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No doubt, the time Justin Timberlake lost out on “Star Search” is a forgotten sidenote to his otherwise illustrious career as a movie star and a pop icon.

What’s most definitely noteworthy, however, is the winner of that particular competition – Kata Hay, now a resident of Sevierville and a rising star in her own right on the local music scene.

Hay was 5 and already a child sensation, having started singing and winning national competitions when she was 2. Growing up in Oklahoma, she began her performing career as a dancer, but when her family took her to see a friend compete in a beauty pageant, music grabbed her little heart and has yet to let go.

“We went to watch it, and my friend got up on stage to sing for the talent portion of the competition,” Hay told The Daily Times this week. “Right then, I told my parents that I wanted to sing. At the time, we didn’t have a lot of money, but I begged and begged for so long that my dad said he would pay the $50 for me to enter a competition.

“I think he did it because he thought that a 2-year-old had no idea what she wanted to do, and that I would get up there and embarrass myself and that would be the end of it. But I ended up winning the whole thing and going to Georgia for the finals, where I was the national beauty queen for my particular age group.”

And so began a series of ups and downs for Hay, who – along with her band, The Blaze – is releasing a new CD this week titled “Reckless.” At 20, she’s already accomplished more than many musicians twice her age, and the diverse and eclectic batch of songs on “Restless” is proof that no matter what hurdles are placed in her path, she has a penchant for overcoming them and climbing to even greater heights than before.

Take, for example, that “Star Search” victory. When she was 5, a video of one of her national contests was sent to the show’s producers, along with those of roughly 500 other kids … including Timberlake.

“He was singing country at the time, and I beat the girl who beat Justin Timberlake, so technically, I beat out Justin Timberlake,” Hay said, erupting into a warm and genuine laugh. “Of course, he has all of the money now and I’m living in a duplex, but I still beat him.”

As the winner, Hay was awarded $10,000. It was a windfall for the child star, but it also prevented her from entering further competitions because it elevated her stature to that of a professional performer. No matter; she was soon singing at various theaters and shows, opening for bands like Exile and Billy Dean. Then, when she was 8, tragedy struck – her sister was diagnosed with cancer, succumbing to the disease a few years later.

“I didn’t sing for two or three years, and when all of that finally settled down, I decided I wanted to go back to it,” she said. “I had been out of the loop for a while, but while I was at a Western music festival, I decided to enter a yodeling contest. I had never really done it before, but I won it, and from there I won three international yodeling competitions.”

A gregarious and humble girl, Hay doesn’t seem prone to braggadocio about her accomplishments. She lists them matter-of-factly, almost hesitantly, as if she’s uncomfortable talking about herself. For those who see only the sultry, diva-esque photos of the stunning redhead, that may come as something of a surprise. Given her natural and lifelong affinity for the spotlight, however, it’s not such a leap to see how she transforms with a guitar in hand.

“It’s not really anything I ever thought about as far as wanting to be sexy or a diva,” she said. “I’m just a completely different person when I’m on stage. I’m a whole lot more confident in myself when I’m singing; that’s when I feel most like myself. I feel naked without a guitar in my hand.

“People are always commenting about my photos and the whole modern-day pinup thing, and I almost have to laugh at it in a way. All the time I was really little, I pretty much idolized Bettie Page and Marilyn Monroe – not for their lifestyle choices, but for their confidence and the fact that they seemed to have this inner beauty in addition to being strong women.

“I liked that they were strong,” she added. “I like to think I’m a strong woman.”

Indeed. Two months after turning 18, she left Oklahoma for Sevier County, where a Pigeon Forge music theater owner offered her a gig based on her success yodeling. The experience wasn’t exactly a positive one, however, and she declines to name the theater with which she was associated.

One good thing came from it, though – she met Robbie Helton, the stand-up bass player for the theater’s house band with whom she formed the Blaze … and eventually fell in love. The two departed the theater about the same time, and shortly thereafter, they began to put together a band and, shortly thereafter, the new album. (Incidentally, Hay pointed out, “Reckless” was recorded, mixed and mastered at Hickory Hill Recording on Rock Hill Road in Maryville.)

“After that whole experience, when I left there I was pretty much to the point where I didn’t want to play music anymore,” she said. “Robbie told me, ‘You’ve got talent, and you’ve been writing these songs; you need to be doing something with them.’ He really encouraged me, and from there, it sort of evolved into its own thing.

“I have extensively pretty much a Western background, so when we first started putting together Kata and the Blaze, we said we played ‘Western swingabilly with an edge’ – sort of a combination of Western swing and rockabilly. Now, it still has tinges of that, but I sat down to write whatever I could instead of writing for a specific genre.”

If anything, “Reckless” defies categorization. It’s a musical pot of jambalaya, with equal parts blues (“Possum Anthem,” the title track), honky-tonk weepers (“Easy As Loving You,” “Hangin’ On”), bluegrass touches (“You Ain’t No Better Than Me”), a little rock (“Unstable”), a bit of Western (“Breakin’”) and ... well, the list could go on and on. Suffice it to say that with Hay wielding a six-string and a voice that makes Kelly Clarkson sound like Horshack on “Welcome Back Kotter,” there’s not a bad apple in the bunch.

Humble as she is, Hay gives equal credit to her man — except where the vocals are concerned.

“Robbie can’t sing, at all,” she said with a laugh. “His whole life, he’s kind of been that sideman. He’s an amazing musician — he can play guitar, mandolin, bass, all this stuff, and he’s really had fame knocking on his door twice with his other bands. He’s had record labels looking at him, but it never worked out.”

In the end, however, “Reckless” is driven by the fiery redhead who graces the album’s cover. It’s not her first CD — she’s been singing professionally long enough that she has three others under her belt — but it’s certainly the one that feels closer to her heart than any other, she added.

“Robbie’s as equally responsible for it, but this is the first thing I’ve ever done that I had control of, since the others were done when I was a kid,” she said. “This is all me, and it wasn’t written to fit into any genre in any way. I’m so pleased with it.”