Chapter 012. The Third Round

For the third round, the official name was 'Judge House'. It referred to the fact that the show would organise the third-round performance in a judge's house.

Though it was called 'Judge House', the truth was that the team of X-Star just rented the house. And it didn't actually belong to the judges.

During the performance, there would be no live audience. Just the judge who had assigned you the challenge would be there. The other two judges would be in their own assigned houses, looking over the performance of other contestants.

This way, the shooting would go faster.

It took almost three days for Aiden to finish the song. It certainly was the most difficult song to write for him. There were tons of pieces on love or breakup, and many of them would even sometimes sound generic.

But this song was different.

Aiden had put his heart and soul into it, and for the rest of the week, he had practised it day and night, though he had also taken enough breaks not to strain his vocal cords.

Finally, on Sunday, the date of the performance was here.

Sitting in the waiting room in the judge's house, he felt a tinge of nervousness. Sighing a little, he wiped the sweat off his brow and tried to control his beating heart.

'If I qualify here, I would go straight to Star week. One step closer to my goal.'

Aiden certainly didn't want to get disqualified, especially after reaching this far. But, if he lost, he would have no choice but to go back to India or struggle more in America.

Not only him, but the other contestant would also not want to lose from here.

"Aiden!"

He raised his head slowly at the familiar voice. He saw a woman standing there with her long, brown hair tied back in a ponytail. It was Michelle.

Behind her, four more girls were standing.

"Michelle, hi, I didn't expect you to be here."

After the second round, Michelle hadn't been instantly disqualified, and as a lifeline, she was assigned to a group which would act as one contestant.

The girls behind her were her teammates, and the group was called 'Symphony'.

"We just finished our performance. I think you are next."

"Yeah. How did it go? Did you qualify?" Aiden asked, and by the smile on Michelle's face, it didn't seem like it went bad.

"It was good. Steven liked it, but we would know the results later. Anyway, I will leave. Good luck with your performance!"

He nodded as Michelle left with her group. Going by her special skill, Aiden was sure that she would do well in the group. After all, her voice suited being in harmony. It was a natural talent.

'Ah, I need to qualify no matter what.'

Thinking about that, he stood up from his seat and picked up his guitar. It was now his turn to perform in front of Steven.

**

"How are you feeling? All good?"

Steven asked with a smile. The sun shone brightly down on them as they stood on the lawn. The crew was shooting from the side, and Steven was sitting on a chair with sunglasses protecting his eyes from the direct sun rays.

"Yeah, mostly," Aiden replied as a drop of sweat trickled down his neck.

"What type of song are you going to sing?"

"It's called 'Life is a story,' and it's a ballad about life. I've been writing this for two years and just finished it just a few days ago."

"Are you confident in it?"

Steven asked with a grin. He had thought that Aiden would go the easy way with singing a song about love or anything that might be easier.

But a song like this was certainly an interesting choice.

"Yeah, I'm confident."

"Okay, start your performance."

Aiden took a deep breath and played the song again in his mind. His nerves were raging, but he repeatedly tried to calm his mind.

'Focus. Focus. Focus.'

He chanted it like a mantra, and somehow, it helped calm his nerves down. Then, after a few seconds, he finally started his performance.

His fingers strummed the chord of his guitar, and a soft humming sound came out of his mouth. When Aiden practised this song, he wanted it to feel soft and comfortable, and his sweet voice provided exactly that.

The first verse came precisely fifteen seconds into the song.

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"I used to wonder what life means…"

"Maybe, it's just the reason for dreams…"

"Or maybe it's more, but I won't know..."

"But it's fine, in the end, that's how our lives flow…"

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The first verse was sung incredibly soft, it was as if Aiden was whispering, and at the end, he even started gently humming.

Slowly, his special skill activated, and a white light started coming out from his guitar and his body. The white light soon engulfed both Steven and the crew.

Though, it was still a bit weak at this point.

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"I often wonder what we are."

"Are we the story or just stage pelts…"

"Birds in the sky or the ice that slowly melts."

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It was then that the strumming of Aiden's guitar got a bit faster. The song's tempo had been slow from the start but now, close to the chorus; it picked up.

The white light also intensified and suddenly started crackling like lightning. He didn't notice it and just lost himself in the song.

Steven, who was the closest to Aiden, could feel all sorts of emotions penetrating his heart by the effect of the white light.

It was the same for the crew.

'Wow! This song…'

'It feels so peaceful.'

'I am hearing such a soothing song after a long time.'

Those were the thoughts of the crew members. Even though they were shooting, they couldn't help but lose themselves in the song.

It was then that the chorus began.

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"Oh, life is a story…"

"Sometimes short, sometimes lengthy."

"It can be one of sadness or of glory."

"We never know what it's gonna be."

"But that's just our destiny."

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For this song, Aiden had tried to incorporate whatever he had understood of life till now. Life is like a box of chocolates, we never know what we're going to get.

One never knows what you are going to get. It could be happiness or maybe despair. All in all, it was a mixed bag.

Although he knew the song wasn't perfect, it was still the best Aiden could do right now.

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"I don't know if life is written in the stars or the palm of our hands."

"Maybe, the answer isn't in these lands."

"But I know one thing for sure."

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After that, the chorus began again as Aiden reached close to the song's outro. At that moment, the crackling white light suddenly got a tinge of silver on it.

That also got Aiden's attention, but he didn't stop strumming his guitar strings and kept singing.

🎼🎸🎶🎤

"Oh, life is a story…"

"Sometimes short, sometimes lengthy."

"It can be one of sadness or of glory."

"We never know what it's going to be."

"But that's just our destiny."

🎼🎸🎶🎤

It was then that the song came to a close. With a soft humming tone, he tried to end the song. Suddenly, a silver light gushed out of him and tried to mix with the white light already present in the air.

For the first time, Aiden felt something magical in his singing. He immediately linked it to the emergence of the silver light.

Although the white light was still in the majority, it was now mixed with strings of silver light.

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"I just wish we could fast forward the bad parts."

"Maybe, just freeze the good parts."

"So, that they forever last."

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The song ended with a bit of humming, and Aiden slowly let go of the strings. Although the music ended, the atmosphere didn't change.

Both the white and silver light in the air kept enveloping the lawn for some time.

It gave Aiden sufficient time to look closely at the silver light.

'It looks a bit different than the white light.'

When he first saw the white light, he thought of it as music. After that, sometimes he would see a denser light, like in the second round, and sometimes a weaker one, as it was in the first round.

But he had never seen a silver light.

Examining it further, Aiden felt like it was like a stronger version of the white light.

'It gives a similar feeling. But stronger, more exquisite.'

Aiden thought as the illusionary lights rays began to wane.