Who won The Masked Singer? Buffaloes and The Wasp both unmasked as R&B legends
- Have YOU got a story? Email tips@dailymail.com
- SPOILERS: There will be spoilers for Wednesday's Season 12 finale of The Masked Singer below so read on at your own risk
Season 12 of The Masked Singer came to a close on Wednesday, with the show unmasking two legendary R&B acts.
The Season 12 finalists were the soloist known as The Wasp and a trio of singers dubbed Buffaloes, after Strawberry Shortcake was eliminated in third place and unmasked as actress and singer Aly Michalka.
Both finalists sang twice - with The Wasp singing When I Was Your Man by Bruno Mars and I'm Your Baby Tonight by Whitney Houston.
Buffaloes sang Gotye’s Somebody That I Used To Know and Too Good at Goodbyes by Sam Smith.
Both the studio audience and the judges panel - Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg, Ken Jeong and Rita Ora - were tasked with voting on the Season 12 winner.
They ultimately chose Buffaloes, who became the first group in the show's history to win the Golden Mask trophy.
The Season 12 finalists were the soloist known as The Wasp and a trio of singers dubbed Buffaloes, after Strawberry Shortcake was eliminated in third place and unmasked as actress and singer Aly Michalka.
They ultimately chose Buffaloes, who became the first group in the show's history to win the Golden Mask trophy
Second place finisher The Wasp was unmasked first, as the judges offered their final guesses for this singer.
Jenny chose Jason Derulo while Ken picked Usher, though both Rita and Robin were in agreement that The Wasp was in fact Mario, a guess that proved correct.
When asked why he decided to go on The Masked Singer, the 38-year-old (born Mario Dewar Barrett) said he wanted to tap back into his childhood.
'I have a wild imagination. I've always been into, you know, just sitcoms and cartoons since I was a kid. I just think that as we get older, sometimes we lose that secret of imagination,' Mario began.
'So this gave me a chance to really tap back into that kid that didn't get a chance to be a kid,' he added.
'You know, I started at 15 years old in the industry, and before that it was just going from home to home. I got adopted when I was 13, so this just tapped me back into that child me again,' Mario said.
He added that it was an 'incredible experience,' before joking to the judges panel, 'I think I know who y'all are,' and giving a shout-out to the Buffaloes.
'I'm just happy to be here to share that energy with y'all. Thank you,' Mario concluded, before giving his final performance, unmasked, singing his own hit Let Me Love You.
Second place finisher The Wasp was unmasked first, as the judges offered their final guesses for this singer
Jenny chose Jason Derulo while Ken picked Usher, though both Rita and Robin were in agreement that The Wasp was in fact Mario, a guess that proved correct
'I have a wild imagination. I've always been into, you know, just sitcoms and cartoons since I was a kid. I just think that as we get older, sometimes we lose that secret of imagination,' Mario began
'You know, I started at 15 years old in the industry, and before that it was just going from home to home. I got adopted when I was 13, so this just tapped me back into that child me again,' Mario said
'I'm just happy to be here to share that energy with y'all. Thank you,' Mario concluded, before giving his final performance, unmasked, singing his own hit Let Me Love You
When it came time to give the final guesses for Buffaloes, McCarthy-Wahlberg had seemingly convinced the entire panel that it was Boyz II Men, and they were all right.
The group formed in 1985 - comprised of Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, Shawn Stockman and Michael McCary, though McCary left the group in 2003 after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Both of the Morris' (no relation) and Stockman were unmasked to raucous applause, as Nathan Morris revealed why they went on the show.
'We got excited, man, because when you're an artist for 30 some odd years, people tend to try to put you in a hole of what you can do and what you can't do,' he began, before breaking down some of their strategy.
'So we actually huddled up as we always do, and said, "Listen, we gonna start these songs and slide this way and push 'em that way,"' he added.
'Try songs that they never heard us sing before. Switch parts around, have people doing stuff they don't do. And then when the competition got stiff, - we just had to turn the screws,' he said.
Wanya morris added, 'Especially when we heard that,' while pointing at Mario, who admitted, 'I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you.'
When asked what they wanted to say to their family and loved ones, Wanya said, 'Well, we wanna say that we truly, truly appreciate each and every one of you for allowing us to show our personalities.'
When it came time to give the final guesses for Buffaloes, McCarthy-Wahlberg had seemingly convinced the entire panel that it was Boyz II Men, and they were all right
The group formed in 1985 - comprised of Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, Shawn Stockman and Michael McCary, though McCary left the group in 2003 after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
'We got excited, man, because when you're an artist for 30 some odd years, people tend to try to put you in a hole of what you can do and what you can't do,' he began, before breaking down some of their strategy.
'Try songs that they never heard us sing before. Switch parts around, have people doing stuff they don't do. And then when the competition got stiff, - we just had to turn the screws,' he said
Wanya morris added, 'Especially when we heard that,' while pointing at Mario, who admitted, 'I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you'
He added, 'We love to have fun, and you guys allowed us the opportunity, the platform to have fun.'
He added, 'To everyone here that shouted "Buffalos," to everybody out there in the world, the whole world watching this, this is the blessing that-- you guys-- God gave us,' as Stockman added, 'Yes, sir. Yes, sir.'
The season concluded with Boyz II Men and Mario all singing Boyz II Men's iconic hit Motownphilly.
Fox also announced that Season 13 of The Masked Singer will debut Wednesday, February 12 at 8 PM.
