# The Masked Singer **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 26, 2019, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852 "2019-09-26T13:33:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852/41 "2019-11-07T18:56:19Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Perhaps a better way to have phrased it would have been to say you don’t know these people because you are not black. That way it doesn’t look as if I’m calling people who don’t know who Raven-Symone and Sherri Shepard are racists, which is not what I’m saying at all. All black people everywhere know who Sherri Shepard is? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852/42 "2019-11-07T19:05:08Z")
Is Raven-Symone the only one who was correctly guessed by the judges this season? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852/43 "2019-11-07T19:06:03Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > All black people everywhere know who Sherri Shepard is? No. Who said that? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852/44 "2019-11-07T19:20:47Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > No. Who said that? Kind of hard to say this: > [@Biggirl](#): > > Perhaps a better way to have phrased it would have been to say you don’t know these people because you are not black. if there exists black people who don’t know who Sherri what’s-her-face is. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852/45 "2019-11-07T19:29:27Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Kind of hard to say this: > > if there exists black people who don’t know who Sherri what’s-her-face is. The people in this thread are not every black person. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852/46 "2019-11-07T19:34:27Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > The people in this thread are not every black person. You’re right. I’d be really surprised if they were. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852/47 "2019-11-07T19:34:30Z")
Bowing out. Sorry for derailing this thread and hurting feelings. I think the tree thing Yvette Nicole Brown but I have yet to be right on any of them. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852/48 "2019-11-07T21:10:25Z")
Some of the panel has guessed the Fox is Jamie Foxx. I can totally see that. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852/49 "2019-11-07T22:21:57Z")
Sherri Shepard is [this sad](https://boingboing.net/2007/09/19/cohost-of-the-view-d.html) [dim bulb](https://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/idolchatter/2007/12/sherri-shepherd-offers-her-vie.html). ---
**Author:** ![Periwinkle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Periwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Periwinkle)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852/50 "2019-11-07T23:39:31Z")
I don’t know who Raven Symone is but I think she sounds like Patti Austin. That’s a big compliment imo. The Butterfly sounds like Randi Crawford. ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852/51 "2019-11-09T04:21:08Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > All black people everywhere know who Sherri Shepard is? No, but she holds way more cultural currency among us. If this was a thread of mostly black folk, those who never heard of her would be the minority. Even more so with Raven-Symone. Thingamajig is definitely Oladipo: [NBA Star Victor Oladipo is Thingamajig on The Masked Singer - SBNation.com](https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2019/10/21/20923264/the-masked-singer-clues-thingamajig-victor-oladipo) ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852/52 "2019-11-09T07:57:13Z")
I think I wouldn’t have started and kept watching if not for the costumes. Butterfly is the most beautiful costume, Flamingo and Tree are adorable, and Fox is the coolest. Thingamajig is and Ice Cream was the funniest. Flower is slightly creepy, Rottweiler is ugh, and Black Widow was scary, especially from the back. I’ll be glad when I don’t have to see any of them, although Flower will probably be in the top three. Leopard would be cool without the Elizabeth Tudor accessories. Don’t have much to say about the others. ---
**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:** [November 9, 2019, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852/53 "2019-11-09T20:16:09Z")
Disclaimer: The only reason I’m watching this completely stupid show is because it’s on at dinner. As it turns out _they_ don’t give a damn either, but right now there’s nothing better on. Joy. :rolleyes: To this day I have never been able to sit through a full episode, and I have no intention to. I find it nearly as unbearable as So You Think You Can Dance, if you can imagine. And it’s precisely for these reasons, in order: 1. The judges. Jumping Jesus Christ, I have _never_ seen a more completely loathsome, clueless, _and_ pointless reality TV panel in my _life_. Robin Thicke is a cipher who constantly lets himself get shouted down, and he’s the _best_ of the bunch. Jenny McCarthy combines the screechiness of Mary Murphy with the nuclear-powered fangirling of Kelly Clarkson and the vapidity of Paula Abdul. (Seriously, how the _hell_ does this woman get free pass after free pass in life?) Nicole Scherzinger seemingly spends half the time loudly announcing that she’s a hopeless slobbering moron and the other half proving it. Ken Jeong is either an obnoxious, preening know-it-all who needs to get punched in his smarmy little face several thousand times or _pretending_ to be an obnoxious, preening know-it-all who needs to get punched in his smarmy little face several thousand times, and it took me roughly two minutes before I stopped giving a damn which. (Challenge! Find an instance of “ironic” or “not serious” disgusting crap that is distinguishable in any way whatsoever from normal disgusting crap!) Need I mention how they freaking _interrupt_ every single goddam performance about five times? At least The Voice’s judges only do this in the blind auditions. Seriously, why do we even need them at all? What the hell do they add? 2. The eternal tyranny of anudda wun bi da dus. In everything it’s been used since Survivor, its track record has been uneven at best, and it’s nothing but a detriment here. This is supposed to be a fun spectacle where the entertainment value is listening to performances by mysterious singers, and anything that _cuts down_ on that is a _serious_ detriment to the show’s enjoyment. It would make a tiny crumb of sense if this was a competition, but what are they even competing _for?_ American Idol at least offers the shot to be a one hit wonder who’ll be completely forgotten in six months. 3. What is even the point? All right, so these surprisingly good amateur singers give hints as to who they are…fine…and drop another hint after they perform…fine…and all throughout the judges make lots of ludicrous flailing guesses as to who they might be…hate this, but fine…and then Nick Cannon or whoever decides the “winner”…umm…and then there’s a home vote to decide _who they want to continue??_ The hell? Look, I’ll spell it out: If the point is “Who is it?”, the question of elimination should not hinge on freaking mob rule like every other worthless mask-free reality show. At no point are the people who actually decide who advances are required to give even a moment’s thought to who’s inside the costume. I’ve never seen a reality show that was so contemptuous of its own premise. May as well settle it by the number of panties thrown on the stage. Oh, geez, pretty much the exact same things I said in the previous thread. Fancy that. And do you know what the worst part is? Aside from all this, I actually kind of like the show! The costumes are suitably gaudy and colorful, nearly all the performances are excellent, I _love_ the variety of the songs (completely blows The Voice and America’s Got Talent out of the water), the performers are completely into the spirit of the thing and play along very well, the audience behaves itself with none of that execrable _booing_ or _chanting_, and Nick Cannon does a pretty decent job as host, keeping things moving along without hogging the spotlight. All the elements for a fun, entertaining, nonserious, completely watchable program were here, and it had to have all this spewage. Here’s how I would do it. No judges. No eliminations. The performers do one song and drop a few more hints every week. Questions as to who it might be go to the studio audience. Every week the viewers guess who they are, with the option of changing. Unmaskings at the end, most correct wins a prize, with the tiebreaker being who got them the earliest. So simple, make the singing the focus and provide a real incentive to guessing right. C’mon, tell me this wouldn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852/54 "2019-11-14T05:39:26Z")
I didn’t expect Kelly Osborne. Crazy. ---
**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:** [November 14, 2019, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852/55 "2019-11-14T13:32:40Z")
I must say, the addition of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog was a stroke of genius! “I’m guessing David Hasselhoff, because he’s bound to wind up on this show sometime.” We were cracking up. Not to mention the mystery appendages. 😃 I tell you what, that rubber dog puppet performed circles around the rest of the panel. Well, I know who Kelly Osborne’s _dad_ is, not so familiar with her. Apparently nobody else was either! ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2019, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852/56 "2019-11-15T14:35:42Z")
Shocked at Kelly Osbourne, she faked that southern accent. New guesses : Rottweiler is Chris Daughtry, Flower is Patti LaBelle, Fox is Johnny Gill. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2019, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852/57 "2019-11-15T16:35:45Z")
I wish they would limit the celebrities to exclude actual singers. The best part of the show is discovering someone is more talented than you thought. And maybe it’s because it’s only the second season I do like that none of the singers have been truly godawful, which can’t be said for Dancing With the Stars. ---
**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:** [November 21, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852/58 "2019-11-21T16:28:25Z")
Last night the Flower was unmasked. Everyone except me knew the whole time that she was Björk! ---
**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:** [November 21, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852/59 "2019-11-21T16:36:26Z")
Naw, for those of you who didn’t see the show, it was Patti LaBelle. ---
**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:** [December 5, 2019, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852/60 "2019-12-05T14:32:14Z")
Last night they pulled the head off the Butterfly. She was Michelle Williams, former member of Destiny’s Child.. I didn’t know her, though I have heard of her former group and more famous colleague. Musically, if it happened after 1989, there’s a good chance I don’t know about it. I agree with **sciurophobic** ; this show would be much better if professional singers were barred from the competition. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masked-singer/840852.md?page=4)