While groups from other labels were taking the stage, the audience still hadn't managed to pull themselves away from the afterglow of B-Komachi's performance.
"B-Komachi was freaking insane..."
"They definitely have charm. That dance where they hit the floor was mind-blowing."
The vast majority of the male audience had fallen for B-Komachi's charms, and even those who hadn't were marvelling at the song's production quality and the stage composition.
Groups like AKB48 and Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku received cheers for releasing new songs, but even so, they couldn't overcome the stronghold of B-Komachi's 'Sign is B' stage—even though the song had been out for quite a while.
Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku consisted of middle schoolers who had just begun their agency training, so while they had a refreshing appeal, they lacked the charisma to truly seize the crowd. AKB48, unlike their early days on ASAYAN, performed like the veterans they were after countless stages, but they were outclassed by B-Komachi in terms of stage design and track quality.
In any case, B-Komachi, having delivered a top-tier performance that felt like a direct upgrade to the rest, deeply engraved their name into the minds of everyone watching Utacon. And now, Utacon was moving toward its second half.
Normally, Utacon was a one-hour broadcast like many other shows, but today, it was scheduled to feature Enfants Terribles, the band making a name for themselves across the entire world.
"Wait, why is Enfants Terribles in Japan right now anyway?"
"I heard they came back because that girl from B-Komachi got attacked."
Ordinarily, Enfants Terribles should have been on a promotion tour in the United States, but they had temporarily returned to Japan upon hearing that their precious Ai had been targeted in a terrorist-like attack.
"Finally, Part 2 is starting!"
"According to the cue sheet, Part 2 is the real highlight!"
And so, Utacon transitioned into the Part 2 broadcast.
In truth, today's highlight for Utacon was indeed Part 2. This was because, led by Enfants Terribles, acts that had achieved success on the Billboard charts like AAA, KAT-TUN, and TM NETWORK were slated to appear.
With the flagship groups of major agencies all appearing at once, today's Part 2 of Utacon was no exaggeration to call the All-Star game of the Japanese music world. Fans were vibrating with anticipation for the spectacular stages they were about to see.
Meanwhile, the staff were rushing around the waiting rooms to prepare for the Part 2 live broadcast.
"Go to the Johnny's side and tell KAT-TUN to get ready."
"Head to Sony Music and pass the word to TM NETWORK as well."
The staff were moving frantically according to the order of the cue sheet. In the midst of this chaos, the PD of Utacon was grinning ear to ear as he received reports on the viewer ratings.
"Hell yes!! 35%! This is incredible!"
During Part 1, the ratings had stayed at the usual 10–15%, but as they entered Part 2, the numbers began to skyrocket. The Utacon PD couldn't hide his laughter.
It was because they had hit 35% even though heavyweights like Enfants Terribles hadn't even come out yet. It was obvious that the moment Enfants Terribles appeared for the ending, the ratings would explode.
At this rate, won't we even cross 50%?
Just as the Utacon PD was smiling while imagining a blissful future, a junior staff member—who had been running around like a headless chicken since the start of Part 1 due to issues with the cue sheet—dashed toward him once again.
"P... PD..."
"What? Can't you see I'm busy?"
The junior staff member spoke with a face as pale as a sheet.
"The... the Avex waiting room is empty....!!!! There's no one there!!!!"
As soon as the junior staff finished speaking, the happy smile on the Utacon PD's face began to turn into a mottled red of pure rage. The time slot allotted to Avex was a staggering 20 minutes. And now, it looked like that entire block was about to go up in smoke.
"Those bastards really left??!!! What kind of brain-dead move is this!!!!!"
The Utacon PD was fuming at Avex's attitude, throwing their weight around with zero consideration.
"No matter how urgent it is, do they really have to go this far??"
The band Avex was currently pushing as their new stars, Zard, certainly had the potential to be icons. However, the Utacon PD could not logically understand why they were being so stubborn and demanding using merely promising rookies.
He had to resolve this before the Avex time slot arrived.
The scene began to descend into total pandemonium due to the gap left by Avex.
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In an attempt to fix the situation, the Utacon PD went to the Strawberry Productions waiting room where Enfants Terribles was located.
"I'm really... sorry, but... could you possibly yield the ending to someone else?"
"Hey pops, you're asking us to give up the ending?"
"You have to talk sense if you want us to listen!"
The muscular mixed-race drummer and the perfectionist bald bassist of Enfants Terribles flatly refused.
Of course, the Utacon PD knew it wouldn't work and didn't press further. If he managed to offend them and Enfants Terribles also backed out, it would be a total catastrophe.
In that situation, Hide—who serves as their leader—placed his hands on Yokishi and Tanaka Shuji's shoulders and spoke up.
"How much time was allotted to them?"
"About 20 minutes...."
"That's roughly six songs, so I think we can handle it within Strawberry Productions....?"
The moment Hide finished speaking, everyone in the waiting room focused their attention on him.
"Can't Enfants Terribles, AAA, and B-Komachi just perform two more songs each? For B-Komachi, you can just call it an encore and have them go out again."
"T-that... that is true?"
The Utacon PD wore a stunned expression, looking like he'd been hit over the head with a blunt object.
"We still have some time. Let's talk about how to structure the stage. Wouldn't it look good if B-Komachi, being the youngest, did the opening, and then passed the baton to AAA, who coached them?"
In a very short time, a plan to fill the void left by Avex was formulated.
Watching Hide, the Utacon PD was shaking his head in disbelief. Hide, who immediately thought of something that even he, the PD, couldn't think of in his panic, was a massive genius.
Lord... this kid... he would have done just fine even if he'd become a PD...
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