Spoiler alert: for any Masked Singer viewers who haven’t this week’s episode, the Yeti’s identity will be revealed in this article.
The Masked Singer Season 5 has been chalked full of talent leading to some surprise eliminations as seen by Hanson going home last week. This week saw the surprise elimination of frontrunner and wildcard contestant Yeti, and both viewers and the judges were shocked by that result, given his push to be in the Final 3. After that disappointing shock, the Yeti shared a surprisingly adorable story behind his rollerblading performance.
As soon as the wildcard contestant entered the competition, the viewers and judges were on the Yeti’s trail, with guesses circling around well-known pop and R&B singers and dancers, from Justin Bieber to Jason Derulo to Mario to Ne-Yo. In the end, judge Robin Thicke was the only one who knew the abominable snowman’s secret from the beginning, with the Yeti’s head coming off to reveal multihyphenate entertainer Omarion in the costume. (To be fair, Thicke guesses Omarion for at least three celebs each season.) Even as a wildcard, though, Omarion stuck out from other contestants with his rollerblading skills. The R&B performer talked to Entertainment Weekly about why he went the rolling route for his Masked Singer performances.
Well, they always ask you on the show, what are some of your hidden talents? Immediately I was thinking to myself, what could I do, a hidden talent that I could display that would be cool? And when I was younger, before I became a musician, I used to go up to Santa Rosa every year with my uncles and I used to go to this camp called Camp Snoopy. We would basically teach the kids there how to rollerblade. So, I was like a professional rollerblader early on in my traveling career. So, when they asked me what was a hidden talent, I said rollerblading, and then it was, ‘Wait a minute, oh, this is gonna be dope. A Yeti has never rollerbladed before.’ I'm so happy that I was able to bring out that hidden talent because I couldn't think of anything else. All the other things I thought of I wouldn't be able to do in this 60-pound outfit. So, the skating was pretty cool. I'm happy that I was able to do that.
Tapping into such a performative hidden skill made Omarion stick out from the competition. Of course, every contestant has their gimmick - with the Russian Dolls also serving up something quite unique - but it was mightily impressive for the Yeti to perform full dance routines not only while singing, but also while on rollerblades. But as an industry veteran, if anyone could pull it off, it would be Omarion. So, kudos to him for taking on so many challenges on The Masked Singer, and for finding a way to connect it to his younger years at Camp Snoopy.
Not that Season 5's contestants were boring, but the Yeti’s entrance into the singing competition brought a breath of fresh air to The Masked Singer. Even if he would have been a terrible singer, his stage presence would have been enough to make him stand out. But every week, he showed different layers as both a singer and dancer, and a skater. So, it was sad to see Omarion be eliminated before The Masked Singer reached the Final 3.
Now that the Final 3 has been confirmed, next week’s finale has turned into a toss-up. Viewers will have to tune in to The Masked Singer on May 26 to see if Black Swan, Piglet or Chameleon will take home the Golden Mask.
