Rewind With A Superstar System

<🎧 Song Recommendation: COPYCAT by Billie Eilish>

...

From homes, bars, restaurants, and even at work, millions were tuning on to the now aired episode. The comeback of Project: Star was trending globally.

In a cramped apartment in Seattle, the rain tapped a steady, melancholy rhythm against the single pane window.

A girl sat on a worn-out sofa, casually watching the episode while eating instant noodles.

But when a certain song started playing, her fork froze halfway to her mouth.

As she listened to the acoustic guitar intro, she had to sit up and pay more attention to confirm she didn’t hear wrongly. She grabbed the remote and rewound the live feed.

{Did you really write that song?}

{Yes, ma’am.}

Those words rang in her head one more time before she clasped her mouth in shock and ran inside the only other room in the apartment.

A young man with long, greasy hair and a pair of glasses had his back hunched over his laptop. Books and crumpled papers were scattered around him as he studied.

"Noah! You have to see this."

Noah looked up from his laptop and fixed her with a deadpan stare, trying to see what was in her hands through his smudged lenses. He didn’t look happy; his eyes had deep bags, and his long hair was a messy nest. "I can’t see anything, Lena. What is it?"

"No, not here. In the living room!" she urged, grabbing his arm and trying to pull him up.

Noah wasn’t having it and raised his hand to create a boundary. "Maybe it would help if you told me what I’ll be abandoning my work to come see."

"Oh, you’re forming an attitude," Lena removed her hands and turned away from him, folding her arms. "I thought you cared about your songs, but maybe you’ve truly given up."

Her words struck a nerve. Noah sat up abruptly, his apathy replaced by a sudden, defensive curiosity. "Okay. Show me."

After dragging him to the living room, Lena pointed at the TV. She replayed the segment where the black-haired boy sang the song.

As the melody of You’re Gonna Come Home filled the room, Noah’s face went pale. Then, it turned red.

"Isn’t that your song?" Lena watched his face.

"It fucking is! How does that motherfucker have my song?! I only showed it to you!" Noah looked at her aggressively as he shouted the last part, veins bulging in his neck.

Lena shrank back and raised her hands in surrender. "I swear, it wasn’t me! I was as surprised as you when hearing this."

Her denial seemed convincing to Noah. There was no connection between this random singer in LA and his girlfriend in Seattle. She was the one who always encouraged and supported his dreams after all; she wouldn’t betray him like this.

Noah was a failed indie artist. He had written and poured his soul hundreds of tracks, but couldn’t have that break out moment.

This particular song was one he had written only recently. He was having mixed feelings about finishing it, fearing it would end up as another failure.

Hearing it on national TV now felt surreal. And scary.

"Did you share the song with any other person? Even if it wasn’t intentional? Are you sure it wasn’t just me?"

Noah shook his head firmly. "No, Lena. It was just between you and me. I can’t explain how this happened."

"But you’re sure it’s your song, right?"

Noah stopped pacing. He stared at the screen where Von was smiling at the judges.

"It’s mine. The chord progression. The lyrics returning home. That guy stole it somehow. Maybe he hacked my cloud files. I don’t know how he did it, but he’ll pay for it."

Lena was curious about his plans. "So what do you plan to do about it?"

Noah’s expression shifted. The rage cooled into something colder, more calculated. A sinister glint appeared in his eyes.

"I’ll sue him, of course," Noah whispered. "But not now."

"Why not?"

"Because right now, he’s nobody. If I sue him now, the show will just disqualify him and bury the story and I get nothing meaningful." An evil smirk touched his lips as the plan formed in his mind.

"I’ll wait. I’ll be lucky if he releases it and it does well. If he wins, it’ll even be better. Either way, I can sue him for the royalties, the damages, everything. We let him bake the cake, Lena. And then we eat it."

Lena didn’t fully understand the legalities, but she smiled, relieved he wasn’t yelling anymore.

***

Meanwhile, all around America, and other parts of the world, there were far more positive reactions to the premiere.

The media machine was already churning with releases. Editors at major publications were scrambling to get their reviews out first, sensing that Project: Star was going to dominate the news cycle for the next months.

A famous newspaper known as The Entertainment Chronicle had released a digital front-page article just minutes after the credits rolled.

[PROJECT: STAR RETURNS: THE TITAN AWAKES]

[After a two-year hiatus that left a void in the reality television landscape, most fans were skeptical when Panther Network announced that the greatest Reality Singing Show in America, and arguably in the world, was back.

And fans from across America and the world who had anticipated the airing had their high expectations met within the first ten minutes. Episode 1 dropped tonight, and it was nothing short of a piece of art.

It is also important to highlight the effort that was put into the show, it had become clear to us that the budget had been tripled. But a show is only as good as its cast, and the Producers have delivered.

The statements released by the network regarding a new era were not hyperbole. The Celebrity Judge panel is stacked with industry royalty.

Rex Sterling, the ruthless CEO of Cloudary Holdings, and the only returning judge from the previous season, is now joined by 11-time Grammy Winner Aria Diana and the legendary former lead singer of Crimson Haze, Jax Ryder.

Everyone was expecting a lot from this premiere, and it didn’t disappoint.

From minor talents stealing the show to famous figures carrying their flame into the spotlight, the episode had everything: Excitement, Tension, and Mystery.

The Producers had previously announced their confidence that this Season would be their best ever, citing the unprecedented quality of the contestants. Tonight, that claim was verified. The talent pool is deep, diverse, and hungry. Hence, everyone is already going crazy over waiting for more Episodes.]

The articles were very correct about the hype surrounding the Show.

If one were to open the social media platform X, they would see that the timeline had been completely consumed. As it stood, Project: Star was the most discussed event on the platform, trending above global politics and sports.

The discourse was a chaotic mix of stans, haters, casual viewers, and trolls.

[Two Piece Ain’t Ending! 🏴‍☠️: I can’t believe Project: Star is back, now I have something else to watch other than anime ;)]

[Harem Only, Please!: Who the fuck watches that shit. You a girl or what? @Two Piece Ain’t Ending! Go watch some real content.]

[Cultured Daoist 127: I agree with @Two Piece Ain’t Ending! I’m a grown man, but I stayed up late until the show aired in my country. That shit is peak, fellow Daoist. The cultivation of talent in this batch is high level. Junior Sister Celine has reached the Heavenly Realm of vocals. 🥹🙏]

[I Luv Cucumber: We should be talking more about this year’s contestants! Did anyone notice Julian?? Isn’t he Rayan West’s son? He looks EXACTLY like him! I need his Photogram immediately. 😍]

[Baby Daddy 69: Isn’t everyone his son these days? That man has up to 15 baby mamas from what I heard. My man’s a legend. 🫡]

[Aura’s Biggest Fan: Forget that nepo baby! Did any of you see Aura?? Her voice is gorgeous, omg! 🧚‍♀️😭 She literally didn’t even have to try. From the way the judges looked at her, she’s the winner. Pack it up, everyone else should go home.]

[The Real Burger King: @Aura’s Biggest Fan You changed your username for her already? Well, I’m not into any of these characters. But Von stood out to me. His confidence shows he’s a Sigma Alpha. He didn’t even flinch when Rex yelled at him. That’s the energy we need. 😌🐺]

[Moon Jin Woo: Von? I didn’t hear of that guy. But if there’s any Sigma Male then it’s definitely Alex Hall. My guy’s aura had me crying omg. 😭🙏]

[Anti-Negreira: How don’t you know Von @The Real Burger King? He’s that arrogant bastard in the black jacket. My bro can’t even sing and he thinks he’s the Main Character. 🤡]

[Fuck Vardridstas: Shut your hole @Anti-Negreira you don’t have the right to school anyone on arrogance. Von is only confident, there’s a difference. I like him too. He makes things interesting. Without him, it’s just a bunch of crybabies. 🤦🏾]

[Music Gal 6767: Whoa, this is escalating real quick. We ain’t fighting guys 😭🙏 It’s just a TV show! Can’t we all just enjoy it?]

[Music Boi 1313: This is exactly why I don’t like X. I don’t even care about all this drama. Right now all I want is they release all the episodes! That snippet of Von’s song sounded fire but the editors cut it! 😤]

[Sober Lord 12: I agree with you... I heard there’ll be another episode tomorrow. So now all we gotta do is wait. 🙂 The Holywood Week is gonna be fire.]