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Warning: This article contains spoilers for the season 11 premiere of The Masked Singer.
Promo for The Masked Singer season 11 promised March Mask-ness, and Wednesday’s premiere episode certainly delivered on that.
The hour kicked off with a bang — literally — with a fireworks-filled performance from new panelist Rita Ora, who stepped in to fill Nicole Scherzinger’s ultra high heels while she performed on London’s West End last year. Ora’s addition marks the first time that a new panelist has joined the fold, and to commemorate the occasion, she opened the show with a fitting rendition of “Who Are You” by The Who, before ultimately introducing the other panelists — Ken Jeong, Robin Thicke, and Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg — and herself.
From there things seemed to be smooth sailing, with all the dad jokes, costume puns, clue packages, and performances (good and bad) fans have come to expect from the show. As has become tradition, a show-stopping performance was delivered from the first contestant to take the stage: Goldfish, who sang Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire.” When it came time for guesses — which included Hilary Duff, Lucy Hale, Lea Michele, Selena Gomez, and Carly Rae Jepsen — Ora, who’s previously served as a panelist on the U.K. version of TMS, gave us a taste of her guessing philosophy: “I know I’m new, and I’m coming fresh out the gate, but if you’re wrong, [be] wrong and strong, and if you’re right, then shout it from the rooftops.” (This was just the encouragement Jeong didn’t need moving forward.)
From there, we heard the first vocal outings and clues from new costumes Starfish, Ugly Sweater, and Lovebird, who performed “Material Girl” by Madonna, “The Best” by Tina Turner, and “Home” by Phillip Phillips, respectively. And it only took Thicke 32 minutes and 40 seconds into the season to make a pun out of Ora’s name, telling her, “Well Rita, we love your aura” with all the confidence of a man who frequently embarrasses his kids with dad jokes.
It was all going according
