Dominate Showbiz: Media Tycoon Discovered My Talent-Chapter 102: Public Exposure

"Fans?" Charles asked, brow drawn together. "Whose fans?"

The receptionist quickly replied, "Judging by the banners and hand signs they’re bringing, security said they might be... Ms. Sepala’s fans."

Charles was even more confused now. "How do they even know Kaija’s name? She hasn’t even debuted yet, and we haven’t released any public statement about the result last night."

"You haven’t heard, brother?" Antony replied before the receptionist could. He was still lingering by the door and had overheard the whole situation.

"Kaija basically went viral on the internet last night thanks to our employees," he said. "Even before you named Liisi the winner, videos of Kaija’s performance had already gotten millions of views."

Charles could feel another headache coming. "Call her manager," he told the receptionist. "Ask him which class she’s in and tell him to keep her exactly there. Keep her away from all windows, and do not let her appear anywhere near the gates."

"Y-yes sir!" the receptionist replied with a bow and rushed out.

At the desk, Charles was already tidying up, as if preparing to leave.

"What are you gonna do?" Antony asked, clearly amused by the sudden turn of events.

"I’m going to check what sort of initial response the PR team is putting out to calm those crowds," Charles said, grabbing his jacket and slipping it on. "Then I’ll figure out the answer to the same question they’re demanding, and see. Looks like the meeting with the festival board will have to happen earlier than expected."

With that, Charles headed for the floor above, while Antony continued his investigation into the black-dress incident.

About an hour later, the ten men and women of the judging panel had gathered around the oval table inside the meeting room on the top floor of the Management building.

None of them had been informed of the reason behind the sudden meeting, but given the whispers about the chaos outside the gates, every one of them could already guess it concerned the winner of the KE Festival competition.

By then, the crowd outside still showed no signs of dispersing. More reporters had arrived, not just from local newspapers, but even from international media outlets outside S Country.

At the head of the table, Charles sat with his laptop connected to the projector, his steely mode firmly in place.

"Who here voted for Liisi Grant last night?" he asked, eyes scanning each face with quiet disdain.

The panel members exchanged uneasy glances.

There had always been an unspoken agreement that each judge could keep their vote private. But given the chaos outside, and the guilt weighing on them after voting against their better judgment, influenced by Max Kosonen’s strategic advice, one by one, despite their reluctance, the judges raised their hands.

"So all ten of you," Charles confirmed flatly. No wonder Kaija had lost.

With a few taps on the keyboard, several browser tabs appeared on the projected screen, displaying articles from major news sites, along with a video of Kaija’s performance racking up millions of views.

All the panel members stiffened as they read the headlines. Now they were certain why they’d been summoned: to answer for their votes for Liisi last night.

Though the articles came from different outlets, every single one focused on the same burning question: "What happened to the result of the KE Annual Festival this year?"

"Start by stating your reasons one by one, please," Charles said. "I need to understand why the judgment of the most important figures in my label is in direct conflict with, apparently, the opinion of the entire market."

"Mr. Kosonen," said the man sitting closest to Charles, "I can assure you that every one of us made the choice we believed would benefit the festival and the label the most."

"And how does voting for the weaker performance benefit the reputation of the festival?" Charles asked, brow raised. "Enlighten me, because in case you haven’t noticed, everyone out there is questioning whether the results were rigged, or if KE’s judgment is so poor we can’t even name the rightful winner of our own competition."

The room fell silent. The panel members exchanged uneasy glances once again. All of them knew what had happened in the voting room last night, yet none of them wanted to be the first to explain it.

At last, one of the women spoke, her tone measured. "With all due respect, Mr. Kosonen, our decisions were influenced by your brother, because we agreed with his strategic reasoning regarding the winner of the show.

"After you and Mr. Hanski left the room, your brother asked us what standards we typically use when making our votes. He said it was his first time at the festival, and he was unfamiliar with the judging role.

"After we explained our criteria, Mr. Kosonen seemed displeased. He criticized us for our narrow vision, for basing our choices too much on personal judgment without considering the bigger picture.

"I’m sure every one of us here could see that Ms. Sepala, though only a trainee, objectively had the better performance. The audience reaction alone made that clear.

"But despite how talented and convincing she was, she’s still just a trainee. She has no fanbase, no public presence. It would be extremely difficult to generate positive attention if we released a statement naming an unknown girl as the winner.

"On the other hand, Ms. Grant has been debuted for three years, has an excellent public image, and a strong fanbase. That alone made her the more viable choice for public exposure."

Charles showed no reaction to the Head of Talent’s thorough explanation of what had actually happened after he left the voting room last night. Yet deep down, he felt his blood run cold.

If he had stayed in the room, his damned older brother wouldn’t have had the chance to manipulate the situation. Kaija could have been named the winner officially and proudly in front of the entire audience, and none of this chaos would be happening now.

"I see," he muttered flatly at last. "Is this enough public exposure for us now, hmm?"

The woman fell silent as her gaze dropped back to the table.

"We’ve already named Ms. Grant the winner, sir," another man replied. "As much as I want to reverse my own decision, we can’t. Doing so would risk damaging our reputation even further, angering Ms. Grant’s fans, if not outright admitting to the entire country that we made a mistake."

"But we also can’t let the public keep roaring at us for the stupid decision we made," Charles said, raising a brow. "Since all of you voted for Liisi Grant against your better judgment, go ahead and come up with something to fix this PR disaster you’ve dragged all of us into."

The panel members went quiet at their boss’s cold directive. Some stared down at the floor, while others fixed their gaze gravely on the projected screen, scrambling for a way out of the mess they’d created.

For a while, there was nothing except the steady tapping of Charles’s finger on the table, his sharp gaze still cutting across every face in the room.

Eventually, the Head of Talent spoke again. "Mr. Kosonen, I believe we can all agree that if not for her trainee status, Ms. Sepala was the more deserving winner.

"Her performance demonstrated every core skill required of a star performer: stage presence, dancing, singing, rapping, songwriting. And because of that, I’m convinced she is ready for the big stage. It’s time we release her from her trainee status and make her an official artist.

"If we let her make her official debut now, we could redirect the public’s attention entirely toward her and away from the controversial result of the show. It would soothe the people who’ve become her fans overnight, and allow us to capitalize on the hype surrounding her at this moment.

"If she releases an album, or even just a single right now, I’m certain the sales numbers will not disappoint."

Charles went still, considering her words. No trainee under KE had ever debuted in less than six months, and it had only been two and a half months since Kaija signed with KE.

As concerned as he was about whether Kaija was ready for the pressures of the spotlight, he had to admit he agreed with the woman’s reasoning.

If he allowed Kaija to seize this opportunity and debut while she was still an internet sensation, it could give her career a powerful head start.

"If reporters and fans have already gathered outside," the woman continued, "we could invite some of them into the press conference hall and officially introduce Ms. Sepala along with her upcoming debut. It will give them something to be excited about, and something to write about. Let them spread the news of her debut for us."

"I disagree," the Head of PR said. "With no preparation at all, we can’t be sure whether she’s ready to face all sorts of questions from those reporters. If she makes a mistake, she’ll be done before she even gets to debut, and we’ll once again bring more shame on our own name."

"If that’s the case," Charles said, "why don’t you go ahead and draft a rough speech for Kaija to review before she makes her appearance? You will handle all questions on her behalf, and I will be there as well to answer whatever they have for us. Take care of that first."

"That would be a much better approach, sir. Then I’ll excuse myself," the man replied and left the room.

Just as Charles was about to dismiss the remaining people, a knock sounded at the door.

"Come in," he said, brow already drawn together at the sudden interruption.

Stepping into the room was Esko. His face was pale, cold sweat trickling down his temples, his trembling hands clasped together in front of him.

Charles recognized him instantly. Esko’s green hair had stood out to him during their brief conversation the night before.

"What is it?" he asked, surprise flashing across his features. "Aren’t you supposed to be with Kaija right now?"

Esko flinched at the question. He bowed quickly toward the many important company figures before him, then replied in a small, trembling voice, "Mr. Kosonen, I am terribly sorry for informing you this late... I was waiting outside all this time, but did I hear it correctly, or did you just say my artist, Kaija, will be seeing the press soon?"

"You heard right," Charles confirmed, already uneasy at Esko’s timid tone. "Where’s Kaija?"

"Sir, that’s what I’ve come to report..." Esko said. "Since this morning, my artist went off campus with Mr. Hanski to go downtown and hasn’t returned yet. She left even before the crowd outside gathered."

Every face in the room immediately darkened, especially Charles’s.

"Then have you tried contacting her?" he asked. "Tell her to come back now. It’s important."

Esko swallowed hard. "Well, sir..." he stammered, "the problem is... When I tried calling her just earlier, she wasn’t the one who picked up. Mr. Hanski did. And he made it very clear that she will not return to the campus anytime soon. At least not before 6 PM today."