The Masked Singer is a singing competition that premiered on Fox in 2019 and just finished its eighth season. There are a lot of singing competitions out there, but The Masked Singer is unique in that the contestants are all well-known celebrities in elaborate masks and costumes, performing each week while a panel of judges tries to guess who they are until a winner is eventually unmasked. There are a lot of elements to The Masked Singer that are pretty cringeworthy, but it’s hard to deny the incredible production value the show has. From the showstopping costumes to the stage and performance set-up, it can be fun to watch.

Over the course of the show’s eight seasons so far, there have been some incredible singers unmasked like Chaka Khan, Jojo, Seal, and Patti LaBelle. Some reveals are obvious, but others are downright shocking. These are six of the most surprising reveals on the show thus far.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

6 Lil Wayne

     Fox Entertainment/Propagate Content

Lil Wayne appeared as the Robot in season three of The Masked Singer and performed Lenny Kravitz’ “Are You Gonna Go My Way.” Based on his performance and clue package, which showed a group of scientists putting his robot parts back together, the panelists guess celebrities like Johnny Knoxville, Floyd Mayweather, Steve-O, Shaun White and Flava Flav. What’s funny though is that you can hear Lil Wayne’s distinct voice as soon as he starts performing. There really aren’t many people who have a sound like he does, and it sticks out almost immediately.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

Unfortunately, the Robot was eliminated in the first episode, so he only got to perform once. Even though his voice is pretty distinct, it was still shocking to see a major star like Lil Wayne unmasked on The Masked Singer. In terms of TV appearances, it feels like one of the last places the successful artist would pop up, so props to The Masked Singer for managing to get him on board.

5 Kermit the Frog

During the season five premiere of The Masked Singer, the Snail appeared to perform “You Make My Dreams (Come True) by Hall & Oates. His clue package included mention of his many roles over the years as an actor, director, and recording artist, as well as all the celebrities — from Robert De Niro to Lady Gaga — that he’s rubbed elbows with over the years. The Snail was unfortunately eliminated after his first performance and was revealed to be Kermit the Frog.

Even though Kermit has a very distinct, immediately recognizable voice, upon first listen you really can’t place him. The panelists throughout guesses like Seth MacFarlane, Jay Leno, Ted Cruz, and Billy Crystal, but then you see Kermit’s little puppet hands appear from within the costume. Seeing Kermit the Frog unmasked was pretty surprising. It really showed that The Masked Singer is willing to pull out all the stops when it comes to masking up celebrities to really stump the audience — even if that celebrity happens to be a puppet.

4 Victor Oladipo

Season two of The Masked Singer brought an impressive group of costumed celebs to the stage like Wayne Brady as the Fox, Patti LaBelle as the Flower, and Dr. Drew as the Eagle. This season also featured the brightly-colored Thingamajig. From the beginning, when he shared his clue package, the panelists had him pinned as some kind of athlete, likely a basketball player. The Thingamajig’s performances were full of heart and soul, from “Easy” by The Commodores to “Rainbow” by Kacey Musgraves.

The Thingamajig placed fifth in the competition, and before he was unmasked the panelists guessed he could’ve been Paul George from the LA Clippers, Orlando Magic player Markelle Fultz, singer Montell Jordan, and funnily enough, Ken Jeong actually guessed Victor Oladipo from the Indiana Pacers (at the time), but none of the other panelists bought it. What makes Oladipo’s reveal so shocking is that he was such an incredible singer and a true powerhouse throughout the competition, and no one expected that from an athlete, but he proved he’s extremely multi-talented, and it’s likely no one really knew that prior to the show.

3 T-Pain

In season one of The Masked Singer, the world was introduced to this new wacky singing competition and met characters like Tommy Chong as the Pineapple, Gladys Knight as the Bee, and Joey Fatone as the Rabbit. This season also featured the Monster, a lovable, blue furball with one big eye. He sang hits like “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen, “American Woman” by Lenny Kravitz and “Stay With Me” by Sam Smith. All his performances were high-energy and even a little emotional at times. Regardless of the song, though, it was clear he’s an extremely talented vocalist who could sing just about anything, making it clear that whoever he was, he was definitely a professional artist.

The Monster actually went on to win the entire competition. The panelists guessed he could be Jamie Foxx, Michael Vick, Darius Rucker, CeeLo Green and Tyrese Gibson. But when it was revealed to be T-Pain everyone was truly shocked. T-Pain is known for using auto-tune as an instrument throughout his entire career, so no one knew he actually had an incredible singing voice. It was by far one of the most surprising reveals on the show to date.

2 Rudy Giuliani

Season seven of The Masked Singer was an interesting one and brought a lot of talent to the stage like Penn & Teller as Hydra, Shaggy as the Space Bunny, and En Vogue as the Queen Cobras. The Jack in the Box was an interesting costume that had a cool entrance during his “Bad to the Bone” performance, but otherwise his run on the show was pretty lackluster and his performance was honestly pretty bad.

It was hard to get a good read on the Jack in the Box during his performance and clue package, but the panelists guessed Joe Pesci, Robert Duvall, Elon Musk and Al Roker. But no one was expecting former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani to be under the mask, and honestly, no one was happy about it, either. It was a pretty awkward reveal and upset a lot of people due to the controversy that was surrounding Giuliani at the time, from the January 6th insurrection to spreading misinformation about COVID-19. While no one loved seeing him on the show, it was certainly a win in The Masked Singer’s production department, because whether you liked it or not, it was an extremely shocking reveal.

1 Sarah Palin

Along with Lil Wayne as the Robot, season three had several other impressive stars like Chaka Khan, Tony Hawk, JoJo Siwa, and Rob Gronkowski. It also featured the cute pink and purple Bear singer. The Bear had a bubbly persona, and gave a high-energy, fun performance of Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back.” During her performance, it was clear she may not be a professional singer; she still gave an entertaining show.

Unfortunately, the Bear got eliminated after just one performance. Before unmasking her, the panelists were really stumped, but threw out guesses like Christina Applegate, Candace Cameron Bure, Jodie Sweetin, and Tina Fey. But when Sarah Palin was revealed it was a pretty big surprise, especially after her song choice. Having politicians on The Masked Singer is a little strange, but it certainly delivers in the shock department. Honestly, though, after seeing Sarah Palin perform “Baby Got Back” with Nick Cannon with her hype man, you can say that you’ve truly seen it all.