Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Masked Singer season 13, episode 8, “Boy Band Night.”
Cue the lights, dance breaks, pyro, and throngs of screaming fans, because it’s Boy Band Night on The Masked Singer!
Remaining group C contestants — Yorkie, Mad Scientist Monster, Stud Muffin, and Nessy — kicked things off with “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” by the Backstreet Boys before each tackling their own versions of a boy band hit.
Up first was resident rocker Nessy, who host Nick Cannon teased has “a history with one boy band in particular.” As promised, Nessy’s clue package insinuated that NSYNC was a sort of musical competition for Nessy back in the day. It was fitting then, that he sung the iconic group’s “Tearing’ Up My Heart.” Nessy got in on the boy band spirit himself and literally hopped around on stage during the performance. (If you had “oversized Loch Ness Monster skips around in a kilt” on your Masked Singer bingo card, well, congratulations to you.)
This “rivalry” got real for Nessy when Cannon brought out NSYNC’s own Chris Kirkpatrick (season 8’s Hummingbird) to help him with the “Nick Cannon T-Shirt Cannon” of clues. Before doing so, he offered his best guess that Nessy was a country singer. Hmmm.
After saying bye bye bye to Kirkpatrick, the panel had to take their own shot at guessing Nessy. Rita Ora chose Dave Matthews, Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg guessed Darius Rucker, and Ken Jeong went with Pat Monahan.
Yorkie, Mad Scientist Monster, Stud Muffin, and Nessy on ‘The Masked Singer’. Michael Becker/Fox
Next up was Stud Muffin, who teased that he wasn’t part of a boy band but he knows what it means to be in a “brotherhood.” He chose to sing Bell Biv DeVoe’s “Poison” as a thanks to them for a birthday gift the trio apparently sent to him once. Like Nessy, Stud Muffin, too, did his best boy band impression on stage, adding in some choreography that even the show’s next guest would be jealous of.
That’s right, to help with Stud’s T-shirt clue, B2K’s Omarion, a.k.a. season 5’s Yeti, came on stage. He didn’t hesitate to give his guess of rapper and producer Method Man to the panel and audience, which Ora has firmly agreed with since the Group C premiere.
Before the next singer got up on stage, Lucky Duck made his presence known again, this time bringing in Wayne Brady, a.k.a. season 2 winner Fox, to give more clues for Stud Muffin, who is apparently Brady’s “travel buddy.”
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Then, Yorkie pandered to McCarthy-Wahlberg’s vote with her song — New Kids on the Block’s “Step By Step.” (The panelist’s husband, Donnie, was of course part of the iconic boy band.) After a scandalous clue package, more hilarious antics on stage, and a clue assist once more by Kirkpatrick, the judges adjusted their guesses for Yorkie to include Teresa Giudice (Jeong), Paris Hilton (Ora), and Erika Jayne (McCarthy-Wahlberg).
Last up was Mad Scientist Monster, who brought us all back to ‘90s prom with “I Swear” by All-4-One. Omarion came back to deliver his clue to an overjoyed Robin Thicke, who declared, “I did it, mom!” Mad Scientist Monster gave a telling clue of his own, saying, “It’s an honor to have won the same award as both Backstreet Boys and BTS.” This prompted guesses of Alan Jackson (Thicke), Tim McGraw (McCarthy-Wahlberg), and Keith Urban (Ora).
Before the elimination, the show also debuted a hilarious fake poster for Masked Singer’s resident boy band, which apparently consists of Thicke, Jeong, Cannon, and frequent guest star Joel McHale, all of whom resembled a bunch of bananas in rubber yellow separates in the pic. Thicke questioned the ensemble choice, asking, “Why are we dressed like that if it’s not raining?”
“It’s raining men,” Jeong quipped in response.
When it came time to the elimination, Stud Muffin was ready to be removed from the oven. Jeong and McCarthy stuck to their guesses of 2 Chainz and MC Hammer, and Ora was bursting at the seams to prove it was Method Man, which Thicke agreed with.
Method Man. Josh Brasted/Getty
In the end, much to Ora’s delight, it was indeed rapper, actor, and record producer Method Man, whose real name is Clifford Smith, Jr. As always, Method Man gamely stuck around for questions and adulation from the panel and Cannon, who expressed their shock at him being on the show.
And thus concluded the boy band festivities. Next week is already the Group C finals. Tune in next Wednesday to find out which two contestants are the last to round out the Lucky Six.
