--- MELODY 5 ---
It was exactly one year since Sherri Holt had held auditions at the Infinity Dance Studios in Covent Garden for a new girlband. And now, Melody 5 were waiting to find out if they’d got their first UK number 1 single.
The girls sat in a people carrier parked at Leicester Forest Services on the M1. For the past week they’d been up and down the country promoting their first official single – Melody UnChained. Now they were huddled around a mobile phone, sharing a bumper bag of burgers, fries and milkshakes – their standard fare over the last hectic week. They were on speakerphone, waiting for Chart Show presenter, Jhelisa Brookes. They’d already done a short interview with her earlier in the show and now they were waiting for her to cut back to them for the announcement of the UK Chart’s Top 2 singles. The battle was on for the UK’s Number 1 spot and it was between Melody 5 and Psylence.
2 On It and the furore surrounding it had massively raised Psylence’s profile and the single had reached Number 5. His latest offering Girl You Like That had received a big marketing push and was also vying for the top spot. The battle was being billed as the biggest boy vs girl chart battle since Girls Aloud went head to head with their boyband rivals in 2002.
Who would come out on top?
As the girls listened to the Top 20 countdown Sherri whispered. “Nervous?”
“Bricking it,” said Jadine.
“Jhelisa will come to you in 60 seconds,” said Sherri.
As the girls waited anxiously, Kat glanced at her phone. She’d just received a text from Lena.
No 2 or No 1 doesn’t matter.
You’re all amazing!
Especially you.
Kat smiled. Nothing romantic had developed between them, but Kat still held out hope that one day it would. Although right now she was too busy for romance. Her feet hadn’t touched the ground these past three months. What with recording an album, filming their latest video and storming the promo trail with Melody UnChained. Kat felt like she was in her element, her only sadness was that things were still difficult back home – apparently Andrezj’s mood swings had got worse since his accident and doctors were now starting to think that his brain had been affected by his fall after all. Kat couldn’t wait for the day when she could earn enough money to look after Dani and the boys and get them away from the man who was bringing them nothing but misery. Kat crossed her fingers and hoped with all her heart that they’d made it to Number 1.
As the countdown continued, Rhian bit her fingers as she thought about all the people back home in Penarvon listening to the chart rundown too. She smiled as she remembered the text she’d got from earlier from Matt.
We’re all thinking about you.
Sure you’ll be No 1.
You always were my No 1 girl!
M xx
She’d heard from her brother that Matt had recently broken up with his girlfriend. She remembered being miffed that the boy who’d had a crush on her at school had moved on from her after she’d moved away. Although, what did she expect? That a nice guy like Matt was going to pine over her forever? Although, judging by his text, maybe he was. Matt still wasn’t her type, but it was nice to know that good guys were interested in her after all. Rhian just hoped they’d made it to Number 1 so she could finally put Psylence in his rightful place – behind her.
Meanwhile Amy played with the diamond heart necklace her parents had given her for Christmas and smiled as she realised her dream had come true. A year ago she’d given herself one last shot to ‘make it’ and now here she was - a fully fledged pop star taking the music scene by storm. Amy desperately wanted the girls to be Number 1, but Sherri had also prepared them for the worst. Reaching Number 2 would still be an amazing achievement. A big hit. And a year ago, Amy would have given anything for a Number 2 single, but now her ambition burned brighter than ever. She wanted to show the world that she was the real deal. And show Derren McKenzie just what he was missing. She hated that she still cared what the hell Derren thought about her and hated even more that might always be the case. But for now she was determined to enjoy this moment – she flicked her hair and waited.
As the countdown got ever closer to that all important Number 1 slot, Molly was still glowing from the memory of receiving a huge bunch of flowers at the last local radio station they’d visited, along with a handwritten card –
Melody 5 will get to Number 1.
With you in the band – success is guaranteed!!!
Am so proud of you sis.
Big love and hugs, Georgia xxx
Molly was relieved that Georgia had finally embraced her being in the band. She’d even started asking Molly for tips on putting together a new demo. Georgia was still dating Josh and Molly was glad it was working out between them. She’d heard absolutely nothing from Derren and was glad. In the early days, even when he wasn’t in the room, Derren had been there, like an unspoken presence getting in between her and Amy. Now Molly finally felt he was gone but that in a strange way, he’d brought them closer. They both knew what it was like to be infatuated with the same guy. They never spoke about him, but there was an unspoken bond that even though they might have waivered along the way, they’d prioritised the band, and ultimately themselves, over him. They rocked!
As the countdown reached the Top 5, Jadine was the only one not nervously smiling – Melody UnChained had to be number 1. Nothing less would do. Lyric said she was putting way too much pressure on the single, on the band and on herself. Like Kat, Jadine wanted to do well so she could help out her family financially – her mum had given up her job to look after Bobby and Theo full-time and Alesha’s drug addiction was spiraling out of control - but it was more than that. Jadine wanted to show Psylence, all the haters and the whole world that no matter how much publicity they got for celebrity boyfriends or what they were wearing, at the end of the day Melody 5 made damn good music.
Melody UnChained was a full-on celebration of life, love and self-expression – how everyone could break free of the chains that bind them no matter what gender, race, size or age they were. Lyric had produced it, Kat had scored it, the girls had written the lyrics. They’d also come up with the concept for the video (not directed by Derren McKenzie this time) but an up and coming female director, Meggan Marcus, who Lena had discovered. This was what Melody 5 were really about – the music and Jadine wanted it to succeed. Getting to Number 1 would be a validation and show the whole world that Melody 5 were a musical force to be reckoned with!
“Jhelisa’s going to make the announcement in 5 seconds,” said Sherri.
The girls joined hands and held their breath.
“And now,” said Jhelisa excitedly. “I can exclusively reveal, live on air, that this week’s Number 2 single is…”
And girls waited, hardly daring to breathe.
“Psylence with Girl You Like That...”
The girls stared at each other. Did that mean…?
“So this week’s UK Number 1 single is Melody UnChained by Melody 5. Congratulations girls!”
It sure did!
Arrrghhhhhhhh!!!
The girls let out a raucous scream. They’d done it. They’d beaten Psylence to the top spot and had their first Number 1 single.
“Melody 5 are you there?” asked Jhelisa. “How does it feel to have the UK’s Number 1 single this week?”
“Amaaaazing!”
“Out of this world!”
“Fantastic!”
“Thank you so much to our amazing fans!”
“And to everyone who’s supported us so far!”
“Well first we’re gonna play Girl You Like That,” said Jhelisa. “And then we’ll play the UK’s biggest selling single of the week – Melody UnChained.”
As the opening bars of Psylence’s track kicked in, Sherri turned off the radio.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ll turn it back on when that crap has finished. Well done girls. You deserve it!”
The girls screamed again and hugged each other.
They’d done it.
Melody 5 had arrived.
THE END (For now) : -)
Hope you've enjoyed reading Melody 5 - Rising Stars.
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I'm now thinking about Melody 5 Volume 2 - how the girls handle success & stardom, so watch this space! NN :-)