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Fox’s The Masked Singer premiered episode on January 2 and was an immediate success. The show, which originated in South Korea, asks celebrities to face off in a singing competition while disguised in head to toe costuming as a character of the celebrity’s choice. When a contestant is eliminated, their identity will be revealed. Nick Cannon hosts, and Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong, and Nicole Scherzinger offer input and commentary as the show’s judges.
One of the remaining contestants on the show is the Unicorn; while the Masked Unicorn competes, clues will be given and guesses will be made until her identity is revealed. Since the show encourages its celebrities to throw off viewers and the judges’ panel with vague hints, many of the clues are left open to interpretation.
Here is what we know for sure about the Unicorn on The Masked Singer:
1. She Is From Beverly Hills
During the Unicorn’s clue package, there is an image of a sign that reads “Unicorn Hills,” which the judges immediately took to mean that she was “born in Beverly Hill,” California. In a disguised voice, she says “my childhood was supposed to be magical. I grew up in one of the richest neighborhoods.”
In the video, she then says “when I was little, I dreamt of singing but someone I admired told me I was tone deaf.” Continuing, she reveals “All my life, people told me I wasn’t worthy;” her intention for being on the show is to prove herself to those who didn’t believe in her and to be exactly who she wants to be.”
2. People Call her ‘Bird’
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After her performance, the judges had an opportunity to reflect on the clues and make guesses about which celebrity might be under the mask. While they guessed and talked about their initial suspicions, she added a new clue into the mix by revealing that people call her “bird.” She didn’t elaborate on the clue any further, but it implies that “bird” is her nickname.
3. Her First Performance Was ‘Fight Song’ by Rachel Platten
For her first performance on The Masked Singer stage, the Unicorn chose to sing “Fight Son” by Rachel Platten. The song choice was fitting, especially considering the storyline in her clue package about being put down and told she wasn’t good enough growing up.
She kept her dancing minimal and sang along with the vocal track, suggesting she isn’t a trained singer; the judges commented on that during the performance. The Unicorn was accompanied onstage by 4 drummers who were dressed and painted in all white. While she performed, Jenny McCarthy commented “Unicorns. Unity. Purity… definitely not Madonna.”
4. She Is 5’6″ Tall
In the premiere episode, when the Unicorn made her entrance to the stage, the show included a title card that said her height was 5’6″. It also said that her strength is that she is “made of magic.” After that first episode, the show eliminated the heights from the title card, most likely because it made it easier for viewers to make guesses by process of elimination (since celebrity heights are easily accessible online).
Since a height of 5’6″ was given to the Unicorn on the premiere episode, however, this should be considered a concrete clue to her real identity.
5. Costume Designer Marina Toybina Brought the ‘Unicorn’ Look to Life
Grainne O’Sullivan and Marina Toybina pose during the 2014 Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
Emmy-award winning costume designer Marina Toybina is the woman behind all of the elaborate costumes this season. In an interview with Variety, Toybina shared that some of the factors that went into designing costumes such as the Unicorn were the technical ability to see, hear, breathe and sing, but also the performer’s ability to dance and move around based on their personal stage presence and stature.
Later in the interview, she revealed “there were a few gender mixes within the costumes. I had such creative freedom from my network and the producers that we were able to play around … and the cast was so open-minded as to who would go into a female costume or who would go into a male and how we’d adjust the build based on that.” This teases that although the Unicorn costume is feminine-looking, its design could have been manipulated to disguise a male celebrity.