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[title]Jana Beydoun has been teaching music around the world, with roles taking her from the UK and Tanzania to Kazakhstan and Hong Kong before settling in Phuket 11 years ago. Today, she teaches music and is Head of EAPA (Expressive & Performing Arts) at Kajonkiet International School Phuket, where one particularly talented 12-year-old arrived for a music scholarship interview four years ago.
That student was Nene Royal, or Praew, as Jana calls her. Fast forward four years and she remains Jana’s student, although their relationship has grown well beyond the classroom. ‘She’s still my girl,’ says Jana.
After travelling to Los Angeles to watch Praew win America’s Got Talent, Jana is now back in Phuket and just about over the jet lag. She talks exclusively to Time Out about the shy girl behind the rock star, the first time she heard that extraordinary voice and what happened when Praew suddenly became famous.
Time Out: What do you remember about first meeting Nene Royal?
Jana:
My first real memory of Praew is when she came to do her scholarship interview. She was 12, with this beautiful smile on her face, and she started playing guitar with these crazy solos and my colleagues and I were sitting there with our jaws on the floor, thinking, ‘Wow, what kind of student is she going to be?’
Then she opened her mouth and started singing and I was blown away. The sound and colour of her voice were out of this world for her age, and she smiled at us the whole time she played. I remember we asked how much she practised guitar and she said, ‘Six hours a day.’ That was when I realised this is a different calibre of student
Time Out: What is Nene like as a student?
Jana:
She was quite shy, but always very hardworking. Music is a practical subject, so you could really see her character when she was working with other students.
She was always extremely supportive. I could ask her to take the lead of a group and she would help everyone, show them how to do things and make sure they were included. It was never about her.
She listens carefully, takes everything on board and there are never any excuses. I have never had a missed or late assignment from her. She appreciates the opportunity she has been given to study at an international school on a scholarship. She just puts her head down and does her best.
Time Out: What could you teach Nene, and what came naturally?
Jana:
I taught her everything she needed for her IGCSE in Music, which meant introducing her to areas she wouldn’t necessarily have explored herself. We studied different musical cultures, from Japanese and Indian music to tango and salsa, as well as music theory. I think what I could give her was a way of seeing music beyond the hard rock and metal she was already so good at.
What I couldn’t teach her was that immense natural ability to pick up a guitar and just play, or that voice. You can have amazing guitarists who can’t sing, or amazing singers who can’t really play an instrument. Praew is the whole package. She’s an amazing singer and, I would say, an even more amazing guitarist.
You have to be born with that talent, but you also have to work at developing it. Talent on its own isn’t going to take you anywhere. She had it, but she put in the work as well.
Time Out: Was that powerful rock voice already there at 12?
Jana:
Yes, I remember hearing it when she came for her scholarship interview.
As she got older, the colour of her voice changed slightly and it became stronger, richer and more mature. She also learned how to work with it and develop it further.
Even when I first heard her at 12, if I didn’t know who that voice belonged to, I would never have guessed it was coming from a girl her age. She had this incredibly mature, powerful voice.
Time Out: You still teach her now. How has your relationship changed over the years?
Jana:
She’s still my student and after finishing her IGCSEs in May, she chose to continue with Music BTEC for her final two years at school. She’s doing the Extended Diploma, which is worth three A Levels, as well as an A Level in Visual Arts.
The music programme is very intense, so I still see her pretty much every day. She’s still my girl, which I really appreciate.
Over the years we’ve built a really good relationship, not just as teacher and student. She comes and confides in me sometimes, and she was very excited when I told her I was coming to LA to support her on her AGT journey. I’m very chuffed to be part of it.
Time Out: What was going through your mind when you watched her at the AGT finals?
Jana:
It was so surreal. Whenever friends came to visit me in Phuket, I would take them to the Friday night markets and say, ‘You need to come and watch. This is my student. Listen to her voice, watch what she can do. She is going to go somewhere.’
My children were big supporters too, so we would go to the markets, give her some money and cheer her on. But this was on a whole new level. Watching her on that stage was incredibly emotional. I cried, but I cry because that’s what mums do!
The pride I felt is difficult to explain. I was looking at her thinking, ‘Wow, this is the kid who is going to be famous now.’ I know her as Praew, my student who comes to play music and chat to me during breaks. I just kept thinking that if anyone deserves this, it’s her.
Time Out: What did you say to Nene before the final and after she won?
Jana:
I gave her a big hug and said, ‘Okay, let’s quickly take a selfie before you go because I need to send it to our school group chat so they can see that I’m with you.’ Then I think I just said, ‘Good luck. Go get them. You can do it. Love you.’
After she won, I don’t think I could say anything. I just stood there, hugged her and cried.
I sent her a personal message afterwards telling her how proud I was of everything she had achieved. I’ve watched her grow as a student, a performer, a singer, a guitarist and as a woman.
Time Out: What happened in the hours after she won?
Jana:
It was crazy. There was a celebratory dinner organised in LA that night, but there were so many interviews afterwards that we didn’t arrive until around 10pm.
When our van pulled up, there were crowds outside the restaurant, lights, cameras and security trying to hold everyone back. People were trying to touch her and shouting, ‘Nene! Nene! We love you!’
I remember her standing beside me and saying, ‘Miss, what is this?’ I said, ‘This, my darling, is the price you’re going to pay for being famous.’ She said, ‘I’m not famous.’ I said, ‘Yeah, no, you are.’
It was very full-on and very exciting. Has it sunk in? I don’t know. I don’t think it has for me.
Time Out: Has she always been as supportive of other musicians?
Jana:
Absolutely. She once accompanied my son playing ‘Hotel California’. She was singing and playing guitar and could easily have made the performance about herself, but she didn’t. If he slowed down, she slowed down. If he sped up, she sped up. If he stumbled, she encouraged him.
Last year we had three nights of school recitals and I hadn’t realised I’d scheduled the two performances she was helping with on different nights. On the first evening, she arrived right at the beginning even though she wasn’t performing until the very end. She stood at the back with me for the whole two hours, watching the other students and cheering them on.
The same thing happened the next night. I said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me you were only playing two songs? I would have scheduled them on the same night.’ She said, ‘No, that’s fine. I came here to help you. I’m here.’
Time Out: What would people never guess about Nene?
Jana:
Probably how caring she is and how much she still wants a normal life. When I was leaving LA, she said, ‘I’ll see you in school on Monday.’ I said, ‘No, please don’t! You’re only arriving on Sunday. Take Monday off, be with your mum and dad and then come back to school.’
She said, ‘No, I just want to come to school because I want to be with you guys, I want to be with my friends and I just want to have a normal life.’
Then on Monday morning, there she was at school. I gave her a big hug and she went to see her friends, hung out with everyone in the sixth form centre and came to lessons with her computer and her work ready. That’s something people who only see her perform probably don’t realise. She really cares about her education and she wants to finish these final two years.
Despite everything that has happened, in her eyes she’s still this ordinary girl. She keeps saying, ‘I’m not famous.’ She just wants to go to school, hang out with her friends and have a normal life.
But when she gets onstage, she becomes a whole different person, this amazing rock-star diva with a crazy voice and even crazier guitar skills.