NOVEL NEXT Chapter 257: Executive Discussion (2)
The Pop Star Academy Community was currently a mess, with the main topic of conversation being the performance by Team TV Off!
Faster than the admins could take them down, posts about the performance were everywhere, with everyone from people who watched the show to people who had only seen the performances arguing.
[Did everybody see that performance?]
└ The Crashout bros?
└ └ Yeah, did you hear that song? The one made by Lil Pumpy?
└ └ └ That was awful. I can't believe that they wanted contestants to perform that shitty song
└ └ └ └ I can't believe that it turned into something that actually sounds good.
└ └ └ └ └ You consider that good?
[Contestant Ariel is unnecessarily cocky and needs to be humbled.]
[Why is he being so cocky? Who does he think he is? The best visuals? Definitely not him. The best vocals? Carlos, Jamie, and William clear him easily. That verse he did wasn't even rap; he just complained and shouted nonsense. Even I can do better than that.]
└ He's so arrogant. I always knew I didn't like him.
└ Then you do it. Rap for us to see.
└└ Mind you, we all know he's a vocalist, and I think he did pretty well for his first time rapping.
└ I can't believe you're putting William over Ari vocally. William's singing is more inconsistent than my internet connection, and when he's on a team with other vocalists, he only shines because they're sick. He's like a walking virus.
└ Notice how you didn't give an example of who you thought had the best visuals. Objectively, most people will find Ari the most attractive.
└└ Because he's had 10 thousand plastic surgeries to get that face. If he's still ugly after all that, it would be sad.
└└└ Me when I'm delusional.
└└└ Me, when I lie.
[Did we ever get an update on the MC? I can't believe a stage light fell on him like that?]
└ Apparently, his leg is broken (link)
└└ Oh my gosh. I hope he's okay. I can't believe it almost fell on the contestants.
[Full recording of Team TV Off - upclose angle]
└ They're going to take this down
└└ Wow, his face is so pretty
[Petition to Have Contestant Ariel Removed From The Show]
[I think it's just completely unprofessional for the two of them to ruin their team performance just because they have grievances with the production staff or judges. There are other ways to get your point across than on a performance stage, where other people, like your teammates and the teams after you, can be affected by your decision. Things should be settled in private because now they have ruined the experience for everyone. (edited to remove Levi's name so the post stays up)]
└ What ways? And why do you think they haven't tried that?
└ Did they ruin the performance, though? The first part of their performance was quite good, and the stage was cleared before Levi exploded.
└└ Are you deaf and blind? Contestant Ariel definitely ruined the performance by complaining in his rap verse, if we can even call that a rap verse. He's screaming that he's being sabotaged and claiming he's better than the top three, but isn't he sabotaging himself by acting like this?? Isn't he supposed to be smarter than that?
└└└ The real question is, why would he be on a rap team when everyone knows he's a vocalist? All the other teams had appropriate team members for the song, and he's… with a bunch of second-string rappers and Levi. How were the teams chosen?
└└└└ ….maybe he wanted to explore other options?
└└└└└ this late in the competition? Bffr. Also, the original song is garbage.
[I really think that Contestant Ariel's team was sabotaged.]
[Forgetting the falling light incident that happened just as they were about to come on. But making them entertain the crowd because of a broken sound system is weird when there are actual professional judges and musicians on site. Also, the issue with their music. Why did every other team get a good song, and they got…that? Although it was an accident, I'm glad they played the original song so we could hear how bad it was. He really made a trashy song sound good. There are probably a lot of things going on in the background that we as viewers didn't see, so maybe that's why he complained.]
└ It's an idol survival show. Honestly, I don't know why he's complaining because that's what he signed up for. Evil editing and production messing around to push their favorites. It's the way it's always been and the way it should be.
└└ And you don't think that's weird?
└└└ No. I don't understand why he's complaining about sabotage. Nobody forced him to join a survival show. That's literally the point. To survive through everything and come out on top to debut. If he doesn't like it, he can quit because no one else is complaining but him.
└└But that's not okay. Like they signed up to sing, dance, and rap, right? All that extra stuff is not necessary.
└└└ get this normie out of here. That's how these kinds of shows always are!
└ Imagine what he's going through that he felt that this was the only chance to say what he wanted because they always cut his microphone and edit his clips. That really sucks.
└└ And he's the person who's been injured the most so far, right? I feel kind of bad for him.
[I feel kind of bad for the contestants.]
[Imagine coming on the show to achieve your dream to become an idol, and then you have to deal with all this extra stuff. A lot of them are young too, and you have to navigate this harsh situation where you thought you just had to sing and dance, but now there's politics to be played. Like if I were thrown on a rap team even though I was a vocalist and then given that horrible song, I would cry. And then seeing somebody get injured like that in front of me and then having to act normal and even entertain people, these contestants are stronger than I am. And then, they're not even paying the contestants the promised money. We need to run an investigation or just stop the show entirely, because this is weird.]
└ This is why people don't like you people. Americans ruin everything.
└└ this is how idol shows are. If you don't like it, get out and stop watching!
└└└ And I'm telling you that's weird. It's not an American problem; it should be everyone's problem. Why are kids getting tortured for views?
└└└└ Nobody is forcing them to do this. They signed up to be here. Plus, none of the other contestants has complained. It's only one person who hasn't been eliminated, and he's even doing well, so I don't get what his issue is.
[Wait, why are we focusing on Contestant Ariel when Contestant Levi literally called a producer broke, stated that he sucked, was jealous of his life, and was a loser?]
└ (this post has been deleted)
[Contestant Levi…]
└ (this post has been deleted)
The community continued arguing with posts getting up to a thousand comments and even spreading to other communities.
DJ TV and Lil Pumpy, the two artists who had been dissed, had put out statements speaking about how offended they were and demanding an apology, and the production staff was silently watching the whole thing play out.
And sitting at home sipping a cup of tea, someone was monitoring with one screen and typing on another.
"And…done!" With a little flourish, Grace Choi pressed "send" on the latest article she was writing and sent it directly to her contact at various newspapers, along with several videos.
She then did a quick search of Pop Star Academy and browsed all the article lists that came up.
[Have You Heard About Ari - The contestant who is calling out sabotage on popular idol show Pop Star Academy]
[Concert Attendees Up in Arms as MC Was Taken Out of the Venue in an Ambulance.]
[Is the Pop Star Academy Production Team Refusing to Pay Contestants? - An Eliminated Contestant Speaks Out About Not Receiving Their Promised Prize Money.]
[Local Valedictorian Calls Out Sabotage on Idol Survival Show! - Are these kids being abused?]
[Was the Sound Malfunction an Accident, or is it a sign of Sabotage?]
[After Being Assaulted at A Previous Performance, Valedictorian High Schooler Ariel Almost Gets Seriously Injured as a Stage Light Falls Down and Instead Injures Popular MC Ryan Leary.]
[Lil Pumpy Was Dragged Across The Internet For Creating A Garbage Song For The Pop Star Academy Contestants. The Rapper Refuses To Be Held Accountable. Says He Was Taking Orders.]
[Dijontae Vee, Better Known As DJ TV and Previously DJ Mustard, Says He Feels Offended And That The Accusations Being Put Towards Him Are False.]
[Pink Puma Spotted At Pop Star Academy Concert. Says She Enjoyed It And Looks Forward To Better Treatment For The Contestants.]
[Pop Star Academy Production Team Accused Of Bias, Sabotaging Contestants, Carelessness Toward Injury, And More - An Exclusive Interview With Eliminated Contestants.]
While the articles covered a variety of topics, when discussing the current issue, most of them either mentioned Ari by name or referred to the Pop Star Academy as a whole, while omitting another contestant who was heavily involved in the same situation.
"Hmmm, is Levi untouchable then? It would be good to drag him into the mix since he's clearly not on board with the production team, but I guess this is the PR power of two rich and famous parents." Grace muttered as she clicked away on her laptop.
Even her blog posts were the same.
Her articles about Ari rarely got flagged, but as soon as she posted something that touched on Levi or had his name in the title, she was hit with a cease and desist.
Clearly, someone had been hired to make sure that no speculation or misinformation about Levi would grow, and Ari would get the brunt of attention for this issue that blew up.
"Well, he's not my client anyway. There's no such thing as bad attention; it just has to be spun well to make sure Ari comes out on top and is the victim of harassment and manipulation on the show while that trashy production team gets all the lashings they rightfully deserve. Production team, count your days! If I don't get a written apology statement from you with a promise to do better, My Name isn't Grace Choi!"
***********************
"We're gathered here for an emergency meeting to decide what we're going to do regarding the recent issue blowing up, as well as decide which contestants we're going to prioritize in the formation of this group, voting rule changes, and more."
Wilfred Forbes adjusted his tie with an irritated expression as he spoke to the executives seated in the luxuriously decorated meeting room.
"Ahem." A rail-thin blonde woman with a slick-backed ponytail cleared her throat.
"We're also here to discuss the increased budget demanded by PD Emily due to the number of staff members that need to be hired in a short time period after the layoffs of many specialized staff members, even though they have been doing a good job so far."
"Should we get into the details of why they're being fired?" PD Emily replied with a simple smile as she patted the large binder that she held.
"We have other things to discuss. So let's get started."
Wilfred Forbes turned to the exorbitantly large whiteboard, which featured profile photos of contestants along with numerous details about them, such as their age, weight, height, and specialties.