Michael Becker / FOX
Warning: This article contains spoilers about The masked dancer season 1, episode 3.
The masked dancer has so far revealed an attractive range of familiar faces, with Ice-T unveiled in the premiere and Bill Nye unmasking the final episode. The show has continued the tradition with the Group B play-offs on Wednesday, as Moth was eliminated – and you’ll never guess who was under her wings.
We begin the episode with a rare observation: panelist Ken Jeong pulls a crown and is celebrated for his real guess. Last week, he was the only one who predicted Ice Cube is the beloved science educator, an achievement the comedian jokingly said (I hope) better than “my wife and both my children.”
Paula Abdul, Ashley Tisdale, Brian Austin Green and host Cheryl Hines at the panel members’ table, and Craig Robinson once again served as host.
First to the dance floor was Zebra, who performed a duet for K-Ci & JoJo’s classic R&B track “All My Life”. The UFC clues, mentorship and record breaker had the panel members guessing from all sorts of people, from Floyd Mayweather to Tito Ortiz.
“He has a very big neck,” Green said of Ortiz and Zebra’s agreement.
Tisdale led the case for Mario Lopez: “Latin guys know how to work really well.”
Can’t reason with these iron coatings!
Next was Cotton Candy, who did a group performance on the very appropriate “Sour Candy” by Lady Gaga and Blackpink. The contestant showed some impressive moves during the last episode – especially if she had a hard fall during the rehearsals – and she continued this time. I had a relationship with the non-dancer panelists, who praised Cotton Candy’s steps with expert terms like ‘turn around’ and ‘straight-leg wrap.’
Her package contains lipstick, the phrase ‘iced out’, and an eagle with a US pen, which makes Tisdale guess that she’s Tara Lipinski. Meanwhile, Green is leaning towards another Olympic figure skater, Kristi Yamaguchi.
Moth walks to Michael Buble’s version of ‘Sway’.
Then Sloth ended the evening with a ribbon dance on Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes’ “Up Where We Belong”. In his clue package, we see how Sloth recreates the boombox scene Say anything, as well as the clue “00FEEd00.”
The furry rival, who again showed off his physical comedy chops, is considered by panelists to be Jonathan Groff, Keegan-Michael Key, or Will Ferrell, who actually twisted ribbons in the film. Old school.
Robinson announced that Moth received the least number of votes from audiences, panelists and ‘superfans’ from across the country.
It has been revealed to her that she … child safety activist and New York Times best-selling author Elizabeth Smart!
Frazer Harrison / Getty Images
Green was the only panelist to advise Smart, as he said he was passionate about working with child safety organizations. As Moth explained in her clue package, Smart gave a Ted Talk, his connections with the letters EAS and BYU (her initials; and she is an alumna of Brigham Young University), and appeared on Date line (the dates on a line image).
“You were an inspiration to so many people. And you did so much good with a very difficult situation. We need more people like you on the planet,” Green told Smart, who survived a 2002 kidnapping that received national attention and went to work as an advocate for victims of sexual abuse, after she revealed.
Next week, Group A’s shark, tulip, cricket and exotic bird will battle it out to see who will compete in the Super Six with Zebra, Cotton Candy and Sloth.
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