On The Masked Singer, the identity of the Ice Cream was revealed when he took off his mask and it was the ultra-famous Youtube star and gamer, Ninja. After belting out his rendition of "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X, he was voted out as the worst singer of the week, but his millions of subscribers were freaking out over realizing it was him behind the mask.
Richard Tyler Blevins, better known under his alias, Ninja, (formerly NinjasHyper) is the most followed video game streamer on Twitch with 14 million followers and over 50,000 viewers per week. The gamer has made his empire off of playing the popular battle royale game, Fortnite. Ninja set the record for most views on an individual stream (outside of tournaments) when he played Fortnite with rapper/singer Drake, rapper Travis Scott, and NFL receiver Juju Smith-Schuster. In addition to his followers on Twitch, the gamer has over 22 million subscribers to his YouTube channel. The 28-year-old streamer is currently making $500,000 a month from streaming Fortnite on Twitch. Now the gamer is switching over to the Twitch competitor, Mixer, as his full-time streaming platform.
The Masked Singer audiences had suspected it was Ninja under the Ice Cream mask, especially his millions of followers. After he sang the most popular song ever, "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X and Billy Cyrus. Even though it was an over-the-top performance, it wasn't enough and he was voted by the judges - Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger, Robin Thicke, and Ken Jeong - as the worst singer of the week.
After he was voted out, it was the moment fans were waiting for - the unmasking. He revealed his famous face with his trademark pink and blue hair. When asked why he wanted to do this singing competition, Ninja explained, "I just wanted to step out of my comfort zone, man," The streaming superstar then revealed that he and his wife were fans of the show last season, saying, "My wife and I loved the season last year, so when the opportunity came to present itself, we're like, yeah let's just do it."
Ninja revealed that he chose the Ice Cream "because of my blue hair and, I mean, I love sweets. It was kind of perfect." He also revealed the clues that should have given away his identity. The host of The Masked Singer, Nick Cannon, said he knew right away that it was Ninja after he saw him doing karate in the video. Ninja revealed that the clues the audience should have picked up on were the "streamers, you know, because I'm a streamer," and a hand-clap dance move that the back-up dancers performed is one of his signature moves that he does while streaming. He revealed that this was a terrifying and amazing experience, saying, "I don't sing." He said, "I had overcome one of the craziest fears I've ever had. Like I don't even sing in front of myself." He gave a shout out to his Ice Cream fans, encouraging them to "work harder than anybody else around you, and you can achieve your dreams."
With Ninja's audience being the younger crowd, predominantly teens and children, he is a role model. The fact that he went on the popular primetime TV show, The Masked Singer, to get out of his comfort zone and face his fears, urges his followers to do the same. Even though he was voted out quickly and only got the show fans one performance, he did what he set out to do, to overcome his fear and step out of his comfort zone. Fans can continue to watch The Masked Singer to wait and see if they can figure out the remaining identities behind the masks.
The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays at 8pm EST on Fox.
Source: The Masked Singer