Warning: Masked Singer spoilers below
The fourth season of Masked Singer Australia came to a close on Sunday night, with the final three masked celebrity identities finally revealed.
But there was some controversy surrounding this season’s winner, after a miraculous last-minute guess by famously clueless Dave Hughes that some viewers smelled a rat.
Mirrorball, Rooster and Snapdragon were the three contestants still left in the competition, and Mirrorball took out the season, unmasked as former Pussycat Dolls member Melody Thornton.
The 37-year-old singer was the star of the Mirrorball costume before the season even started, thanks to eagle-eared PCD fans who were able to pick out her voice from the pre-release ads.
But her name never came up among the judges all season, with Mel B often guessing that it was her former PCD bandmate Nicole Scherzinger. Nicole was always the lead singer of PCD, with the other members (including strong vocalist Melody) barely having any solo lines.
Which made judge Dave Hughes’ sudden guess about Thornton after his latest performance a bit of a shock, especially given his habit of making outlandish guesses throughout the season.
Some viewers wondered how Hughes would suddenly pick the winner after a season of wrong guesses, wondering if Hughes might have been fed the guesswork so viewers wouldn’t ask “who?” when Thornton was unmasked:
Second, the Snapdragon was unmasked as Sheldon Riley, the old one with a distinctive voice. The voice i The X factor contestant and Eurovision participant who was chosen by many fans in the first episode (and was soon imagined during the season by judge Chrissie Swan).
The show appeared to provide a bit of a wake-up call for the powerful 23-year-old vocalist, who has typically performed in masks in the past in his own career, but said that aftermasked singerhe had more confidence to act like himself.
And in third place was the Rooster, perhaps this season’s biggest surprise package, with singer-actor Hugh Sheridan disguising his voice from episode to episode to blow judges and fans off their feet. A judge had figured it out, however, with Abbie Chatfield positive it was Sheridan from the start of the suit.
Sheridan confessed that she “tried really hard” throughout the season to disguise her voice, and also said that she initially suffered from such bad claustrophobia in Gall’s costume that she feared she might quit the show.
Melody Thornton now joins the small list of Masked singer Australia winners: singer-turned-champion swimmer Cody Simpson, singer-actress Bonnie Anderson and American pop queen Anastacia.
Sunday’s final closes a great season of the masked singer, which has mixed local celebrities with a handful of international stars, including arguably the biggest “get” in the show’s history with former Destiny’s Child superstar Michelle Williams.
Here’s the full rundown of all the reveals this season:
Episode 1: Neighbours actor Ryan Moloney
Episode 2: Swimming champion Lisa Curry
Episode 3: Australian actress Pia Miranda
Episode 4: TV presenter Jamie Durie
Episode 5: Former Wiggle Emma Watkins
Episode 6: TV judge and food critic Matt Preston
Episode 7: Australian pop singer Sam Sparro
Episode 8: Shannon Noll, Australian Idol star
Episode 9: Destiny’s Child star Michelle Williams
Episode 10: American television actress Tori Spelling
End: Sheldon Riley, Hugh Sheridan and Melody Thornton.
How many have you guessed correctly during the season? I had my annual first-week stab at guessing the identities of the celebrities who had performed so far, and this year, I got six of the eight I guessed right (minus points for randomly guessing the rooster was John Farnham, not Hugh. Sheridan).
The new-look judges have also been surprisingly amazing with their guesses, with Chrissie Swan enjoying a mid-season winning streak in which she correctly identified three contestants in a row, while Abbie Chatfield and Mel B have guessed correctly at least. a couple of contestants.
OG umpire Dave Hughes continues to be terrifyingly terrible at the game (Pavarotti, anyone?), jokingly warning his new colleagues that they might not be asked to be too good of anyone next season.