The Masked Singer Season 7 Just Delivered Its Most Crushing Elimination Yet

Teddy Bear on The Masked Singer on Fox
(Image credit: Fox)

Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Masked Singer’s “The Double Mask Off - Round 2 Finals.” Read at your own risk!

The Masked Singer Season 7 is the most dramatic yet, though not due to controversial eliminations, which are normally the cause of drama on this show. Even with the disappointing exit of Jordan Mailata (who took time away from his NFL obligations to participate), the eliminations themselves have been mostly fair. That hat changed in the latest episode, though, when the Fox competition dropped another two contestants in the course of one episode. Armadillo was the next eliminated contestant of Season 7 and revealed to be Duane Chapman, better known as Dog the Bounty Hunter, but that one I saw coming. What I didn’t see coming was Teddy Bear’s elimination happening at the same time, and that we’d see Jennifer Holliday out of the competition so soon. 

Even before The Masked Singer Season 7 (which you can catch up on with a Hulu subscription) revealed that Teddy Bear was Grammy- and Tony Award-winning singer Jennifer Holliday, she seemed poised to go far in the competition. Her performances ranged from songs by Taylor Dane to Demi Lovato, and as one might guess from a performer of her talents, she sang both rather effortlessly. Unfortunately, The Masked Singer occasionally sets up scenarios where something unfair is bound to happen, and that’s exactly what led to Holliday’s exit. 

This week's double-elimination on The Masked Singer was another three-person showdown, which coincidentally was the same gripe I had with Jordan Mailata’s elimination in the first group. While taking out two competitors after a shared performance between all three is efficient for time, it isn’t exactly fair. The crowd had to pick the best performer to advance out of Ringmaster (who still creeps me out), Armadillo, and Teddy Bear. I ultimately understand why Ringmaster advanced over Teddy Bear, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it. 

After all, the skill gap between Jennifer Holliday’s singing and Dog the Bounty Hunter was, to put it nicely, vast. And yet, both found themselves out of the competition at the same point in the series, which feels unfair to the singing icon. An early double elimination early in Group 2 could have taken out two of the less talented competitors, rather than chopping the top three down to one in the course of a single episode, and cutting Holliday at the same time as Dog. 

At the end of it all, though, controversial eliminations in The Masked Singer are inevitable. In fact, I believe I’ve complained about an unfair elimination at least once every season, so perhaps it's just a reality that I and all fans should embrace. Perhaps someday we’ll have the ultimate season where every elimination is justified, but Season 7 is not it. 

The Masked Singer Season 7 airs on Fox on Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. The season is absolutely flying by, so be sure to make a note of the start time and prepare for next week’s round of new contestants. 

Mick Joest
Content Producer

Mick Joest is a Content Producer for CinemaBlend with his hand in an eclectic mix of television goodness. Star Trek is his main jam, but he also regularly reports on happenings in the world of Star Trek, WWE, Doctor Who, 90 Day Fiancé, Quantum Leap, and Big Brother. He graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Radio and Television. He's great at hosting panels and appearing on podcasts if given the chance as well.