Chapter Five: We’ve Got Fans!
Joey ran around looking for a stage hand, but they were all checking the electrical cords and testing the wireless mikes. Several technicians tested the instruments, but seemed bewildered.
The producers in the sound booth demanded to know what was going on, but no one had a clue why there was no power.
"Just stay here," Joey told the girls, "They'll figure this out."
"And what if they don't before the commercials are done?" asked Ashley.
"Don't worry, they'll fix it!" he insisted.
The girls exchanged looks of frustration, shaking their heads, wondering if this would ruin their chances to win.
Someone from backstage yelled, "Try it now!"
Taylor saw the right lights indicating the power was back on her keyboard. She played a couple of notes.
"It's working!" she exclaimed.
"My guitar is on, too!" Leisha announced, strumming a few chords.
"Check the mikes," said the voice behind the curtain.
The mikes were back on line and everyone heaved a sigh of relief. The stage manager rushed forward.
"Ok, now, everything's working. Cold Chill is going to do another introduction and the curtain will open and that's when you start."
The girls nodded in understanding and waited nervously, hoping the power wouldn't die again. Cold Chill came out on stage and announced,
"We have solved the technical problems and hope you are ready, because these ladies are hot! Here they are- Nightingale!"
The curtain opened and Ashley clicked off four beats. The guitars, drums and keyboard came in on cue and the girls performed their new song perfectly. By the end of the song, the whole theater was rocking in time to the music.
After the last note faded, the audience cheered loudly and fans waved signs reading: 'Nightingale #1'. The curtain closed and the girls came off stage toward Joey, who was waiting in the wings. He hugged them each and cried,
"That was awesome! I love that song! I think the judges are going to love it, too!"
"What happened to the power?" Kelly asked as he led them back to the dressing room. People congratulated them along the way and told them they had sounded great.
Joey didn't answer, but waved them into their dressing room, looking troubled.
Once the door was closed, he turned to the girls.
"Somebody yanked all the wireless jacks from the power transmitter."
"What!" they cried in unison.
"When I went backstage, I spoke to the stage manager and he said they had found the jacks lying on the ground. This was no accident. Someone deliberately pulled them out."
"But who-"
"Why?"
Joey shook his head, "Nobody knows. Nobody saw anything. But I can guess it was probably somebody from one of the other bands, either Rock Solid or Jack Daniels."
"But Rock Solid was on stage. It couldn't have been one of them," Ashley said.
"But one of their roadies might have done it," Leisha pointed out.
Joey shrugged, "It's obvious one of them didn't want your performance to go smoothly. But you know what? Once you got going again, you sounded great!"
"It felt really good. I think we nailed it," Taylor said brightly.
Joey nodded, "Hey, you'd better get ready for your next song. This one is the slow one, right? Get ready and I'll come and get you when it's time to go back on stage."
After he left, the girls changed into new outfits and fixed their hair and make-up. Soon Joey came knocking and led them back to the stage.
“Don’t worry. Jake and I will keep an eye on the equipment, and if anybody tries to go near it, we’ll pound them!”
“Thanks!” the girls smiled, feeling reassured that nothing would go wrong this time. They took their places behind the instruments and waited for the introduction.
Soon, the curtains opened and they began to play their slow song. Their voices blended perfectly in four-part harmony as the song built up to a powerful crescendo and ended with a long chord accompanied by cymbals and drums as it ended. There was a long pause, and then the audience went wild. Although the girls could see nothing under the bright stage lights, screams, whistles, and cheers filled the theater. Cold Chill came out on stage and told the girls to take a bow as the curtain closed.
They hurried back to the dressing room to change for their last number. Joey had to hold back some fans who had sneaked back stage to get their autographs. The girls promised to sign them after the show.
Ten minutes later, Joey came back to the dressing room to escort them to the stage for their final song. In the hallway, Rock Solid was just returning from the stage and stood aside as the girls passed them.
"Hey, I hear your power went out. Somebody must've forgot to pay the electric bill!" one of the guys mocked.
Susan laughed loudly and cried, "Who cares? They sound better when the power is off, anyway!"
The girls glanced back to see Susan making a rude gesture with her finger.
"You're pathetic!" Ashley called back to her. Joey nudged Ashley to keep walking.
The girls took their places behind the curtain and Joey stayed with them to make sure everything worked.
The curtain opened as Joey left the stage and they launched into their last song. This time the audience was clapping with the beat as soon as the song started. Just before the last verse, the girls stopped playing and got the audience to sing with them and kept them clapping. The audience loved clapping to the solid drum beat and suddenly the guitars burst into the last verse joined by the vocals and keyboards. By the time the song ended, the entire audience was on their feet and cheering.
The curtain swayed closed, but the audience kept cheering. They didn't seem to want to stop.
The stage manager ran on stage, waving his hands at the girls, crying, "Don't go! You're going to take another bow!"
They hurried back and stood waiting. The curtain opened up again and they bowed to deafening applause and cheers. The curtain closed again and the girls were told to wait in the wings for the judges to tally the results while the show went to a commercial break.
Leisha turned to the others.
"I hope we make the finals!"
"Me too!" Ashley said, shaking her head, "I can't believe we won't. Listen to that crowd out there!"
"They went crazy over that last song!" Taylor remarked.
Joey came up to them and said, "You'll be going on stage with the other two bands in one minute. But whatever happens out there, you guys were awesome! I was so proud of you! And I know your families are home watching and they're proud, too!"
Leisha was about to comment when the stage manager came to hurry them onto the stage for the announcement of the finalists.
The curtains opened and Cold Chill took front stage.
"This has been a fantastic competition! All three groups were amazing, weren't they? This is going to be a tough call for the judges; that's for certain. While we were on commercial break, the final tally from the voting audience came in. The other part of the votes comes from the judges, who have scored the three bands on their musical performance, stage presence, and originality. I now have the results in this envelope."
He tore open the envelope and drew out a card. The audience fell to a hush as tension filled the air.
Leisha looked over at the members of Rock Solid, who were standing beside Jack Daniels. Susan was smiling sweetly and looking confident. She and Pete had their arms around each other's waists.
"And the final scores are: Jack Daniels: 95, Rock Solid…97, and Nightingale…"
Everyone held their breath. Leisha felt a twinge of fear as she looked at the other girls, wondering, how could they beat those scores?
"Ninety-eight!" shouted Cold Chill, "You're coming back for the finals, ladies!"
The girls erupted in screams and jumped up and down while hugging one another and crying. The members of the Jack Daniels Band shook hands with the mem
bers of Rock Solid. Cold Chill addressed the members of Jack Daniels and thanked them for a great performance and wished them luck before they left the stage.
"Everyone be sure to tune in next week for the final competition between these two amazing bands, Rock Solid and Nightingale…..next week! See you then!"
Music began playing and the television cameras drew back for a wide shot of everyone on stage.
Joey came running up to the girls and gave them each a hug.
"You did it! You made it to the finals!" he cried, throwing his arms around them.
As the girls walked off stage together, they were all laughing and crying with excitement. When they started in the competition four months ago in their small home town, they never believed they would get to the finals. And now it was almost over.
They reached their dressing room, and Susan stood in the hallway with her arms folded across her chest.
"I can't believe the judges picked you for the finals," she said in a nasty tone, "Somebody must have counted the votes wrong. But one little point is not going to help you to win next week. We're gonna kill you! You won't even stand a chance against us!"
She went into her dressing room and slammed the door.
Joey pushed the girls toward their dressing room.
"Ignore her! She's just trying to scare you. She's the one who should be scared. I think you girls are going to win this thing."
"I could sure use the money," Ashley remarked, "I've put so many new outfits on my charge card that it'll take a year to pay them off if we don't win."
The girls left the theater by the rear exit where a van was waiting to take them to their hotel. When the door opened, a huge crowd of fans surged forward, pinning them against the doorway. Joey and Jake pushed the fans back to let the girls through. They stopped to sign some autographs and pose for photos until Joey insisted that they get into the van.
"Wow! We have fans! Real fans!" Ashley cried as the van drove slowly through the crazed crowd of people who shouted and waved at them as they passed by.