Chapter 373 373: Good Boys Gone Bad (2)
"Wow, so all the boys except for William showed up? Thank goodness," Justine asked as she stood on her tiptoes to catch sight of the 19 boys lining up on stage in a staggered V formation.
In the very center was Daniel, and flanking him were Insu and Carlos, then Rex and Justin, then Jamie and Levi, Benjamin and Jerome, etc…
She didn't see Ari until she looked at the very back, where he was almost hidden by Mathew and Vishal.
"Who the heck did the choreography positioning? Why would you put Ari in the back when he's basically the face of the show? They put him behind all the tall people and the worst singers. Does that make any sense?" Rachel added in an irritated voice.
Just staring at the stage reminded her of the trauma she experienced each time she watched an episode and had to sit through the opening signal song.
Other people got to see their contestant for at least 10 seconds. But even though there were only 20 contestants remaining compared to the original hundred, she still had to be content with a 2-second flash shot of Ari, which was annoying.
It showed that no matter how popular he became, the production team remained biased against him.
One of the girls standing in front of her spun around, allowing Rachel to see the sparkly tiara the girl wore on her curled blonde hair.
The girl looked Rachel and her friends over, noting the mini French flags that had Ari's face on them before snorting derisively.
"Here come the stupid AA's complaining about their contestant being mistreated, all because he's not front and center. Maybe production realized that nobody wants to see your pick's ugly face."
"Not even you believe that Ari is ugly. And why are you even here? You clearly support William, and he's not performing!" Rachel snapped back, unwilling to be cowed or to tolerate someone insulting Ari. Especially someone who still supported William after all he did.
"They're bringing William out to perform today. You'd better trust and believe that! They're just keeping it under wraps to surprise everyone!" the girl snapped back as her friends turned around to glare at Grace, Justine, and Rachel.
All three were wearing matching tiaras and holding a banner that read 'Bring William Back!'
"William's surprising us with a performance? Is the production team trying to make nightmares become real life? Are you seeing visions of William performing in your head? Because the last time I checked, the show execs' statement is still up, and his indefinite ban continues. Hopefully until the end of the show because he's a disgrace and plagiarism should never be supported." Grace chimed in sarcastically, making the other girl even angrier.
"And that's exactly why we came here. To make sure that you loser fans of that French rat don't win today. You all think you're better than everyone, just like your pick." The tiara-wearing girls waved their phones, which had an app that allowed extra voting for the current event.
"I don't think I'm better than everyone, my pick definitely doesn't think he's better than everyone and has said it before, but I do think I'm better than somebody who steals the hard work of others and tries to pass it off as his own. And I think I'm better than somebody who paid money to come hate-watch and hate-vote." Rachel added as she glared back.
"You bit-"
"Can all of you shut up? They're about to start." Another voice interrupted, and after several seconds of maintaining eye contact, the girls in front spun around to watch the stage.
"HMPH!"
"HMPH right back to you!" Justine added not willing to lose.
Even though they felt bitter, the fighting fans focused on the stage since that was what they had paid for.
As the upbeat instrumental transitioned into a high-energy electro-pop beat, Daniel's surprisingly deep singing voice was heard as he performed bouncy dance moves that matched his cute appearance.
When you walked into the room
Pick me, love me, choose me
Then Choi In-su's breathy tone picked up where Daniel left off as he spun into the center.
Couldn't help myself, couldn't look away
Pick me, love me, choose me
Then Carlos's angelic, clear voice took over like a trumpet, ringing out as he took the center and began singing the slightly cringy lyrics with a cool smile.
Shining like a firework, a firework
Lighting up my heart and soul, heart and soul
Pick me, love me, choose me
In one smooth movement, the three people in front stepped aside, allowing Jamie, Levi, Justin, and Rex to step forward in unison and take the center as they continued singing.
This precious dream I'm chasing here
Pick me, love me, choose me
You're the one I want to take me there
Pick me, love me, choose me
I want to be your star, be your star
To shine for you wherever you are, wherever you are
Pick me, love me, choose me
As the signal song continued and the boys kept taking turns moving forward, the fans who had been upset that their pick was shoved to the back and would have no proper screen time to record personal fan cams were relieved since everything seemed fair.
The line distribution was decent, and even those who weren't really singers still got time to be in the center and sing at least one line.
For once, it seemed that the production team had stopped rage-baiting people and were doing their jobs!
The fans started enjoying it so much that the atmosphere softened enough for fans of different contestants to tease each other.
- Did you see Levi's ears? He's so embarrassed. He thinks those cheesy lines are cringy.
- To be fair, they are completely cringy, but I still want him to serenade me, and I love gap moe, so he should continue suffering~.
- On the other hand, Daniel is embracing the cringe. Even though he's in the back, he's dancing as energetically as usual. All you see is his orange hair flopping around like rabbit ears.
- There's a reason he's called the Energizer Bunny. He suits cute pop concepts the most, even though his voice is so deep.
As the contestants continually sang and danced the signal song, finally it was Ari's turn to be in the front along with Mathew and Vishal.
The other two sang their parts, and then, as Ari took the center, the previously upbeat song grew a bit mellower.
Tonight~, I want to be your one and only star, only star
Your lucky jackpot that will take you far, take you far
His husky voice seemed to caress the ears of all who listened as Ari reached out as if to reach out and held onto the hand of any person who dared to take it
Gonna steal your heart and gonna make it mine, make it mine
In this whole dream world, it's just you and I, you and I~
As Ari sang the final lines and the music cut off, screams filled the air from the excited fans.
For many of them, it was the very first time seeing and hearing the signal song performed live, and the impact of seeing their favorites promising to steal their hearts and begging for their love was too much to handle.
But before they could even digest the performance, the lights dimmed, and the speakers began blasting the intro to another song.
A strong beat, with a powerful, loud trumpet-like synth and whistle noises wrapping around it, blasted from the speakers.
After a momentary hush, even more screams sounded out from the audience because this was the very first performance that made many of them fans.
- WARRIOR!
- Oh my gosh, it's Warrior!
- Are we going to get a water stage today? I'm so excited!
Almost all of them recalled the one performance that had changed many people's opinions.
The water performance by the lowest-ranked team, which still had the most views among the other warrior performances, inspired later performances as well.
A performance conceptualized by the red-haired boy wearing a stylish suit.
With excited eyes, the audience looked all around the stage, hoping that they would spot it filling the stage.
And while they were looking around, the 18 boys all lined up seamlessly behind Ari and began to wait.
Then the music began.
Daaa dan dan dan dan dan da da
A strong beat, mirrored by a trumpet, sounded out.
Wooooooahhhhhhhh~~
Amid the heavy bass of the instrumental and the blaring alarm, Ari's distinct voice cut through, his pitch rising steadily as he held the note for almost 10 seconds.
When his voice trailed off, smiling widely in his usual mischievous way, Ari chanted out the next line.
P. S. A.
Daaa dan dan dan dan dan da da
Then, with a slick backward slide, Ari retreated as the previously single column seamlessly split into three.
He disappeared into the back and exchanged places with Levi, who began rapping in his sharp and aggressive voice as he stepped forward.
What's your aim
When we play this game
We want to make it
Straight to the top right now'
Daniel took over next, his deep voice adding a certain growl to the lyrics that made it more intense.
What's your pain
Fighting doubters who don't believe
Trying hard to achieve
My dreams
Benjamin, who was at the end, quickly took over, his crisp style of rapping bringing a slightly elevated touch to the trio's rapping.
What's your gain
Everything is golden
I sit on the top of the hill, yeah
Don't believe
I will achieve
Cause I'm a G
You can't stop me
Watch this!
As the audience watched the golden rap trio, they never expected to be on the same team, feed off each other's energy, and execute the song to a previously unseen level.
Then, an angelic voice broke through to bless their ears even as the strong choreography was demonstrated perfectly.
Seeing all the contestants get along, dancing well, singing well, and rapping, they had one thought-
We're eating so good today!
This was the best idea that the production team has ever had!!!
Are you sure we have to vote for the best performances?
Can't they just all perform each song as a group of 19?
Can't you just debut all 19 of them?
Everyone is so good!
It was the moment when the audience truly enjoyed the performance of all the contestants without bias, while completely erasing the presence of a particular contestant who was the reason the showcase had been created in the first place.
*********
And as the performances group performances finished, and the team performances began, Ari and his teammates, after speaking to the stage crew once more, ran out of the venue to go meet up with their ride.
It was almost time to literally drop onto the stage.