The cat's out of the bag: 'Masked Singer' Kitty revealed to be former child star

Lyndsey Parker
·Editor in Chief, Yahoo Music
Updated ·5 min read
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On Wednesday’s top five The Masked Singer semifinals, the Kitty confessed that the people in her life didn’t want her to grow up. But ironically, she did just that by playing dress-up. When she made it through her ninth life this week and was unmasked at the end of the night, the Kitty turned out to be former opera-singing child prodigy Jackie Evancho.

“I wanted to show a different side of myself. I have been stuck in the stereotype of a 10-year-old girl,” she explained. “Now I'm almost 20, and I'm glad that this experience has given me the chance to kind of break out of that.”

Everyone was shocked by Jackie’s purrfect metamorphosis — even host Nick Cannon, who first met Jackie a decade ago when she placed second on another talent show he used to emcee, America’s Got Talent. Jackie had certainly transformed since then, and not just because she was dressed like Taylor Swift in Cats.

“I want to thank you guys, because without you, I don’t think I would have discovered where I want to take my career and how I want to represent myself as in the future,” Jackie told the Masked Singer judges.

Honestly, I don’t think getting gussied up as heterochromatic-eyed, bipedal feline in a wild-west saloon-showgirl dress should be the next or permanent phase of Jackie’s career, but throughout this Masked Singer season she showed off her seductive and sultry side (this week’s vampy “Back to Black” performance was the cat’s meow), so I do think she might have a 10th professional life coming up.

So now there are only four more masquerade ballers left, and any of them have a shot at snagging Season 3’s Golden Mask trophy in just two weeks’ time, on what just might be the most competitive finale in Masked Singer history. May the best mask win!

The Frog, “Bust a Move”

Flanked by a troop of creepy dancing Grinches, this green machine certainly wasn’t standing on the wall like he was Poindexter. As judge Jenny McCarthy put it, he brought his “A-game” and “did not disappoint.” This hippity-hopper knows how to entertain, and at this rate, he could bust a move all the way to the winner’s circle.

Judges’ guesses: Kevin Bacon, Anthony Mackie, Bow Wow, Derek Hough, Sir Mix-a-Lot.

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My guess: Past clues have had me convinced that this is Bow Wow, and while this week’s clues were bit strange (what was up with those baguettes and that Footloose dance sequence?), the mentions of a “little frog” and a “private jet” fit the Bow Wow profile: He has a young daughter, and who could even forget that #BowWowChallenge plane fail? This young MC is Bow Wow.

The Rhino, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling”

The Rhino usually sings with a twang, but this week he showcased a sexier — or dare I say hornier? — and much more soulful side to his voice, as he dedicated this Righteous Brothers classic to his beloved wife. Judge Nicole Scherzinger raved about how he “put his heart on the line,” and told him, “I’m just so impressed with your tone and sincerity.”

Judges’ guesses: Trace Adkins, David James Elliott, Jason Aldean.

My guesses: I’m sticking with baseball star Barry Zito, who comes from a musical family and has released one legitimate country EP that actually cracked the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Amusingly, a Navy-cap clue had judge Ken Jeong convinced that the Rhino is the former star of his all-time favorite television show, JAG. But Ken must not that be that big a JAG fan, because not only did he space on the JAG lead actor’s name, but he forgot that Barry portrayed a U.S. Navy petty officer in an episode of JAG in 2003!

The Night Angel, “Last Dance”

OK, this was weirder and wilder than anything that went down at Studio 54 in Donna Summer’s heyday, other than maybe that night when Bianca Jagger arrived on horseback. But this blank-eyed flying purple people-creature sounded like a true fabulous disco diva. Jenny even said the Night Angel should win the whole show.

Judges’ guesses: Chilli or T-Boz from TLC, Tameka “Tiny” Harris, Alicia Keys.

My guess: I still believe that this is hit songwriter-turned-Real Housewife Kandi Burruss. The “Colombia” map was probably a reference to Columbia Records, label home to Kandi’s girl group Xscape; the lipsticks referred to both Xscape’s Traces of My Lipstick album and Kandi’s cosmetics line; and the Angel did note that, as a longtime Donna Summer fan and someone who has written for Donna, this performance was a “full circle moment.”

The Turtle, “Fix You”

2020 is obviously the most bonkers year ever, so a studio audience of fans bawling their eyes over a mutant teenage ninja turtle crooning a Coldplay ballad seems like the new normal these days. I wasn’t quite moved to tears, but this performance was unexpectedly poignant and pretty. “When the voice is speaking to people through the mask and it gets inside of your bones and you can’t help but feel it… that’s what this vocal was,” raved judge Robin Thicke.

Judges’ guesses: Norman Reedus, A.J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Max George, Jesse McCartney.

My guess: It’s Jesse. Along with all the past clues, this week’s bride-and-groom cake referenced his upcoming wedding; the multiple comic book mentions were a nod to his cartoon voiceover work; the number 1999 was tied to the year that he started his musical career in the boy band Dream Street; and the zombie dummy was the biggest tipoff of all, because Jesse has acted in Fear the Walking Dead.

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