‘The Masked Singer’ Season 4 Episode 9 Recap: Broccoli Unmasked

SPOILER ALERT: Don’t read ahead if you haven’t watched Season 4, Episode 9 of “The Masked Singer,” which airs November 26 on Fox.

Paul Anka is grateful for his time on “The Masked Singer,” even though he was the last celebrity to be revealed on the hit contest series. On a special Thanksgiving broadcast, Anka was unmasked as Broccoli. (Scroll down to watch Anka’s reveal from the episode.)

Anka said “The Masked Singer” was the perfect way for him to perform during the COVID-19 pandemic and take a break from recording his latest album, which he is currently producing for release next year. .

“I was really locked in a studio and with COVID-19, not socializing or going out, obviously,” Anka told Variety. “I once talked to my son and my girlfriend and then to my team members, I said, yeah I have to get out of here and I think that would be a lot of fun.

Of the panelists, Robin Thicke was the only one who understood it was Anka, but for good reason: As fellow Canadians in entertainment, Anka and Thicke already knew each other.

“It’s a pretty tight-knit community,” said Anka, who also knew Thicke’s late father, Alan Thicke. “There was a lot of diversity in that they guessed, from Bill Murray to Wayne Newton. I suspected that Robin would [figure it out] because I didn’t really change my voice, other than doing a lot of movement. I don’t really suspect that many of the people watching or even on the panel have seen me in person other than maybe Robin.

Nicole Scherzinger guessed Wayne Newton, Ken Jeong thought it was Ringo Starr, Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg guessed Neil Sedaka and guest panelist Jay Pharoah guessed Paul Simon.

Anka, as Broccoli, sang “Old Time Rock & Roll”, by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, for her last performance. In previous episodes, he also sang “House Is Rockin ‘” / “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On”, by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jerry Lee Lewis, and “Hello” by Lionel Richie.

“That was the goal, for fun and a lot of movement,” Anka said of the numbers mostly on the rise. “By putting in energy and songs that I don’t normally do, I felt it could throw them a bit.”

Anka said he chose the broccoli costume because he was “health fool”.

“I was going with the flow, I didn’t exist with expectations, most things in life,” he said. “So I was just taking the course. I think I went further than I thought, frankly. I wasn’t really ready to wear a costume for three weeks, but these costumes are amazing. I think the big plus for a lot of fans is that these costumes are amazing.

He admitted that it takes a bit of getting used to the costumes and technology. “I’m an old school guy in the sense that there’s no tricks,” he said. “I don’t have an ear and I work a certain way. And I’m from the Rat Pack band and we had some performance when we sing. But once you wear a costume it doesn’t really fit you in a form of normalcy then the heat then the visual is very difficult because of the screen. And then you have a hand that is five times the size of yours. But once you get through the first [performance], and the heaviness of it all, then you deal with it, apply yourself and do it.

As for her new album, Anka said she works with guests such as Il Divo and Olivia Newton-John. But most notably, he works with Andrea Bocelli and takes the lead recording of Frank Sinatra singing “My Way” (which Anka wrote) to produce a new version of the song.

“When I wrote it for Sinatra in 1968, I had the right to have it on one of my albums,” Anka said. “I didn’t want to just do ‘My Way’, so I thought it would be interesting if I could get Bocelli, then get Frank’s master, mix it with me with an orchestra. The technology today is amazing, you can do that stuff. So it’s me, Bocelli, Sinatra, and we sing “My Way” together. Being able to merge them properly with Bocelli was a big challenge but we succeeded. And that’s an exciting part of the album.

In the final round of Group C, Anka as Broccoli performed “Take Me Down” from Alabama, while the Mushroom sang “A Song for You” by Donny Hathaway.

New this season, the show’s panelists are also competing for a “Golden Ear” trophy based on their first impressions of each masked performer – and at the start of the episode, McCarthy Wahlberg was leading with three, while Thicke and Scherzinger had two points each, and Jeong had so far zero.

Scherzinger’s first guess was Bill Murray; Jeong’s was Martin Short; Thicke was Bob Newhart; and McCarthy Wahlberg said Jerry Springer. No one picked up another point this week.

This season’s costumes include Baby Alien, Crocodile, Broccoli, Gremlin, Mushroom, Jellyfish, Whatchamacalit, Lips, Squiggly Monster, Popcorn, Sun, Dragon, Giraffe, Seahorse, Snow Owls and Serpent.

Lonzo Ball (Whatchamacalit), “Dr. Elvis ”Francois (Serpent), Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black (Snow Owls), Bob Saget (Squiggly Monster), Wendy Williams (Lips), Mark Sanchez (Baby Alien), Brian Austin Green (Giraffe), Mickey Rourke (Gremlin) and Busta Rhymes (Dragon).

This means that for the Championship Round the bottom six are the Crocodile, Mushroom, Jellyfish, Popcorn, Sun and Seahorse.

Here are the other competitors and their performances during the ninth week, “Group C Finals – Les masques Thank”:

Mushroom

Song: “Unconditionally”, by Katy Perry
The panel assumes: Jaden Smith, Taye Diggs, The Weeknd
Index: “The name I have now was not my name when I first sprouted.
Voice over from a friend: “Off the record, Mushroom has always been a go-getter. In high school, Mushroom was class president. With a GPA greater than 4.0. When Mushy thinks of something, Mushy lashes out at the hard core. From helping underprivileged youth to making appeals for important causes, Mushroom’s work ethic is second to none.
Previous songs: Maxwell’s “The Work of This Woman”; “If I could turn back time”, by Cher
The previous panel guesses: Donald Glover, Usher, Frank Ocean, Adam Lambert, Jaden Smith

Astonished

Song: “Don’t start now”, by Dua Lipa
The panel assumes: Charli XCX, Kylie Jenner, McKayla Maroney
Index: “If you find this, you’ll know I’ve never performed on a stage like this before.”
Sister voice over: “Jellyfish has always been the rebel of our by-the-book family and in reality, she’s also the top performer. Even though she has achieved so many achievements already, she is still eager to challenge herself in new arenas. We love to sing along with our favorite show, so I’m no stranger to her wonderful voice. And with her work ethic, it’s no surprise that she has come this far.
Previous songs: “Big girls don’t cry,” by Fergie; “Crazy”, by Patsy Cline
The previous panel guesses: Gabby Douglas, Chloe Grace Moretz, Awkwafina, Sofia Richie, Lana Condor, Halle Bailey.

Here is the video of Anka unmasked: