Rise To Stardom

It didn't take long for Rising Voices to instantly begin trending as No. 1 on TweetTalk the moment the first episode of the fourth season had finished airing.

The popular social media site which basically served as a hub for discussions about anything and everything, was already buzzing with talks about it and people giving their own opinions.

Underneath a post from the Rising Voices official account which was gathering the most traction and was titled; [Rising Voices Back Again: Bigger and Better?!] along with an edited snippet of the most interesting contestants from the first episode; people had already started commenting and retweeting.

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[Popeyes Grandson: Wait, people still watch this show?

Sony Ttark: @Popeyes Grandson; Of course people still watch it. What are you on about?! Anyway, I'm rooting hard for Lily! She's got this in the bag! #LilyStans.

Playboy69: I've never even seen her before in my life but man she's freakin' drop dead gorgeous! So uh, anyone know her MediaGram handle. I need it for uh…yeah… research purposes.

006 ate 007: @Playboy69; Waltz into my DM man of culture and I'll give you the precious info.

BobTheBuilder: @006 ate 007; So uh, you got Helena's too man?

Force User 66: Sigh... Another season, another set of irredeemable simps.

I-Am-The-Inevitable-Purple-Guy: Tch! The short videos of Lily, Steven, Joe and Helena that were played at the tail ends of the episode weren't even their best covers. I genuinely pity any future contestants that will have to go up against any of them though.

GTA 6 is getting closer: Genuinely hope this season is better than the last. Just seems like a recycling of the last three seasons. I will say though that this year's contestants seem really talented. It should make for a fierce competition.

GurlNextDoor: Been following Steven's channel for a long time. I believe he's got the skills to come out on top. Also, he's really handsome! Those Swedish genes my god!!!

HotGuysInTheAreaDMme: @GurlNextDoor; Please! Ryan and Joe look way more handsome. Hotter too!

Lamy Khabe: I genuinely feel like most people are missing the point of the show. It's a singing reality competition people! Not a show to obsess over how hot, beautiful, good-looking or handsome a person is.

Spoodey man: Man I'm rooting for Katie! Those high notes of hers are killer.

Burning Scalp: @Spoodey man; And she's also a rarity on these kinds of shows. Can't remember the last time I actually saw an Indian American woman on any reality TV show of sorts (Is this a me thing or am I just cappin' ?)

CallOfDoodles76: Never thought the day would come where I would know some of the contestants on a reality singing show. They literally attend the same college as I do and are in the same department!

Bowser With A Suit: @CallOfDoodles76; Same here! Although seeing Kyle on the show was a friggin' surprise if I'm being honest. Never thought the guy was capable of expressing so many emotions talk less of actually having such a soulful voice. The more you know I guess…

Studious Snail: Heard a few rumors that there's going to be a major overhaul of the themes after the first few preliminaries. Though it's just rumors though...

Mamma Mia: [Sparks] was a really motivational song from Kyle. Was currently in a pretty dark place before I watched the auditions today and now I feel so much better after listening to his song. I'm so rooting for him from now on. Hope he goes all the way!

ShrekLovesFiona: @Mamma Mia; Fr fr! I've watched his audition again a few times now just to hear that beautiful song again. His interaction with the judges was also nice to watch. Seems like a chill dude. Would love to hang-out with him if I can.

WeDoABitOfTrolling: @Mama Mia; @ShrekLovesFiona; The nerd?! Pft! Sure he sang a nice song but his singing skills are quite subpar compared to the other contestants. I'm pretty sure he's getting eliminated next round. Doesn't feel like he has that X-factor feel about him.

Princess Peach: Hmm... Well as long as I'm entertained, I could care less about who makes it to the next round. I already know who's gonna win anyway.]

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The post, which had already amassed over 5.3M views and counting within the short span of just an hour, along with over 1K comments, 180K likes and 9K retweets, just kept racking up by the second.

In fact, asides taking the number one spot as the most trending discussion on TweetTalk at the moment, a lot of popular entertainment blogs, some small media houses and even some big ones, had quickly published a few articles regarding the entire thing, wanting to join the bandwagon and ride on the massive popularity of the reality show's coattails.

'Rising Voices' PR Team also ensured to gain as much traction as they possibly could on every social media app and the response they got was overwhelmingly positive, making them feel like all the effort was worth it.

With an already strong first episode, the PR team could not wait for the ratings which were quite similar to previous seasons, to completely outperform it once the second episode was aired.

They after all, already knew what kinds of waves a few show-stopping performances from some monster contestants would make, so much that the audience at home go absolutely wild!

* * *

Waking up to the sound of a rap of knocks on their door, Kyle and Joe both refused to get off their beds.

But as the knocking continued, they both begrudgingly gave in and got up, all whilst still blinking their bleary eyes at the sound of the relentlessly annoying knocks.

It was already 10:00am in the morning but due to the entire stress of travelling and sorting themselves out yesterday night, along with also sleeping pretty late due to their excitement over being shown on live TV, they had found it quite hard to go into slumber.

Trying to search for his glasses by the bedside table, a force of habit at this point, Kyle remembered he had switched to contacts and then proceeded to offer a greeting to Joe while sluggishly moving over to open the door.

Staring at the male attendant whom had been the source of their destroyed ambience, Kyle listened to him as he politely explained;

"Good Morning. All contestants are currently being requested for by the judges in the central living room"

No sooner had those words left his mouth, Kyle and Joe immediately snapped out of their drowsy state.

Thanking the hotel attendant, Kyle quickly brushed his teeth and rinsed his face before he and Joe then headed out to the living room, all in a matter of minutes.

By the time they had already reached the living room, a few more contestants had already been there too, standing in anticipation while the judges just gave amused expressions at their current states.

Scanning the room, Kyle soon spotted Steven and Ryan standing in a corner. However, it seemed like Lily and Katie were yet to come down.

Making a bit of small talk with the contestants that were already around, the judges casually engaged with them pending the time the others came down.

The production crew, all of whom were also supposed to be recording from the corner, were yet to actually start and instead, leisurely engaged in a few conversations of their own here and there.

Even Howard who was usually working behind the scenes most of the time was there, he and his assistant producer laughing over and discussing a few mundane things.

Finally, after about five minutes more, the cameras soon started rolling as the judges reassumed their business-like demeanor and spoke to the contestants who were now completely assembled.

"Good Morning to you all. Trust most of you had a good night's sleep after ego searching hmm?" Blake said with a thin, knowing smile while gesturing with his hands.

In response, a few contestants coughed in embarrassment, feeling like the man's words had hit them right where it hurt.

"Well you have every right to do so. You did make it to L.A after all and the first episode even aired yesterday night" the judge casually continued.

"But remember, this is a singing competition and any of you can get disqualified if you don't put out good performances" Kiara reminded the contestants with a stern expression.

A few contestants gulped the moment those words landed as it reminded of the stark reality of them being able to be kicked out even as early as the next round.

"That aside though, let's get down to the theme of the next round!" Jack clapped his hands, garnering everyone's attention towards him.

No sooner had he said that, a string of hushed murmurs and silent conversations followed as speculations were exchanged between the contestants, most of the pretty anxious and nervous.

The last three seasons of Rising Voices had made use of the Team/Band Knockout Round, The Duet Knockout Round and The Judges' Challenge respectively when the contestants had gotten to L.A.

So it was understandable that the contestants were visibly nervous, wondering how they could make the teams with the best contestants in case any of the previous two was brought back again.

Most hoped they could at least join whatever team Lily, Steven, Joe and Katie would be in but unknown to them, Howard had completely changed the format for the show this season with a pretty innovative idea.

An innovative idea he had been sure would skyrocket the ratings to unprecedented highs.

Well at least it was an innovative idea in this world but it wasn't the same for Kyle since in his previous world, this was an idea that had already been used by a similar popular singing show.

However, Kyle himself didn't know about it just yet and like the other contestants, he too was currently waiting in anticipation for Jack to finally speak.

"Originally, this was supposed to be a Duet Knockout Round…" Jack finally spoke again, his tone calm.

Some contestants instantly sucked a few breaths in upon hearing those words but the salt-pepper haired judge, unperturbed by their fairly audible sounds, kept speaking;

"However, this season, we'll be introducing an entirely new theme" Jack smiled amusedly, a rare occurrence in itself that instantly put all the contestants on edge.

"A theme we've come to refer to as The Blind Auditions!" he declared, an even stronger hint of amusement in his eyes.