After the staff assigned their rooms and their respective songs to them, Aiden and his teammates decided to get together to discuss and create a roadmap for themselves in the morning.

They were going to meet at the restaurant in front of the hotel they were staying at.

The set, restaurant and hotel were close to each other to make it easy for the staff and contestants.

‘Ah, I’m still sleepy.’

Due to sleeping in a bed he wasn’t used to, Aiden felt a little groggy. The person he was sharing his room with didn’t help either with his loud snores that continued all night.

It was to the point that Rachel, who was sitting in front of him, couldn’t help but comment.

“You have dark circles under your eyes.”

“Yeah, I was tossing and turning in my bed till midnight, and it was hard to sleep when I have a giant roommate who loves to snore and is a heavy sleeper.”

“You had a hard night.”

Rachel had an expression that said she couldn’t care less despite her words. He had already seen enough of her to realise that she was a typical ice queen who won’t bother about someone other than herself.

“Let’s start the meeting with an introduction. Let me go first.”

Sam, who was sitting beside Aiden, said, and everyone nodded. As he was 27 and the oldest in the group, he naturally thought of himself as the leader and took the lead.

Aiden didn’t mind it because the group would naturally disband after a week._.

“I am Sam Denver, and I’m 27 years old. I work in a bakery, and this is my first time entering a reality TV show, so I’m excited to go till the end. Oh, and I used to play drums in a band.”

The brown-haired guy who was Sam’s friend went next.

“Eric Myers, I’m from Brooklyn and work as a clerk. Uh, I’m 26, and I can play the guitar.”

“Michelle Jansen. I’m 18 and just out of high school. Nice to meet you all.”

Michelle, who went next, said. Aiden felt like she was not very comfortable with strangers, but she was still trying her best.

“Rachel Rose.”

Rachel didn’t say anything other than her name. And after that, Aiden introduced himself.

“Aiden Silvereye. I work in a cafe and drive a taxi. Nice to meet you all.”

After the introductions, the next hour went by like a breeze as they discussed the song and how they would sing it as a group. It was hard to sing any song as a group because good communication and harmony were required.

Moreover, the song they received was a pop song from 2003. The song’s name was ‘Close’, and it was written and sung by a male artist named Cyro.

When Aiden had first heard its name, he was confused as he had never heard of it. Moreover, the song wasn’t famous, nor did it have a music video.

It was one of the songs that artists would put in an album just to increase its length. But now, they had to sing it.

“The song is 3 minutes and 30 seconds long. So if we divide it according to time, then each of us should get 42 seconds.”

Sam suggested, holding a piece of paper containing the music score and lyrics. But Rachel didn’t like the idea.

“We can’t do that. Some parts of the song are better than the rest, so it would be unfair if someone gets to sing the better part and someone gets the worse part. So instead, I should sing the beginning verse, and you all can divide the middle and end verses, with all of us singing the chorus together.”

“But the beginning is the best part of the song, so judges will like you better if you sing it. I think the beginning suits my voice better.”

Sam argued, and it seemed like Rachel wasn’t going to back down either. They both wanted to hog the best parts for themselves, and it was clear in their tone.

‘They will ruin the whole performance due to their selfish motives.’

Aiden thought. Like this, even if one person sang better than the rest due to getting the best part of the song, the judges won’t be too happy as the overall song won’t sound nice.

“Let’s stop arguing and think logically for some time.”

He said, quickly butting in as an argument was going to brew. Both Sam and Rachel looked at him with sharp eyes while Eric and Michelle, who were silent till now, also looked over.

“We can’t give the best part to someone as it would be too unfair to others. Moreover, the song needs to be sung well overall. Otherwise, there’s a chance that the Judges would eliminate all of us. You all watched the show last year, right?”

They all nodded their heads with realisation. And it seemed like they were finally focusing more on his words.

“So, what do you suggest?”

Rachel asked. While picking up the paper containing the lyrics of the song, he trailed his finger on the chorus.

“First of all, we need to fix the problems in this song. Last night, I listened to Close on loop, and it isn’t a bad song. Actually, it has a lot of strong points, and the only reason it didn’t do well is that it didn’t have a catchy chorus. The music is nice, but the lyrics don’t go well with it.”

Any song that would become famous has one thing in common – a catchy, irresistible chorus. The genre of the song or the way the song has been sung doesn’t matter unless the chorus is catchy.

“You want to change the chorus? Isn’t it too risky?”

Sam asked, not sure of this idea.

“It’s better to take a risk here. Even if it isn’t that good, it just needs to be nice on the ears and catchy. The judges will be impressed because it would seem like we have actually thought a lot.”

“That’s true.”

Eric nodded, and even Michelle seemed impressed by the idea.

“You sang an original song in the first round, right? So, you can rewrite the lyrics.” Rachel said, and he nodded. With that, the problem with the chorus had some solution.

“But the problem with dividing the song properly is still there.”

Eric pointed out, and the next words from Rachel surprised Aiden greatly.

“Let Aiden handle it. I think he understands the song better than us.”

“Uh, are you fine with it?”

“Yeah, I don’t think anyone would have any problems either.”

She glanced at the faces of the other three, and they all seemed to be fine with it. Even Sam, who looked a little conflicted, nodded his head in the end.

‘Now, to properly divide the song. How to get the best out of this odd group of people?’

Three guys and two girls. More like five different types of voices.

Thankfully, he had the advantage of the system and already knew the strong points of his teammates.

The all-around natural talent of Rachel, the soft tone and the special skill of Michelle and then for support, Eric and Sam were perfect with their voice, in the end, leaving a lasting impression.

The melody of Close danced in his mind as he tried to put together the perfect scenario with these voices. It was a song where everyone would do their part, and no one was left behind.

In a group of five, it was necessary to have some individualistic quality and the overall harmony of a group.

After a while of thinking, Aiden knew how to do it and quickly opened his mouth.

“First of all, I think it’s better to start with Michelle and Sam. The starting doesn’t need high notes, and a soft voice would be enough. Going forward, Eric can sing the pre-chorus with all of us singing the chorus together.”

Rachel frowned, hearing his words. She looked at him with sharp eyes.

“What about me?”

“You will sing the verse after the chorus. I saw the arrangement, and it seemed like you could go high in that verse. The original singer probably couldn’t do that properly, but I think high notes would suit you.”

“High notes?”

“Yeah, we can elevate the song to the peak before bringing it down at the end. I will handle the end as that’s my forte. Oh yes, in the chorus, I think it’s better if Michelle starts, and we all can add after that.”

“Me?”

Michelle asked, unsure of herself.

“Yeah, your voice seems to have an innate harmony. Though, it would be more apparent after we practise together. So, does everyone agree with it?”

Aiden asked, glancing around to see if anyone had any objections. Sam was the first one to nod in approval, and Eric followed along.

“I’m fine with it.”

Michelle said, and then Aiden turned towards Rachel, who seemed to be thinking of something.

“I don’t really have any objections. My only condition is that if it doesn’t sound nice after we have practised it together, we will change it.”

“Yeah, okay.”

With that, the discussion was over, and they quickly moved to the practice room to practice the song. But unfortunately, they only had a week to prepare for their performance, so time was tight.