The panel didn’t even need a second guess.
On “Star Trek Night,” The Masked Singer delivered one of its rare unanimous unmaskings as all four judges — Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, Ken Jeong, and Rita Ora — correctly identified Stingray as actor and musician Evan Ross — thanks in large part to a final clue that might as well have come with a flashing neon sign: a “permission slip” signed “Mother Supreme.”
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Of course, when your mom is Diana Ross, there’s only so much you can hide.
Still, Ross tells Gold Derby he wasn’t too worried about staying anonymous — he was just there to have a good time.
“I think from the beginning, for me, it was about just having fun and not worrying about whether people knew it was me or not,” he says. “But I’m pretty sure — especially being friendly with almost everybody on that panel — I was like, there’s no way they don’t know it’s me.”
Below, Ross opens up about stepping into the Stingray costume, his childhood memories of Luther Vandross, and the celebrity he’d like to see join The Masked Singer.
Gold Derby: What made you say yes to doing The Masked Singer?
Evan Ross: Well, I liked the show a lot — I just hadn’t seen it as much as I have now. But I thought it was going to be interesting because it’s kind of fun to sing these songs and do this stuff without people knowing who you are. Just being able to play around with that.
And I was so blown away with what goes into every episode — the characters, the costumes, the whole thing. It’s really next level. I had an amazing time.
What was your reaction when you saw the Stingray costume?
I just thought it looked so cool. I kind of left it up to the team to decide what the character would be.
My main concern was that I have very skinny legs, and I was like, “Can you guys put some muscles in there? Because I’m going to look crazy with the big head and skinny legs.”
So yeah… those are not Evan’s legs.
You performed songs like “Stayin’ Alive” and “Starboy.” Did you have a favorite?
“Stayin’ Alive” is a really hard song to sing. I don’t think people realize how high that is. I even took it down a bit and I can sing pretty high.
And then “Starboy” — I’m friendly with The Weeknd, and I love that song. But I didn’t realize how many lines there are. It’s like a rap song. That was very hard to learn in that amount of time.
How difficult was performing in that costume?
You couldn’t see anything. People were literally walking me around.
The amount of times I nearly fell over was hilarious. It was like singing in my own world.
Let’s talk about that final clue — the “Mother Supreme” permission slip. What was your reaction?
I think even from the beginning, they kind of knew [it was me]. I’m friendly with almost everybody on that panel, and I’m so close to Nick — I’ve known him since I was 16.
So I was like, there’s no way they don’t know it’s me. But I just pretended that wasn’t the case so I could have fun.
You grew up around some of the biggest names in music — who were you listening to?
So many. Because of how I grew up, I think I ended up listening to a lot of music from a little bit before my time — and I actually got to bring some of that into the show.
Michael Jackson is probably my favorite of all time. But also Stevie Wonder, Luther Vandross… I love Luther Vandross.
What do you remember about Luther Vandross?
I actually didn’t like Luther at first.
He used to come over to the house and mess my hair up all the time, and I was very OCD about my hair as a kid. I’d spend so much time brushing it, and he’d just mess it up — so I wasn’t a fan, and he knew it.
And then one day my mom told him, “You should sing him some Michael Jackson — he’ll like that.”
So Luther sang “ABC” to me… and after that, I started listening to Luther Vandross — and I was obsessed. I love him.
What’s next for you?
There’s a lot of things I’ve been working on that I’ll be sharing soon. I’ve been producing a lot — some things I’m in, some I’m not.
I’m finishing what I think is a really cool album, and I have an art show coming up in London in the next few months.
Lately I’ve just really enjoyed creating things on my own and deciding how I want them to be.
Final question — if you could nominate someone to do The Masked Singer, who would it be?
Cara Delevingne.
She’s a close friend of mine, but I don’t think people realize how incredibly musical she is. I think she’d kill it.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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