Robin Thicke Thinks His Guessing Abilities Are Headed in The Wrong Direction as Season 5 of THE MASKED SINGER Begins

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Nobody likes to admit defeat, but that’s the spot Robin Thicke finds himself in, heading into Season 5 of THE MASKED SINGER. While most people prefer to believe that hard work eventually will be rewarded, Thicke seems to have accepted the notion that he is getting worse in his job as a judge on the show, which returns Wednesday, March 10 at 8 p.m. ET on CTV. “Oh yeah, it has gotten harder every season – and this season, we are pretty much inadequate in most ways,” Thicke said during a recent virtual panel session. “But Jenny (McCarthy) studies hard on the clues. Ken (Jeong) gets lucky, because every dog has their day. And, you know, Nicole (Scherzinger) and I usually get close after a few listens, but this first-impression guess has made us all challenged.” The basic premise of THE MASKED SINGER, of course, is that anonymous celebrities appear in elaborate costumes, and the judges – Thicke, McCarthy, Jeong, and Scherzinger – have to guess who’s behind the masks. “Nicole and I started off stronger the first couple of seasons – now we are just more confused than ever,” Thicke acknowledged. “I think we try to trust our guts, and then the clues take us on another path. Nicole and I need help. We need help in whatever way you can send it to us. I’ve decided to just have a good time this season. I think Ken and I kind of switched places. Ken is getting more right now, and I’m just going for the jokes.” One change that devoted fans of THE MASKED SINGER will notice immediately as Season 5 begins is that regular host Nick Cannon won’t be there. After Cannon was diagnosed with COVID-19, the producers asked Niecy Nash to fill in on a temporary basis, through the first chunk of the new season. “Nick rejoins towards the second half of the season,” executive producer James Breen explained. “I won’t be too specific about how many shows, but Niecy kicks things off. We got incredibly lucky there, because Niecy just stepped in, it was pretty last-minute, and immediately had her own chemistry with the panel. She was just a producer’s dream, absolutely fantastic.” All the judges concurred with that analysis, and Nash said her hosting duties presented a unique challenge due to her experience of watching previous seasons of THE MASKED SINGER as a viewer at home. “It was way different hosting because I wanted my own guesses – I wanted to look to my left, or right, and say, ‘Now, which one do you think it sounds like?’ ” Nash said. “But you can’t do that because you are up there trying to lead the charge, lead the circus. However, every time I had a free moment, I was somewhere trying to figure out the clues, and take in the clue package. So I loved it because I still felt like a viewer at home, even though I was hosting.” While the pandemic has obviously impacted every aspect of the entertainment industry, there’s one intriguing side-effect for THE MASKED SINGER in terms of celebrity availability. “The star power in Season 5 of THE MASKED SINGER is at another level,” Thicke said. “We were so amazed by the level of talent and star power that we got this season.” Executive producer Craig Plestis added, “I think definitely this season, because of what has been happening (with the pandemic), there were a lot of different celebrities that their schedules actually opened up – people who always wanted to do our show, but were never able to make the time. So we were really blessed this season to get some exceptional talent. This is a phenomenal season, and you’ll see it in the premiere. What happens in the premiere is … I’ve got to tell you, you’ve got to watch it. It’s unbelievable.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv