Pete Dadds
SPOILER WARNING: If you haven’t seen Season 9, Episode 13 of The Masked Singer, which aired May 11th on Fox, read no further.
Pentatonix is fairly easy to spot as perhaps the most well-known a cappella group performing today. So it was pretty easy to tell from the get-go that they were on The Masked Singer — and indeed, on Thursday’s show, which doubled as the season 9 semifinalist, the five-piece was revealed to be a California roll.
On their first song, “Paparazzi,” group member Scott Hoying said they initially tried to avoid harmonies “so we could hide the iconic Pentatonix harmony sound for at least a minute.” For the first minute, I really tried to use my voice to change. But it didn’t work because every comment on every video said, “I knew from the start it was Pentatonix and I was instantly confirmed when they all came in. We know that sound so well.” But honestly, it was a compliment. It was very flattering to know that we can’t even hide our voice because it has become part of what people have heard for so many years.”
Hoying, Kristin Maldonado, Mitch Grassi, Avi Kaplan, Kevin Olusola and Matt Sallee all make up the group and attended. In fact, Olusola said the choice of California roll suited them perfectly.
“We love sushi, absolutely love it and eat it on tour a lot,” he said. “And we just felt like there’s a long piece of sushi that everyone loves, but when you cut it into five pieces, you want the whole and you can enjoy the individual pieces as well. That’s a big issue for our band.”
Sallee said the costume was challenging and required two people at a time to help them walk around. “But honestly, singing didn’t make it a challenge,” he said. “You would think so, because then we wouldn’t be able to see each other. But because we’re so used to looking at each other and closing our eyes and just listening to each other, we were really able to sing in step and sing in unison and harmonize with each other.”
California Roll was hard not to get right as it seemed pretty obvious from the start that it was Pentatonix. Panelist Robin Thicke actually got it right with Pentatonix. Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg agreed. Ken Jeong chose the cast of “In the Heights.” Nicole Scherzinger thought it was the cast of Pitch Perfect. “If you know, you know. And tonight we know,” McCarthy Wahlberg said.
Pentatonix sang Kelly Clarkson’s “Breakaway” as California Roll for their first number of the night. Before final voting, the three semi-finalists went head-to-head in a battle royale, beginning with California Roll, then Macaw and Medusa, each performing their version of Bruno Mars’ “Runaway Baby.”
As with last season, The Masked Singer once again adopted a Champion of Masked Singer format during its regular season. Three costumed celebrities appeared in each episode, but only one won and competed again the following week.
New this season was “Ding Dong Keep It On”. In the new variant of the competition, the panelists had the opportunity to save a singer from imminent elimination, but the bell may only be rung three times in the first three rounds. These three singers then went head-to-head in a special episode and fought to be back in the competition – in the end it was Medusa.
Pentatonix as California Roll joins Olivia Culpo as UFO, Lou Diamond Phillips as Mantis, Keenan Allen as Gargoyle, Melissa Joan Hart as Lamp, Alicia Witt as Dandelion, Dee Snider as Doll, Christine Quinn as Scorpio, George Wendt as Moose and Holly Robinson Peete as Fairy, Alexa Bliss as Axolotl, Lele Pons as Jackalope, Malin Akerman as Squirrel, Michael Bolton as Wolf, Grandmaster Flash as Polar Bear, Debbie Gibson as Night Owl, Howie Mandel as Rock Lobster, Sara Evans as Mustang and Dick Van Dyke as a gnome, as celebs revealed this season.
The Masked Singer entered Season 9 with 21 contestants including Mustang, Axolotl, California Roll, Dandelion, Moose, Gargoyle, Jackalope, Doll, ” Polar Bear and Night Owl, Rock Lobster, Gnome, Macaw, Squirrel, Wolf and more. Tim Chappel is this season’s costume designer.
Season 9 contestants “boast a total of 28 Emmy nominations, six Grammy winners, 10 gold albums, four Golden Globe nominations, five medals, 26 books, two Tony Award nominations, five Lifetime Achievement Awards, four stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and…” Total records sold 95,231,000.” Season 9 introduces brand new themed episodes including ABBA Night, New York Night, DC Superheroes Night, Sesame Street Night , 80s Night, Movie Night and more.
Here are the rest of the contestants and their performances on night 13:
California Roll (PENTATONIX)
song: “Breakaway” by Kelly Clarkson
Panel estimates: Pentatonix, cast “Dear Evan Hansen”, cast “Hamilton”, cast “Spring Awakening”, cast “In the Heights”.
panelist connection: Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg. “Dear Jenny, I know you enjoyed us on stage. But I think it’s our time on Broadway that you might remember.”
Packet Voiceover: “I think I speak for all of us that it’s really exciting to be here in the semifinals. Because we love a little friendly competition and now it’s really nice to flex those creative muscles. It’s definitely a moment to come full circle. As we rehearsed and filmed, I felt like we were having flashbacks to our first performance together. I even have some of the same fears as before. I remember being so nervous I literally stood backstage and sang “Uptown Girl” over and over. I thought: Am I 19 again? But it makes us realize how far we’ve come as a group. And as a musician individually. And I think we’re really pushing our creativity. One of the things I love about our work is that we really took charge of the creative process. We make it our own, but present it to the world as something innovative and creative. Hopefully that will impress the jury and the audience and get us through to the finals.”
previous songs: Radiohead’s “Creep”; Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi
Previous panel guesses: The Lion King cast, Pentatonix, Pitch Perfect cast, High School Musical cast, Hamilton cast, Miami Sound Machine
Medusa, “The Masked Singer” (Michael Becker/Fox) Pete Dadds
medusa
song: “Take Me to Church” by Hozier
Panel estimates: Elle Goulding, Grimes, Natalie Merchant, Paula Cole, Lorde, Hailee Steinfeld, Dove Cameron, Dido
Connection to the panelist: Robin Thicke. “Both of our voices took us on a journey. One that will bring platinum to our walls.”
Packet Voiceover: “Reaching the semifinals means a lot to me. The coolest thing is that this is a show that the person closest to me would have been a 100% fan of. She was a really colorful, vibrant person and my biggest cheerleader. In 2020 I lost her. She was very young and it was really sudden. When you lose your heart it’s hard to see what your future might hold. So when I found out I was pregnant with my son, it felt like the greatest blessing of all. It felt like a gift from her. You and my son are a big part of my soul and spirit. It gets my heart pumping when the jury has an emotional connection to what I’m singing about. And I always give them credit for it. As always, I’m going to express it tonight with a song that brought tears to my eyes at the sound check. I hope the energy comes across and pushes me through to the final.”
Previous songs: Someone Like You by Adele; Happier Than Ever by Billie Eilish; ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”; “New York, New York” by Frank Sinatra; Shawn Mendes’ Mercy
Previous panel guesses: Elle Goulding, Megan Markle, Jessie J, Charli XCX, Dua Lipa, Lorde, Tove Lo, Apple Martin, Dakota Johnson, Florence Welch, Shirley Manson, Susan Boyle, Kesha, Imogen Heap, Regina Spektor, Bishop Briggs, Amy Lee, Halsey, Ashlee Simpson. And when she was going to be voted out: Ken Jeong chose Susan Boyle, Robin Thicke chose Kesha, Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg said it was Halsey, Nicole Scherzinger guessed Lorde.
Macaw, “The Masked Singer” (Michael Becker/Fox) Pete Dadds
Era
song: “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction
assumptions of the panel: Darren Criss, David Archuleta, Daniel Bedingfield, Daniel Radcliffe
panelist connection: Nicole Scherzinger. “Not only do we both love to travel, but we also have a special love for the Philippines.”
Packet Voiceover: “When I started my career, I was much more reserved. I was young and didn’t quite know who I was or who I should be. But as I got to know myself, I was also scared of who I was. I thought if I tell the truth I’d be scared of losing everyone. But when I did, it changed my life in such a beautiful way. It felt like I didn’t have to hide anything anymore. I’ve always avoided love songs because I didn’t like what they were talking about, because I didn’t relate to it. But now I know what it’s talking about because I’ve experienced it. I’m really excited for tonight’s performance because while I know people are still going through what I’ve been through, it means everything when they come back on TV and point straight into the camera and say, ‘You are enough.” It’s so beautiful and why have I been keeping this a secret from myself all this time?”
previous songs: “Your Song” by Elton John; “Live Like You’ll Die” by Tim McGraw
Previous panel guesses: Elijah Wood, Zayn Malik, Doug Robb, Macaulay Culkin, Gavin McGraw, Ryan Cabrera, Darren Criss, David Archuleta