:( ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149/68 "2019-01-14T18:15:32Z")
The only Kardashian the alien could be is Kendall Jenner. Frankly, Khloe is too tall, Kourtney is too short and the butt is too small for any others. It could potentially be a Willis sister. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149/69 "2019-01-17T15:37:38Z")
I don’t have many impressions from/thoughts about last night’s show, except I’m starting to wonder if ALL of the singers are going to be either old (last night and last week) or athletes who non-fans don’t know (the first week). Props to **Sir T-Cups** for guessing Deer in the OP! _fist bump_ Unicorn sang worse last night than the previous time. Monster, Peacock, and Lion were all great. I decided to watch the show live-ish this week: I recorded it and started watching around 9:30pm, and was done by a little after 10pm. I definitely enjoy it more now that I’ve started fast-forwarding through everything but the clues and the performances (or at least the beginnings of them; I couldn’t finish Unicorn’s). Which is good, because I think I’m in too deep at this point to walk away without finding out who everyone is. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149/70 "2019-01-17T15:50:04Z")
I now think the Unicorn is Denise Richards. She “lost her sheen”? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149/71 "2019-01-17T15:51:08Z")
Oh! and Joel McHale improved the hell out of this show. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149/72 "2019-01-17T15:54:53Z")
I watched it live last night (missed a few minutes here and there) and even though I enjoy(ish) it, once it’s over I can’t seem to remember the clues or the voices. All I have to go on is whatever “vibe” I remember getting while I was watching. Something - don’t ask me what- about Unicorn gave me a Nancy Kerrigan vibe \ ---
**Author:** ![StraightTalk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straighttalk/32/9982_2.png) [@StraightTalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StraightTalk)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149/73 "2019-01-17T16:19:24Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I now think the Unicorn is Denise Richards. She “lost her sheen”? Did she lose him or kick him to the curb? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149/74 "2019-01-17T16:43:08Z")
No idea. But it seems that “sheen” must be the operative word, cluewise. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149/75 "2019-01-17T17:06:43Z")
Re: Unicorn being Denise Richards, I thought the same thing, and I think one of the judges might have said the same thing. The only thing that seems off about the “Sheen” clue is that I believe they had quite an ugly breakup and she didn’t lose him so much as shed him like a bad habit. Who knows? I, just like that font of wisdom, Jenny McCarthy, am “dying to know who that is!”:smack: ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149/76 "2019-01-17T18:22:32Z")
So who was revealed last night? Thanks Brian ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149/77 "2019-01-17T19:00:44Z")
**N9IWP:** The Deer was Terry Bradshaw. The title of this Rolling Stone article just made me LOL: [‘The Masked Singer’ Just Gets More Bizarre Every Week And We Are All Clearly Doomed](https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-features/the-masked-singer-review-780572/) SO. TRUE. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149/78 "2019-01-17T19:24:53Z")
Oh, I did not hear the “Unicorn as athlete in the bedroom comment”. That completely wipes away my Nancy Kerrigan vibe, so now I’ll get with the Denise Richards camp. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149/79 "2019-01-17T22:39:46Z")
Didn’t follow this sooner because I’m kinda burned out on singing shows right now. Caught yesterday’s episode because, what the heck, there was nothing good on; caught as much of episode on on VOD as I could stand (made as far as Hippo’s intro). Haaaaahh. :rolleyes: All right, I, too, find this show absolutely terrible, but I’m guessing not for the same reasons as the rest of you (what a shock ;)). Basically, it has two predominant elements: The galactically, royally, monumentally irritating part and the making no goddam sense whatsoever part. I’ll start with the first, and by which I mean the freaking _judges_. Good LORD. Hey, remember the first few seasons of American Idol? Remember Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson? They said a bunch of meaningless crap in _a normal tone of voice_ and then, once they said their piece, _stopped_. They knew they were talking heads with absolutely zero power and they had no pretensions otherwise. The judges on The Masker Singer have essentially the same function, definitely the same amount of power, and yet treat us to endless outrageous flailing speculation and CONSTANTLY interrupt EVERY SINGLE GODDAM PART of the proceedings with their imbecilic blatherings. Much like the judges on, oh, every other useless cookie-cutter reality show these days, they have to make it _all_ about them. And another thing. What is it with all the eardrum-scorching _screaming_ and _laughing?_ For the love of Yukari, I think my sister had preteen slumber parties that didn’t have that much screaming and laughing. I had no idea “mental asylum chic” was a thing. Hey, remember way, way back when Nick Cannon was by far the most annoying regular on America’s Got Talent, how the camera would interrupt every act three freaking times to pick up his asinine ramblings? He’s all but invisible here. Any insight he may have is completely swallowed up by halfwitted shrieking groupies known as the judges. As for the nonsensical part…deep sigh. All right, I’ve railed on the one-at-a-time elimination system, which I affectionately refer to as anuddah-wun-bi-da-dus (mainly because I’m convinced that our collective neverending obsession with Queen is the only way this system could have become so ironclad, but that’s another thread). I truly believe that the _only_ show I’ve seen where this _ever_ worked was Survivor (It theoretically _should_ work for The Amazing Race, which has the closest thing to a true “last man standing” format that I’ve seen, but regrettably is rendered utterly meaningless by all the ridiculous bunch-up points and dumb luck tasks…another thread.) and that it’s become the invincible universal standard for _the entirety of reality TV_ is one of the main reason that so much of it is atrocious. On Survivor, you have the contestants voting directly against each other, and how to avoid getting voted off and convince other contestants to vote someone they want out are part of the strategy. THAT’S what makes it work. Furthermore, because the show is so heavily edited and we’re only see a small snippet of the total time at the location, fewer contestants doesn’t mean less entertainment. This _does not work_ for a regular singing or talent competition. First off, _time_. How do you fit every number from 2-12 into inflexible hour-long time blocks? I remember one season where American Idol squeezed 10 performances into one hour, and I could tell how incredibly rushed it was. Then there’s our old friend Rock Bottom Plus One, where first and barely above last are worth exactly the same, and _nothing_ carries over to the next week. And then we get into the joys of voting, from fanatical blocks pushing obviously inferior contestants to strong contestants getting bounced because they had an one off night in the wrong week to fanatical blocks _deliberately_ pushing the most inferior contestants, and of course, “They thought she was saaaaaaaafe!” :smack: Anuddah-wun-bi-da-dus is a plague on the genre, and the token efforts made to rectify it (judges’ saves, sing-offs, vote caps, etc.) have barely made a dent. But here? I mean, how does it even _work?_ Okay, let’s see if I have this right. The performers give a few clues which may or may not be any help. Then they get on stage and sing. (I must admit, they’ve all been really good, which makes it all the more regrettable that Screechy McChucklewit has to jump in with “Oh my gaawwwwdddd!!!” or “He sounds like a professional!!!” every fifteen fricking seconds.) Then, once everyone has gone (and dropped off another hint which may or may not be any help), the audience…votes on who they…don’t want to be unmasked. So the first 57 minutes are all who is that, who is that, who is that, and in the end it’s just another popularity contest. I mean…what? Is this supposed to be a hackneyed, ridiculously poorly thought out, utterly pointless version of The Voice (which is utter crap to begin with)? It seems to me that the sensible method…well, as sensible as an American knockoff of a Korean variety show could ever be…would be for the audience to say _who they think the singers are_, and whoever gets the least correct responses has to unmask. Or the most correct responses. Depends on whether the point is to stump them or give enough clues for them to make the right guess, and Sagume Kishin on a poncho they couldn’t be arsed to make THAT much clear?? It’s so nonsensical I don’t even have any idea _how_ the audience is supposed to vote. I mean, for your typical talent show, you vote for who you want to continue to the next round (or in the case of American Idol, some random hopeless sad sack because the one you actually want to continue really knocked it out of the park and is therefore completely safe so you’re going to back a “sentimental favorite”, only to find out the next week that one you wanted to continue is out because no one voted for her because they thought she was completely safe, and you feel like an utter tool and now you have no choice but to continue backing the random hopeless sad sack because she’s the only one left you don’t utterly despise). On the Masked Singer, you vote for…someone you thought was good and want to hear perform again? Someone you don’t really care about and don’t need to see revealed? Someone whose clues intrigued you and you want to know more? What exactly is the paradigm here? Super Dave was bizarre. This is just aimless schlock. Hard pass. (Don’t follow celebrities, don’t know who 90% of these people are, so don’t bother asking me for guesses.) ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149/80 "2019-01-17T22:55:43Z")
I know I’m late to the game, but I was thinking about checking this out. However, I tend to avoid anything having anything to do with Jenny McCarthy. Just how annoying is she on this? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer-thread/827149.md?page=5)