So cute and so….over!
On the second episode ofThe Masked Singer, Laila Ali a.k.a.
Panda was eliminatedfrom the competition after she was outperformed by the Flamingo and the Leopard.
Michael Becker/FOX
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Judge Robin Thicke guessed that it was you right off the bat!
I thought they were a giveaway.
There was one clue about having a good side.
What did that mean?We dont come up with the clues ourselves.
I dont literally sit there and write the clues myself.
I was just curious if you knew what it meant.No.
Thats not me at all.
And then I wanted to show a confident side when I sing by doing empowerment songs.
I was really trying to throw the audience off, and I think it worked.
Everyone was all, Oh, the Panda is so sweet!
The Panda is so nice!
It would be a nice contrast for when they finally find out that I am a fighter.
The judges were floating some big names like Venus Williams, Queen Latifah, Martha Stewart.
I dont think they thought it was Martha Stewart.
It was really hard with mine.
They had all of these clues but the body was throwing them off.
I made sure the body of the costume looked realistic.
The judges were really thrown off.
I remember them saying, Im thinking athlete but the body just doesnt look like an athlete.
Was that costume hot as hell?Very.
I was so happy to get it off.
It was hot and heavy.
How many weeks were you allowed to prepare?I prepared for a couple of weeks.
Were you able to hear the Flamingo perform backstage?I did.
When I heard the Flamingo, I knew that person definitely has a stronger voice than I had.
Then I started thinking I was probably going to end up in the bottom.
And then when I heard the Leopard, I felt like the song choice I had wasnt good.
I thought it was a battle song so I did rap.
But the Leopard did a singing song.
I started to second guess myself again.
I thought, okay, I wasnt actually singing.
I thought the Leopard was going to be doing a song similar to mine.
Those are things you find out in the moment.
Thats how it rolls.
Thats the fun of the competition!
I think the Leopard is Billy Porter.
What do you think?I have no idea.
Thats a good guess!
How did the voice box work when you addressed the audience after the song?
I didnt have any control over that.
When you sing, there is nothing on your voice.
My voice is very distinct so if I spoke, that would give me away.
My kids didnt even know I was performing!
We were watching it last night and they were so excited.
I wanted to get their reaction.
As soon as I started singing, they were like, Mom, that sounds like you.
I was like, How could it be me?
Im sitting right here!
Theyre like, Mom, thats you.
Then they totally thought it was crazy when I took the mask off.
How did you get your kids to watch the show?
Were they fans from the first season?They didnt know anything about the show.
I just told them I really wanted to watch this cool show, its a competition.
A YouTuber was on last week!
They saw the preview of what happened last week and then they wanted to watch.
Then when they started to watch they were like, These are probably none of the people we know.
That must have been the greatest moment when they saw it was you.Well, you know what?
I recorded it with my iPhone and then I erased it by accident.
I could just kill myself for that.
I couldnt believe it!
It was so perfect.
I was going to post it on social media.
Youve done a few reality shows.
They are on a whole another level in terms of the magnitude of the show.
But I would say toDancing With the Starswould be the ultimate favorite to me.
I got exactly what I wanted out of the show.
I had fun and it was a catapult to everything Im doing now.
And I went to the finals!
So I had a little more control over everything.
The Masked Singerairs Wednesdays at 8 p.m.
