# The Masked Singer (American TV series) season 3

The third season of the American television series The Masked Singer premiered on Fox on February 2, 2020, as the Super Bowl LIV lead-out program, and concluded on May 20, 2020. The season was won by singer/TV personality Kandi Burruss as "Night Angel", with singer Jesse McCartney finishing second as "Turtle", and rapper Bow Wow placing third as "Frog".

## Production

The third season featured 18 new costumes. In addition to creating more mobility within the costumes, Toybina described the season's style focus as "more fashion-forward and modern" compared to the superhero and experimental feel of the first and second seasons. A fan favorite costume from the first season, Monster, was reimagined as a female (Miss Monster) to create a "fun and outgoing" costume that kids would enjoy, while White Tiger was designed to resemble an Egyptian warrior "god of all gods."
The series's production crew had to work out better voice modulation routines as they had found fans of the show were able to remove the modulation and identify the speaking from previous seasons. Further, passionate fans of the show had been able to work out identities of the singers from early clue packages, so more difficult clue packages were created for the celebrities in the season. Filming occurred from December 19, 2019, to February 28, 2020.

## Panelists and host

Nick Cannon, singer-songwriter Robin Thicke, television personality Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, actor and comedian Ken Jeong, and recording artist Nicole Scherzinger returned for their third season as host and panelists.
Guest panelists included Jamie Foxx in the first episode, Jason Biggs in the second episode, Leah Remini in the third episode, Gabriel Iglesias in the fifth episode, season one winner, T-Pain, in the sixth episode, Joel McHale in the eighth episode, Will Arnett in the ninth episode, Yvette Nicole Brown in the eleventh episode, Sharon Osbourne in the twelfth episode, Gordon Ramsay in the thirteenth episode, Jeff Dye in the fourteenth episode, and Jay Pharoah in the fifteenth episode.

## Contestants

During the season, eighteen contestants competed. The competitors were said to have a combined 69 Grammy nominations, 88 gold records, 11 Super Bowl appearances, three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, hundreds of tattoos, and one title in the Guinness Book of World Records.
The first nine episodes featured the contestants broken into three groups, A, B and C; across three episodes, the remaining contestants in the group performed and the lowest-voted contestant forced to unmask themselves. The tenth episode saw the remaining nine contestants compete. The lowest-voted contestant from each group was put to a final vote to determine the contestant to be unmasked. For the eleventh and twelfth episodes, the eight contestants were split into two groups of four, and within that, two pairings. The lowest-voted contestant of each pairing in the group of four performed in a "smackdown" for a final vote to determine who would be unmasked. For the next three episodes, one of the remaining six contestants was eliminated each week, and the top three contestants competed in the finale episode.
Results :
| Stage name | Celebrity | Occupation | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes | Episodes |
| Stage name | Celebrity | Occupation | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 17 |
| Stage name | Celebrity | Occupation | Group A | Group A | Group A | Group B | Group B | Group B | Group C | Group C | Group C | | | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 17 |
| Night Angel | Kandi Burruss | Singer/TV personality | | | | | | | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | WIN | | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | WINNER |
| Turtle | Jesse McCartney | Singer | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | | | | | | | SAFE | WIN | | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | RUNNER-UP |
| Frog | Bow Wow | Rapper | | | | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | | | | SAFE | | WIN | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | THIRD |
| Rhino | Barry Zito | Former MLB pitcher | | | | | | | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | RISK | | WIN | SAFE | SAFE | OUT | |
| Kitty | Jackie Evancho | Singer | | | | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | | | | SAFE | | RISK | SAFE | OUT | | |
| Astronaut | Hunter Hayes | Singer | | | | | | | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | RISK | | OUT | | | |
| Banana | Bret Michaels | Singer | | | | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | | | | RISK | | OUT | | | | |
| Kangaroo | Jordyn Woods | Model/socialite | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | | | | | | | SAFE | OUT | | | | | |
| White Tiger | Rob Gronkowski | Retired NFL player | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | | | | | | | OUT | | | | | | |
| T-Rex | JoJo Siwa | Dancer/singer | | | | | | | SAFE | SAFE | OUT | | | | | | | |
| Swan | Bella Thorne | Actor | | | | | | | SAFE | OUT | | | | | | | | |
| Bear | Sarah Palin | Politician | | | | | | | OUT | | | | | | | | | |
| Taco | Tom Bergeron | TV host | | | | SAFE | SAFE | OUT | | | | | | | | | | |
| Mouse | Dionne Warwick | Singer | | | | SAFE | OUT | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Elephant | Tony Hawk | Skateboarder | | | | OUT | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Miss Monster | Chaka Khan | Singer | SAFE | SAFE | OUT | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Llama | Drew Carey | Comedian/TV host | SAFE | OUT | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Robot | Lil Wayne | Rapper | OUT | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
* ↑ Rob Gronkowski was listed as a "retired NFL player" when he was unmasked on the April 1, 2020 show. However, Gronkowski announced he was coming out of retirement on April 21, 2020. The notation in this table reflects his status presented on the show as when the show first aired.

## Episodes
### Week 2 (February 12)

Group number: "Rock and Roll All Nite" by Kiss

### Week 5 (March 4)

Group number: "Larger than Life" by Backstreet Boys

### Week 8 (March 25)

Group number: "Let's Get Loud" by Jennifer Lopez

### Week 9 (April 1)

Group number: "ABC" by The Jackson 5 (with altered lyrics)
Performances on the tenth episode (Super Nine) :
| # | Group | Stage name | Song | Identity | Result |
| 1 | A | Turtle | "Higher Love" by Steve Winwood | undisclosed | SAFE |
| 2 | A | Kangaroo | "Not Ready to Make Nice" by Dixie Chicks | undisclosed | SAFE |
| 3 | A | White Tiger | "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred | Rob Gronkowski | OUT |
| 4 | B | Kitty | "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" by Celine Dion | undisclosed | SAFE |
| 5 | B | Banana | "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd | undisclosed | RISK |
| 6 | B | Frog | "Jump" by Kris Kross | undisclosed | SAFE |
| 7 | C | Night Angel | "Rise Up" by Andra Day | undisclosed | SAFE |
| 8 | C | Rhino | "What a Man Gotta Do" by Jonas Brothers | undisclosed | RISK |
| 9 | C | Astronaut | "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley | undisclosed | SAFE |

### Week 14 (May 13)

Group number: "The Best" by Tina Turner

### Week 15 (May 20) – Finale
## Ratings

The third season premiered as the Super Bowl LIV lead-out program and was viewed by over 27.3 million people—by far the series' most watched episode. While the broadcast was watched by more than the previous lead-out, The World's Best (22.2 million), and Fox's most recent lead-out, 2017's 24: Legacy (17.6 million), it was lower than the viewership of This Is Us in 2018 (27 million) and far lower than The Voice in 2012 (37.6 million). During the latter half of the season which aired during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the series—like others—experienced viewership and 18–49 rating gains of 10–15 percent compared to the episodes that aired before the outbreak. Excluding the post-Super Bowl premiere, the two-hour April 1 episode was the most watched since the first season's finale. Some, however, considered this increase unexpected due to the popularity of stripped-down performances during the numerous COVID-19 pandemic television specials that aired at the same time. A rival television executive said "if you had to predict which show was going to do well when the Living Room Concert and all that began, Masked Singer would be one of the last you'd choose." The season was watched by 25 percent more viewers and received a 25 percent higher 18–49 rating average than the second—the largest season-over-season increases of all television series broadcast during the 2019–20 television season. Among the more than 130 series aired, The Masked Singer was one of nine to increase in both figures, and one of only two to increase in both by 10 percent or more.
Viewership and ratings per episode of The Masked Singer (American TV series) season 3 :
| No. | Title | Air date | Timeslot (ET) | Rating/share (18–49) | Viewers (millions) | DVR (18–49) | DVR viewers (millions) | Total (18–49) | Total viewers (millions) |
| 1 | "The Season Kick off Mask Off: Group A" | February 2, 2020 | Sunday 10:40 p.m. | 8.1/36 | 23.78 | 1.2 | 3.55 | 9.3 | 27.33 |
| 2 | "The Playoffs: Group A" | February 5, 2020 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.0/10 | 7.46 | 1.0 | 3.01 | 3.1 | 10.47 |
| 3 | "Masking for a Friend: Group A" | February 12, 2020 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 1.8/10 | 6.64 | 1.0 | 2.99 | 2.8 | 9.63 |
| 4 | "A Brand New Six Pack: Group B Kickoff!" | February 19, 2020 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.0/10 | 7.13 | 1.2 | 3.37 | 3.1 | 10.50 |
| 5 | "Mask-Matics: Group B Playoffs" | February 26, 2020 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 1.8/9 | 6.75 | 1.0 | 2.88 | 2.7 | 9.62 |
| 6 | "Friends in High Places: Group B Championships" | March 4, 2020 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 1.8/10 | 6.82 | 0.9 | 2.67 | 2.7 | 9.49 |
| 7 | "Last But Not Least: Group C Kickoff!" | March 11, 2020 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 1.9/10 | 7.25 | 1.0 | 3.02 | 2.9 | 10.26 |
| 8 | "It Never Hurts to Mask: Group C Playoffs" | March 18, 2020 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.2/10 | 8.02 | 0.9 | 2.71 | 3.1 | 10.73 |
| 9 | "Old Friends, New Clues: Group C Championships" | March 25, 2020 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.2/10 | 8.03 | 0.9 | 2.69 | 3.1 | 10.72 |
| 10 | "The Super Nine Masked Singer Special: Groups A, B & C" | April 1, 2020 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.4/12 | 8.90 | 1.0 | 2.83 | 3.4 | 11.73 |
| 11 | "The Mother Of All Final Face Offs, Part 1" | April 8, 2020 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.1/11 | 7.94 | 0.8 | 2.55 | 2.9 | 10.50 |
| Special | "The Masked Singer: Sing-Along Spectacular" | April 15, 2020 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 1.8/9 | 6.87 | 0.6 | 2.05 | 2.4 | 8.92 |
| 12 | "The Mother Of All Final Face Offs, Part 2" | April 22, 2020 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.1/11 | 8.14 | 0.8 | 2.28 | 2.9 | 10.42 |
| 13 | "The Battle of The Sixes: The Final 6" | April 29, 2020 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.1/11 | 7.81 | 0.7 | 2.12 | 2.7 | 9.92 |
| 14 | "A Quarter Mask Crisis: The Quarter Finals" | May 6, 2020 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 1.8/10 | 7.29 | 0.7 | 2.18 | 2.5 | 9.47 |
| 15 | "A Day In the Mask: The Semi Finals" | May 13, 2020 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 1.9/10 | 7.24 | 0.7 | 2.16 | 2.6 | 9.41 |
| 16 | "The Masked Singer: Road to the Finals" | May 19, 2020 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 1.0/6 | 4.26 | 0.2 | 0.81 | 1.2 | 5.07 |
| 17 | "Couldn't Mask For Anything More: The Grand Finale!" | May 20, 2020 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.3/14 | 9.01 | 0.5 | 1.76 | 2.9 | 10.76 |