CHAPTER 217: WHO DID THIS (3)

All seven contestants, each standing at over 6 ft, stood at attention with their arms folded behind their backs, their legs shoulder-width apart, and with a fierce expression on their faces.

Intense bass began thumping, causing the ground to vibrate slightly, and each member of the team began stomping their right foot in unison, the angle of their legs matching each other perfectly.

Then, as the beat dropped, all 7 of them performed a crisp salute while shouting "Yes, sir!"

The straight line formation quickly transitioned into a triangle formation with Mathew at the center.

Boom boom boom boom boom

"Yes, sir!"

Boom boom boom boom boom

"Yes, sir!"

An intense drum beat sounded out as the seven boys danced in a sharp manner, each movement synchronized, while they took advantage of their strength and height to make themselves look powerful.

"Oh wow, the synchronicity is great. You did a great job, Mr. Kim. Selena sincerely complimented Kim Young-woo, knowing that he had spent quite a bit of time helping this team with the choreography.

"Thank you, but a lot of credit has to be attributed to Mathew for mostly completing it before I arrived. All I had to do was sprinkle the finishing touches."

"Mathew, huh, he’s a great dancer. It’s just..." Selena didn’t continue her sentence as Mathew finished rapping and Jamie took the center, singing with the vocal control and style that he was known for, which allowed him to sing stably despite the powerful dance moves that he was performing.

She could see the picture that the boys were trying to draw with military-esque uniforms, heavy boots, water on the ground, and big and wide choreography to emphasize their strong physiques.

All in all, it was quite a good performance; it was just a bit unfortunate that Jamie was doing the vocal heavy lifting since his teammates were mainly made up of rappers, causing him to look quite exhausted by the end of the performance.

As the seven boys stood there panting while waiting for feedback, MC Ryan Leary

"Thank you to Team Survivor for that lovely performance. What do our judges think of the performance? Will Team Survivor survive your critique, or will they have to go back to boot camp and train for improvement?"

"I think it’s a little bit of both, so let’s start with the good." Selena said in a neutral voice, "I think you all have a clear vision of your concept, and it translated well. The choreography looks pretty good if loose, but I’m sure you guys will tighten it up by performance day. Nobody fell behind too much in that regard, and I can tell you all practiced together and alone. The issue is your vocals..."

Selena paused, and Jelissa immediately picked up where she left off.

"Even if he says it’s okay, you cannot have Jamie sing the majority of the song. I can tell that Jamie was the one who arranged the song, and additionally, he is singing two verses, the chorus, and adding ad-libs, while dancing throughout the whole thing. If his stamina wasn’t so good, he should be on the ground recovering his breath instead of standing around waiting for the critique. As his teammates, I need you all to use your conscience and ask yourself if that’s okay, and if you think it is, ask yourself if that’s the kind of group you want to be a part of, cough, cough, cough." Jelissa began coughing as she tried to rush her words out.

She really couldn’t believe that they would dump the majority of the singing onto one person, even though it was a 7-person team.

Even if their vocals weren’t up to par, they should at least try!

Seeing the embarrassed look on their faces, Selena sighed.

"This line distribution is unacceptable. Go back and redo it. Trainer X-ponent, do you have anything to add?"

The rap trainer glanced over at each of them before speaking slowly, "Diction and enunciation need to be worked on across the board, you feel me? And Mathew, we’ve talked about this before, try to stay on beat instead of chasing it. You’re an amazing dancer. I wish you could somehow translate that to your rap."

"Right, thank you."

Selena and the rest of the judges gave out individual feedback before the MC sent them back to their seats.

"And now next up is the team lovingly referred to as the Avengers by the production staff. Please come up, Team Sexy Pirates."

- jesus

- It’s really not fair that one team is so loaded.

- I wish I were over there, vocals, dance, rap, there’s no gap. They’re definitely winning.

Seeing Ari physically cringe at the team’s name, Selena chuckled, watching as the seven boys lined up and seeing his favorite contestant come forward, Larry Jackson spoke up.

"This team has quite the impressive lineup, having contestants ranked 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 12th, 15th, with contestant Ah-riel having the lowest rank at 20th. William, as the person with the highest rank, who personally worked with me on the arrangement, bringing up several brilliant ideas and completing it all with minimal help, I’m sure you’re the leader of this amazing team."

"No, ahem, that would be me. I’m the leader of Team Sexy Pirates." Rex raised his hand awkwardly while the smug smile on William’s face faded.

Larry Jackson cleared his throat in embarrassment from having praised the wrong person.

"Well, that’s still good. You’re quite a decent singer and great at dancing. I’m looking forward to this group’s performance the most, so feel free to begin."

"Ah, sure."

Rex looked a bit embarrassed as he remembered his body’s sudden deterioration from unexplained aches and pains, as well as the strange music arrangement that Larry Jackson had created with William and insisted that they use.

Still, knowing that there was nothing he could do about it, he gestured for everyone to get into the first formation.

With Benjamin in the center of the triangle formation, they all squatted with their heads facing down and hoodies pulled over their heads as a whooshhhhhing sound that was supposed to imitate the sound of mists rang out.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh

On my-my way, traveling down an uncertain road.

On my-my way, this is how the story goes.

On my-my way, will I find my death or gold?

On my-my way, listen to my tale unfold.

Each of the seven people sang the words in at a specified pitch, creating a haunting harmony that created goosebumps as they rocked from side to side while creeping forward, their arms moving as if they were rowing a boat.

Seeing the fierce eyes peeking out from beneath the hoods that entranced her so much that she couldn’t look away, Selena swore she briefly saw them wearing the pirate clothing described in their brief.

Scooting to the edge of her seat in anticipation, Selena watched as they stood up, in staggered lines, and then threw off their hoods in unison before making a wave with their arms and kicking out in unison.

As the six people paired up in the back, Benjamin stepped forward with his classic cocky smile and began to rap with his usual crisp delivery while keeping up with the sharp dance moves of those behind him.

Keep your eyes on the prize

Check the map

The x marks the point

Forever still young and wild

Reaching out for

that treasure to be mine

Chase you to the end of the world

You’re better than gold

I’ll fight any battle for sure

Fight with a hook in my hand

Sea, air, or land

I’m the Pan if you’re Peter

As Benjamin stepped back into the line and the formation transitioned into an X, before Justin stepped forward, Selena watched as things began to fall apart.

Firstly, the instrumental of the music began to sound...odd.

It was as if an amateur had done all the work to chop and mix things, or tried to add effects and layering that just didn’t work.

It sounded completely terrible and often clashed with the sound of those singing and dancing.

Secondly, Ari, the contestant she was always keeping an eye out for, seemed to be glitching in real life, as he would randomly freeze, and his previously languid moves would suddenly become choppy when he had to do something as simple as shake his hips or roll his body.

After he bumped into his fellow teammate twice, Selena rubbed her eyes as she prepared to scold him.

Thirdly, Rex, whom she knew as an excellent dancer considering his past experience as a backup dancer for BTZ, was struggling.

Hard.

He barely seemed able to keep up with the choreography, and his singing was dismal at best, thoroughly confusing her because he had always been a consistently good performer, ranking at the top of every category.

Fourthly, even though she hadn’t been the dance trainer, Selena was willing to bet money that none of the team practices had gone smoothly.

Everyone was doing their part pretty well, but it was very obvious that there was no chemistry among them.

There was a distinct sense of tension that could not be erased, which was a shame because the performance started so strongly.

When the music finally stopped, there was a moment of silence before polite applause from other contestants filled the room.

But none of the judges looked happy.

"So, cough cough..." Jelissa paused to catch her breath before speaking in an uncharacteristically cold tone, "Let’s start with the music. Who did you say arranged this rubbish?"