Chương 11: A Tribute To You, An Ode For Me

"Batch D – Get ready for your auditions!" the same staff who had been calling out all the other batches thus far, called out this time.

With a deep breath, Jeremy and Kyle got up from their chairs and moved forward.

Staring at the reddish-brown haired guy standing before them, both contestants immediately understood that this was Mike Woods.

"So Mike Woods goes on first. Then Jeremy Taylor second, followed by Kyle Kestis. That clear?" the same staff asked again after they had walked over to him.

With a small nod, all three responded and the staff then let them be, going over to hand the envelope containing their names over to Chris who was nearby and was about to take the stage again to announce their names.

"Hello Mike" Jeremy gently called out to his fellow contestant while wishing him;

"Break a leg out there"

Seemingly having heard him, Mike turned over for a split moment, scrutinized both individuals behind him, and then, with an audible scoff, turned back around, almost as if neither of them were worth his time.

A bit taken aback by his rudeness, Jeremy just stood there, scratching the back of his head with a wry smile.

Kyle on the other hand, had a pretty unperturbed expression and instead, just appraised the young man before him.

___________________________

{Mike Woods} – 24 years

Singing › Level 8

Dancing › Level 4

Instrumental Mastery (Guitar) › Level 6

Skills – [None]

___________________________

'Hmmm… just a level higher than me at singing…' Kyle thought to himself, wondering if this would make for a pretty big difference in their actual performance.

'Well there's no use pondering over it now' he further thought as he closed the appraisal window.

Now, Kyle was solely focused on just giving his very best when his own turn came around.

In a few seconds following his decision, he watched as Mike went up to the stage, had a small chat with the judges and then, began his performance without any further delay.

As Kyle kept watching his performance, he had to say that Mike really did give a very good performance with the classic pop song he was performing.

Also, judging by the way Jeremy was now nervously fidgeting beside him, he was sure the thirty-year old man felt like he stood no chance against the youngster.

Kyle on the other hand, despite commending Mike's performance, still felt like the young man hadn't really given it his all.

'He's really looking down on us huh…'

No sooner had Kyle said this, Mike ended his performance and even some of the people in the audience cheered.

In addition to that, the moment the reddish-brown haired man had walked backstage, Chris walked over to him and requested for a small interview, an opportunity Mike excitedly took.

As Jeremy was then called on over for his own performance, Mike exiting the small room he had his interview in a few minutes just after, the dude casually directed a condescending smirk towards Kyle.

'This guy, does he not realize there are cameras everywhere?' Kyle wondered, slightly tilting his head in response.

Not minding his childish mannerisms though, Kyle turned around and instead, focused on Jeremy's performance.

Singing a pretty hard pop-rock ballad, Jeremy's husky yet well-trained voice was the highlight and it shone through in every aspect.

If Kyle had to say, Jeremy really gave it his all, so much that it almost rivalled Mike's who had taken it easy.

Even Mike himself couldn't help but frown when he noticed this as the crowd also cheered for Jeremy and Chris also requested for a short interview from him.

Now, it was Kyle's turn to perform and as he was called up, he took in a deep breath and calmly made his way over.

Slightly nervous, yet still very confident, Kyle stood in the limelight of the stage as both audience and judges stared at him.

Instantly remembering him due to his original, Blake and Kiara both gave meaningful smiles while Jack just maintained his poker face.

"Hello again Kyle. How's the past week been?" Kiara asked first, a light smile on her lips.

"Truthfully, it went by so fast that I'm wondering why I'm suddenly onstage again" Kyle joked in reply instead.

Finding his words a bit humorous, Kiara and Blake chuckled while Jack responded with a very thin smile.

"Well you certainly have a way with words Kyle. I hope you can give us a good performance today"

"I'll try my best" Kyle replied with a small grin and Blake then asked, curiosity evident in his voice.

"So which song will you be performing this time?"

"I'll be performing another original of mine titled [Embers]"

The moment those words left Kyle's mouth, both the audience and the judges looked at him in mild surprise while some even had a few hushed conversations and mutters regarding his choice.

This was because the knockout round was one where most contestants would rather just play it safe as opposed to the normal preliminary auditions.

Although the judges had been impressed by his original song in the very first auditions, there was a major doubt in their minds as to if he could deliver again.

Composing a song after all and then being able to also properly perform it, was a herculean task to say the least.

"Haha. Well I hope it's up to par" Blake laughed a bit and then said while gesturing with his hands.

"Go on then. Let's hear it"

With a nod, Kyle then walked over to the piano which had been placed prior to his performance and sat on its leathered stool, surprising the judges even more.

Since he had used a guitar in the first round, their slight surprise was very understandable.

Taking a deep breath as [Resonance] activated on its own, Kyle then began to play the tune of the song, his hands skillfully dancing on the piano's tiles.

A pretty somber tune played out and Kyle began the first verse of the song, seemingly already stuck in a trance he himself had not realized yet.

🎹 ♪

Weekends were your favorite…

🎹 ♪

Hearing that first lyric alone, everyone in the hall instantly felt the emotional weight of the song.

Unknown to any of them though, and even Kyle himself, multiple tiny strings, similar to the silky threads of a spider, slowly expanded out of his body to touch everyone in the hall, an effect of [Resonance] at work.

🎹 ♪

You'd laugh as I told you about my week,

You'd tell me you loved my smiles,

And I was content with yours…

🎹 ♪

Finishing up the first verse, a bittersweet expression now present on his face, Kyle continued singing and moved on to the pre-chorus, his hands playing the gentle yet somber tune that had slowly picked up.

🎹 ♪

In time you'll see child,

We were just a page in your story,

And maybe that's what you are,

But I'll keep holding on…

🎹 ♪

Finishing off the pre-chorus on a fairly high note, his eyes a bit teary, Kyle finally moved on to the chorus.

🎹 ♪

I may not have known but,

You gave me the best of both worlds,

Now you rest in peace,

And I'm left here, holding on to your embers…

🎹 ♪

By now, the audience, the judges, the contestants and even the production team had gone pindrop silent as the song reached over to them from the stage, touching the very depths of their heart.

🎹 ♪

I remember your smiles…

The things you said,

When destiny seeks you out, you must be strong,

We will not be with you, but you have to go on…

🎹 ♪

Finishing the second verse on an even higher note than the pre-chorus, Kyle proceeded to sing through the chorus again.

And even as he did, his soulfully gentle voice didn't crack and neither did it lose its clear diction despite how emotional he was getting.

🎹 ♪

I may not have known but,

You gave me the best of both worlds,

Now you rest in peace,

And I'm left here, holding on to your embers…

🎹 ♪

Finishing up the chorus, Kyle then proceeded to move on to the bridge.

🎹 ♪

Holdin' on to your words…

Holdin' on to your smiles…

Holdin' on to my best memories of you…

Right here… holding on to your embers…

🎹 ♪

The bridge, far more powerful and deeply emotional to listen to than all the other aspects of his song, was deeply conveyed to everyone who was listening.

With a gradually lowered tempo, Kyle then slowly rounded the song up with the chorus again, his voice barely above a whisper.

🎹 ♪

I may not have known but,

You gave me the best of both worlds,

Now you rest in peace,

And I'm left here… holding on to your embers…

🎹 ♪

The song, a message and a tribute to both the composer himself and his most loved ones in the old world, was a song that had been the easiest for him to compose.

And yet, it was the hardest for him to sing.

Finally, as his hands gently yet shakily left the piano, Kyle just sat still on the stool, still deeply affected by his own song as tears swelled in his eyes.

However, after a few more seconds, he got a hold of himself when he remembered where he was.

Considering that it was the most emotionally meaningful song he had ever composed, it was understandable that he felt like that.

Since he also hadn't gotten the chance to use the new skill though even once since he had created it, Kyle's eyes did blink a few times in disbelief as he watched a few silk-like threads slowly retract, back into his body.

Finally coming to terms with the weird sight he had just witnessed, the raven-haired young man then slowly stood up from the stool and faced the judges, awaiting their verdict.

Noticing that they all just kept staring at him without saying a thing, he quietly spoke into the mic in his hands.

"Um, hello?"

Instantly, as if taken out of their trance, the judges quickly blinked their eyes a few times and Kiara even wiped some of the tears that had dropped down her face.

She seemed to be quite the emotional one.

"Y-Yeah. Sorry about that Kyle" Jack was the first to speak up, clearing his voice and returning back to his stoic expression.

The other judges also returned back to normalcy pronto, immediately requesting for the other contestants to come back on stage.

Although the verdict had not even been given, everyone in the hall already knew who was going to pass this round.

If before they had thought it was going to be a close win between either Mike or Jeremy, they had all discarded those thoughts now.

Everyone except Kyle himself who was still a bit nervous and unsure if his performance was worthy enough to take him to the next stage.

Mike, in contrast, just had an immensely deep frown on his face as he stood beside Kyle, feeling quite inferior right now.

Jeremy on the other hand, constantly kept cleaning his red, watery eyes, sniffling as he stood on stage.

However, Jeremy was not the only one feeling like this and even a few other people in the audience along with some among the contestants and the production staffs were in the same exact state.

It was a song that had really resonated with a lot of people whom had lost their loved ones.

It took about a minute for the judges to make a decision and soon enough, they gave their verdict.

"I will say this first. All three of you gave great performances today. You should be proud of that" Kiara began and then Blake picked up.

"But as you all know, only one among you three will make it to L.A…"

"And after much deliberation, we have decided that the individual who will be going forward is…" Jack trailed off as he said.

"Kyle Kestis! Congratulations! You will be going L.A!"

With a happy grin, Kyle instantly replied gratuitously!

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

His opponents on the other hand, each very angry and sad about their losses, stormed off and slowly walked off the stage respectively.

With a polite bow, Kyle was about to leave the stage again when Blake suddenly threw a question at him everyone else was curious about.

"Whom exactly did you write that beautiful song for?"

This time around, Kyle pondered over the question for a few seconds and then decided to go with a half-truth, everyone else patiently waiting for his response.

"I wrote it as an ode, not just to myself and the people I've lost, but also to anyone who has ever lost a loved one. It's just a heartfelt song really" he explained with a tender smile.

With a shrewd gaze in his eyes, realizing that Kyle wasn't going to disclose whom exactly it was he wrote the song for, Blake nodded and then spoke;

"Well. It really was a beautiful song. Congratulations once again Kyle. See you in L.A"

"Thank you sir" Kyle politely bowed once more and left the stage with a standing ovation from the audience.

As this happened, the next contestant was already being called up in the waiting room.