Six-foot-tall with a raspy vocal, Macy Gray was easily recognized by the judges on The Masked Singer this weekend.
But the second clue to her identity was the American star’s shocking decision to run off the stage without removing her mask.
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Macy Gray stormed off The Masked Singer stage without removing her mask, above at the California Music Awards in 2000. Credit: Getty
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Macy, 57, looks angry an hour after the panel told her she had to leave the show Credit: ITV
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Macy, best known for her 1999 hit I Try, with presenter Joel after taking off her mask Credit: ITV
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Macy, above with two gongs at the 2000 Brit Awards at Earls Court, was described by British photographer Lord Snowdon as ‘the rudest person’ Credit: Getty
The Sun can reveal that the 57-year-old singer, best known for her 1999 hit I Try, also ditched the belt after losing out on the Australian version of the celebrity show.
In the UK edition on ITV1, it took production staff an hour to convince Macy — dressed as Toad in the Hole — to return to the stage and remove the mask.
Traditionally, masked stars are supposed to reveal their identities as soon as the panelists vote them off.
Calming words backstage eventually persuaded Macy to return.
The one-hour delay was cut from the pre-recorded program so that the television audience would not see it.
But those watching at home on Saturday night – a day after The Sun revealed the mystery singer would be leaving the stage – witnessed an awkward encounter with host Joel Dommett and panellists Jonathan Ross, Davina McCall, Moo Gilligan, Maya Jama and guest judge Suranne Jones.
Jonathan tried his best to get some answers out of an obviously annoyed Macy after she took off the Toad mask, but he got only curt replies.
A source told The Sun that she was very upset about coming out so early as she finished a respectable fourth after appearing as the Sea Queen in the US version of The Masked Singer in 2023.
‘Totally blinded’
An insider said: “Macy was gutted to come out so early because she really enjoyed the US version – where she was brilliant – so she was completely dazzled.
“It was a shock for her too. The upset in that moment caused a very raw, human reaction and she wanted out.
The Masked Singer star Macy Gray refused to leave the Australian version of the show for three years before leaving the new UK series
“For a professional performer to get to that point shows how bad she felt.”
Perhaps it was difficult for a brilliant singer like Macy to leave when weaker performers remained.
The singer could not be persuaded to appear on ITVX’s spin-off show The After Mask, where performers are usually quizzed after being voted off.
Instead, host Harriet Rose got to interview the show’s vocal coach.
As Joel noted, diplomatically, Macy’s may have been a victim of its global success.
Afterwards, he said: “If you’re a great singer and you get through, that’s absolutely wonderful.
“But sometimes, like with Macy Gray, she has such a recognizable voice and is a legend so you know who it is right away.”
She suffered a similar meltdown when she was voted out three years ago Down Under. The singer refused to leave and promised: “I will continue”.
None of this will come as much of a surprise to people who have encountered Macy since she rose to fame a quarter of a century ago.
Macy was annoyed that she was out so early because she really enjoyed the American version – where she was brilliant – so she was completely dazzled
Informed
Legendary British photographer Lord Snowdon described her as “the rudest person” he had ever worked with after she ran away from a shoot.
Admitting that she has an overinflated ego, she has also developed a reputation for canceling concerts and showing up looking worse.
In 2009, there were rumors that she wanted to quit Dancing with the Stars — America’s version of Strictly — even before she made her first appearance.
When Macy was interviewed by Lorraine Kelly on her TV chatshow in 2019, she claimed to be a “vampire”, and a year earlier viewers were concerned about her messy appearance on Loose Women.
A history of bipolar disorder and drug abuse has been suggested as an explanation for much of her unusual behavior.
And while Masked Singer fans labeled her a “diva”, host Joel saw the funny side, commenting: “She’s absolutely amazing and has such a good voice, but I’ve never witnessed anything funnier than a person dressed in a six pack. a toad scurrying away angrily.
“That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Macy must have had plenty of problems that were far more vexing than being the third person to be voted off the primetime TV competition.
Gasoline theft
Her biological father, Otis Jones, abandoned her when she was a baby, and Macy claimed that “a lot of my mother’s family members were gangsters.”
Born Natalie McIntyre in the small town of Canton, Ohio, her stepfather Richard McIntyre was a steel mill worker and her mother Laura a math teacher. It was a strict upbringing, and Macy once said of her mom, “When I was younger, I knew her as someone who beat me up and made me feel terrible, but now I see her as a great person.”
I’ve never witnessed anything funnier than a person dressed as a six-foot toad storming away
Joel Dommett
She rebelled, was asked to leave one school for “getting into a lot of trouble,” and was later jailed for less than a week for stealing gasoline.
Macy didn’t consider a career in music until her early 20s because “I always had a funny voice and it never occurred to me that I could sing.”
She took the stage name Macy Gray after seeing it on a mailbox and began performing in jazz bands.
Working as a hostess at the late-night Hollywood club We Ours, which was frequented by big names, slowly helped her become recognizable.
After the record deal she signed with Atlantic in 1994 ended without an album, she joined Epic Records in 1998 and released her debut album On How Life Is the following year.
The global blockbuster sold seven million copies worldwide – 1.2 million of them in the UK – a remarkable achievement for the then 33-year-old divorced mother of three.
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The star was dressed as Toad In The Hole on Credit: ITV
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Macy with Emma Bunton and Victoria Beckham at the 2000 Vogue Fashion Event in New York Credit: Getty
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Macy’s hangs out with rapper Snoop and Maina on the 2022 red carpetCredit: Getty
That feat earned Macy two Brit Awards in 2000, and when she followed it up with a 2001 Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance — beating out megastars Madonna, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera — it seemed like she was on her way to even greater results. things.
But there were early signs that, having waited so long for stardom, it would be difficult to handle.
Macy was booed at a football game in the summer of 2001 when she forgot the words to the national anthem.
She said: “I was in my hometown and all my relatives were there and it just blew my mind. I skipped the whole first part.”
That same year, Macy had a falling out with Snowdon during a shoot for Vogue magazine.
She arrived late, ran out without shoes, got into the car and drove to London. Snowdon, who died in 2017, described Macy as the most difficult person he had worked with in 55 years as a photographer, but she claimed he had behaved in a racist manner.
Other bizarre behavior involved stealing items from the hotel, including a painting.
Her second album The Id topped the UK charts and she made her film debut in Training Day alongside Denzel Washington.
But her third album, the aptly titled The Trouble With Being Myself, flopped in 2003.
Macy admitted, “I was overindulging a lot and it started to catch up with me around that album.”
This included taking drugs, and she boasted that she had “gone” out of her mind.
Lack of preparation
There were stories of her acting like a diva – and Macy admitted she “developed a really big ego” after being “treated like a queen”. What she does not lack is self-confidence.
She has a bronze statue of herself naked in her garage and has admitted to running to reception in hotels without clothes on.
In 2013, Macy claimed that she had “cured” her bipolar disorder “by sheer will.”
Sometimes, as in the case of Macy Gray, she has such a recognizable voice and is a legend that you immediately know who it is
Joel Dommett
She stopped music for four years, and in 2007 she returned with the album Big, which fared even worse than its predecessor on the top charts.
After that, like many disappearing stars, she tried her hand at celebrity TV.
In 2009, she signed up for Dancing with the Stars, but there were fears that she might not even appear if she didn’t show up for rehearsals.
In her defense, Macy said: “I was on tour in Europe and we had to cancel a few times because we didn’t have time.”
Her lack of preparation showed when she was the second to be kicked out.
And after her belter Masked Singer, no one will forget her Toad In The Hole.
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Macy also broke down after losing out on the Australian version of the celebrity show Credit: Ten
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She refused to leave after being voted out, above with her mask as Atlantis Credits: Ten
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Macy’s pictured in 2023 at the Kentucky Derby Gala Credit: Getty
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Star sings for AIDS charity in London in 2004. Credits: check copyright
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education