"Now, please welcome Contestant No. 1, Pao Benitez from Silver City!"
The first contestant took the stage, and the audience gave him the same warm applause they would give anyone.
The order was drawn at random. Generally, the earlier and later slots had the advantage—after all, the audience was largest at the beginning and the end.
"He'll be singing 'Soaring,' from the opera 'Lenna's Gaze'!"
Pao Benitez stepped onto the stage with a microphone. Without any preamble, he began to sing.
It was a song written for a female voice, about Lenna longing for freedom on the sea from a castle tower. But Pao Benitez sang it like a ship battling waves and whirlpools in a storm.
It struck a chord with the Free City People.
When he finished, it was time for the judges' scores.
Annan didn't know much about singing. He just knew it sounded good.
Falu liked it too. He said outright that the song should be played when Truman fought the storm.
The Siren said critically that the male voice was too rich and steady, with weight but no shifts in mood. Only a female voice could capture the sea's changeable temper.
The Skeleton King was less cutting. He pointed out the strengths of the performance from a professional standpoint and glossed over its flaws.
The Scarlet Queen said the song reminded her of the 299th year of her campaign, when the Blood Sea Prince under her command had led nearly a thousand Vampire Counts against a rival family...
"Now, please welcome Contestant No. 2—"
An hour into the Everyone's Singer Elimination Round, Portals lit up on Commercial Streets across the land. Teams carrying Recording Magic Stones appeared before them.
The Magic Stone Escort Squads escorted the stones to crowded squares, where they split into