We finally got answers to our burning questions as The Masked Singer finale aired Wednesday night on Fox.
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After weeks of competition, Cow, who was unmasked as Ne-Yo, was crowned the winner of Season 10. He outlasted fellow finale competitors Donut, Gazelle and Sea Queen whose identities were also revealed during the 2-hour special.
Fourth place went to Sea Queen, who judges correctly guessed was Macy Gray while third place went to Pretty Little Liars star, Janel Parrish, whom none of the judges had a correct guess for. Second place was presented to Donut, who was unmasked as Dukes of Hazard star, John Schneider, who performed Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful” and “Drift Away” by Dobie Gray for his final performances.
The big prize went to GRAMMY-winning singer-songwriter, Ne-Yo, who had been guessed correctly by two judges; Nicole Scherzinger and Robin Thicke. Incorrect guesses surrounding his identity included Billy Porter and Usher.
“I'm feeling good. Feeling real good,” Ne-Yo told Entertainment Weekly of his win before sharing his family knew it was him right away. “I didn't tell anybody, but my mom and my kids called it right away from the first show. They were like, so when did you do this? And I'm like, what are you talking about? They're like, ‘Oh, come on. We've been listening to your voice our whole lives. We know you when we hear you.’ I held out as long as I could messing with my daughter.”
Ne-Yo’s appearance on the show wasn’t a first for him. He participated in the U.K. version masked as the badger and went home as second-runner up.
“First and foremost, I did the U.K. version before the American version because I felt like on the American version, I would get caught quicker,” he said. “I did the U.K. version thinking that I had a better shot at winning, and it turns out I didn't win and I was second runner-up, but that was fine. That was totally fine. I had a ball with it. And the same thing with this one.”
He continued, “I had so much fun. Even if I hadn't won, I still would've just totally enjoyed the experience. I never thought that one of my most fun stage performances would be with me dressed up as a female cow of all things. I never would've imagined that.”
The female cow costume has been a source of many questions surrounding his time on the show and the singer says it was simply a ploy to throw people off.
“It was totally done in an attempt to throw them off,” he said. “I have a million speaking voices. I can change it, I can do accents, I can do different inflections and everything with my speaking voice. My singing voice kind of is what it is, though. There's no way around it.”
Perhaps the reason two of the four judges were able to identify him.