Masked Singer’s mysterious Spider reveals her secret plan to outsmart the show

She was one of The Masked Singer’s most mysterious voices — now, unmasked “Spider” Paulini reveals her bold strategy to stay hidden.

Paulini was finally revealed as the Masked Singer’s Spider in Tuesday night’s episode, ending weeks of speculation about one of the competition’s most enigmatic contestants.

Paulini threw viewers from the outset, debuting in week one with a dark, jazzy rendition of Britney Spears’ Toxic. From that performance alone I was convinced she was Aussie soul singe Jade McRae (ya got me, Masked Singer. I feel like Lindsay Lohan right now).

From there, Paulini rocked out on AC/DC’s It’s A Long Way to the Top and channelled Dolores O’Riordan for a faithful take on The Cranberries’ Zombie — all sounding a world away from the girl who shot to fame singing smooth ballads on Australian Idol in 2003.

The Spider …

… was Paulini!

“That was my whole plan from the beginning, trying to figure out all the ways that I could put the judges off. I had a strategy: Pick songs that I would never usually do, and perform them differently from how I’d usually sing a song. I had so much fun changing my voice and my tone,” she told news.com.au after Tuesday night’s episode.

“The biggest thing was song choice; they’re not usually songs I’d perform. I thought about genres that I wouldn’t usually touch, and then I just went there. Like AC/DC — I’ve never performed like that, but it was so fun to become a different person,” she said.

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While clues relating to her stints on Australian Idol and The Bodyguard musical eventually gave the game away for many viewers, the Angel Eyes singer said she was determined throughout the competition to push her voice as far away from sounds viewers would associate with her.

“If you could get a little camera under the mic, you should see the faces that I’d pull just to create a different sound from my mouth. I was pulling all types of weird faces under there — but I was determined: I’m not going to let the judges know it’s me, I’m going to change it up every time.”

Paulini’s Masked Singer stint comes 16 years after she shot to fame on the first season of Australian Idol — and found herself at the centre of a reality TV controversy when judge Ian “Dicko?” Dickson criticised her appearance in a figure-hugging gold dress after one performance.

Paulini in ‘that’ gold dress on Idol.

Paulini circa 2019. Picture: Richard Dobson

Given that history, Paulini said she relished the chance to appear in a singing contest that took her appearance out of the equation.

“With Idol, you’re standing up there getting judged by how you sing, and how you look. In The Masked Singer, I really felt like I wasn’t me up there — I was in character, trying to change myself. One thing I did love about Masked Singer was I knew I wasn’t getting judged about my appearance.”

The Masked Singer continues 7:30pm next Monday on Ten.