Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Masked Singer’s “Andrew Lloyd Webber Night.” Read at your own risk!
The Masked Singer Season 8 is zooming right along, and regardless of whether fans like the new format or not, contestants are exiting at a rapid pace. “Andrew Lloyd Webber night” welcomed three more contestants and, of course, the master of musicals himself as a guest panelist. The end of the night saw another two competitors leave, but following the episode I have to ask, did the show advance the right competitor?
Robo Girl managed to advance to the next episode, which meant Maize and Mermaid were unmasked. Mermaid was revealed to be singing icon Gloria Gaynor, and Maize was Sex and the City actor and comedian Mario Cantone (check out our full list of reveals here). Cantone’s elimination felt especially egregious considering his performance of “Heaven On Their Minds” from Jesus Christ Superstar, and the praise he got from Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The composer was so blown away by Mario Cantone’s first performance that he suggested he “go professional” and even offered him a job. When Andrew Lloyd Webber learned it was Cantone beneath the mask, he was still surprised even considering Cantone’s previous Broadway credits. Webber murmured to fellow panelist Nicole Scherzinger that he wasn’t aware Cantone could sing like that, so it’s clear he was really impressed by this performance on The Masked Singer.
And yet, for some reason, the audience voted Maize out first, which felt weird. Sure, it was a night of stiff competition, and it wouldn’t even be the first time this season that a talented competitor was sent home early. With that said, one would think the contestant who was directly praised by Andrew Lloyd Webber during the episode wouldn’t be the first person eliminated!
It seems like even the vastly different format of The Masked Singer Season 8 can’t stop some of the longstanding problems of this series. Talented competitors are still being sent home by the in-studio audience, and in this case, it’s not even clear why it happened. It seems like Season 8 could even lead to more questionable eliminations than prior seasons, which doesn’t seem like something fans will appreciate.
At the same time, it’ll be interesting to see if The Masked Singer fans ultimately hold onto grudges about eliminations given the pace of this season. Mario Cantone did a great job, but with only one episode appearance, it’d be hard to imagine too many fans will still be thinking of this come next week. That’s especially true with “Muppets Night” on the way, which should be an absolute blast considering how Kermit the Frog’s unmasking went in Season 5.
The Masked Singer airs on Fox on Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Anyone behind on episodes of Season 8 can catch up with a Hulu subscription, and that’s certainly worth doing if you missed Mario Cantone’s impressive performance!
