Season 9 of The Masked Singer premiered on Feb. 15 on Fox. During the first episode of the ninth season, actor Dick Van Dyke competed and was eliminated from the singing competition show. In an interview with People Magazine, Van Dyke revealed why he decided to perform “When You’re Smiling” on The Masked Singer.
Dick Van Dyke performed ‘When You’re Smiling’ on ‘The Masked Singer’
On the season 9 premiere of The Masked Singer, Van Dyke appeared as a contestant referred to as the Gnome. During the first round, Van Dyke performed the song “When You’re Smiling.”
The song has a number of famous recordings by various artists, and some of its most notable recordings are by Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, and Judy Garland.
In an interview with People Magazine, Van Dyke revealed that his wife is the reason he decided to perform “When You’re Smiling.”
“They wanted me to do something current and I know nothing from rock,” Van Dyke said.
He continued, “So we picked out one which typifies me. She’s the one that came up with it and I liked the song, too.”
Dick Van Dyke also performed a song from ‘Mary Poppins’
Toward the beginning of his lengthy acting career, Van Dyke starred in the 1964 movie Mary Poppins alongside Julie Andrews. Van Dyke played the role of Bert.
After he was eliminated, Van Dyke performed “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” from Mary Poppins as his encore song.
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“To be able to be in a Disney movie was a childhood dream for me, to work with Walt. Then I got to do it twice, and I did a couple of B movies for Walt, too. Loved working over there,” he told People Magazine.
The actor continued, “When I was young, I really was hoping to make a living. What happened to me was such a surprise. The successes I’ve had, I still can’t get over it.”
What competing on ‘The Masked Singer’ was like
Speaking with People Magazine, Van Dyke revealed what it was like to film an episode of season 9 of The Masked Singer. It turns out, filming the singing competition show is a secretive process.
“From the time I got out of the car, my head was covered, so I never saw anybody,” the actor said. “I wanted to go back and meet them in person because I really never got to meet anybody. They led me around so I wouldn’t fall down. But I was blindfolded the whole time.”
Even though keeping his appearance on the show involved a lot of secrecy, the actor had a great deal of fun performing in front of panelists Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, Ken Jeong, and Nicole Scherzinger.
“I had never even seen the show when they asked me. So I checked it out and it looked like a lot of fun,” he told People Magazine. “I was positive they wouldn’t be able to guess who I was. And I was right!”
New episodes of The Masked Singer air on Fox on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
