Ken Jeong does a victory lap on ‘The Masked Singer’

Ken Jeong clearly doesn’t get enough credit. Although to be fair, The Masked Singer (Wednesday, 8 pET, CTV) panelist is always connecting the most random clues and running off on about 17 different tangents during any given episode. So when he took a small JAG clue from Rhino and made it into a whole thing on the semifinals, no one—especially host Nick Cannon—took him seriously. But as it turns out he “knew exactly who this is” and for the first time all season he correctly guessed the performer’s identity. TBH even he seemed a little shocked.

Tooting the Rhino’s horn

When Rhino, Frog, Night Angel and Turtle took the stage to perform during the semifinals, once again the panelists—including guest panelist Jay Pharoah—were reminded just how different each one of the personalities are. At this point, the series has become more than a contest of who has the best voice: the song selection, dance routine and overall showmanship mean a lot. Considering these celebs also have to prance around that stage in larger-than-life costumes while doing all of that makes this a really hard show to win.

RT @MaskedSingerFOX ? SPOILER ALERT ? #RhinoMask is...#TheMaskedSingerpic.twitter.com/NLLNFWReqF

— Ken Jeong (@kenjeong) May 14, 2020

Rhino’s elimination just a week before the finale is the perfect example of needing to be a triple threat to carry on. His rendition of Tim McGraw’s "Humble and Kind" was pitch perfect, but as far as “performances” go, he just didn’t have Frog’s swagger, Night Angel’s diva-esque qualities, or Turtle’s dance moves. That’s probably why he received the least number of votes and had to be unmasked. And he was so darned close to that Golden Mask too.[video_embed id='1501883']RELATED: Ken Jeong showed us his infamous dance moves and it was the best[/video_embed]That did, however, mean it was Jeong’s time to shine. True, he totally glommed onto winningest panelist Jenny McCarthy’s guess that Rhino was World Series pitcher Barry Zito. Sure, the reasons he guessed Zito made everyone roll their eyes—and it was mostly due to that whole JAG thing. Even McCarthy hated that she agreed with Jeong for her final guess. But when the former MLB star was indeed revealed to be underneath the mask (confirming what the internet has been saying for weeks), Ken took an actual victory lap. As in he jumped up, ran around the table, ran down to the stage and hugged the performer. Hey, sometimes you’ve just got to toot your own horn. Oh, and when Zito confirmed the JAG clue? Well even Cannon had to eat some humble pie on that one.

JAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGG #TheMaskedSinger pic.twitter.com/8tslvMqY2F

— Ken Jeong (@kenjeong) May 14, 2020

The first female winner?

With Rhino gone, there are now two amphibians and a purple lady left. Nothing against Frog and Turtle, but Night Angel is definitely coming for that Golden Mask next week. The singer made it clear that she wants to become the first female winner in the show’s history, something that probably plays quite well to the female audience who also want the same thing. Add in the fact that Night Angel can sing—like she can really belt out those tunes—means this could actually happen. Then again, when have reality shows ever panned out the way you expected?

#NightAngelMask completely did that!!! ?You betta get it #TheMaskedSinger pic.twitter.com/S2LDAYr9Sv

— Nicole Scherzinger (@NicoleScherzy) May 14, 2020

For that reason alone no one should count the other two performers out just yet. Frog has brought crazy energy each week to his performances, and to see him leap into the final two wouldn’t be the biggest surprise. The same could be said for Turtle, who keeps pushing his voice to new heights with lots of encouragement from his hero, panelist Robin Thicke. It really all comes down to what they’ve been holding back (if anything) for their final performances. One thing's for sure though, and that’s that everyone is in for one heck of a showdown when these guys and lone gal take the stage one final time next week.The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CTV.[video_embed id='-1']BEFORE YOU GO: Doggy & cheetah are good friends[/video_embed]