Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Masked Singer Season 7 episode “One Mask Hurrah.” Read at your own risk!
The Masked Singer pulled another dreaded double-elimination in its latest episode, and I only say "dreaded" because that's how the show had already lost some of its best talents in Season 7. The same was true in "One Mask Hurrah" when Space Bunny turned out to be “Mr. Boombastic” singer Shaggy, and Queen Cobras were the popular women’s singing group En Vogue. Of course, being a hit-making music group can only help so much on the Fox series, as the women of En Vogue talked about the restricting challenges of their costumes.
En Vogue, which features Terry Ellis, Rhona Bennett, and Cindy Herron, caught up with CinemaBlend and talked about the challenges of performing on The Masked Singer. Herron talked about some struggles associated with the masks, though noted that compared to other contestants, it could’ve been worse. She said:
Compared to some of the other costumes that we saw? We did get off pretty easy. From what we understood, some of those costumes are very weighty and very restricting. For us, the most restricting part of our costume was the actual masks because, inside, they were just designed to sit on the crown of our heads and some of the weight of it rested on our shoulders.
Contestants on The Masked Singer often talk about struggles with their masks, and Duff Goldman accidentally unmasked himself earlier this season. Fans have heard plenty of times about masks being uncomfortable and, occasionally, very hard to see out of, but no two masks are ever the same.
En Vogue confirmed that they had trouble seeing out of the Queen Cobra masks during their performances on The Masked Singer (and you can rewatch episodes with a Hulu subscription), but that’s not the only issue they endured. Cindy Herron talked about how the weight of the masks on their shoulders made them feel restricted and aware of the movements they do to reach certain notes.
As singers, when you’re reaching for a note, you never realize how much of your body you use when you’re really just trying to do something. You might crane your neck or use your shoulders. All of that was restricted. We didn’t have that movement.
Obviously, it’s a little hard to sing at full strength with some additional weight on your body. With that said, the Queen Cobras managed to get through most of their songs without issue, which speaks to just how talented they are.
Mask issues aside, there were also some issues with the bodysuits. While viewers might assume that the Queen Cobras were lucky to sing in bodysuits rather than a cramped crab suit or something else, Cindy Herron did note there were some downsides.
The bodysuits were bodycon. So, as a singer, we’re taught to breathe through our diaphragm and just let that stretch out like a big tire. But we didn’t want to do that and poke out stomachs out in a way that everybody could see! So, we had to redirect the air and like probably breathe more into our chests, which is wrong. Then we were choreographed, so we’re winded a little bit. Especially on ‘Say A Little Prayer.’ I was so winded at the end of it.
I can totally respect not wanting to poke out your belly on primetime television and agree that would make anyone uncomfortable. Maybe wearing some of the bulkier costumes of The Masked Singer isn’t that bad, at least for anyone worrying about how they might look on television. At least En Vogue doesn’t have to worry about that any longer and can breathe easy with the weight of Queen Cobra helmets officially off their shoulders.
The Masked Singer airs on Fox on Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. The fun is still rolling strong on Season 7, but it won’t be long before the season finale is here, so be sure to catch up on all the eliminated contestants so far and be ready!
