This post contains details from the Season 10 finale ofThe Masked Singer, including the identity of Cow.
The Masked Singerhas officially crowned its Season 10 winner.
After putting on two very different performances, Cow battled his way to the top.
The Masked Singer Season 10 finaleMichael Becker / FOX
No one should be too shocked by this win, considering Cow is none other than three-time Grammy winnerNe-Yo.
Props to Robin Thicke for figuring it out first.
He also had to stand alongside longtime friend Nick Cannon each episode and fly under his radar as well.
Ne-Yo spoke withDeadlineahead of the finale about keeping up the ruse and bringing home theMaskedtrophy.
DEADLINE: You mentioned youre a fan of the show.
But what prompted you to actually compete?
NE-YO:Nick Cannon is a dear friend of mine.
He had no idea that I was doing the show.
I actually have to give credit to another dear friend of mine.
Her name is Danielle Crawley.
Do you think that he would catch you?
And Im like, I dont know.
They actually asked me when it was agreed that I was going to do the show.
And sure enough, it worked, because he had no idea at all.
DEADLINE: Some of your mannerisms as the Cow were hilarious, especially when you would mess with Nick.
He calls you out on it in the finale.
How did you get into that character?
NE-YO:I pride myself as an actor in training.
You know what I mean?
And again, I knew I was gonna be a female cow.
DEADLINE: Throughout the competition, you really experimented with a lot of different genres.
NE-YO:Yeah, that was definitely done on purpose.
My voice is pretty distinctive.
Its very hard for me to disguise my singing voice.
I knew that if anybody was going to catch me that will be how.
I can disguise my speaking voice.
I cant disguise my singing voice.
DEADLINE: How did you decide to perform Take A Bow for the finale?
NE-YO:Take A Bow was a decision of myself and the producers combined.
Even then some of the judges were just not convinced it was me.
DEADLINE: Robin and Nicole did guess your identity.
Were you expecting that?
I was most concerned with Robin, Nicole, and Nick figuring out who I was.
Robin was actually the only judge that was consistently saying, Yeah, I think thats Ne-Yo.
Everybody else kind of moved and swayed to potentially other people.
But Robin kept it pretty consistent.
They werent really listening to Robin.
Nick said at one point, I know its not Ne-Yo.
I knew I was pretty much scot-free from there.
NE-YO:Well, backstage he was like, Okay, so I gotta kill Danielle.
He knew that our mutual friend was the one that was responsible for it.
And then he was actually really impressed.
Because he was like, I really did not know that it was you.
He was impressed with my acting chops.
Hes like, You got to do some more acting.
I think I just might.
DEADLINE: I also really enjoyed the group number at the beginning of the finale.
Did you all have to rehearse in your costumes to keep your identity hidden?
NE-YO:The security forThe Masked Singeris top notch.
It is presidential security, like nobody knew who anybody was.
No one knew who anybody else was.
For the rehearsals, you were either in your costume or in that hoodie and visor and gloves.
They were very, very adamant about it.
You literally couldnt come on set…they were not playing around.
It feels good to step outside of my own shoes for a minute.
Above anything else, I had so much fun with this.
I really truly did.
Id do it again.
If I felt like I could get away with it, I would absolutely do it again.
