Gloria Gaynor and Mario Cantone were both voted off “The Masked Singer” on Wednesday night’s episode, but both are walking away with nothing but positive memories and a sense of gratitude for having been on the show.
Wednesday night was Andrew Lloyd Weber night, with the famed Broadway producer joining the judges panel and all contestants singing songs from his many successful musicals like “Any Dream Will Do” from “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “Bad Cinderella” from “Bad Cinderella” and “Heaven on Their Minds” from “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
At the end of the show, Gaynor was revealed to be the Mermaid, and Cantone was revealed as Maize. Both Gaynor and Cantone said they had a great experience on the show.
“It was a lot of fun,” Gaynor said, adding she enjoyed “the intrigue of running around with the hoodie and the mask and the gloves.”
“It was a really fantastic experience,” Cantone added. “I love to sing, which is why I wanted to do it. I had help from my husband, who’s very musical and picked my song since he knew it was an Andrew Lloyd Webber night. All the help you have from the producers and Miguel, the musical director, was incredible. … I had an amazing time, I really did.”
It seemed it was hard for both Cantone and Gaynor to keep their involvement on the show a secret since both live outside of Los Angeles and had to come up with reasons for their friends why they were in town.
“I just said it was a private show, I have a private show, which made them understand why they couldn’t go to it, and they didn’t take it any further,” Gaynor said. “I didn’t have to make up any stories, but it was really difficult not saying that I was going, especially in the subsequent weeks when the show was coming on.
“People think I’m a big mouth, and I talk a lot, and I do, but I can keep the secret, so it wasn’t that hard,” Cantone added. “People (were) like, ‘Why are you in LA?’ Nothing. I’m just visiting some friends, or I’m just doing this little thing, it’s nothing major. That’s how you do it. My husband was the only one that knew.”
Cantone and Gaynor had differing opinions on whether performing on “The Masked Singer” stage was more or less difficult than performing as themselves in their everyday careers. Gaynor felt it was more difficult on the show, while Cantone felt “theater is harder,” later explaining the show “is a form of theater” because contestants are “performing in a big way vocally to an audience.”
“It was a lot of fun, but it was definitely more difficult,” Gaynor explained. “Difficult getting in and out of the costume, difficult being wheeled onto the stage, difficult singing in the mask. Yeah, it was definitely more difficult, but still a lot of fun.”
As a singer by trade, Gaynor’s preparation for the show centered more around preparing “to keep (her) voice in good, good health and condition” and to make sure she was “in a physical condition to do the very best that (she) can do.”
Cantone, on the other hand, focused more on making sure he was calm when he stepped on stage.
“The preparation was making sure you knew the song and rehearsing it in your hotel room or at home before you went out to LA in New York with my husband. … You don’t want to mess up in front of Andrew Lloyd Webber,” Cantone said. “I always feel horrified before I have to do something live. … You talk yourself down, and then you hit the stage and just go. And once you’re going, that anxiety is released, usually.”
Both Gaynor and Cantone were happy with what the judges had to say following their performances. Cantone was especially happy with Lloyd Weber’s comments.
“I thought they were quite complimentary,” Gaynor said. “I just loved it. Nobody said anything negative, which is great. The fact that they guessed my voice so quickly was a little disappointing because I wanted to come back.”
Both are working on other projects. Gaynor is preparing for the release of a documentary about her life, and Cantone is working on season 2 of HBO Max’s “And Just Like That…,” the sequel series to “Sex and the City.”
“The first season was a big a– hit, and it was thrilling to do, and we’re back again filming that. … It’s great. It’s coming home, and you’re with your friends again, and you’re just doing your thing, and it’s thrilling,” he said.
“I have some shows that I’m doing for the rest of the year,” Gaynor said, “but what really is exciting for me is that the documentary of my life will be coming out sometime early next year. I want them to take away the strength and courage and hope and admire my deepest desire. If they come away either confirmed in their faith in Christ or looking to learn more about him.”
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Gaynor and Cantone both discussed important moments in their careers. For Cantone, the moment was when he sang for Angela Lansbury, someone he admired since he started watching her movies with his mother as a boy.
“I saw her in Sweeney Todd on Broadway,” Cantone said. “I’ll never forget it. It was one of the most powerful things I ever saw. I saw her in ‘Blithe Spirit’ and many Broadway shows. We got to sing ‘Bosom Buddies’ for me, for her. That was really a thrill. She was glorious. I believe we messed up the lyrics that night, but it was still great.”
Ganyor said her career-defining moment was “I Will Survive” becoming a hit.
“It’s very encouraging to me that I could have [recorded] a song that would be so long-lasting and mean so much to people, not just a song they like, but a song that that helps them through their lives in hard times, in their lives. It’s amazing,” Gaynor said.
“The Masked Singer” airs Wednesday nights on FOX.
