‘The Masked Singer’: Anteater Talks Compared to… Um, Willie Nelson?

DEVASTATION WARNING! This post contains details from Wednesday’s episode The masked singerincluding the identity of the eliminated contestants.

It was another double elimination on Fox The masked singerand two contestants received the starting signal at the “Soundtrack of My Life” night.

Only the donut survived and could participate in the final. The Candlestick (Keyshia Cole) and the Anteater (John Oates) say goodbye to the show. Here, Oates talks about his decision to do the show and what he thought when Jenny McCarthy thought he was Willie Nelson. (Questions about his legal troubles with his former partner Daryl Hall were off limits.)

Reporter: So I haven’t seen any photos of anteaters lately. Do they really have long arms?

ANT EATER They can be stretched. I have no idea how long an anteater’s arms are. I know they have a long nose, which is pretty obvious when you look at the costume. I don’t know that. The poor thing was crazy. It was the only thing I could really move. It was quite a challenge, I must say.

Reporter Robin Thicke previously commented on hearing the vulnerability in your voice. What do you think of this feedback?

ANT EATER Well, he’s a singer and he picked up on something in my voice and that was one of the things that intrigued me about the show, that I wanted to see what people would think of me singing, or what they would think of me find song without any preconceptions about who I was, my career or Daryl Hall or the ’80s. By wearing this costume and singing, they have to interact with you in a completely uncomplicated way. They are not allowed to have any preconceived notions, and I was very excited to see how this would work.

Reporter: Did it take a while to be convinced to do the show?

ANT EATER It was a pretty quick yes. The recording schedule fell into a gap in my tour schedule, so it worked out well. And I always liked going to LA because I have a lot of friends there. I didn’t know what it was really going to be like until I walked in and realized it was pretty intense. But it was definitely a unique experience and I’m excited to try something new.

Reporter Some early tips! You really go out of your way to talk about how you hit a high and then a low and lose your self-esteem. Did you feel like you revealed a little too much?

ANT EATER It was on the program with the clues. I wrote a book called “Change of Seasons: A Memoir” from which many key concepts were taken. So if you read my book you’ll probably know, but of course the panel didn’t read the book and that’s fine. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I feel like I’m an honest person. I like to tell it like it is, so that was good. I thought people would take up the idea of ​​Maneater and Anteater. It might have been a more obvious clue that no one seemed to notice

Reporter When Jenny McCarthy guessed Willie Nelson, did it make you feel big?

ANT EATER Of all the people they compared me to, this one really confused me. I love Willie Nelson, but I don’t think I look like him. I mean maybe John Mellencamp, maybe Bryan Adams, maybe Bob Seger. I thought they were at the stadium. The problem with Jenny was that I did her show on SiriusXM, so I thought she would notice certain things, but she didn’t.

Reporter Which of your songs did you personally choose?

ANT EATER The very first song, Walking in Memphis, was my choice. I chose it because I really liked the song and thought I could do a really good job with it. The others were determined by the theme of the show, like the boy band theme, whatever the themes were. I’ve never sung a boy band song in my life, but it was cool. Those are good songs.

Reporter: Have any of your friends or family members guessed your identity?

ANT EATER NO. NO. They really didn’t. And we really kept it a secret. I could do it. My wife wanted to tell our family, but didn’t. What was interesting was that no one noticed.

Reporter Booking someone with your fame and status is a big deal on this show. Do you think more professionals like you are more likely to do it because of the social experiment aspect?

ANT EATER Well, I think if people are open minded and want to try something different… that was my mentality and that’s why I did it. It depends on the type of artist. Some artists are very strict about who they are and how they want to be perceived. I’ve had such a long and varied career in my current life that I just want to try things. I enjoy every opportunity to go off the beaten path.