Ardent Strangers

11. Verdict

Eyes fixed to the television, Aaron and I are literally on the edge of our seats as the trademark silhouette of a music scroll and a singer flashes behind the glittering words Original Star. Generic rock music whips over the credits and the crowd goes wild as pop sensation Skylar Finch blows kisses from the stage, her auburn locks and creamy skin shining like a Hollywood siren. She's escorted arm-in-arm by legendary American rocker Hudson Wilmer, lead singer and guitarist of Waters Edge, and pretty boy singer Zach Mason.

The three judges glide down the stairs to the judging table. Zach springs into the right chair and spins around to the front row of screaming girls, grins cheekily and spins back toward the stage. Sandy hair sweeps into his baby blue eyes, as if to give him a reason to sweep it away again. The girls in the front row are bordering on hysterics.

Hudson sits on the other end. His tattoos, piercings, eyeliner, and gritty hair—which is chin length on the right and buzz-cut on the left—look out of place beside the glam couple beside him. And the way he smiles, he might be having regrets about signing on for the show.

Aaron shakes his head. Okay, Hudson is cool, but I seriously question if I can be in a competition with that Zach kid as a judge.

I smile. Dont worry, theres a fair chance you wont be.

He sends me a dark look, then frowns at the screen. Is that Zach kid even a celebrity?

Unfortunately, yes. In Australia, anyway.

Aaron grunts, takes a swig of beer and a bite of pizza, while I curl up at the other end of the sofa, settling in for another two hours of suspenseful torture. As Dan Groen appears center stage excitement buzzes through me. I am finally about to see the bands and singers who have made it into the final twenty-four. But Dan rambles on with the introductions, the voting system, then announces a surprise performance at the end of the show by the entrant who polled at number one.

Damn. That surprise performance must have been pre-rehearsed at the studio, which means that band number one already knows theyre in prime position. And its not us.

Aaron and I share a downtrodden look.

Thats one less spot, then, I say, shrugging.

Aaron grunts again.

I smile to myself, realizing that Im probably going to be hearing a lot more grunts tonight. But that doesnt mean that every time Dan speaks Im not eager to hear the verdict. Any moment now

Cut to an ad-break, one that goes for a full five minutes! Aaron and I both groan, but we stare at the advertisements, waiting in hope.

In the hours since I left work we have been glued to Aarons laptop, watching our position shift upwards to number twenty-five. One position higher and we would be in the final twenty-four. It was almost enough to make me forget the Nathaniel incident, which Ive still refused to discuss. At five pm the polling vanished from the screen. Aaron looked as if he was about to have heart failure as he leapt from the chair and yelled at the laptop, Come on! This was followed by a string of expletives that were pretty creative when combined in that particular order. Id sat at the kitchen table, watching his impassioned plea for the voting malfunction to fix itself. It was only when Id burst out laughing that he seemed to realize what he was doing, turned, and broke out into a sheepish grin. Voting continued for another two hours in top secret mode, and Im pretty sure that Aaron has been pulling his hair out ever since.

Its now 7:40pm and the show is back. Me? Im bouncing on the edge of the sofa as the first demo plays on the screen. Okay, so the first and last spots are gone. Only twenty-two to go

Agh!

Three more demos and another ad-break and Im hardly bouncing at all. Nine more demos of exceptionally good bands and soloists, along with three more ad-breaks, and Ive stopped bouncing altogether.