SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched Season 4, Episode 4 of “The Masked Singer,” which aired Oct. 14 on Fox.
Former NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez isn’t known for singing, choreography or puppetry. But for “The Masked Singer,” he had to master all three.
Written content by Michael Schneider via Variety
Sanchez, now a college football analyst for ESPN, was the fourth celebrity to be revealed this season on “The Masked Singer.” But he didn’t wear just a normal disguise: Sanchez was “Baby Alien,” the show’s first ever costume that came with a puppet.
“I think that needed somebody that was big enough and strong enough to handle the weight of the costume,” Sanchez said. “Because after wearing it for a while, it wears on you a little bit. It’s like 40 pounds. And it positions itself on your upper chest area and lower back and shoulders, so they needed somebody with some broad shoulders to handle it. I was their guy and it worked out well.”
Sanchez said he practiced by getting a bit winded and exhausted before singing, to emulate what his experience would be like on stage, wearing the costume.
“I also wore a really heavy backpack when I would practice at home,” he said. “Just put some dumbbells in it and made it like 35 to 40 pounds and started belting out tunes in the house. Everybody’s kind of like, why are you doing this? And what are you practicing for?”
Sanchez said he didn’t quite know what he was in for at first, and assumed that the “puppet” would be a small hand toy.
“Then I realized I was going to have to put my hand in this weird position, move the mouth, and then with my other hand, move the hand of the puppet,” he said. “And then hit some choreography spots, and then sing. I was like, ‘Whoa, it’s gonna take some practice.’”
To prep for “The Masked Singer,” Sanchez said he employed some of the skills he learned after a decade playing for the NFL: “I’ve learned how to do that, how to create a routine for whatever I’ve done. And to be successful on Sunday it starts the previous Sunday in reviewing your past game and then ramping up for the next game with the appropriate preparation. And so that’s exactly the way I went about it with this. I would compartmentalize each thing, whether it’s the choreography, or the singing part or the puppeteering.
“I would practice with other songs, reading books, listening to stuff on the radio,” he said. “And so that kind of brought the puppet to life. It was all part of the regimen and I had a great time doing it.”
Sanchez also put on a fake Eastern European accent to further confuse the “Masked Singer” panelists — and it worked. None of the show’s panelists figured out that it was Sanchez. Guest panelist Joel McHale came closest at first, name checking Tom Brady, before going with actor Eric Bana as his pick.
The rest of the panel was just as stumped: Ken Jeong went with Freddie Prinze Jr., while Nicole Scherzinger guessed Jeff Dunham and Robin Thicke landed on Jason Biggs. Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg’s guess was Nick Kroll. Read more from Variety.
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