From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel-Chapter 184: Cultural Festival Preparation (1)

When Ari walked into the room, it was to see boys sitting in a circle, half of which had dejected faces, Jamie holding a gigantic cutout of North America with a big smile on his face, Levi holding a gigantic cutout of South America with an even bigger scowl on his face, two cameramen standing in the corner of the room, and a happily smiling PD Ji-ho who turned to face him with his glasses flashing in a menacing manner.

"Ahhh, contestant Ari, so nice of you to join us."

"...thank you?"

Ari immediately took several steps back as he tried to understand what was happening, but PD Ji-ho stepped forward and dragged him back.

"You’ve joined us at the perfect time. I just finished explaining what the next mission is for the team, but I don’t mind going over it again. But before I do that, would you like to take a guess as to what’s going on?"

Not really. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

But since he couldn’t say that, Ar took another glance at the giant continental cutouts held by Jamie and Levi, who looked as if he would rather be anywhere else at this moment, he took a wild guess.

"Continental show and tell?"

"Close! It’s a continental talent show! And you’ll be participating."

Ari: "....?"

I don’t understand what those words mean.

"You’re all going to be performing at the UCLA Culture Festival! Congrats!"

At PD Ji-ho’s words, measured applause rang through the room as the contestants forced a smile.

Still not understanding why everyone looked a bit down, Ari smiled politely at the PD.

"Yay?"

"Yes! Yay! You might not know, but the UCLA Culture Festival is quite a big deal. There’s food, games, and more from different cultures around the world. And since we’re trying to select the members of a global group, you guys have a chance to create and perform music from different parts of the globe! We, the production team, worked really hard to get you guys this opportunity."

"...thank you?"

"You’re quite welcome! Now you and you’re team members have been assigned to America’s and your team will be performing Latin American music. And remember, like I said, you may choose any song, but 50 percent of the song must be in Spanish or Portuguese. Ah, and while not required, I think it would be nice for your outfits to reflect the culture of the song, and the choreography, if you do have choreography to do the same as well. Again, it’s not required. Just a recommendation."

By the fact that you repeated it twice, it’s definitely required!

"Oh. I see. And what’s the timeline for this? Aren’t we supposed to have an elimination ceremony soon?"

"Ah, don’t worry about that. We pushed back the elimination ceremony, and we’ll just eliminate double the number of people during the next one. It’s all good. Good. Good."

PD Ji-ho held out both thumbs, and audible gulps could be heard in the room.

Ari could literally feel his smile freeze in place because he couldn’t understand what was good about eliminating 20 people at once instead of 10.

"Ah, I see. Then, how much time do we have to prepare for the performance?"

Since they would have to sing in a different language, they might need more prep time than usual.

"The first rehearsal on the stage is happening in 5 days, and the performance is in 6 days. So, it’s literally right around the corner."

Ari: ಠ_ಠ

"A week?" Ari could only ask for clarification, hoping that his ears were mistaken.

"5 days, really." PD Ji-ho clarified with that smile still on his face.

"Oh."

Well, that explained the dark expressions.

"I’m excited to see what you guys come up with, and I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun at the festival once the performance is over. We’ll even give you some spending money so you can get snacks and treats. A writer will be by later to get your planning details. Good luck!"

With an excited wave, PD Ji-ho left with one of the cameramen. After a moment of silence, Levi slowly and methodically shredded the cardboard cutout into a small piece before shoving it into a trash can and taking a seat away from everybody else.

At the same time, Jamie began flipping his own around like it was a pizza, clearly pretty happy at the events going on.

Everyone else just seemed to be staring at each other or into the air, waiting for someone to speak first.

As the room remained silent, Ari took a seat with a restrained sigh.

Almost immediately, Jamie sat next to him and almost decapitated him with the North American cardboard cutout, before placing it far away from Ari after he received a glare.

"So...since we don’t have a lot of time, let’s get started? I guess the first question before we choose a song is to decide the language. Hands up. Who can speak Spanish or Portuguese? If you’ve taken a class in middle or high school, I’ll count that as well."

Three hands shot into the air: Alfonso, Diego, and Carlos, while the other 4 shook their heads.

"Cool, if I remember correctly, Alfonso speaks Portuguese, and the two of you speak Spanish, yeah?" Ari clarified while pointing to each person in turn.

"Yes."

"Yep."

"That’s right."

"Okay. I can speak a little Spanish, so that’s already 50%. Unless there’s opposition, I think we should try to perform a Spanish song since there are more people to help with pronunciation. Is that okay?"

Although Diego looked a bit down, there was no opposition, so Ari continued.

"Then, efficiency’s sake, we can assign those parts among the four of us. Unless someone else wants a Spanish part of whatever song we choose?"

"I want to try singing in Spanish." Jamie immediately raised his hand excitedly, and Ari gave him a strange look.

Even when he sang in English, Jamie couldn’t fully eliminate the apparent country accent.

Ari had no doubt that it would sound just the same, but just in case-

"Say hola."

"Oh-la."

"Say amigo."

"Uh-mee-go."

Hearing Jamie’s country accent absolutely butcher the simple words, Ari was utterly appalled, and a refusal burst out of his mouth before his brain could process it.

"I’m sorry, but no."

"Absolutely not," Levi added seconds after, his face one of disgust as if he couldn’t believe what he just heard.

"Is my accent that bad?"

Levi: "Yes."

"Well..." Carlos tried to find something nice to say, before settling on "it could use some work."

"A lot," Diego added under his breath.

Seeing Jamie wilt dramatically and begin sulking, Ari changed his tune while patting his back.

"You know what, let’s table it for now, until we pick a song. You can definitely be tutored into correct pronunciation or die trying. The issue is what song to select. I don’t have a lot of experience in Latin American music, so I’ll probably have to lean on the rest of you to help with song selection. What vibe do we want? The floor is open, so speak your mind." Ari brought out the sticky notes and pen he always carried in preparation to take notes.

"It’s a festival, so definitely something upbeat. It would be nice if we could play an instrument or two as well." Jamie spoke first as his mood jumped back up after hearing his Spanish singing dreams weren’t dead yet.

"Upbeat and instruments. Got it."

"In Mexican culture, we have something called mariachi bands that often perform at different events, from birthdays, festivals, funerals, and more. We can take inspiration from the outfits or music style. They also play instruments when they perform." Carlos added, remembering all the events that had mariachi bands that he attended growing up.

"Mariachi outfit, instruments. Okay. Anyone else?"

"For choreography inspiration, we can get some influence from salsa dancing. I’m Cuban, so I can teach you guys some popular dance steps. Having a pair choreography with red and black outfits could be cool visually." Diego added, getting excited at the thought.

"Salsa, pair choreography. Red and black outfits. Okay."

Ari wrote on his sticky notes, sticking them on the mirror behind him, and continuing to write as people listed their ideas.

After the bottom of the mirror was almost filled with everything from songs, outfits, and more, Ian finally stood up.

"Before we go any further, I think we should decide on who the leader of the team will be. I nominate-."

"Shut the hell up and sit your ass down. We don’t have time for that political nonsense right now. We’re planning how not to embarrass ourselves, and you haven’t added anything constructive this whole time, so I don’t see why you would even speak up to be the leader." Levi interrupted in a calm voice.

The room immediately grew silent as everyone stared at Levi in shock before looking at the cameraman in surprise.

The cameraman shrugged, not surprised by Levi’s words, and Ari had to do his best not to laugh, even though he completely agreed with Levi’s words about Ian, if not the delivery.

Ian’s face turned red, and he slowly sat back down while avoiding eye contact with Levi.

Blinking slowly, Levi turned to Ari, his expression remaining the same as it was

"Feel free to continue, Ari."

After a second, Ari continued speaking.

"Thank you for the support, but let’s try to use kinder language next time and not cut people off when they’re speaking. That wasn’t kind to Ian. He’s a teammate who needs to help us not embarrass ourselves."

Levi stared at Ari for a moment before turning to Ian.

"My bad."

Even though it looked like he didn’t want to accept the apology, Ian gritted his teeth and responded.

"...it’s fine."

"Cool. Regardless, any other ideas? If not, shall we begin listening to the songs?"