I used to wonder why
When I was walking by
They used to talk about me
I asked what it could be
They said I was a freak
Woah~
A surprisingly husky yet clear voice rang out as the boy sang the pained words with a blank expression.
Ari had a relaxed, cat-like air as he tapped one foot to the beat while the other stood still.
One of his hands waved in the air as if tracing the beat, and his piercing sea green eyes stared straight ahead, as if looking into your soul.
At the suddenly intense gaze and direct eye contact as the intensity of the song picked up, Selena found herself blushing as she nodded along to the song while making notes.
He was definitely an amateur singer.
Although his breathing and pacing were terrible, he had his strong points as he belted out the song.
Specifically, that unique tone of voice that could hit lower raspy notes before soaring to a mid-high level and coming back down again.
His unique tone was like an earworm, scratching an itch in the brain, but unfortunately, his technique was lacking that final pizazz that would fully draw you in, immerse you in the song, and make it stick.
In some spots where the song should be filled with emotion, it was rather flat and one-note, which created a sense of dissonance between the lyrics and his delivery.
If she were to grade it, the performance would be somewhere around a High C, low B.
He was not a spectacular vocalist, but with some solid training and that unique tone, he could become something respectable and fit in with the group they were building.
The issue was something else.
Apart from the elephant in the room, which was the thick layers of face paint and what possibly lay beneath it, his stage presence was just off.
Appearance-wise and vocally, the boy looked like a member of a rock band.
He even imitated certain mannerisms she had seen in popular bands.
From the languid way he spoke to them earlier, his voice a delightful mix of the California accent with a hint of a French tone threaded through out, to the lazy stance, the tapping of his feet, the intense, direct eye contact, and even swaying hands.
They were mannerisms of somebody who was at ease on a stage or had been copied from someone who had been on stage a lot.
With his lacking skills, Selena thought it was the latter.
Unfortunately, the more she looked at him, the more his bizarre face paint and stiff movements seemed slightly odd and discordant rather than having the charm and cool factor of those bands he was probably imitating.
When she closed her eyes, the vocals were good enough, and that discordant feeling went away.
She could enjoy the boy's raspy, slightly breathy, yet clear voice that caught her attention, but when she opened her eyes and looked at him, the charm disappeared, leaving her unsatisfied.
Maybe it was the face paint?
As Selena thought it through while looking through his documents, the singing continued.
I won't give in to sorrow
Because I'm a freak
Fighting hard for tomorrow
Because I'm a freak.
"Thank you."
The boy's languid voice sounded out, and as Selena opened her eyes, she spotted the corners of the painted red lips curving upwards and couldn't help but smile in return.
That voice was a little too charming.
Before she could give her feedback, Larry rudely cut in. "I hope you don't think that was good, right?"
"I don't think it sounded particularly bad, but I'd appreciate any pointers experts like the two of you have to give me," Ari replied calmly to Larry's aggressive question.
Since these two were experts and the system had suggested he get vocal training, maybe their advice would give him a free stat point in vocals?
He could only hope.
As if he had been waiting for the opportunity, Larry began spewing words out.
"Strange makeup. Weird dressing. Bad breathing, breathy voice, awkward hand motions, terribly bland facial expressions, unsmiling, unemotional singing. Should I go on?"
Larry harshly spat out all the faults in one breath before smiling wildly in the hope of provoking the contestant.
Unfortunately, it was like he was punching cotton.
"Yes. Please do. And may I have a paper and pen so I can write down the feedback? I'd like to make sure I properly review and address it when I get back." Ari looked at him with an earnest expression.
He wasn't a singer, but he could look these things up later and try to work on them himself before spending a lot of money on a vocal coach.
Hopefully, it would lead to his most coveted item.
'Vocal Stat Point'!
"Tsk. Selena, you go." Larry clicked his tongue before looking away.
Selena tapped her pen on the desk before speaking brightly.
"Let's start with the good points. Your vocal tone is quite nice and very catchy. You weren't pitchy at all and stayed on beat. You didn't forget your lyrics, and you maintained eye contact throughout, which is good, so you should be proud of that."
"Thank you."
"And for the bad…I think a lot of the things Larry said are worth checking out. Have you ever had vocal training before?"
"No." Ari shook his head.
He had done the most singing in paid group choir work during the holidays, and even then, he was just an extra voice number 45.
His vocal training was nonexistent, and he hadn't bothered to develop it since it was more valuable to learn how to play an extra instrument to make money that way.
"I thought so. The good part is you have no bad habits to unlearn, but the bad part is…you have no good singing habits either. Your voice is breathy and weak in some parts, lacking emotional depth in some parts, and you seemed to be straining in others. Additionally, you could have chosen a better song in a different genre that would highlight your voice and tone. But that's enough for feedback, shall we move on to the talent you want to show us?"
"Yes."
Ari briefly left the stage to get the acoustic guitar provided.
Initially, he was going to play something with the electric guitar to promote the rock lover image to blend with the face paint, but after gauging the comments and the unfavorable behavior from Larry Jackson, he might as well shift his focus to win extra brownie points before he inevitably lost them again when he danced.
At the thought of the song he had chosen for his dance number, Ari could feel his cheeks heat up from his embarrassment and was immediately grateful for the 10 layers of white paint on his face.
After checking the guitar's tuning and removing his gloves, Ari strummed lightly, playing a quick melody to warm up his fingers.
It's a pretty good guitar—much better than some of the ones he used at gigs.
A staff member generously brought him a stool, and after expressing his thanks, Ari got comfortable on it while staring only at Serena.
"I'll start playing for you now. Is that alright?"
"Yes, please. Go ahead," Selena whispered while blushing at his voice.
Counting the beat off in his head, Ari played a song that would be meaningful to the only judge favorable to him.
It was "Breaking Free", a common song requested at different gigs, and was one of Selena's breakout songs when she became a solo singer.
Keeping his eyes completely focused on Selena and trying to keep a pleasant smile on his face, Ari played the song on the guitar.
He didn't take liberties or add any flair; he just played it cleanly from beginning to end, staying true to the original song.
The one minute passed pretty quickly, and since they didn't stop him, he played the entire thing.
When he finished, Selena burst out in applause as she stared at him with a bright smile.
"Beautiful, it was really beautiful. I haven't heard someone play it like that in a long time. Thank you for that."
"You're quite welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it. You made a beautiful song."
He was being honest. Both the melody and lyrics were quite nice.
At Ari's relaxed answer, Larry cut in again.
"Hmph. How sly of you to pander to the judge. Instead of chatting, let's move to choreography. We've wasted enough time."
Didn't we waste time because of your childish nonsense?
You spent over 10 minutes mocking my name, you bastard!
Rather than speaking his true thoughts out loud, Ari calmly replied.
"Sure. One moment, please."
Ari turned once more to the staff member and asked them to play his music as he moved around the stage, stretching his body and hiding his embarrassment.
'It's okay. He only had to dance for one minute, and then he would be free.'
'Even if it was going to be the worst thing ever, he should have garnered enough to pass this stage, right?'
'Selena seemed very favorable, and he had watched a few clips of contestants who had successfully auditioned for idol survival shows.'
'His singing and guitar skills were comparable and even better in some cases, so even with his terrible dancing, he probably had this in the bag.'
'Once he passed, he would raise his vocal stats to an A.'
'And after that dance....well, even if he wanted to raise dance, he had to take care of his F-stat Visual first.'
'Let's take care of dancing after fixing my face.'
With that mindset, Ari then pressed his hands together and held them in the center above his head.
Then he knelt there and waited for the music to start.
*******
"What choreography position is that?" Larry whispered to Selena as he saw the contestant he disliked doing something strange.
"Why are you asking me?" Selena whispered back as she watched Ari moving around oddly before kneeling down in a strange position.
"Aren't you the choreography expert? Or don't tell me this kid created something the amazing Selena has never seen before."
"Why don't we wait and see? It seems like he's about to start."
Selena turned to watch the boy who was nodding to the staff member from his kneeling position.
Then the sound began.
Dun dun,
Dun dun,
Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dunnnnn
The familiar sound of a shark in water rang out.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Larry yelled out, but the music continued playing.
Selena's eyes immediately widened at the childish yet familiar intro, and she couldn't help but whisper.
"Oh no. Please no. Not this song."
She was hoping with all of her heart that it wasn't what she thought it was.
That it was a different song.
But unfortunately…