Rock Me

Chapter 10: And We're Live

Hanna:     Prepreations for the live show began. I watched the faces of everyone in the house go stony and nervous. I memorized my song from my IPod, listening to it religiously. Every now and then I would escape to the attic with Liam. One night we were up there. 

"So what song are you doing for your first live performance?" I asked him, my eyes on the ceiling. We were laying on the floor of the attic, both exausted from a long day of getting ready. 

"Its a surprise," he said. 

"You think I'm going to steal it?" I asked. 

"No. Although now that you've brought that up I'm getting very nervous that you will. Thanks alot," Liam laughed. I laughed with him. 

"How about you?" he asked. 

"How about me what?" I asked. 

"What song are you doing for your first live performance?" he asked. I pretended to zip my lips. 

"I'm not telling," I said. I loved the song I had picked out. It was going to be awesome. 

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The interviews about our songs came up the next day. I was sat down on a couch, across from a camera. "Just say a little on what its like to be on the live show then talk about your song," Simon said. Then they hit record.

"Um," I said. 

"Cut," Simon said. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. "No ums," Simon said. I nodded and looked into the camera. 

"Being on the live show has been like a dream. Although its also extremely stressful," the words flew from my lips, "It's also a little weird being in the contestants house, just because everyone has the same mindset. It's just different, to see that. I am going to be singing Stronger by Kanye West. It's just a fun song and I've always enjoyed it. I hope the audience and the judges feel the same," I smiled. 

"And cut!" Simon said. Then he walked over to me, "Perfect." 

"Thanks," I said. He nodded and I left. 

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The next day was rehersal. That was hectic. I had to pick how I wanted to do everything about the performance. I planned my performance with multiple dancers. I sang my song, moving around the stage, doing what I had practiced a million times and what the choreographer had taught me. My mentor, Cheryl, watched. She smiled the whole time. The choreography was really busy and complicated, but I landed it perfectly. When I finished, she clapped. 

"You know, it's rare we see someone do so well in rehersal. Do you know how often I've seen that in my enitre time of mentoring," she asked. 

"How many?" I asked. 

"Seven times," she said. I just looked. "The winners." I blushed. 

"Thanks," I said. 

"You're the one I've seen who has a strong possiblity of winning," Cheryl said, "I mean, Cher is close behind, but you've got her beat. So you better pull this off."

"I'll do everything I can," I said. She nodded and I headed back. Tomorrow was my first performance. 

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Liam:     The next day was nerve wracking. One Direction was singing Viva La Vida by Coldplay and we had been working day and night on it. Now we had to perform it on the live show. 

We were up. We were standing backstage. Harry had puked and looked ready to faint, Louis was sweating off his make up, Zayn was quieter than usual (not to mention the fact he had brushed his teeth three times now), Niall had his eyes closed and was listening to the song on his IPod, and I was sitting on the ground, silently praying we would do well. Finally, we were ushered to the side of the stage so we could perform. We saw Matt being judged, then the lights went out and we walked to our places on stage. On top of my nerves, I knew my mic was the first to be on and working. The lights turned on, the door in front of us opened, and I started singing. "I used to rule the world, Seas would rise when I gave the word now in the morning I sleep alone, sweep the streets I used to own," and the biggest of my fears was over. 

Zayn went into his solo, "I used to roll the dice, feel the fear in my enemy's eyes. Listen as the crowd would sing 'Now the old king is dead, long live the king.'" 

Niall plunged into his part, not seeming nervous at all, "One minute I held the key. Next the walls were closed on me. And I discovered that my castles stand. Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand." 

Then we all went, "I hear Jerusalem's bells ringing. Roman's calvary chiors are singing, 'Be my mirror, my sword and sheild, my missionaries in a forien field. For some reason I can't explain, once you go there was never, never an honest word, but that was when I ruled the world."  Now I felt totally clear of the world. I knew we were doing well. We continued to perform, feeling good the whole time. Finally the last words I would sing came and the judges jugded us. They liked us. We ran backstage, adrenaline pumping through our veins. We had done great. That was awesome. 

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Hanna:     Palms that could barely hold the mic I had in my hands due to sweat? Check. Feeling as though I was about to puke? Check. Head between my knees because I was going to faint? Check. I was backstage, ready to perform. Or well, physically. Mentally I should have been in an asylum for how nervous I was. I just repeated Cheryls words in my head over and over. Then I was up. My music started playing, along with the intro I had created to play. The electronic version of my voice. Then I started the live part, "Now that don't kill me, can only make me stronger, I need you to hurry up now, 'cause I can't wait much longer, I know I got to be right now, 'cause I can't get much wronger. Man I been waiting all night now. That's how long I've been on yah."  I was starting to feel more at home on the stage. I continued to wrap the song. I was actually not doing bad, working with the choregraphy. "I need you right now," I rapped. This performance was fun. I went into the first verse, "Let's get lost tonight. You can be my black Kate Moss tonight. Play secretary, I'm the boss tonight. And you don't give a heck they all say right." Okay maybe I cheated at that one part, but you can't swear on live TV. I continued in my performace. It felt good, like the kind of thing people use drugs to feel. It was like nothing I had ever felt. I closed my eyes as the song came to a close. Then I looked at the judges.

"Wow," Simon said. I bit my lip, "You are a natural. I enjoyed everything about that performance. You have a huge possiblity of having the X Factor." I gasped covering my mouth. I had done well. The rest of the comments were similar. I ran backstage, ready to perform next week.