MONSTA X's Minhyuk captured the hearts of the "King of Masked Singer" celebrity panel with his soulful vocals in the hit TV show's latest episode.
On the November 8 episode, the "King of Masked Singer" contestant "Baepsae" (뱁새, crow-tit or parrotbill) saw the end of his journey after failing to advance to the fourth round. Members of the panel watched in suspense and excitement as Baepsae removed his parrotbill-adorned gold mask, revealing the vocalist and visual from MONSTA X - Lee Min-hyuk, or simply Minhyuk.
"I was very nervous, but you [Celebrity Panel] told me a lot of good things," Minhyuk said, adding that the panel called him names of his respected seniors in the industry.
He also teased the members of DONGKIZ among the panel, sharing that he was an MC on a music show and the members of the group told him that they were fans. "They said that they'd been to our concerts. I was so moved. But they didn't recognize me at all," Minhyuk shared, throwing both the panel and the audience into laughter.
Baepsae's Masked Singer Journey
Baepsae first appeared in the November 1 episode going up against "Hwangsae" (황새, or stork). The pair sang Ann's "One Sided Love," with Minhyuk surprising everyone with his equally powerful and sweet vocals. His vocal precision led the King of Masked Singers stage to his side, winning the first round 17 votes against 4.
For his second round, Baepsae sang Jo Junghyun's "Even Loved the Pain," the heart-wrenching OST from the drama series "Reply 1988." Perfectly delivering the ballad, which highlighted the saddest moments from the drama series, he advanced to the next round with another 14-7 win.
His heart-stealing run continued in the third round with a soulful rendition of Lee Hyunwoo's "Because I Love You." While he was described as having that sweet voice, he fell short against Mint Choco who won with 15 votes to advance to the fourth round.
Shortly after the latest "King of Masked Singer" episode, Minhyuk wrote on the official Monsta X Twitter account. "It was a meaningful time. If Monbebe liked it, then that's enough. It was fun. Haha, thank you." he wrote. The tweet included photos of the 26-year-old artist and MC with his Baepsae mask.
Returning With "Fatal Love"
Before he was revealed as the dreamy balladeer behind the Baepsae mask, Minhyuk and the rest of MONSTA X released the music video for "Love Killa" on November 1, their comeback and lead single for their third studio album "Fatal Love," released shortly after on November 2. As of this article, the music video has already garnered close to twenty million views on YouTube, with fans raving over the updated style and visuals of the K-Pop boy group.
This isn't a boy group , this is a men group," one YouTube user commented on the MV.
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Minhyuk has also recently celebrated his 27th birthday (28 in Korean age reckoning) last November 3.