Farewell Panda.
DuringThe Masked Singer‘s second week of competition, the third season 2 celebrity contestant was eliminated from theNick Cannon-hosted Fox singing competition series.
On Wednesday, four costumed characters faced off in two pairs in front of judgesKen Jeong,Jenny McCarthy,Nicole ScherzingerandRobin Thicke: the Black Widow, Leopard, Flamingo and Panda.
“Oh. She can sing,” said McCarthy, who admitted to having “chills” after her performance.
After the audience’s votes were cast, it was announced that the Black Widow was the winner of the first face-off challenge.
Michael Becker/FOX (4)
Next up: the Flamingo vs. Panda.
Unfortunately for the Panda, the Flamingo was named the winner.
In the final round of competition on Wednesday’s episode, the Leopard and the Panda, who were both in jeopardy, competed in the smackdown challenge.
But before the Panda revealed its identity to viewers, the judges made their final guesses as to who the celebrity could be, with McCarthy guessingWanda Sykes, Jeong naming Latifah, Thicke thinking it was Loni Love, and Scherzinger suggesting Venus Williams.
So who was under the Panda costume? Retired and undefeated four-time world champion boxerLaila Ali!
Laila Ali.Fox
“It was crazy!” Ali, who is daughter of the greatest boxer of all time, Muhammad Ali, said of being the Panda. “The suit, being hot, just singing through this mask. I feel like you couldn’t hear me. So it was a lot of fun.”
“I mean, I’ve always loved to sing, always been shy with singing, but it was fun to be able to perform without anyone knowing,” said Ali, 41.
Thicke, who named Ali as a possible celebrity that could be under the Panda costume, admitted that she had him “fooled.”
“As a joke, I said your name, but the padding with the outfit — I know your body type. I was like, that is not her body type,” he said, noting the large costume. “So, totally fooled.”
Ali added of the experience: “I will say, this is the first time I’ve ever lost something like this, so my heart, yeah … It was very humbling, but it’s been fun.”
Lefty Shivambu/Getty IMages
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While the producers made the clues harder forseason 2, Cannon shared during the premiere that the 16 celeb contestants have a combined 42 Grammy nominations, 140 films, 35 No. 1 hits, 21 platinum records and 22 Broadway shows between them. The competitors also boast a total of 29 kids, 28 tattoos, eight divorces and twoTimeMost Influential People honors.
Once it was time to unmask Egg and Ice Cream, audiences were shocked to find that Egg turned out to be Olympic ice skaterJohnny Weirand Ice Cream was revealed to be video game streamerTyler “Ninja” Blevins.
The Masked Singerairs Wednesdays (8 p.m. ET) on Fox.
source: people.com
