From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel-Chapter 102: Swan (2)

Chapter 102: Swan (2)

After spending 20 minutes listening to the song and reviewing the lyrics, Leo stopped the music while looking at the eight boys staring at him while sitting on the floor.

7 out of 9 group members had confidently applied for the Main vocal role, and now it was time to figure out the best way to decide who would get it.

Leo glanced once more at the chart that he had made on the whiteboard before sighing and then speaking.

"For the Main Vocal position, everybody can try singing the parts, and we can vote on who does it best. We’ll just go down the list in alphabetical order, starting with Alfonso." Leo pointed to the Brazilian boy with long black hair.

As Alfonso stood up, Ari covered his mouth while turning away from the camera and whispered ’Status’ for the first time in a while.

[Alfonso Silva]

[Vocals: C-]

[Dance: C+ ]

[Visual: B-]

[Rap: C-]

[Charm: B-]

Looking at his stats, it seemed that Alfonso didn’t really specialize in anything but was decently good at everything, which explained why he was on one of the C-teams.

Alfonso stood up as the music began playing, clearing his throat with a dramatic flair before starting to sing the first verse of the song.

Like a Swan Swan Swan1

Like Swan Swan Swan

Let me tell you

A story about

A lost child in the world

They were falling falling falling

Into the water water water

Gasping for breath

Fighting to rise

But darkness weighs them down

They keep on sinking sinking sinking

Deep into the water

Finding the light

That shines so bright

The people who can lead the way

I’ll rise to the top yeah

Because this is my fairytale

My world will expand

I continually grow ƒгeewёbnovel.com

My strength will increase

As your light shines on me

I’ll rise from the depths of water

Ooh~ wooah oh yea~

Like a Swan Swan Swan

Like Swan Swan Swan

Midway through singing the first verse, Alfonso stopped to clear his throat as his voice broke several times because of the high notes of the song.

Once he continued and sang to the chorus, the room was silent for a moment before Leo turned to Ari as he restarted the music.

"Your turn."

Taking a deep breath, Ari cleared his throat before singing the song lyrics, doing his best to mimic the light, airy way that the original singers had sung it.

Although he felt a slight twinge in his throat from the leftover soreness from his cold and the high pitch of the song, he powered through the rest of the first verse and chorus before stopping.

Leo glanced at him for a moment before nodding approvingly.

"That was good. Next is Caleb."

Caleb tried singing, but his voice broke after the second sentence. After turning bright red, he quickly gave an excuse.

"My throat was dry, let me try again."

Although Leo gave Caleb a weird look, he dutifully restarted the song three times, and Caleb messed up all three times before he began complaining during the fourth time.

"Ahem. This song was clearly made by girls, and it’s in a female key, which is way too high. Nobody can sing it, so we should just lower the key."

"Speak for yourself, I can sing it just fine." Suzuki Rei sneered at Caleb.

"You’re just saying that because you haven’t even tried it yet." Caleb shot back as his face turned red.

"I wonder whose fault that is, Mr. 4-time restarter. And I’m saying it because I’m talented, unlike a certain cat yowler who thinks they can sing and got stripped of their leader position like you. You couldn’t even make it past the third sentence, that’s how bad you are." Rei replied with a sarcastic laugh.

As Caleb’s face turned red from embarrassment, he stood up and stomped over to Suzuki Rei, who stood up as well, the two similar-height boys staring each other in the eye.

"Say that to my face again. I dare you!" Caleb ground out as the humiliation he felt combined with his anger.

Who did Suzuki Rei think he was? Just because he had a higher dance and vocal grade, he thought he was better than him? He would show him!

Not one to back down from a fight, especially after being spoiled by his family and agency, Suzuki pressed his face closer to Caleb’s.

"You think I’m afraid of you? The only reason you were chosen is that your team carried you despite your actual grade. From your performance just now, I can see it was a mistake, yet you have the audacity to be greedy for more parts? Stop wasting all of our time and voluntarily drop down to sub-vocal 5."

"You-!"

"Both of you! Enough! Caleb, go back to your seat and sit down if you don’t plan on singing. Gale, you’re up next." Leo shouted out as he forcibly yanked Caleb away.

Ari simply scooted back, glancing at the cameras that were still in the room before facing Leo as if the fight that was happening had nothing to do with him.

Once again, he was doubly glad he was a bystander and not the leader.

Rubbing his aching head, Leo restarted the music, allowing Gale, Ian, Minho, and Suzuki Rei to try the first verse and the chorus. Since he had given Caleb so many opportunities to sing, he had no choice but to do the same for everyone else, and the decision process ran longer than it should.

All of the boys struggled, with Suzuki Rei being the only one who successfully got through the song.

But since he objectively didn’t do a better job than Ari, Suzuki Rei had a slightly bitter expression on his face, knowing he wouldn’t get the role.

"Now, let’s vote on wh-"

"Wait! I think I agree with Caleb! If only two people can sing the song successfully, then we need to do something about it. Since it’s in the female key, why don’t we lower the key and try again?" Ian complained while Gale nodded in agreement.

Seeing that the lengthy discussion was about to derail when the finish line was in sight, Leo tried to get them to focus.

"We have to wait for the vocal trainer to do something like that, so we should just temporarily assign things now so we can get some practice in."

"If it’s temporary positions, then there’s no point in practicing the song since it will have to change anyway. They gave us 10 days this time, so it’s fine to take it easy for a day or two." Caleb added with a smile, perfectly fine with delaying things.

"That’s stupid. There’s so much more to do now for this performance, and we have to practice the signal song for the recording. Let’s just vote now and assign the other positions so we can figure out other details of the song." Suzuki Rei glared at Caleb.

"You’re only saying that because you know you’ll get the lead vocal position. I want to wait for the vocal teacher to help us lower the key so everyone has a fair shot."

"So it seems that you’re self-aware that you’re a trash singer who needs a teacher to help you?" Suzuki Rei mocked Caleb, who turned red with anger once more.

"Actually, I want to lower the key too. I think I can definitely sing better if it’s lowered." Minho added while Alfonso raised his hand before speaking.

"Rather than assigning positions according to the line split given to us, can we just split the lines up the way we want after lowering the key?"

"Yes!"

"No!"

As the room devolved into an argument with the boys being loud but not quite yelling yet, Leo looked frustrated.

Seeing that he might have to waste his entire evening and possibly tomorrow on a useless discussion, Ari reached for the tablet, quickly opened the basic music editor that had been preloaded on it, and pressed a few buttons to lower the general key of the song, then exported the newly created sound file.

As Leo stared at him in confusion, Ari handed the tablet back before speaking with complete confidence, "It’s rough, but I lowered the general key of the song half an octave and a full octave. You can get the vocal trainers to do something when they come, but it should do for now. If everyone wants to go again to decide positions, we can."

After looking at everyone’s vocal stats, he was unequivocally the best in the room.

And even without checking their stats, based on what he heard, he was still the best singer in the room and didn’t plan on backing down even if they asked to lower or raise the key.

And as Leo eventually rallied everyone interested in the Main vocal position to sing the beginning portion of the song one more time.

Naturally, with a calm expression on his face, Ari calmly out-sang every one of them, claiming the position and song parts that he wanted.

And with the air of a bystander wishing he had some popcorn, he watched as the other 6 people fought over the other vocal parts.

****

And while Ari’s team was arguing once more, another team was experiencing their own unique problems.

The song is based on IZ*ONE – Secret Story of the Swan ^^