I was nervous when I woke up the next morning. A letter had been waiting on my doorstep the night before. I had quickly scanned it and that was way enough for me get scared of what would happen today. I picked it up again and read it completely. It hasn’t been a bad dream. We’d have to sing today and were supposed to choose a song to sing in front of the judges and the other contestants after some singing lessons with a surprise coach from the show.
I could sing, but I wasn’t that good. I was pretty sure the other girls were a lot better at singing than me. I got ready and went through my I-pod on the search for a song I could sing. An impressive but easy song. That was hard since I couldn’t sing most of the songs I listened to privately and I wanted them to see who I was, because I thought my character was a little bit like me. There were a few, I maybe was able to pull off, but I would have to practice first.
Still worried I went to the car and arrived at the studios. I got out and suddenly noticed how small our group had gotten.
Mr. Seifert came out of the entrance door “Hey girls, as you possibly already know, we will have a very musical day today and who better could we have as a coach than…”
He pointed to the door and Laura Marano, who played Ally came out of the door “…Laura Marano!”
“Hi all of you” she sang “I’m singing, it’s true. I hope we’ll have a blast today and I’m excited to see, what you can do.”
Angel and Sarah applauded and I joined them.
“So” Laura said. “Have you chosen a song yet?”
The other girls nodded, I shrugged.
“Well, Mouna. You’re first today, though, we’ll choose on set then?” Laura told me and I nodded.
I followed her to the set, where she sat down at the piano.
“Let’s just warm up, then you can tell me what you have on your mind.” She said and we started doing very funny vocal practices.
“I think that’s enough.” She said after like fifteen minutes.
“Okay, I thought about maybe singing Adele. I know that’s going to be hard, but I want to try.” I told her.
“Well, what song do you want to sing?”
“Do you know ‘One and Only’?” I asked her.
“Of course.” She started playing the intro. “Just sing it through once.”
I started signing and I was actually quite happy when I was done. I knew I wasn’t even close to being as great as her and I definitely didn’t have a soul voice, but in my opinion I was alright.
“That was good.” Laura said. “You have a very clear voice and try to hit every note correctly, but you should rather try to put more feeling in it. I can hear you’re trying too hard to do it right now.”
I nodded.
“Think of some person you’d like to sing this to, if there is one. Let’s start over.”
If only she knew. I was to sing it in front of the person I’d be thinking about later, but I did and Laura had a big smile on her face when I finished.
“Wow. That was amazing. Just try to get a bit more coolness in it later and you’ll get everyone off their seats later.” She said.
“I’m not so sure about that.” I replied.
“You are lucky to have chosen an easier Adele song. But I think it’s one of the most beautiful, lyric wise, and I know Mr. Seifert and Ross like nice lyrics.” She encouraged me. “And you can hold a note and after I told you, you put a hell lot of feelings in it and that is 50% of the song. You’ll do great.”
“Thanks.”
“Now come on, let’s get the next girl to sing with me.” Laura said and I followed away from the set to the waiting room. There she took Angel with her.
Sarah somehow wasn’t there and I was really tired and couldn’t get bothered to look if Ross was there. Probably not, he had other things to do than just hang out at the Disney studios all day.
I lay down on the sofa. I was so tired. The night before, I had barely gotten any sleep due to my worries about the songchoice. My eyelids got heavy and shut my eyes. My breathing slowed down and soon my thoughts blurred until I went off into the world of dreams.
---
“Mouna.” The darkness whispered.
“Mouna!” I knew that voice. My mind found its way back to reality and made me open my eyes. It was Ross.
“Hm?” I made, still half asleep.
“Come on, you’ll have to sing.” He said, lending me his hand. I slowly sat up and rubbed my eyes. I must have been asleep for hours. Then it came back to my mind. The workshop, the singing. I took Ross’ hand and walked out the door, he held open for me. Angel and Sarah were there waiting for us. Ross hand met mine and we walked with the other girls to the set in silence. We arrived and Mr. Seifert and Laura were standing next to each other, where he and the other guest judge always stood. Ross joined them and I went over to Angel and Sarah standing in front of our judges.
“I am very excited for today’s task and I believe it’s going to be a lot of fun. Let’s get started. Angel?” Laura went back on set and Angel followed her, standing beside her, as Laura sat down at the piano. She started playing a nice melody and Angel started to sing. I didn’t like the song very much, but Angel had a very nice voice. A bit high maybe, but nice. I was starting to worry about my performance again. Angel finished and we all applauded her. Sarah was next, taking a guitar from one of the walls, starting a country song, fitting the character she was going to play. It was alright, but I could hear she had never done anything with singing before.
Then it was my turn. I walked up to the great piano, where Laura was still sitting. I tried to breathe slowly and seem calm and settled. The feeling was what I was supposed to focus on. I closed my eyes took another deep breath and when I opened them again, I was in character. Not nervous, a bit shy, but with a bit of a mischief sparkling in my eyes. I nodded at Laura and she started playing the intro. I’m Adele and I have a beautiful voice. I thought to myself. I was always better as someone else.
Then it was time for me to sing.
“You’ve been on my mind. I grow fonder every day, lose myself in time just thinking of your face…” My eyes shifted around, a bit unsure or shy, as if I was a bit embarrassed to sing it, which I wasn’t. As the lines went on and built up to the chorus, my acted self consciousness went up. A smile slowly spread over my face and just before I went in the chorus, my eyes focused on Ross.
“I dare you to let me be your one and only. Promise I’m worthy to be hold in your arms, so come on!” Cheekily I grinned at him, while singing. I meant what I sang. I saw him smiling at me. I let my eyes shift around again in the next verse. A smile was planted on Sarah’s and Mr. Seifert’s face. Angel looked at me disgustedly and as I looked down at Laura next to me, she smiled widely.
The rest of the song felt like just seconds, as easy as breathing. I finished and my listeners were applauding me. I took a bow and went back to my place.
Mr. Seifert walked up in front of us. “That was great. Could you please leave us alone for a few minutes? You can stay in front of the door to the sets, it won’t take very long, I think.”
We left and I sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall, the decision was made behind. I was happy with my performance and actually thought I wouldn’t have to leave that day.
It wasn’t long until we got called back in by Laura.
“Well, it’s that time again.” Mr. Seifert said. “The person that’s safe today is Mouna.”
I sighed in relief. I was in the final round. I was so close to being on the show, so close to possibly getting a great carrier as an actress, I could feel it.
“And I am very sorry Sarah, but it just hasn’t been good enough.” I heard Mr. Seifert say.
I went to hug her, like Ross, Laura and Angel. Then I noticed I was up against Angel in the final round. I was going to be all alone with her the next day probably. That was going to be hard.
