This article contains spoilers for The Masked Singer season 13, episode 12, “Semi-Finals Night.”
Thirteen seasons in and The Masked Singer is still finding new ways to blow our minds.
This week’s twisty semifinals started normal enough, with a group performance of Fitz and the Tantrums’ “Handclap.” It was all upheaval from there though.
First things first: Host Nick Cannon had to explain the format, which was unlike any other episodes this season, or past semifinals. As Cannon explained, to determine which three of the four remaining contestants would go on to the finale, the episode would feature a head-to-head format, where Boogie Woogie had to battle against Pearl, and Mad Scientist Monster was pit against Coral. The winner of each pairing would automatically go to the finals, with the bottom two facing off in a “brutal Smackdown for the ages.”
First up was Pearl and Boogie Woogie. The latter brought his iconic energy early with “Maps” by Maroon 5. Ken Jeong guessed he was Ed Sheeran, Rita Ora picked Kevin Jonas, and Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg opted for Justin Guarini.
Then, Pearl brought out her sultry side to “You Don’t Own Me” by Lesley Gore. Guesses for her included Kacey Musgraves, Martina McBride, Ann Wilson, and Natalie Maines.
Pearl performs in the semifinals of season 13 of ‘The Masked Singer’. Michael Becker/FOX
As promised, a vote then had to happen, much to the panel and audience’s disappointment. They had the unenviable task of choosing between two great performances, but ultimately settled on sending Pearl through. But hey, at least this meant we got more time with Boogie Woogie later.
Coral and Mad Scientist Monster got their turn next. Coral crooned to “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish first. McCarthy-Wahlberg said it was her best performance all season. Guesses for her were still all over the place, with Ora comically settling for “someone from the Descendants,” and the other judges going with Peyton List and Hailee Steinfeld.
Not to be outdone, Mad Scientist Monster stayed in his wheelhouse with a song perfectly suited to his talents with “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey. The panel thought maybe he was country crooners Trace Adkins, Billy Ray Cyrus, or Sam Hunt.
The panel opted to save Mad Scientist Monster, which set up an epic smackdown between Boogie Woogie and Coral. (And also gave the panel a chance to get in on the smackdown action with McCarthy-Wahlberg pretending to smack Jeong across the face.)
Coral went first with her take on “Suddenly I See” by KT Tunstall, which was followed up immediately by Boogie Woogie’s take on “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” by Jet. Both performances really did justice to the original hit, and in the eloquent words of Ora, “He did that, and she did that!”
Before the biggest vote yet this season could commence, a bell started ringing and Lucky Duck emerged with the show’s Ding Dong Keep It On bell. The panel seemed confused, and Cannon seemed amused, as Lucky Duck explained that both Coral and Boogie Woogie would be safe and heading to the finale.
As the panel screamed and the contestants breathed a sigh of relief, Lucky Duck sent them backstage and then presented yet another twist. Instead of one of the contestants, the quacky detective himself would be unmasking.
To that end, we finally got a Lucky Duck clue package, in which he told the panel, “As good as I am, this detective-ing thing is merely a hobby. I spend most of my time on massive movie sets — yes, even bigger than The Hangover. There’s not an Oscar I don’t know. Anyway, it’s time to retire.” Visual clues included a picture of Ora, vampire teeth, and a “superheroes only” sign.
Then in a hilarious montage, the show dropped the most fitting needle drop ever with Queen’s “I Want to Break Free” as Lucky Duck danced his way to the stage, where he proceeded to keep dancing — fully choreographed number and all — because this is the Masked Singer, and the one thing you can count on is that whatever the most insane thing is that could happen, will happen.
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Continuing his season-long bit of giving the panel flack (or should we say quack?), the duck decided the panelists could not be trusted to guess, so he naturally chose to unmask himself before they could do so, and the panel collectively lost their minds when it was revealed that Lucky Duck was in fact Oscar-winning Jojo Rabbit, Thor, and What We Do in the Shadows filmmaker (and Ora’s husband), Taika Waititi. “That’s so cool!” Ora gushed.
Rita Ora and Taika Waititi attend the MTV EMAs 2024. Anthony Devlin/Getty
As a reminder, Entertainment Weekly actually guessed this before the season started, and got to ask Ora herself about it. At the time, she played it cool, saying, “I dunno. I mean, I wish [it was Waititi]. The thing is, I love this show. I literally feel like I know the producers enough now to kind of guess what they’re up to, but genuinely they surprise me every single season, and I feel like obviously Jenny’s husband [Donnie Wahlberg] was a part of a surprise a while back [as Cluedle-Doo], so I’m just going to have to keep you guys guessing.”
And when asked what we could expect from the wacky new character, she teased, “Well, I think misbehaving, mischievous, popping in random moments, sort of ruining people’s getting ready before their performance. It’s just a naughty kid in class, which is very similar to Taika, though.” Mystery solved!
Next week, per Cannon, fans can expect a “marathon two-hour finale” between Pearl, Boogie Woogie, Coral, and Mad Scientist Monster. Tune in for that Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.
