The jubilant crowd chanted his name. He didn't know half of them, they didn't know him either but kept chanting his name. "Is this what success feels like?" Troy was in awe.
Troy was used to getting compliments on his voice and singing prowess but there was nothing compared to what he felt now, the hall was filled with students chanting "King Troy! King Troy! King Troy!"
The day had been normal until about 6 pm when his classmate Joy called him on phone, disturbing his siesta.
It was very normal for Joy to randomly call him afterall she was always needing help with her assignments and projects and he always did it to get cash to sort himself out. They had become friends over the years but she still paid him because she knows he needs the money since he was seeing himself through school and also sending money home to his mother.
"Dress up and run to Kofi Hall now, today is your day" Joy was shouting at the top of her voice, he could feel the excitement in her voice, her environment was very noisy, more like a club than the Kofi hall which the University uses for the orientation of new students.
He knew her too well to dismiss such a call as a joke, she was his friend indeed, always shouting his name in a room full of opportunities.
Hurriedly he washed the sleep off his face and wore his clothes.
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On getting to Kofi hall, he heard the MC asking repeatedly for any other contestant? Just as he walked in, he spotted Joy, beside her was his friend Fank, nudging Joy to look his way. Immediately she saw him, she shouted "yes, one more contestant", signalling him to hurry.
Troy was aghast, he always had stage fright which is why he refused to pursue a career in music despite his undeniable talent. He would have run back out of the door but Joy and Frank, began chanting his name and soon the crowd were chanting along, they didn't even know whose name they were chanting.
Compelled, Troy began to walk slowly towards the stage, it occurred to him that he didn't even know the rules of the contest, he looked at joy questioningly but she just gave him a thumbs up 馃憤.
On getting to the stage, he was asked to choose a song he would sing to while the beat is being played. He chose his favourite song, Bambi by Jidenna. The beat came on, he was all too familiar with the song. His rendition, perfect, his composure, calm, the output, flawless, the crowd, energetic. Everything was in tandem, the universe seemed to align for his performance. Troy had not seen the performance of any of the contestants but he was certain he would make the top 3 and with standing ovation he received from the crowd, he was reassured. He didn't even know the worth of the prices they were competing for, heck, he didn't even know who organised the competition. He only performed because he felt compelled with the way his name was being chanted.
It was time to choose and the MC said there would be only one winner, he then called the other contestants to come to the stage for the crowd to decide the winner. They were seven that joined Troy to the stage, making it a total of eight contestants. Troy recognised some of the guys as the guitar carrying boys in the music department, he recognised one of the girls from the matriculation ceremony, she was charged with singing the national anthem and school anthem. Immediately, Troy lost hope of winning, he knew these guys to be very good in what they do and even though he was confident of his performance he only expected a top 3 finish among these guys. The MC asked the contestants to introduce themselves briefly before the crowd chose the winner, from these introductions, Troy realised that six out of the eight were students in the music department, he alone was from mass communication. This further dampened his mood because he felt he stood no chance against people who study music day in day out.
The MC explained that the crowd would scream yes or no to state their approval or disapproval whenever he touched a contestant. He began by touching them in order of their presentation. For each person the MC touched, the crowd would scream "no" and the MC would send him out of the stage. This continued till the MC touched the girl whom Troy recognised for singing the school anthem, the crowd screamed "yes". Troy began to palpitate, he could not believe it, this crowd that gave him so much hope, this crowd that forced him to climb the stage, wanted to abandon him.To make matters worse he remembered that there would be only one winner and the crowd seemed to have chosen. They were three contestants left on the stage and the crowd screamed "yes" again, this was the guy he recognised as the guitar carrying boy. What was happening Troy wondered, didn't they say there would be only one winner? Why are there two already?
The MC reminded the crowd of the rules, "only one winner" he re-echoed, "we need to crown a king or a queen of the campus music tonight". He proceeded to touching Troy and the crowd screamed "yes" yet again.
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The MC announced for the last time that there has to be just one winner, and he would touch them again and expect the crowd to make one choice this time.
He then touched the girl, there were mixtures of nos and yes, there were more yes than no. The MC touched the guitar boy, there was more no than yes. He then touched Troy but this time, the response was an unanimous "yes". Troy breathed a sigh of relief. "This crowd", he thought smiling.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the king of campus music!" the MC announced. This lead to the crowd chanting "King Troy" repeatedly.
"Major Music Group (MMG) promised and now it's time to fulfill", said the MC. "From today onwards, Troy is under fully paid scholarship from MMG, in addition, he has been granted access to join our record label as one of our latest signings during our university tour, that is if he wishes. Troy, what do you say?"
Troy was trying to process the information, they were coming in too fast, "I accept", he muttered "as if I could reject such an offer" he thought to himself.
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"Superstar, how do you feel?" the MC asked. "I feel like I scored the winning goal of a final in extra time, I can't describe it".
When he got off the stage, he rushed towards Joy, who was waiting for him, he gave her a long, tight hug. Frank joined in the emotional moment. "Thank you so much" he said amidst tears, "common, stop it" Joy responded. "Let's discuss how we will share our new found wealth, superstar" Frank said, they all laughed.
Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it
Do have a great time.
See you soon馃槉
