Dominate Showbiz: Media Tycoon Discovered My Talent-Chapter 79: The Artist Behind The Star

Kaija’s body started moving on the chair in slow, sensual movements, the intro music soft and inviting.

Every pair of eyes in the room was locked onto her every movement, every curve. Her facial expression was soaked in the mood of the music as if she were taken deep into it, her stage presence strong and firm despite being a trainee.

When the slow intro came to an end, more instrumental layers began building in the background and, without warning, the beat dropped. The dimmed stage suddenly burst to life with lights blasting in all colors and directions, and Kaija delivered the powerful hook first and foremost.

The entire hall was drowned in shock, faces frozen at the sudden shift in mood. With the cute blue dress she wore, they had expected a soft emotional ballad, not a hip-hop/rock bomb detonating through them like raging fire.

Cheers and applause erupted from the audience as one by one they rose to their feet, rocking along to Kaija’s performance. Even some of the judges couldn’t help but drum their feet to the beat.

The most shocked person in the room, however, was Karl. Though Kaija had kept his lyrics entirely as written, she’d changed the flow of the hook without telling him, raising the pitch so it suited her female voice and adding falsettos that made it more feminine but no less sensational.

A smirk lifted on his face, pride and joy warring across it. He’d never imagined the song he penned could be sung in such a sensual yet intensely powerful arrangement.

Behind the stage, Antony was no less shocked. During recording, he couldn’t recall Kaija ever doing that in the hooks. Which meant right now... she was purely improvising.

When she left the hook and switched to the spitfire, raging rap verses, the entire concert hall nearly exploded. Everyone was on their feet now, goosebumps racing over their skin at how insanely talented she was, delivering both impressive vocals and blistering rap speed at once.

Even the contestants had risen, paying their respect to the girl setting the stage on fire, though internally they already knew they’d return to their dorms tonight without a prize.

Liisi was among them, but rather than standing of her own will, she rose merely out of politeness. Inside, the pink-haired girl could feel rage and envy burning up her abdomen and spreading across her chest, her fake nails digging into her palms so tightly blood nearly spilled.

She’d put that much effort into ruining that trainee bitch’s performance! She’d risked herself and her career when she decided to steal that song! How could this bitch possibly manage to find such a breathtaking replacement dress and produce a song that good in such a short time?

And not just that! Listen to the goddamn lyrics, even the name of the song.

Was that bitch intentionally shading her? Saying she was merely the star, while Kaija was the true artist behind her performance of Hollow?

When Kaija’s performance came to an end, the explosion under the vast concert hall roof still showed no sign of stopping.

On the stage, the beautiful young singer held her final dance pose at the chair, eyes fixed somewhere on the ceiling, her long honey locks spilling around her body like liquid gold. All the stage lights had stilled, shining only on her now.

Her chest was still heaving, unable to stop after having danced, sung, rapped, and moved across the stage so intensely in such a short time. Only when she removed the earpiece and ran a hand across her damp forehead, sweeping her blonde locks away from her face, did she emerge from the immersive state of the performance she’d just delivered.

Her brilliant blue eyes widened, her mouth parted at the thundering cheers erupting from the massive crowd before her. Screams and shouts came from so many directions that Kaija no longer knew where to look.

The stage lights had been directly on her the entire time, making it impossible to see the audience during her performance, and the music in her ears had been too loud for her to hear their reactions. But now, she knew for certain her performance was a job well done.

The standing ovation lasted five full minutes. Kaija stepped forward to the rear of the stage, offering grateful bows to the crowd for their support.

At the judging panel, all thirteen men and women were on their feet. All, including Charles.

Her movements paused when her gaze drifted his way. He stood firm and tall at the end of the table, that same calmness in his every motion, his hands coming together in a measured manner that revealed nothing about how he felt.

It almost seemed to her like he was standing out of courtesy simply because everyone else was doing so, unlike Karl, on the other end, who was visibly, overwhelmingly excited. He clapped his hands together with a speed almost as fast as his rapping, delight and excitement completely unhidden on his face.

With one step back and her knees bent, she lowered herself into a princess-style bow toward the judging panel, both hands lifting the sides of her blue dress with stunning grace.

Her brilliant blue eyes lifted first toward Karl, a playful smile appearing on her face as they exchanged a secret glance only they understood.

Then her eyes left Karl as she turned to Charles. The smile faded, her face becoming as blank and unreadable as his. Whatever words they might have exchanged remained unspoken in that subtle meeting of their eyes.

With one final thanks to everyone in the audience, the breathtaking singer left the stage. The show must go on.

As she stepped down the stage, what first caught her eyes was Antony waiting patiently for her all this time. He leaned against the wall, her long coat still in his arms, a soft, content smile lighting his face.

"Did I do alright?" she asked, approaching him slowly.

"You did more than alright," he replied, pushing himself off the wall and meeting her halfway. "You’re both the artist and the star." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

A chuckle slipped from her as she received her coat back from him. "No, no, no," she denied, shrugging into it. "It was you who made me a star."

His soft smile deepened. His hand lifted to her lapel, pulling her a little closer. "If so, then..." he murmured, fingers moving to the buttons, fastening them neatly. "I can’t wait for my first date with you, my star."