Chapter 10

“The reaction to the first episode is pretty good.”

Alyssa Williams said while looking over some of the comments on Sparrow – a social media site where people could tweet. The first episode had aired yesterday and just like every year, it had gotten a great response from the viewers.

She was currently sitting in a lounge area, especially made for the judges. The other two judges and Marlo were also sitting there.

“The ratings were similar to previous seasons but the social media response was better. As the season goes, I think the ratings will be better than the previous seasons.”

Marlo replied and to his remark, Alyssa nodded.

“Yeah, the audience would enjoy it thanks to the talents we have this year.” Saying that, she turned towards Andrew and Steven. “Have you two already decided which contestants you are going to take?”

“More or less. There’s couple that I like and want to test. I think it’s the same for Steven too.”

Andrew replied and Steven just smiled at that.

Their conversation was about the third round. Now the second round is over, they need to start shooting for the next round immediately.

For the challenge in the third round, they were going with the theme ‘Judge challenge’.

In this, 40 contestants would be divided between three judges and the judges would give each contestant a particular challenge. It could be singing a particular type of song or something different.

To pass this round, the contestants would have to impress the judge that has given him the challenge.

“Who have you selected?” Alyssa asked and then added. “I particularly want to give a challenge to Rachel.”

“Rachel? She’s a good one. Probably one of the best in the competition. As for me, I think I will take Cameron. I’m pretty sure he has what it takes to win.”

Cameron Bryce was a half English contestant that comes from a singing background. His grandfather was actually a musician who worked in Hollywood during the 60s.

“What about you, Steven?”

Andrew turned towards the judge that was often seen as the most controversial one among them. Steven looked to be in a thought before replying.

“Aiden. I want to give him a challenge.”

Alyssa and Andrew both nodded their heads in understanding. As the first episode had given Aiden most of the limelight, he was the most talked about contestant. Even more than Rachel who was already getting many fans thanks to her looks and skills.

“He’s good. Though, he’s somehow lacking compared to Cameron and Rachel.” Alyssa said, having mixed feelings about him.

Andrew shared the same sentiment.

“Yeah, his skills are somehow overshadowed if we compare him to some other top contestants. But his talent lies in expressing emotions and composing. I don’t think he will be able to go till the end but he will surely leave an impact. What do you think, Steven?”

Steven put a hand on his chin. He owned a record label, so he obviously has seen a lot of singers closely and worked with them. Through the years, he has gotten a kind of intuition.

That intuition was telling him that Aiden might surprise him. The main reason behind it was that he had noticed that in the second round, Aiden’s singing was somehow better than his first round audition.

Because of that, he felt like he could bet on him, even if the odds weren’t in his favour.

“I think he can go all the way.”

Steven’s words sounded like a joke to the other two judges. But they knew that he wasn’t the type to joke around.

“That’s a wild guess.” Alyssa remarked.

“I know he can be marketed well, but I don’t know if he will go all the way.”

Marlo shook his head hearing their conversation. He was short on time and they still needed to assign all the contestants to one judge. Clapping his hands lightly, he got their attention.

“It’s good that you all have your favourites. But let’s get the selection over with. The program team needs to go over your challenges after that too.”

Hearing that, all three of them nodded and started going over the other contestants.

**

After the first episode was released, there was already a lot of buzz on the social media around it. Small media houses had released articles about it and even some big ones had tried to keep up with the trends.

As it was the third season, X-Star already has a lot of following.

From its inaugural season, it has attracted a lot of attention and as the program team has managed to keep up with what the audience wanted, the program has become one of Panther Network’s staples.

One of the top entertainment blogs on the internet Gossip Tribunal also posted an article about the first episode of X-Star.

[From the last two seasons, X-Star had been one of the top singing reality tv shows in America and most of the world and when it was announced that it would return for another season, fans were elated.

Yesterday, the first episode of the anticipated third season aired and it immediately grabbed a lot of eyeballs. Just like the last two seasons, the show was judged by Steven McDonal and Andrew Maxfield with Alyssa Williams joining the panel this season.

Marlo Aniston also returned as the host with most of the crew being the same.

The first episode was every bit of what the viewers expected from the competition with fresh new talents coming in with new skills and stories. But somewhere, it also felt the same like the last two seasons. Nothing really new.

According to some sources, one of the creative producers of the show had been talking about how this season would be a ‘bit different with new challenges and talents never seen before.’

The creative producer was allegedly very confident that the third season would break all records of an already successful show.

It was rumoured that the program team had tried hard to keep the show more interesting and this season, the judging standards would be higher than usual. Because of that, many are waiting to see some more episodes before deciding on how this show is going to pan out.

For now, the first episode has definitely made people interested in this new season.]

Aside from this article, the X-Star PR marketing team had made several posts on social media sites like Sparrow and the reception was also quite nice. There were several tweets about the show after the first episode had aired.

TinyGirl: Just watched the first episode of X -Star. Looks the same as the last season but the contestants look better.

Abdul: It’s probably because they all want to look their best in the audition. Though, aside from Rachel, I don’t think any of them are particularly good looking.

Huihui Lannister: Rachel is seriously so pretty. I loved her and the others were giving good vibes too. Just I didn’t like Brian. Seemed like a girl who bullied people in high school.

George R. R. Margin: I think that Aiden guy stood out the most. I live his surname tho, it has that fantasy novel type. This reminds me, I need to finish my novel.

Eve Lily: His name is Aiden. Looks handsome too and I loved his original.

Jones: @Eve Lily I don’t think he performed better than Rachel. Just the program team focused on him more due to his story of coming from another country.

English sheep dog: I’m surprised to see Rachel here. She used to be in my high school and was always regarded as a cold queen. Her family is rich. Pretty sure they got her in the show and she’s already selected to be in the finals.

Chris worth: Not everything is fixed and Rachel did sing well. Her singing skills are really good no matter what anyone says. Her and Aiden probably were the standout from the first episode.

Iron knight: Does anyone have a social media profile of Rachel? I’m asking for research purposes only.

Empire of Zenobia: Why are people not talking about anyone other than these two. I loved Tristan and James – I hope we see more of them!

Troll your mom: I don’t think we can decide who is good and who is not from the first episode. Let’s wait till other episodes are out.

Simping for Will: Did you notice the X-Star MeTube account posted auditions from the first round? Aiden’s audition already has 200k views and Rachel has 180k.

Bee x Zinon: I watched the audition video again. God, they sing so well!

Liyanage: I hope we see more people in the second episode. I noticed a very pretty Korean girl in the background.

Lucifer without balls: When is the next episode coming??

Cole Spector: Wondering if there’s a reason why Aiden was shown much more than other contestants. Whenever this has happened in the previous seasons, the contestants have gone till the last rounds.

Loofy: Hoping to see something special this season.