the winner: 

The Masked Singer winner of season 1 is T-Pain, who was disguised as the Monster.
For his prize, T-Pain was awarded a golden trophy, which viewers have mixed feelings about.
T-Pain explained lat the trophy wasn't even what being on the show was all about.
the first season of The Masked Singer came to a close, and T-Pain (a.k.a. the Monster) was declared the winner.

In the end, it was his energetic rendition of "This Is How We Do It" that won over the studio audience and led to him receiving the most votes over the Peacock (Donny Osmond) and the Bee (Gladys Knight). Moments after the Monster was unmasked, host Nick Cannon awarded him with his prize, which was ... drum roll, please ... a golden mask-shaped trophy. Oh, and bragging rights until season 2 crowns its champion.
Don't get us wrong, the trophy is pretty cool looking and the publicity T-Pain and the rest of the contestants received is truly ... well, unique. But compared to other singing competition shows — America's Got Talent promises $1,000,000, while The Voice gives winners $100,000 cash prize and a record contract — doesn't the prize seem a bit, well, anti-climatic? Apparently, some fans think so.

Of course, The Masked Singer is dealing with already established celebrities, a major difference from the other TV series. But as one fan points out, wouldn't it be better if each celebrity could make a donation to the charity of their choice?
Who knows, maybe they'll tweak the format in the future. For now, though, T-Pain will likely put his new trophy right next to his two Grammys. After all, he did work really hard to earn it. And, regardless of what people think of the trophy, he seemed pretty stoked about showing folks that, with or without Auto-Tune, he can sing.

"I didn't have a chance to come into the game with my natural voice. A lot of my peers did, and they get accepted," T-Pain explained. "This helped me get my voice out there even more."