Yahoo Finance Skunk on her The Masked Singer duet with Michael Bolton and who she's betting on to win it all
Warning: This article contains spoilers about Wednesday night's episode of The Masked Singer.
The Masked Singer's season 6 Group A finals did not disappoint.
Bull kicked things off with one of the liveliest performances ever seen on the show with Paula Abdul's "Straight Up," and Skunk brought all the emotion to her rendition of Aretha Franklin's "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)." The real fun of the episode came afterward, though. For the first time ever, the finalists got to perform with guest celebrity singers. Bull was paired with season 3 finalist Jesse McCartney (formerly known as the Turtle), and Michael Bolton sang with Skunk.
Kudos to whoever picked the songs ("Breakeven" by the Script for Bull and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell for Skunk) and the matchups, because both guest singers sounded great alongside the finalists.
The competition was incredibly fierce, and host Nick Cannon said it was the closest vote yet. But, as always, unfortunately, someone had to go home. This time it was Skunk who got unlucky. But before she unmasked, the race for the Golden Ear trophy also heated up. Robin Thicke joined the scoreboard with one point because his first impression guess was Faith Evans and Skunk was indeed unmasked to reveal the Grammy-winning R&B and hip-hop queen. Thicke, Nicole Scherzinger, and Ken Jeong are now all tied with 1 point each.
Before the big reveal, EW spoke with Evans about her time on the show, what she wanted to sing in the finals, and who she thinks is going to win it all.
FOX Skunk on 'The Masked Singer'
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: First of all, were you a fan of The Masked Singer before you signed on to do it?
FAITH EVANS: I was a fan of the show, and I was highly honored to get the call to do it because I always thought this looks like it would be such fun to do.
And did it live up to your expectations?
Absolutely. It's a whole lot of fun, but it's also a whole lot of work if you really want to stick in there for the long haul. I remember a couple of days on the way to rehearsals and choreography and stuff, and the driver would be like, "Oh, you're still here?" And I'm like, "What do you mean? I'm trying to stay." He's like, "Everybody else doesn't try to stay to the end." And I was like, "Well, I am trying to!"
So it's safe to say then that you were disappointed to go home this week?
I was, I was. But I was very happy to have made it as far as I did. You know, it's not the easiest thing. I'm truly honored to have made it that far.
Did you have a song picked out for the finale?
I was going to do "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from Dreamgirls. Yeah, that was gonna be my song.
Tell me about your duet with Michael Bolton. Did you have any say in any of that, or how did it all come together?
Well, I was told who I would be doing a duet with, and I believe I may have had a couple of song choices. But "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was certainly one of the favorites of the producers and that's a great song. It's one of the best R&B songs, one of the best duets ever, in any genre. So I wasn't at all opposed to that.
You said on the show that you had sung together before. Do you think Michael ever figured out it was you under that mask?
I don't think he's gonna even remember the time we sang together until he knows who I am under that mask. Because it wasn't like a show, you know what I mean? It wasn't an actual event, we were at someone's house party. And he was singing with someone by the piano and my friends kind of coaxed me to go up and join in with him and we ended up singing a few songs.
One person who did have you figured out — from the beginning, too — was panelist Robin Thicke. Did that surprise you?
I absolutely knew Robin would know my voice. So I wasn't surprised at all about him guessing right off the bat. To be quite honest, for some reason, I guess I didn't get the dynamics of the unmasking because I was kind of nervous, like, if they guess who I am does that mean I have to be unmasked? [Laughs] So I'm like, "Dang, that means I might leave right after the first performance because I know Robin is gonna get it!"
You're no stranger to the stage and performing live, so what was the wildest part of doing The Masked Singer for you?
Just being able to perform in that heavy costume and being able to project under that big mask that didn't have many air holes. It was work, but it was also a lot of fun. And, you know, for me, I think it's just the fact that not only did I make things happen for me to be able to do it, and this being the first thing that I've done in some years, but also the fact that I've made it as far as I did, you know, that means I didn't do too bad.
FOX
What's next for you?
Honestly, I am back to figuring things out for my son. I've been dealing with a lot of legal stuff with the school district because I have a son who's on the autism spectrum. And so, you know, that's pretty much what I've been dedicated to for the last three and a half years, specifically, having cut off my work schedule as far as performing and recording. So I don't see a whole lot of change until this situation is settled and he has a full day schedule and activities and things like that, then I can have like the state of mind to know that I can take some time to do some other stuff.
And who do you think is going to win it all this season? Any guesses?
I'm looking at Bull because Bull has had me shaking in my boots since episode two. So I'm thinking Bull has a great chance.
You know, when I talked to Pepper, who ended up being Natasha Bedingfield, she told me that she thought you were going to win. And she said she got to tell you that.
I had no idea of course who she was until you just said that! [Laughs] I do remember her telling me that. And I was like, "Really?" And I'm here thinking that all of them could possibly win it.
Thank you for coming on The Masked Singer. Was there anything else you wanted to mention?
No, thank you for talking to me. I mean, I had so much fun doing the show. And I hope maybe they'll have me back as a guest judge or something one day.
They do love to do that with past contestants, like Wayne Brady. You should keep your phone near you!
Uh-huh. Hint hint.
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