Remembering Danny Trejo’s ‘Wild’ Performances as The Raccoon on ‘The Masked Singer’
The Masked Singer FOX Reading Time: 3 minutes
The season five premiere of ‘The Masked Singer’ featured a variety of bizarre costumes and guesses from the panel of judges. Many of the singers actually delivered some quality performances, that is, up until The Raccoon took the stage. His performance of “Wild Thing” went completely off-script. His shockingly bad vocals turned heads in the audience, but nonetheless, the judges still enjoyed it.
The Raccoon was later revealed to be Danny Trejo of movie infamy. He was introduced to The Masked Singer audience in a very dramatic package. The visuals accompanying his hints featured a lot of prison imagery as he described his role in the industry. The furry character made it a point to mention that he was good friends with the likes of legendary actor Robert De Niro (the two have been in multiple projects together including “Machete.”)
Based on the hints, it seemed like the singer behind the mask was an older, more accomplished actor. Based on the vibe of the pre-performance video, most predicted someone you might recognize from a mafia or gangster film, which turned out to be correct.
The Raccoon Gets “Wild” with Niecy Nash
The Racoon powerfully took to the stage for his first performance and it seemed like the character went rogue and even improvised a lot of the lyrics in the end. Were the vocals good? Absolutely not, but it sure was entertaining to watch. The judges had some interesting thoughts when it came down to their guesses and comments.
“I know exactly who this is,” Ken Jeong said confidently when it was his turn to comment. Spoiler: his guesses weren’t even close and he settled on Mike Tyson. He was convinced that the singer had to be a fighter.
The Raccoon left the judges stumped. Shockingly, while he was definitely the worst singer of the night, he lived to see another week in the competition. Trejo wasn’t revealed until episode three, beating out both Kermit the Frog and Caitlyn Jenner.
“You know what, I thought it was the cutest thing in the world,” Trejo later said. “I’ve never done anything like that. I’m definitely not a singer. I can’t carry a tune in a bucket. But when I saw the costume, I have a little Schnauzer dog named John Wesley Hardin, that looks exactly like that raccoon. Same coloring, same eyes. So I got to do this, you know. Everybody thought I was being a raccoon, but really I was being John Wesley Hardin, my Schnauzer.”
At least Trejo admits singing isn’t his strong-suit. We love an icon who can make fun of themselves and put themself out there. Since his time on the show, Trejo released a new memoir and has recently shared behind the scenes photos from filming a new movie “A Prayer for Judas.”
The Masked Singer Season 6 is set to premiere on September 22. Our fingers are crossed that another legendary actor will show us their Wild side on the stage.
