Bedazzled Unicorn, Hollie Smith, Wins The Masked Singer NZ Crown

2 October 2022 - After 11 weeks of exciting reveals and surprising celebrities, The Masked Singer NZ has crowned its winner! Award-winning musician Hollie Smith was unveiled as Bedazzled Unicorn in tonight’s finale, capping what has been a stellar second season of the celebrity singing show.

Hollie Smith is an icon of the New Zealand music industry who has debuted three number one albums, scooped up numerous awards, and has paved the way for other local musicians. Her single ‘Bathe in the River’ spent 37 weeks in the Top 40, before going on to win the prestigious APRA Silver Scroll award. After a five-year hiatus, Hollie returned with her album ‘Coming In From The Dark’ in 2021, and can now add winning The Masked Singer NZ to her long list of achievements.

Panellists Sharyn Casey, Anika Moa, and celebrity guest panellist Tami Neilson claim they knew who was under the mask, while James remained stumped. Sharyn and Anika chose to keep quiet, while Tami guessed Taika Waititi to throw James off the scent, who guessed Ladyhawke. The mask was removed to reveal Hollie as Bedazzled Unicorn, confirming the celebrity guessing panel’s suspicions and letting James in on the secret.

Hollie belted out ‘Fly Away’ by Tones and I, going up against Gladiator Alligator who sang ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen, who was then revealed to be ex-TV host Drew Ne’emia. Earlier in the episode, Blue Penguin was revealed to be singer Ria Hall, who performed a stunning rendition of ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ by Judy Garland as her final song.

Commenting on her win, Hollie said: “After such a long time out of action due to Covid, it was so great being back on stage. Finding the rhythm whilst looking out two nostrils and being dressed as a sparkly-horned mammal is not as easy as it looks, so I was super surprised, but stoked, for the win. I hope I get to keep the outfit!”

On finally finding out the identity of our winner, celebrity panellist James Roque said: “Firstly, I can’t think of a more deserving winner for season two of The Masked Singer NZ than Hollie Smith. From the moment she did ‘Not Many’ by Scribe, I knew this Unicorn would go all the way. Secondly, I’m not surprised that Anika got it right so early on. She is a master of her craft, and it probably helped that they are close friends! I’m glad the secret is out now so people can stop asking me what the piece of paper that Anika handed me says!”

The Masked Singer NZ season two is available to stream on ThreeNow. The hit show is based on the South Korean series King Of Mask Singer, which has since inspired hugely popular American, British and Australian versions.

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