Bonus Episode: Try Hard with Erika Casupanan

September 17, 2025·38 min·2 clips

Erika Googles her old singing teacher and discovers she now fronts a queer country cover band called Shania Twank — and that they both came out in the decade since their lessons.

1. This bonus episode of Normal Gossip presents an episode of Try Hard, a podcast hosted by Alex Sujong Laughlin about attempting things you've avoided. 2. Guest Erika Casupanan is the winner of Survivor Season 41 and the host of the Happy to See Me podcast, based in Toronto. 3. The episode's core thesis is that the desire to be seen as good at something is exactly what prevents people from attempting it — and that imperfection drives connection while perfection only impresses. 4. As a child, Erika wanted to be a rock star, joined her Catholic school choir, and describes herself as 'an extremely mediocre member' who never received solos or attention from music teachers. 5. In high school, Erika auditioned for The Wizard of Oz with 'No More Drama' by Mary J. Blige, was confident she was good, and was cast as a guard with one speaking line — a rejection that affected her relationship with performing for years. 6. In her early 20s, Erika secretly took singing lessons in Toronto without telling her roommate, working on 'Someone Like You' by Adele, until she had to quit after a few months because her $37,000-a-year salary couldn't cover the cost. 7. Erika describes a turning point around 2017 when she cut off 10 inches of her hair, donated it, added purple streaks, and walked into work expecting backlash — and found that everyone thought it was cool. 8. Since winning Survivor, Erika no longer feels anonymous in public: fans approach her at least once a week, she has had people film her without consent, and this has made her protective of her visibility in everyday situations. 9. Erika publicly came out as a lesbian in recent years; she describes a lesbian bar in Toronto called Dollar Sign Bill where she would attend karaoke Sundays but never sing, paralyzed by the 'double whammy' of public exposure and imposter syndrome as a 'baby lesbian.' 10. For her Try Hard challenge, Erika commits to singing 'Someone Like You' at the lesbian bar on the first day of Pride Month, choosing the same song she had been working on a decade earlier as a deliberate act of closure. 11. She signs up for five weeks of singing lessons at a new music school the day after agreeing to the challenge, describing this as consistent with her personality: 'if we're going to do it, we're just going to go hard.' 12. The first two weeks are overwhelming — the instructor focuses on breathing, resonance, and placement in ways Erika finds frustrating and different from her prior training. 13. Erika searches for her original singing teacher by googling her first name and a cover band she once saw her perform in, and discovers the teacher now fronts a queer country cover band called Shania Twank, having also come out in the intervening years. 14. The teacher agrees to a one-off session at her apartment, tells Erika she has 'grown into the person you always wanted to be,' and advises her to focus on singing the song as herself rather than technically correctly. 15. On challenge day, Erika goes to the gym, practices throughout the day, and then walks to the bar with her friends, who already consider the act of showing up brave regardless of outcome. 16. Erika takes the stage first, announces she won Survivor, asks the audience not to film her, and the karaoke host reinforces the bar's consent policy. 17. As she sings, the bar goes progressively quieter, and Erika follows the plan her instructor helped her build over five weeks. 18. The episode is a warm, unhurried interview — Alex and Erika are clearly familiar with each other, and the conversation moves between personal reflection and light humor without rushing. 19. Listeners who enjoy vulnerability-forward personal growth podcasts with a queer perspective and a satisfying narrative arc will find this episode deeply resonant. 20. Listeners who want celebrity gossip or tightly edited narrative storytelling rather than a long interview format may find the pacing slow.

As heard by us

A breezy karaoke payoff with just enough nerve to make the joke land.

Try Hard leans into the awkward fun of trying something new in public, and the best part is Erica finally going karaoke. The episode keeps that tug between nerves and encouragement in view, so the payoff feels earned instead of staged.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a gentle nudge to be seen trying the awkward thing.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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