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Episode 8 of The Masked Singer season 9 aired on Fox on Wednesday, April 5, at 8 pm ET. The episode featured reigning king "Doll" trying to keep his title against two new competitors, the Dandelion and the Mantis. Doll was eliminated after the first round, while Mantis lost in the battle royale round.
Just as Mantis was about to be unmasked, judge Robin Thicke, who thought that actor Dennis Quaid was under the mask, rang the bell for him. This is a new feature in the season where judges can save one singer per group by ringing the Ding Dong Keep It On Bell.
With this, the Mantis went straight to the quarter-finals, where he will compete against the other saved singers, while the Dandelion will battle for her title in the upcoming episode.
Judges were impressed with Mantis' voice as he sang Bob Seger's Old Time Rock & Roll and I've Got a Golden Ticket by Peter Ostrum and Jack Albertson.
The Masked Singer fans, however, did not like the Mantis' cool voice and felt that he should have been eliminated.
The Masked Singer fans wanted to see who was under the Mantis mask
Judge Jenny thinks that Mantis is Kevin Bacon while Ken’s guess is Bruce Springsteen. Nicole went all in and predicted that Keanu Reeves was under the Mantis mask.
The Masked Singer fans were eager to know the Mantis' identity and slammed the judges for saving him.
They also felt that he did not deserve to be saved based on his performance.
Hints and clues about the Mantis
Some hints about the Mantis' identity include:
- Performer known for his brooding persona
- Almost won an Emmy for comedy
- Published author who wants to “let loose and dance with the wolves”
- Has worked on something related to Shakespeare
- Music followed his career from “Broadway to the silver screen”
His visual clues include a helicopter, motorcycles, scaling a skyscraper, a skull, a gasoline can, matches, an explosion, reading Lord of the Fly, stuffed wolf, and poker chips. After his first performance, some men in black came on stage to bring sunglasses, whose tag read "true story." Mantis then added:
"Representing a legend was instrumental to my success and it was an honor to do so."
Robin enjoyed Mantis' first performance and revealed that Old Time Rock and Roll is his father's favorite go-to party song. Mantis sang in a different style in the battle royale round, resembling that of Broadway performers.
Mantis will now try to earn a spot in the finals by competing against the other two saved singers, Gargoyle and Medusa, in the upcoming episodes. Fox airs fresh episodes of The Masked Singer every Wednesday at 8 pm ET.
