‘The Masked Singer’: Why Panther’s Rendition of Nina Simone Left Him Feeling Liberated

“When Panther is singing, [spoiler] can be whoever he wants to be,” the Grammy nominee told TheWrap

THE MASKED SINGER. Panther in the “Vegas Night” episode of THE MASKED SINGER airing Wednesday, Sep. 28 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. © 2022 FOX Media LLC. CR: Michael Becker / FOX.

(Warning: This post contains spoilers for Season 8 of “The Masked Singer”)

Vegas Night on “The Masked Singer” proved to be quite the spectacle as Panther and Pi-Rat competed to take down the reigning queen of the competition, Harp. Despite their best efforts, they were unable to unseat her from the throne.

Pi-Rat was the first to be eliminated and revealed to be comedian and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham (which, in hindsight, seems obvious given that his altar ego also had a puppet). Panther’s performance of Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” was enough to send him to the Battle Royale, but the judges favored Harp when the two went head to head singing “Born to Be Wild” by Steppenwolf.

So, who was Panther? None other than “This Is How We Do It” singer Montell Jordan.

“I think the bloody Battle Royale was tough because I feel like Harp did her thing but I did my thing too,” the Grammy nominee told TheWrap. “Hopefully people feel a little conflicted regarding who moves on from this battle, because Panther did not go down without a fight.”

Much like NSYNC singer Chris Kirkpatrick, who was unmasked as Hummingbird earlier in the show, Jordan has been hearing his name among the judges’ guesses for previous contestants identities for several seasons.

“I’ve been guessed on that show for years now,” he said. “I wondered ‘Do people really know my voice?’”

And some may have known it was Jordan behind the mask, but the judges certainly didn’t. Instead, his stature prompted them to assume he was likely an NBA player. For Jordan, fooling the judges was both satisfying and also a bit freeing.

“When my opportunity came to be able to share different vocal stylings and allow people to really hear the versatility that I am capable of delivering musically, the mask, for me, became a liberating opportunity,” Jordan explained. “When I’m just Montell Jordan, people expect to hear what they expect to hear. But when Panther is singing, Montell can be whoever he wants to be.”

Of course, it helped that he had a costume fit for a king. Montell easily slipped into the swagger of the Panther costume (which was dressed in an ornate blue and gold suit, complete with a cape and a headdress) and performed an old classic with some Vegas flair.

“When I actually put the costume on, my wife had a moment because it’s so royal. It’s so regal that she saw it and she said that the design team captured in a costume how she sees me every day,” he said, joking: “That’s why we stay married.”

“The Masked Singer” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

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