‘The Masked Singer’s’ Royal Knight: Jana Kramer on her music career, acting, and newfound appreciation for Miley Cyrus
Season 12 of “The Masked Singer” continued Wednesday night on FOX, with the Group C final in “Peanuts Night.” Following the studio audience vote, Royal Knight became the first singer eliminated (and ninth overall this season), revealing actress, singer, and author Jana Kramer. Watch our video interview above.
“The clues were a bit sad, but they were the unfortunate truth,” Jana tells Gold Derby. “Which I think made the costume be what it was. It felt great to armor up and go out there and sing and prove you can get through some tough times and still go out there and fight, have fun, and love.”
After sizing up the competition, Jana says, “I pretty much knew I wasn’t going to make it to the quarterfinals. I know I’m not the best singer. I was surprised how well I did. When I was hearing the other contestants singing, I was like, ‘I’m definitely not gonna make it all the way.’ I’m very competitive so I was like, ‘Maybe I need to rearrange my songs.’ But then I was just like, ‘Go out there and have fun. That’s exactly what I did.”
Panelists Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, Ken Jeong, and Rita Ora had trouble identifying the singer for most of her run on the show, but Jenny eventually figured it out. “I knew she would once she saw the podcast clue,” Jana admits. “She was just on my podcast. We were just talking about all of these things [in my clue packages]. Living in Nashville, hard times, and stuff like that. I knew she would get me.”
Jana discusses her rise to fame and connection to music, stating, “The only reason I got my record deal was because I was on ‘One Tree Hill.’ When I was on that show I was like, ‘Let me try to pursue music a little bit. It was interesting, because I hadn’t seen people do both. For a female at that time they were like, ‘You can’t do both. You’re an actress and country radio isn’t going to believe you if you continue to act, so you really need to stop acting.’ My label made me leave the last season of ‘One Tree Hill’ to do my radio tour. I gave up acting for a bit, but then I realized, I love acting. Acting is my number one. Yes, I enjoyed the last five years of touring, but I wanted to do both. That’s when I turned things around and took control in my own hands. I’m gonna try and do it my way. I’ve enjoyed that road. Doing ‘The Masked Singer’ made me realize how much I miss being on stage, but there’s nothing better than being on set.”
Artists like Patsy Cline, James Taylor, and The Eagles were Jana’s biggest musical influences. “Those were probably my top three,” she says. “Now, it’s changed a bit. Honestly, I still listen to them, but now it’s really whatever my kids are listening to, which is a whole other story.” She reveals her favorite performance on “The Masked Singer” was her cover of “When I Look At You” by Miley Cyrus. “I got to dedicate that song to my husband, so that was a sweet one. I didn’t even know that song, to be honest. I love Miley Cyrus, but that was one song I wasn’t familiar with. I was nervous if I could even hit some of the notes. We lowered the key significantly. I always knew Miley was a good singer, but when I was actually trying to sing one of her songs I was like, ‘Damn, this girl has range!’ I have so much more appreciation for her and her musical talent.”
Jana tells Gold Derby she’s filming “a couple movies” next year, but they haven’t been announced yet. She also has a song she wrote with Lee Brice, Sarah Brice and Jerrod Niemann called “Heart Shift” that fans can expect to hear soon.
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