Season 4 of the American version of The Masked Singer premiered on September 23, 2020, and concluded on December 16, 2020.
Production[]
On May 6, 2020, FOX announced that the series was renewed for a fourth season with a targeted fall 2020 premiere.[1][2][3] On July 29, 2020, the first teaser for the season was released, airing during the Ultimate Tag season finale that same night. Along with the teaser, it was announced that they were hoping to begin production within the next six weeks in order to premiere the season in September, however, with a possibility of production being delayed or impacted due to the coronavirus pandemic.[4][5]
On July 7, 2020, it was revealed that host Cannon and panelists McCarthy, Jeong, Thicke, and Scherzinger would all be returning for the new season.[6]
On August 19, 2020, it was revealed that the audience would not be in-person, instead, with a virtual audience over Zoom.[7] A similar virtual audience was already utilized on season 15 of America's Got Talent.[8][9] Production resumed the next day at Red Studios Hollywood instead of Television City where the previous three seasons had filmed.[10]
On August 26, 2020, 14 of the season's 16 costumes were revealed,[11] and it was announced that the season would air a sneak peek on September 13, followed by the official premiere on September 23.[12][13][14]
On November 9, 2020, it was announced that Niecy Nash, Cheryl Hines, Jay Pharoah, and Craig Robinson would serve as guest panelists for future episodes, with Pharoah in a special episode airing on Thanksgiving night and Robinson in the "Super Six" episode aired on December 2.[15] A holiday sing-along special aired on December 9.[16]
Nick Cannon controversy[]
In July 2020, host Nick Cannon made controversial, racist, and antisemitic comments in an episode of his "Cannon's Class" podcast series with Professor Griff. He was later fired by ViacomCBS[17] and had his upcoming talk show pushed.[18]
On July 15, 2020, FOX announced that he would remain as host of The Masked Singer, stating they would, "move forward with Nick and help him advance this important conversation, broadly."[19][20][21][22] Cannon also apologized for his comments.[23]
Contestant Progress[]
| Rank | Photo | Contestant/Celebrity | Ep. 1 | Ep. 2 | Ep. 3 | Ep. 4 | Ep. 5 | Ep. 6 | Ep. 7 | Ep. 8 | Ep. 9 | Ep. 10 | Ep. 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | B | A | B | C | A | B | C | ||||||
| 1st |  |
Sun - LeAnn Rimes | SAFE | SAFE | WIN | WIN | 1st | ||||||
| 2nd |  |
Mushroom - Aloe Blacc | SAFE | SAFE | BTM2 | WIN | 2nd | ||||||
| 3rd |  |
Crocodile - Nick Carter | SAFE (No Vote) |
SAFE | SAFE | WIN | 3rd | ||||||
| 4th |  |
Seahorse - Tori Kelly | SAFE (No Vote) |
SAFE | SAFE | ELIM | |||||||
| 5th |  |
Jellyfish - Chloe Kim | SAFE | SAFE | WIN | ELIM | |||||||
| 6th |  |
Popcorn - Taylor Dayne | SAFE | SAFE | BTM2 | ELIM | |||||||
| 7th |  |
Broccoli - Paul Anka | SAFE | SAFE | ELIM | ||||||||
| 8th |  |
Serpent - Dr. Elvis Francois | SAFE (No Vote) |
SAFE | ELIM | ||||||||
| 9th |  |
Whatchamacallit - Lonzo Ball | SAFE (No Vote) |
SAFE | ELIM | ||||||||
| 10th |  |
Snow Owls - Clint Black & Lisa Hartman Black | SAFE | SAFE | ELIM | ||||||||
| 11th |  |
Squiggly Monster - Bob Saget | SAFE | ELIM | |||||||||
| 12th |  |
Lips - Wendy Williams | ELIM | ||||||||||
| 13th |  |
Baby Alien - Mark Sanchez | SAFE (No Vote) |
ELIM | |||||||||
| 14th |  |
Giraffe - Brian Austin Green | SAFE | ELIM | |||||||||
| 15th |  |
Gremlin - Mickey Rourke | QUIT | ||||||||||
| 16th |  |
Dragon - Busta Rhymes | ELIM | ||||||||||
- █ The contestant won The Masked Singer.
- █ The contestant was a runner-up.
- █ The contestant placed third.
- █ The contestant was safe from elimination.
- █ The contestant won the face off.
- █ The contestant lost the face off and was placed in the bottom two but was not eliminated.
- █ The contestant lost the face off and was placed in the bottom two & was eliminated.
- █ The contestant quit the competition.
- █ The contestant did not participate in the episode.
Guest Masks[]
| Photo | Mask/Celebrity | Song | Ep. Appearance |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
The Robin - Joel McHale | "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke | "The Group A Play Offs - Famous Masked Words" |
 |
TV - Wayne Brady | "Memories" by Maroon 5 | "The Group C Play Offs - Funny You Should Mask" |
Episodes[]
See also: USA Episode Guide
| # | Image | Title | Prod. code | Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
"The Season Premiere - The Masks Return" | MS-401 | September 23, 2020 |
| A brand-new masked bunch of celebrity singers face off against one another in dazzling costumes. | ||||
| 2 | 
|
"The Group B Premiere - Six More Masks" | MS-402 | September 30, 2020 |
| Meeting the all new celebrity contestants in group B. | ||||
| 3 | 
|
"The Group A Play Offs - Famous Masked Words" | MS-403 | October 7, 2020 |
| Contestants return for the Group A playoffs and their second performances. | ||||
| 4 | 
|
"The Group B Play Offs - Cloudy with a Chance of Clues" | MS-404 | October 14, 2020 |
| The contestants return for the Group B playoffs and their second performances of the season. | ||||
| 5 | 
|
"The Group C Premiere - Masked But Not Least" | MS-405 | October 28, 2020 |
| The final group of celebrity contestants take the stage for their first performances of Season 4. | ||||
| 6 | 
|
"The Group C Play Offs - Funny You Should Mask" | MS-406 | November 4, 2020 |
| The Group C contestants return for their second performance of the season. | ||||
| 7 | 
|
"The Group A Finals - The Masked Frontier" | MS-407 | November 11, 2020 |
| The final three singers from group A take the stage for their final chance at the super six. | ||||
| 8 | 
|
"The Group B Finals - The Mask Chance Saloon" | MS-408 | November 18, 2020 |
| The remaining four singers from Group B compete; two celebrities are unmasked. | ||||
| 9 | 
|
"The Group C Finals - The Masks Give Thanks" | MS-409 | November 26, 2020 |
| The final three singers from group C compete for the final two spots in the super six. | ||||
| 10 | 
|
"The Semi Finals - The Super Six" | MS-410/411 | December 2, 2020 |
| The finalists from all three groups perform in the semi-finals; three contestants are unmasked. | ||||
| 11 | 
|
"Road to the Finals" | MS-413 | December 16, 2020 |
| A look back at the best moments and performances from Season 4. | ||||
| 12 | 
|
"The Season 4 Finale - Last Mask Standing" | MS-414 | December 16, 2020 |
| The three finalists perform one last time before all are unmasked and one singer wins the trophy. | ||||
Specials[]
| Image | Title | Prod. code | Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
|
"Special Season Four Sneak Peek" | MS-400 | September 13, 2020 |
| A glimpse at the all-new costumes, never-before-seen clues and first-look footage of the highly anticipated fourth season. | |||
|
"The Holiday Sing-a-Long" | MS-412 | December 9, 2020 |
| The final three singers perform never-before-heard holiday songs, with all-new animated clues. | |||
Trivia[]
- This is the first US season:
- To feature the "First Impression Guess" battle among the panelists with the grand prize being the Golden Ear trophy.
- McCarthy won the Golden Ear with four correct guesses.
- To feature a two-person costume (Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black as Snow Owls)
- To feature a costume that uses animatronics (Dr. Elvis Francois as Serpent)
- To have someone quit/unmask themselves (Mickey Rourke as Gremlin)
- To feature a costume that uses a puppet (Mark Sanchez as Baby Alien)
- Where Ken guesses more than one contestant correctly (Bob Saget as Squiggly Monster, Lonzo Ball as Whatchamacallit and Chloe Kim as Jellyfish).
- To feature a triple elimination prior to the finale
- Where a contestant competes in a Smackdown and reaches the finale (Aloe Blacc as Mushroom).
- To have an unmasked contestant come back and perform in another episode (Tori Kelly as Seahorse).
- In which two songs of the same name, but with different lyrics, are performed in one season (Whatchamacallit singing "I Wish" by Skee-Lo and Mushroom singing "I Wish" by Stevie Wonder).
- Where a contestant didn't sing a Queen or Lady Gaga song.
- To not feature a cat based costume.
- To feature animated segments to the singers' clues.
- To feature a female food mask (Taylor Dayne as Popcorn).
- To have one group contain a different amount of contestants than the other groups.
- With a deceased celebrity
- To feature the "First Impression Guess" battle among the panelists with the grand prize being the Golden Ear trophy.
- This is the second season:
- To have 16 masks. The first was season two.
- To be interfered by the MLB World Series, due to airing in the fall- the first season with the same interference was season two.
- Season four was on hiatus for one week (from "The Group B Play Offs - Cloudy with a Chance of Clues" on October 14, 2020 to "The Group C Premiere - Masked But Not Least" on October 28, 2020) with the series only going up to Game 6. Season two was on hiatus for two weeks (from "Once Upon a Mask" on October 16, 2019 to "Mask Us Anything" on November 6, 2019) due to the series going into a Game 7.
- To have a female winner. (LeAnn Rimes as Sun) The first was Kandi Burruss as the Night Angel in season three.
Videos[]
Teaser TV's Number One Show Is Coming Back Season 4 THE MASKED SINGER
First Look- A Socially Distant Season - Season 4 - THE MASKED SINGER
How A Celebrity Becomes A Masked Singer - Season 4 - THE MASKED SINGER
All Season 4 Masked Singer USA Walk In's
Gallery[]
Concept art of all season 4 costumes, including an unused costume between Crocodile and Seahorse. This costume would later be Mother Nature in season 6.
Key art for season 4 featuring Crocodile
Promotional image for season 4 featuring Crocodile
Mask names teased
Season 4 panel
Season 4 Scorecard
[]
Giraffe's head
Giraffe's upper body
Jellyfish's feet
Jellyfish's body
Sun's head
Sun's lower body
References[]
- ↑ The Masked Singer: Fox Renews Reality Singing Contest For Season 4; Targets Fall Premiere
- ↑ FOX Announces Fall 2020 Schedule
- ↑ The Masked Singer on Twitter: "More celebs are joining the masked madness. 🤩 Season 4 of #TheMaskedSinger is coming this fall!"
- ↑ The Masked Singer Eyes September Launch For Season 4; Fox Hopes To Be Back In Production Soon
- ↑ Video: The Masked Singer - An All-New Season Coming This Fall to FOX
- ↑ The Masked Singer Season 4: Here’s Everything We Know – So Far
- ↑ The Masked Singer on Twitter: "It's called Masked Singer magic. 😉✨ #TheMaskedSinger"
- ↑ The Masked Singer on Twitter: "Who's a #TheMaskedSinger 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙣?! 🙌 Register for a chance to join the at-home audience for Season 4..."
- ↑ On Camera Audiences - The Masked Singer (August 19, 2020)
- ↑ The Masked Singer: Fox’s Mystery Talent Format Resumes Production, Introduces Fan Voting For The First Time
- ↑ The Masked Singer on Twitter: "The new masks are STAR-STUDDED. 👏 The guessing begins in a new season of #TheMaskedSinger..."
- ↑ All-New Unscripted Series I Can See Your Voice to Debut Following Season Four Premiere of The Masked Singer on Wednesday, Sept. 23 on FOX
- ↑ Fox Adds I Can See Your Voice To Fall Schedule To Create Ken Jeong Block As MasterChef Junior Pushed
- ↑ The Masked Singer season 4 first characters and premiere date revealed
- ↑ Masked Singer Reveals Extra Panelists, Thanksgiving Special and Triple Elimination Episode (EXCLUSIVE)
- ↑ Futon Critic - Listings – December 9, 2020
- ↑ Nick Cannon Fired By ViacomCBS For “Hateful Speech,” Espousing “Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories”
- ↑ Nick Cannon Syndicated Talk Show Pushed Following His Anti-Semitic Comments; Lionsgate Stands By Comedian
- ↑ Nick Cannon To Remain As Host Of Fox’s The Masked Singer After He Apologizes Over Anti-Semitic Comments
- ↑ Nick Cannon Apologizes for Anti-Semitic Comments: "I Feel Ashamed"
- ↑ Fox to keep Nick Cannon as Masked Singer host: 'He is remorseful'
- ↑ FOX on Twitter: "When we were made aware of Nick Cannon’s interview with Richard Griffin on YouTube, we immediately began a dialogue with Nick. He is clear and remorseful that..."
- ↑ Nick Cannon on Twitter: "First and foremost I extend my deepest and most sincere apologies to my Jewish sisters and brothers for the hurtful and divisive words..."
- ↑ Bob Saget Dead at 65
- ↑ Orange County Sheriff's Office on Twitter: "Earlier today, deputies were called to the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes for a call about an unresponsive man in a hotel room. The man was identified as Robert Saget & pronounced deceased on scene. Detectives found no signs of foul play or drug use in this case. #BobSaget"
- ↑ Bob Saget Dies: Comedian And Full House Star Was 65
- ↑ The Masked Singer on Twitter: "Thank you for being such a joy in this world. RIP Bob 🤍"