Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Masked Singer Season 10 premiere. Read at your own risk!
It's a landmark season for The Masked Singer, as the bizarre Fox singing competition finally reached Season 10. While TV tradition should mean that this season will be bigger than everything that came before it, the premiere opened on a rather chill note that felt similar to Season 1. This could be seen as a negative comment by some, but I liked it, even if I know it's not going to stay that way.
Unlike the format of previous recent seasons, the Season 10 opener for The Masked Singer featured five performers, each doing one song, and one of them being eliminated at the end of the episode. We saw Gazelle, Diver, S'more, Rubber Ducky, and Cow. After every performer was finished, the audience and panel cast their votes for their favorite performers, and the lowest-scoring competitor was eliminated.
This week, it was Rubber Ducky, who was unmasked and revealed as actor Anthony Anderson. Anderson riled up the crowd with his take on Dexy's Midnight Runners and Kevin Rowland's "Come On Eileen," but it wasn't enough to get him through to the next round. Anderson even forgot the lyrics while performing it again after his elimination and joked that it was probably why he didn't deserve to move on.
It made me nostalgic for the old days of The Masked Singer, when we didn't know about the "Ding Dong Keep It On Bell," the mysterious Cluedle-Doo whose identity was practically given to fans, or the various other twists introduced each season since. Granted, if it weren't for those twists, it's possible the Fox series might not have made it to Season 10, so we should be grateful the decision-makers have done all they can to keep audiences on their toes from season to season.
Still, even if it was only temporary, it was nice to get such a straightforward episode of The Masked Singer for the first time in a long time. It reminded me of the days when the wildest part of an episode was seeing a talented Grammy-winner sent home over a football player more concerned with their dance moves on stage. I don't need to rewatch those moments with my Hulu subscription to recall that those days were certainly frustrating. If I had to choose between wild twists and disappointing eliminations, I'd certainly choose the twists. That said, we have seen both happen before.
And for those wondering, yes, The Masked Singer will be bringing back old twists. While Cluedle-Doo is seemingly off the menu for this season, we will be seeing the return of many twists from prior seasons and even some classic showdown eliminations. The series dropped a video laying out some of what to expect in Season 10:
I never knew I wanted to see Ken Jeong dressed up as Severus Snape from Harry Potter until now, and now I can't wait for that episode. The Masked Singer Season 10 certainly looks as big as the show's ever been, so here's hoping it lives up to the hype.
The Masked Singer airs on Fox on Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. I can't wait to see what other celebrities are unmasked this season and what other unexpected moments are on the way, even if I am nostalgic for the days when it was simpler.
