Rachel watched with completely focused eyes as her current underdog pick caressed the mic stand with his slim fingers encased in black gloves and began to sing.
I wake up every day
Work, school, or maybe play
Just trying to find a way
From point A to bay, cey, dey
A husky yet clear tone singing over an upbeat country-influenced beat.
The beginning words were sung in a country storytelling way, and then the last bit switched suddenly to French, shocking Rachel a bit.
Gasp!
Was he bilingual?
At the thought that she might have discovered one of the secrets of her possible underdog choice, Rachel paid even more attention to Ari's words as he grabbed the kickstand, tilting it sideways as he continued singing. The rums or a xylophone began increasing their intensity to become louder and stronger!
Heading somewhere important
An appointment or a date
I step into a car or bus
And guess what makes me late!!!!
There was a pause in the music, completely silent as Ari lifted the trumpet to his lips.
He began keeping count with his foot.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
And on the fourth beat, the loud sound of the trumpet rang out.
Ta ra ra ra ra!
"Traffic really sucks!"
Ta ra ra ra ra!
"Two hours of being stuck!"
Ta ra ra ra ra!
"Often late or in a rush!"
Ta ra ra ra ra!
"Because the traffic really sucks!"
Ari sang the lyrics in a raw voice that expressed his emotions.
Each time he sang a line, he would lift the trumpet to his lips and play a variation of the five notes before continuing to sing another line.
Throughout the chorus, although the audience seemed to be enjoying the catchy homemade song's surprisingly relatable lyrics, Rachel felt her fan-girl senses tingling.
She really, really liked the song.
Not only was his voice amazing, but the lyrics spoke to her as a high schooler who had recently gotten her license and realized why her parents never wanted to drive her anywhere.
Gas was expensive, and traffic was horrible!
She instinctively felt that this song would be popular, especially among those her age who liked sending memes and short clips on TokTik.
With skills curated from sneaking and using her phone in class when she wasn't supposed to, Rachel brought out the cellphone that she had snuck in and subtly recorded a video of Ari singing the second verse and second chorus.
As Ari finished his third verse and was about to start the final chorus, Rachel felt bad that all this time, the audience hadn't sung along with him like he had asked, so she decided to be bold and lead the charge.
Watching his foot do the four count and his hands bringing the trumpet to his lips, Rachel decided to sing along with him in hopes that the audience would also participate.
She shouted with all of her strength assuming that it would be hidden by the trumpet.
"Tararara!!!!!"
But…it was a bit too early.
Her loud shout echoed in the silence as everyone from audience members, the contestants, the judges, and her current favorite underdog turned to stare at her.
As Rachel ducked down in embarrassment while covering her face, the slim boy on stage with the painted face laughed momentarily, the microphone catching the soft chuckle.
"I appreciate the enthusiasm." His slightly low voice sounded out before he brought the golden trumpet to his lips.
Tarararara!
The sound of the trumpet rang out, and one by one, the audience began singing as the boy started singing while playing the trumpet.
"Traffic really sucks!"
Tarararara!
"Two hours of being stuck!"
Tarararara!
"I'm always late or in a rush!"
Tarararara!
"Because the traffic really sucks!"
The audience energetically sang back the lyrics that each of them felt from the bottom of their souls, and something that they could all relate to.
The dreaded pain of traffic!
The quick trips to the store that were never quick!
The fact that they had to factor in two hours of travel if they had to go somewhere!
Even now, after this show, there would probably be traffic on their way back to their homes!
The upbeat sound of the music began to quiet as the boy on stage took the trumpet away from his lips and began to sing the final lyrics in a soft, husky voice.
"Traffic really sucks. Two hours of being stuck. We're always in a rush. Cause traffic really sucks~"
The music ended on a soft guitar note that lingered before it became silent.
"Thank you!" With a polite bow, the boy with the painted face waved at the audience before turning to the judges.
Although there weren't as many cheers for him as some of the contestants, many people still clapped, having enjoyed the concert-like atmosphere of singing and relating to the people next to them and the lyrics.
The only unfortunate part was that once that concert-like high died down, compared to the other contestants, who looked pretty handsome, this boy's appearance was a bit...questionable.
Biases began to form as people discussed whether he was worthy of replacing a person in the top 100.
As people began discussing how to rank him or if they should even let him pass since he seemed ugly even if he was a good singer, Rachel began her hardcore campaign to save her new favorite contestant.
Although his looks were questionable behind what looked like 10 pounds of face paint, he was undeniably charming in a unique way, could clearly compose and sing with an amazing voice, and more importantly, the fan girl inside of her was telling her that his body seemed like he would be hot!!
That lean figure that made that slightly ugly gray school uniform look decent, the long slender fingers in leather gloves that played the trumpet, the untamed jet black curly hair, those piercing green eyes!
Rachel was sure that once he removed the face paint, he would be undeniably hot!
She trusted that once they moved into the survival idol show housing, and began recording 24/7, the cameras would definitely catch his bare face, or the judges would force him to not wear that crazy paint for his performances.
For now, she just had to convince the people around her to pass him!
Racking her brains quickly, Rachel thought of a convincing point to make people pass Ari onto the next round.
Dramatic Face Reveal
"Hey guys?"
With a bold voice, she began talking to the audience to sway them.
And on stage, the MC, Ryan Leary, had his arms around Ari's shoulders as he began speaking to the crowd.