Warning: This article contains spoilers for the season 10 finale ofThe Masked Singer.
Holy Cow:The Masked Singerseason 10 finale brought it.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Congrats on winningThe Masked Singer!
Cow on ‘The Masked Singer’.Michael Becker / FOX
NE-YO:Thank you very much.
I’m feeling good.
Is that why you wanted to do the U.S. version to give it another go?
Ne-Yo.Phillip Faraone/Getty
It wasn’t so much about winning the U.K. version.
People would recognize my voice a little faster.
That was totally fine.
I had a ball with it.
And the same thing with this one.
I had so much fun.
Even if I hadn’t won, I still would’ve just totally enjoyed the experience.
I never would’ve imagined that.
Michael Becker / FOX
Speaking of, you really leaned into this female cow character.
Was that just to throw the judges off?
It was totally done in an attempt to throw them off.
I have a million speaking voices.
My singing voice kind of is what it is, though.
There’s no way around it.
But the second I started singing, somebody was going to catch me.
I have personal relationships with Robin Thicke, Nicole Scherzinger, and with Nick Cannon.
So those were the three that I was really the most concerned with fooling.
I’m like, the second they hear me sing, they’re going to know it’s me.
So when the producers came to me with the costume, they gave me the option.
And I was like, oh, female cow all day.
So we get into the costume and the costume, it is kind of a bulky costume.
That was the easy part.
Robin was actually the only judge that was consistent with, I really think that’s Ne-Yo.
Nick even said it.
He was like, “I know it ain’t Ne-Yo.”
Even after the show, he was like, “Bro, you really shocked me.
I really didn’t think that it was you.
I really didn’t know.”
That’s funny considering you were messing with him on stage the whole season.
I was doing it on purpose.
I was getting such a kick out of the fact that he had no clue.
I’m like, I cannot believe that he doesn’t recognize me.
So I’m going to mess with him now.
I kept tapping him and playing with him.
I was having a lot of fun with it.
How did the U.K. and U.S. versions compare?
Were they different at all?
Not much difference at all.
They are super adamant about nobody knowing who anybody else is.
In your final clue package, you said you did the show for your mom.
Does she know you did the show yet?
They were like, so when did you do this?
And I’m like, what are you talking about?
They’re like, oh, come on.
We’ve been listening to your voice our whole lives.
We know you when we hear you.
I held out as long as I could messing with my daughter.
She’s like, “So you’re the Cow, huh?”
I’m like, “No, whatcha talking about?
I’ve never doneThe Masked Singerthing before.”
And she’s like, “Dad, really, cut it out.”
So yeah, they caught it right away.
A lot of my friends, they didn’t catch it.
Phillip Faraone/Getty
So what’s next for you?
Well, I got a international tour coming up in March of this year.
We’re going to start in the U.K. and then just work our way across the globe.
And I’m super excited about just doing more of what I love.
Again, music is something that’s woven into my DNA.
I’m not going to.
So yeah, man, I’m excited about the album.
I’m excited about the tour, and I’m just going to continue doing what I love.
I’ve also got some big screen and some small screen stuff in the works.
Yeah, man, I’m keeping busy and loving every minute of it.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
