“The Masked Dancer”: A ’90s boy band star in costume

Tulip blames him …

Semifinals in “The Masked Dancer”! The last five masked stars clashed for the finals on Thursday evening.

As a reinforcement for the jury members, moderator Steven Gatgen (49) and singer Alexander Claus (38), moderator Annemarie Karpendel (44) took a seat in the jury’s chair as a professional. She was Teddy on the last “Masked Singer” season—and that evening she danced in her old outfit at the start of the show.

Then she had to first peel off her teddy fur and happily accepted the help of her colleague Gatzen: “I’ve known Steven for so long and I’ve always wanted to say: Take my clothes off!”

In the end, of course, one of the “masked dancers” also had to undress. This time Maximum Power brings up a lot of evidence and reveals: “It feels like 1973. Let this love begin!”

After their dance in Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun,” the jury was certain: This candidate was already in a boy band. Annemarie Karpendel paid special attention to the clip in which the flowers could be seen: “We can’t get enough of this Dutch language, and now these are tulips too…”

Alexander Claus stuck to his tip from last week: “Of course we will still stick with Elo de Jong.” Steven Gatzen dug even deeper into his boy group’s memory and speculated wildly: “Touch” and Kareem, what about the snugger?

But Eloy de Jong remained the hottest tip – after all, he had the hit “Let This Love Begin” with his boy band “Caught in the Act” and was born in 1973.

When the Clue decoder was pulled out, Tulips came into the picture again and with Maximum Power insisting: “You and I have the same roots”, it was almost clear that it must be a Dutch star.

In her second appearance, after deciding whether or not to leave “The Masked Dancer,” she danced to the music of “Tetris”—and left little doubt.

Alexander Claus was still completely convinced: “I would be with Eloy de Jong. Eloy was a guest on a show I was hosting at the time.”

Maximum Power had to remove his helmet after an app vote by the audience. A sweaty Eloy de Jong (48) appeared, clearly relieved that the show was over for him: “I’m actually quite happy that things can finally go away.”

To keep her involvement a secret, the pop singer even silenced her ten-year-old daughter: “She signed a small contract that she wouldn’t tell anyone else.”

The remaining masks will be unveiled in the final next Thursday: colored pencils, shaggy, monkey and rat still running.