Bab 10: Second Audition Rounds

"There's no shortage of talented contestants this year" Kiara said to her fellow judges, her eyes scanning the contestants going up against each other today with the tab in her hands.

All of them were in the same limousine that was driving them to the hall for today's evening to late-night auditions again.

A week and three days had already passed by since the three-way knockout challenge had been announced to the contestants and over that period, they had already noted a few promising contestants.

A lot of other contestants had also been eliminated without mercy but that was how the singing reality TV show worked.

Only three people would end up reaching the very end.

Today was the fourth day of the week though, Wednesday, and once again, the judges were all prepared to maintain impartiality with the auditioning contestants.

"Yeah. Some are already talented enough to even join a record label after a few more months of training" Blake said, also scanning the tab in his own hands.

"Are you referring to Lily and Steven?" Kiara asked in curiosity.

"Yeah. Those two are absolute monsters. In fact, by the end of the show, they might not even need any major training and could just debut instantly" he replied, his hands constantly swiping and eyes continuously scanning through the list of contestants.

"What's your take Jack?" Blake then inquired, raising his head up to watch as the most controversial judge out of all of three of them kept staring out the window.

"Hmmm… This year's competition is going to be fierce"

That was all Jack replied with and Blake nodded his head in understanding, his eyes returning to the list of contestants auditioning today.

And then, his eyes suddenly caught hold of someone whom had personally impressed him from the very first audition with his original.

'So he's auditioning today huh…' Blake thought to himself, a bit of interest in his eyes.

'It's a pity he'll probably get eliminated though' he then inwardly sighed and returned to going through the list of other contestants.

* * *

"You nervous man?" Ryan asked Kyle as he was about to leave the room.

"Hmmm… Maybe" he truthfully replied, a light smile on his face.

"What do you mean maybe?!" Ryan spoke again, more nervous about Kyle's performance than the Kyle himself.

"Good luck man!" Steven on the other hand gave his well-wishes to the young man.

Kyle nodded in appreciation to his words and then closed the door, patting Ryan gently on the shoulder just before he did.

Over the past two days, Ryan and Steven already had their auditions and would be advancing over to L.A for the next rounds. So had Lily too.

Now although Ryan was a bit confused by Kyle's reply to his question, it was actually the truth for Kyle himself.

He really wasn't sure if he wasn't nervous or if because he had consistently practiced his song over the week, he was very confident about it, despite not even knowing the people he would be up against.

Making his way downstairs via the elevator, he soon reached the lobby and was quickly ushered into the bus that would be taking him over to the hall, a small production team recording footage of he and the others as they walked past.

Now comfortably seated inside the bus, Kyle rested his head on the windows and stared at the orange sun slowly descending below the horizon while thinking to himself;

'Let's give it our all again today…'

* * *

Driving over to the venue in a sleek Black Porsche, Oliver Stone, suavely dressed in his well-tailored three-piece brown suit, parked his car by the side of the road.

Stepping out, the agent handed his car keys over to the female valet who was close-by and then walked into the hall.

Having received an invitation from an old friend of his whom was part of the production team of the reality TV show, he saw no reason to reject the offer since he wasn't really busy handling any stars these days.

Walking into the lobby and handing his invitation card over to the guards situated by the door to the hall, he was then respectfully let in with a polite gesture.

Making his way into the fairly mid-sized hall fitted with red, comfy, velvety chairs, enough to fit about fifty to sixty people, Oliver chose an empty seat in the middle rows and sat down in mild anticipation for the show to begin.

Truth be told, Oliver hadn't actually had any luck finding any upcoming actor, actress or artist he felt was worth investing his time into over the past three weeks.

Coming here was more or less a way for him to see if there was any great singer he could potentially scout.

That being said though, Oliver was able to spot a few popular artists and actors who were also already present in the hall, some of them conversing with each other while others already seemed so bored out of their minds.

Just as his eyes was scanning around for a few more familiar faces, he and the others already present in the room, watched as all the judges entered, immediately taking their seats at their elevated panel.

And just like that, the show began as Chris, host of Rising Voices came onto the stage with his signature winning smile and kicked of the first few segments of the show.

'Hope I find anyone worth investing on today…' Oliver thought to himself, comfortably settling into his seat to enjoy the auditions.

* * *

"We've already briefed all of you previously but once again, I'll reiterate"

"You have five minutes this time for each of your auditions"

"If you're going to need any form of instruments, let the staffs know beforehand and they'll get on it"

"Is that clear?" the production staff whom had been explaining to all the contestants, said to them, his tone a bit authoritative.

Nodding their heads in understanding while some let out words of confirmation, the staff nodded as he went back into the production room opposite the waiting room they were in.

"Batch A – Get ready for your auditions!" another staff member signaled to all the contestants.

Those who already knew their batch sucked in a deep breath and began to move forward while the others just sat down, watching as all the formalities happened while also awaiting their own turn.

Watching as Katie who was in said Batch A was called up by Chris for a short interview, a few minutes after one of her fellow contestant in the same batch had already gone on-stage, the contestants in the waiting room just felt more and more nervous.

"Good evening. I'm Jeremy Taylor. I presume you must be Kyle Kestis" Jeremy, a fairly mid-heighted man with a cream-colored fedora hat atop his head said to Kyle, offering a handshake.

"Ah. Yes. Nice to meet you Jeremy" Kyle politely replied while receiving the handshake, wondering when Jeremy came over to sit beside him.

"I was actually among the few contestants staying in the waiting room when you auditioned on the very first day" Jeremy explained how he knew about Kyle.

"I see. Well then, I wish you the best of luck today" Kyle responded with words of encouragement.

"Thank you" the man in his late-thirties warmly smiled in reply.

His dark-brown hair was long, reaching his shoulders, his irises were black and he had a very bulky figure.

Overall, he seemed to be a man whom had already experienced his fair share of life's ups and downs.

___________________________

{Jeremy Taylor} – 36 years

Singing › Level 7

Instrumental Mastery(Guitar) › Level 6

Skills – [None]

___________________________

'Same as me…' Kyle thought to himself as he closed the appraisal window, a bit more confident about himself and the effort he had put in for today's performance.

Over the course of the past week and a few days, despite continuously practicing, Kyle had definitely realized that raising his singing level was far harder to raise than he could have ever anticipated.

However, he hadn't been too worried about it and had just focused instead on improving his newest original song amongst all the three he had composed, bringing it to an almost perfected state.

In the process, despite not having his singing skill increase by a level, he had ended up gaining a level in his piano skills instead, bringing it to Level 7 from Level 6.

Pushing all of his thoughts aside though, Kyle then instead focused his attention back on the next batches that were being called.

Katie had just finished her performance and she had, obviously, been the one among her batch to make it to the next rounds in L.A.

With a cheery grin, she had profusely thanked the judges while her fellow contestants were crest-fallen, unable to process their current loss.

The other female in her batch even broke down in tears the moment she walked off stage, seemingly having been trying her best to hold it back in front of the judges.

The production team as usual, more interested in showcasing the high stakes of the competition, zoomed the cameras in on her face without mercy and got their precious footage.

This on the other hand though, just further drove home the fact to the rest of the contestants yet to audition that if they did fail here, they would be sent home straight without mercy.

Such was the harsh reality of a popular singing TV show.