Chapter 125
Everyone was gobsmacked. Had Eileen lost her marbles?
Hedy was even more shocked. This was live TV, for god’s sake! How could Eileen say something like
that!
All hell broke loose on set.
The production team quickly stepped in to calm things down.
Aurora then picked up the microphone and said diplomatically, “Ms. Lopez, you sure set the bar high.
But honestly, I think Hedy did pretty well considering she’s not a professional dancer…”
Eileen turned to Aurora, “If she’s not a professional dancer, why is she here on this show?”
The audience erupted again. Eileen had actually challenged Aurora directly!
Aurora was taken aback, and managed to reply, “She has a dream to become a singer and dancer…”
Eileen nodded. “I also dream of becoming the richest person in the world. Does that mean I can rob a
bank?”
Aurora’s face fell. “What does this have to do with robbing?”
Eileen retorted coldly, “She’s hogging resources, lacks talent and ability, yet insists on being the center
of attention, pulling the whole team down. She turned a perfect performance into a mediocre one. Isn’t
that robbery? Doesn’t her presence create a weak link in the team?”
Aurora was annoyed by Eileen’s relentless questioning. Worried that a comeback would ruin her
elegant image, she decided to drop the mic and said no more.
Hubery then grabbed the mic and shot at Eileen, “Ms. Lopez, if you’re such a guru, why aren’t you the
one in the coach’s seat?”
Eileen looked at Hubery and suddenly laughed. “What’s so strange about that? You’re a piece of trash,
but you’re not sitting in a dumpster, are you?”.
The audience went wild again. Someone in the chaos yelled out, “Eileen, you rock!”
Eileen glanced at the audience but couldn’t tell who said it.
Seeing the situation was getting out of control, the director had to step in. They wanted to spice up the
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtshow, but not this much.
Eileen was off her rocker! With her razor-sharp tongue, she was about to turn their show into a
bloodbath!
With the director’s intervention, the situation finally stabilized. The host, dripping with sweat, promptly
called the next team to perform.
The next team’s performance was mediocre at best.
They were out of sync, and someone even messed up the choreography. Eileen could tell that they
were shaken by her previous outburst and it had affected their performance.
Once the coach finished reviewing, Eileen spoke softly into the mic, “You guys were good during
rehearsals, but you didn’t deliver on stage. It’s a shame. If any of you get eliminated, come to me and
I’ll get you back in the competition.”
The girls were expecting a scolding. They never expected such encouraging words!
Two of the girls who had messed up were already teary-eyed, and those words brought them to tears.
The recording continued.
Finally, in the afternoon, it was Karin’s group’s turn. Their act was a hot dance number
Karin’s solo part was minimal, mainly supporting the others. The other four girls all had solo parts, but
she didn’t.
After the performance, the coaches were silent for a while. Aurora, in her gentle style, praised them
and gave them an A grade. Hubery gave them a B, indicating there was room for improvement. The
other two coaches gave them a straight C.
This team of five didn’t have any big names, so the coaches weren’t afraid to be brutally honest.
“You four were put in the B group because you didn’t meet the technical requirements, but your
performance on stage was even worse than your initial performance. You all danced to your own beat,
which I’m sure is not how you were taught. You need to reflect on why this happened.”
The four girls turned pale at the critique.
Karin, however, was unfazed. Her deep eyes occasionally darted at Eileen.
Next, the mic was passed to the celebrity coach.
Eileen held the mic and said coldly, “I just want to say two things. One, I’m glad I didn’t have high
expectations for you, so I’m not disappointed. Two, except for Karin, don’t come to me if you get
eliminated. I don’t want to see a bunch of Hedy clones. One Hedy is annoying enough.”
After saying that, Eileen passed the mic to the next celebrity coach. The next celebrity coach held the
mic, looking at the four girls crying on stage, not knowing what to say.
The whole day of recording finally ended. It wasn’t until 11 p.m. that all the contestants’ performances
were done.
Next, they announced the rankings and scores. Teams with low scores were at risk of being eliminated.
After the final elimination list was announced, three people from Karin’s group were eliminated,
including Karin herself. Eileen smiled when she saw Karin being eliminated. This was what she had
expected.”
(arin had shown her favor towards Eileen right from the get-go. So, there was no way coaches Aurora
and Hubery would let her advance smoothly.
The group Eileen had previously said she would welcome into her team also lost two girls.
After the twenty contestants were eliminated, the celebrity coaches began to pick their students. Eileen
had clear targets and quickly filled her quota of five.
After the three teams led by the celebrity coaches were formed, the remaining contestants started to
choose their favorite coaches
On average, each coach would bag around twenty contestants, who would represent their coach’s
team in the next stage performance, going head-to-head with other teams. And that was how the
competition was going to roll from then on.
As the recording of the day was about to wrap, the host announced another rule.
“Starting from the second stage performance, coaches and celebrity coaches can invite cheering
guests to root for their teams.”
In other words, from the next episode onwards, coaches, or celebrity coaches, could invite their star
buddies to be guests on the show.
They could also invite their celeb mates to help their teams garner votes during the stage
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmperformances.
Eileen scratched her chin and suddenly raised her hand.
The host was kind of scared of her. But he still asked, “Ms. Lopez, is there something you wanna ask?”
Eileen asked, “If I invite cheering guests, will you guys pay their appearance fees? You’re not gonna
make me foot the bill, right? Tell me you’re not.”
The host, trying to hold back his laughter, said, “The production team will pay the guest’s appearance
fee according to market price.”
Eileen was relieved. She nodded. I’m good then.”
After the recording ended, everyone left the set.
Eileen and her five contestants headed back to the training room.
She let the mentor start training the contestants. Meanwhile, she whipped out her phone, opened
WhatsApp, and got into the group chat previously created by
Phyllis.
Eileen. [@Bblythe@Josiah Morgan@Phyllis, buddies, are you guys free next Sunday? Can you help
me out with a show recording? There’s a reward. Please let me know ASAP. Don’t make me beg.]
Bblythe was the only one online in the group chat and replied.
Bblythe. [What show?]’
Just as Eileen was about to reply, she saw a system notification. [Egbert left the group chat]
Eileen was a bit puzzled. She was about to ask Bblythe why Egbert left. Then she saw another
notification. [Egbert joined the group chat]
Maybe he hit the wrong button?
Eileen didn’t think much of it and continued to reply to Bblythe’s message.
Then…
For the next minute, Eileen watched as the system notifications refreshed constantly on her screen.
[Egbert left the group chat.]
[Egbert joined the group chat.]
Finally, Eileen just shook her head in resignation. She deleted her reply to Bblythe and typed out a new
message.
Eileen. [@Egbert, Mr. Reed, are you free next Sunday?]
Egbert. [Yes.]