Spoiler alert: This story contains information about contestants eliminated on Wednesday’s (Feb. 15) episode of The Masked Singer.

The ninth season of Fox’s The Masked Singer launched with formidable competition, with night one seeing the Mustang—an Academy of Country Music award-winning artist—galloping off into the sunset on the season’s premiere episode.

The evening featured Mustang showing off some serious vocal power on the Whitesnake classic “Here I Go Again,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1987. It was an unexpected song choice from this sometimes traditional-leaning country vocalist. Guesses from judges ran the gamut, from P!nk to Suzanne Somers, with only one judge picking up on the hint of twang in Mustang’s voice — and even then, guessing (incorrectly) that Mustang might be Wynonna Judd.

Guesses for Nancy Wilson and Joan Jett were also tossed into the mix, before it was revealed that hiding under the decadent red-and-black costume was “A Little Bit Stronger” singer Sara Evans.

Before her elimination, Evans spoke with Billboard about singing the Whitesnake classic, her reactions to the judges’ guesses and why she didn’t tell her family members she was competing on The Masked Singer.

What drew you to being part of The Masked Singer?

I thought it would be fun and something different to experience, and of course, being on television is good for anyone’s career. It’s also different from our normal routine of writing and touring, so any chance I get to do something different and exciting, it gives you a new energy.

Had you watched the show before?

I had watched maybe a handful of episodes. I didn’t realize everything that went into it and it’s just incredible and the secrecy is so fun. Some of my good friends, Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black, I saw their time on the show.

Did they give you any advice on the show?

They were just like, “The costume can be claustrophobic, just know that going into it and they’ll do what they can to help you feel comfortable.” But it was great because my costume was, aside from a big horse head, which was heavy, it was really just like leather pants and a leather top. It wasn’t too restrictive.

How did you decide on the Mustang as a costume choice?

Producers and people sometimes help with those decisions. They came to me with that idea and I loved it. It was great because I grew up on a farm and I grew up on a horse and adore horses. There couldn’t have been anything better.

You performed “Here I Go Again” from Whitesnake, and also did the battle round, performing Rihanna’s “Diamonds.” Those were perhaps unexpected choices for you.

I was going to be on a different episode, doing ABBA Night. But then someone had to drop out and the producers asked me if I would fill in for that person and take their songs to be on the first episode of The Masked Singer instead. So I already knew the Whitesnake song; of course, everyone knows it, but I got it at like 11:30 the night before we had to film it, at the last minute. Everyone was really appreciative, though, and I ended up having so much fun singing the Whitesnake song, especially.

The judges had some great guesses—P!nk and Joan Jett among them. Were you surprised by any of their guesses?

I was flattered. Everyone they guessed, I was like, “Oh, my god. I’m a fan of hers, and hers, and she’s a legend.” It was great. I felt like it was a huge compliment.

It sounded like you didn’t tell anyone in your family that you were going to be on the show.

Yeah, ’cause I wanted my kids to be surprised and I didn’t trust my mom not to tell people. [laughs] I’m going to tell my mom and siblings and everyone tonight, like around five or six o’clock and ask them to watch.

What is coming up for you, musically?

I’m gonna make a new album. I’m still writing songs for it, and we will go into the studio probably around April and start recording it. I haven’t had an album out since 2020, so that will be a big part of our year. We’re also on the road. We usually do about 80 shows a year and that starts next week, so we are just always busy working and on the road.

Utopia Music is facing a lawsuit that claims the Swiss company has bailed on a $26.5 million deal to buy a U.S. music technology company called SourceAudio — and now owes more than $37 million.

In a complaint filed Monday (Feb. 13) in Delaware court, lawyers for California-based SourceAudio — a tech platform for digital asset management and monetization — claimed that the company had struck a deal in March 2022 to sell itself to Utopia, a buzzy music fintech firm that has reached a number of such deals over the past two years.

But SourceAudio’s lawsuit says that since striking the deal on March 14 — which could have closed as soon as May 9 — the bigger company has continually balked at actually completing the deal, informing them it was “not prepared to close the transaction.”

“Despite repeated assurances that Utopia would be able to close…, Utopia engaged in a pattern of discontinuing discussions for an extended period of time, only to resurface immediately before the next intended closing date to indicate that it was unable to close by such date,” the complaint reads.

To account for the delays, SourceAudio claims that Utopia agreed to increase the sale price by $334,000 for every calendar week after Nov. 1 that the deal didn’t close. More than three months later, the lawsuit claims those escalators mean that Utopia now owes $37.265 million.

SourceAudio says it’s “ready, willing, and able” to finalize the deal, and that Utopia is legally bound to do so. “SourceAudio requests that Utopia be ordered to specifically perform its obligations,” the smaller company wrote. “In the alternative, SourceAudio has been damaged by Utopia’s breach in an amount to be determined at trial, but no less than $37.265 million.”

In a statement to Billboard, a spokesperson for Utopia refuted the lawsuit’s allegations but provided little additional detail: “Utopia Music rejects the claims made by the plaintiff. As the legal proceedings are ongoing, we will not comment further.”

Utopia, a Swiss-based tech company that delivers financial services for labels, publishers and distributors, has been on a buying spree over the past two years. The company has acquired at least 15 companies, including music tech company Musimap, U.K. physical distributor Cinram Novum and Lyric Financial, a provider of royalty-backed cash advances.

But in November, news broke that Utopia would restructure operations and lay off 20% of its workforce. As first reported by Music Week, CEO Markku Mäkeläinen told staffers in an internal email that the company had “grown via acquisitions tremendously quickly” and would now need to “realise synergies” and “remove overlaps.”