From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel-Chapter 134: Team Black Swan (3)

"Wow! Thank you to the Black Swan Team, I finally understand where the name came from! Audience, they did so well, right?" The MC, Ryan Leary, cheered loudly as he ran onto the stage, high-fiving each contestant as he moved past them.

Ari gave him a weak high five as he panted while trying to recover his strength.

He felt utterly exhausted, as if every bit of energy had been extracted from his body, leaving behind an empty husk that was dehydrated and covered in sweat.

But as he looked out at the audience that was cheering loudly for them and even the judges who were clapping, Ari had to smile.

It seemed that everyone enjoyed the performance overall.

"Now, why don’t we have the Black Swan Team members introduce themselves and say a few words while you all are voting?"

Ryan Leary then passed the microphone to Leo, who looked a bit teary-eyed as he wiped the sweat from his face.

"Hello, everyone, I’m Leo. The leader and Main Rapper of the Black Swan team. Thank you so much for coming to watch us, uhm, please vote for us, I don’t want to go home!"

- wahhhhhhhhhh

- hahahahahahahaha

- Don’t cry, my baby Leo

At Leo’s tearful words, the audience cheered happily while laughing at his honest plea not to go home.

Still sniffing, Leo passed his microphone to Mathew, who received a huge amount of screams as he also said a few words, then passed it on to Alfonso, then Gale, and finally Ian.

When it was finally Ari’s turn to receive the microphone, he received a mixed reaction of cheers and a few boos.

While the people next to him flinched slightly, Ari simply blinked before speaking, "I’m Ari, the main vocalist of the Black Swan team. Please vote for our team. Thanks."

As he prepared to pass the microphone over, a loud voice screamed out in the audience.

"Say something in French!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!" at the violent scream that Ari could hear even through his in-ears, he glanced over in the direction of the scream, recognizing the girl who had screamed tararara at the first showcase.

Laughing slightly as she covered her red face and unsure why she was asking, he still granted the request, "Salut, mes amis. Merci infiniment pour vôtre soutien. It means, hello, my friends, thank you so much for coming to support all of us here. I really appreciate all of you making the time in your busy schedules to come out. I hope you enjoyed the performance as much as the Black Swan team enjoyed performing for you. Please vote."

He flashed a peace sign while smiling as the audience screamed once more, this time with no boos.

- wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

- Show your face!

- Show your face!

- Show your face!

As the audience began chanting, asking him to expose his face, Ari blinked before laughing mischievously.

"If I make it to the next round, I’ll properly show it off. So please don’t eliminate me just yet. Vote for Team Black Swan, please."

Seeing a staff member telling him to wrap it up, Ari quickly passed the microphone to Suzuki Rei while continuing to stare at the mixed audience.

It just felt a bit surreal seeing some of them enjoy and some of them hate the performance that he and his team had spent the past 10 days putting in all their effort to create.

He himself thought it was a good performance and even though some people booed him, seeing the happy cheers across the audience and even a small group of people wearing all black with painted white faces holding a small banner that said ’Ari’, with the French and American flags on both sides, his heart felt a bit warm, and he couldn’t help but smile.

It was quite nice and, like Jelissa said, he found it a bit enjoyable.

Especially with the hard part being done.

When each team member had given their statement, at the MC’s prompting, they turned to the judges to receive feedback before the rankings were announced.

Jelissa was smiling happily and clapping as she saw them, while Selena, Jaywalk, and Kim Young-woo had more restrained smiles on their faces. X-ponent looked pretty pleased, and even Larry Jackson had a tiny smile on his face.

The only person who looked thoughtful and a bit stern was Bing Yongsun, the executive creator and performance director of Soundwave Music.

He looked thoughtful and, before anyone else would speak, picked up the microphone and looked at each of their faces.

"I just want to ask, who came up with the idea of using Thermochromic paint, which changes color when heated, to show the transformation from white swan to black swan along with the change in choreography?"

At Bing Yongsun’s question, the judges looked confused, but the entire Black Swan team pointed at Ari and took a step back so that he was standing alone.

"You did?" Bing Yongsun was a bit surprised that it was the kid who refused to expose his face, but instead, his interest in him grew.

"I came up with the concept and fleshed out the details, but using the concept, Mathew redid the choreography with Minjun’s help, and everyone painted their own outfits once the staff bout us the supplies. It was a collaborative team effort." Ari stated simply, not wanting to take the credit for everything.

"Anyone can be trained to implement something, but the real genius is the person who has the vision and creates the idea." Bing Yongsun paused before continuing to speak, "Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern. This is the second time you’ve come up with an impressive performance concept that wouldn’t lose to ones from professionals paid to do this for a living. I’m looking forward to the third concept you come up with, Contestant Ariel."

At the surprising amount of praise, shocked expressions appeared on everyone’s faces.

This was the creative performance director of a top entertainment company praising the concept that a 17-year-old had come up with.

And he even pressured him, saying he expected the same quality performance for the next round.

Rather than feeling pressured, Ari replied in his usual casual tone.

"I’ll do my best not to disappoint myself, my team, the audience, or you."

Bing Yongsun stared at him for a moment before speaking slowly, "And if this doesn’t work out for you and you get eliminated, I would love to offer you a job on my team to help create performances for different artists."

Gasp!

Ari’s team members, the audience, and even the judges gasped at the unexpected job offer, but the person who was receiving it simply blinked before giving a small smile.

"I’ll consider it, but I plan on putting in all my effort so that this will work out for me."

"Okay. Just think it through."

"Thank you."

Bing Yongsun put his microphone down to allow the rest of the judges to speak, and Ari stepped back.

Kim Young-woo picked his microphone up next while glancing directly at Mathew, "I noticed that the choreography changed quite a bit from the performance evaluation until now. I assume that you were the one who took charge of the dance and choreography, changing it to accommodate his injury and the concept changes?"

"Yes, sir. Along with Minjun." Mathew replied with a steadfast expression.

"I can see your efforts in making everyone look good despite their skill level. Good job."

At the simple praise, Mathews’ face lit up, and he bowed his head happily.

"Thank you!"

The remaining judges also praised their team, and even Larry Jackson found some kind words to say to everyone except for Ari.

Once the judges were done speaking, Ryan Leary stepped up once more and turned them all to face the audience.

"Thank you to the judges for the feedback, and once again, congratulations to the Black Swan team for the great performance. The audience votes are now in, so it’s time to announce it so the next team can come perform."

"First, before we identify the worst performer on the team according to the audience, I just want to say that this doesn’t define you, and I’m sure you can use this as motivation to get better and better in the future."

At the MC’s words, his teammates tensed, but Ari simply blinked in an unworried manner.

Firstly, even if he had received several boos, had easier choreography than anyone else on the team, and was hidden in the back for most of the song, objectively, he didn’t think that he was the worst performer here.

He could confidently say that without him, the performance quality would drop from 80% to about 40%, as his vocals did a lot of the heavy lifting, even if his dancing was trash.

And secondly, both Jelissa and Bing Yongsun had complimented him heavily, and even Larry hadn’t said anything too negative.

The only negative feedback he had received was that he danced less than others and had easier moves, which was intentional, especially since he had the excuse of a sprained ankle, which was the production team’s fault.

Since they wouldn’t mention it in front of the live audience, his negative dance feedback was easily glossed over.

On the Black Swan team, there were only two people that Ari felt deserved the worst performer title, and that was Gale and -

"The worst performer, according to the audience, with 236 votes out of 300, is Contestant Caleb."

Ian.

Ian had refused to allow Mathew to give him easier moves and move him toward the back of the formation, where he wouldn’t be as visible unless it were his turn.

Due to that decision and his E-rank dance stat, throughout the entire song, he was always visible and constantly being compared to those who were much better dancers, while Ari, who accepted being hidden in the back, focused on executing the parts where he was visible.

As a result, Ari got a pass, and Ian was voted as the worst.

At the announcement that he was the worst performer on the team, Ian began to cry.