Pop Rock Love (20 page)

Track #18

Music Stage
is taped live before a studio audience every Friday.
Viewers from Japan can tune in to the live show every week from 7 pm to 8 pm.
Most of the artistes and their entourage have to arrive at the television
studios in the afternoon. For each show, an average of ten artistes will
perform. This includes those who are already in the top ten positions of the
Oricon charts and those in the “Hot New Entry” category.

Mimi arrived at the television
studio, exhausted. She had a radio interview the night before which ended at
midnight and a magazine photo shoot in the morning. With her shoulders slumped,
she got out of the car, accompanied by Kenta and Ayaka. Compared to some of the
other artistes, her entourage was fairly small; not that she minded. Most
importantly, she was trying not to fall asleep.

“How are you feeling?” her
manager asked.

“I seriously think I may have a
mild case of narcolepsy,” Mimi mumbled, trying to stifle a yawn. They were
walking towards the dressing room area when she spotted five familiar-looking
guys. They were walking in the opposite direction. The Fire Boys, dressed in
casual wear and followed by a big group of stylists and assistants, were
walking towards her. She greeted them politely and out of at corner of her eye,
spotted Yuki in the crowd who also bowed politely without a word.
After passing each other in the hallway, Makoto
turned to Yuki, “That girl is pretty. Who is she?”

Yuki shrugged and put his arm
around his friend, “Stop looking and keep walking!”

Naoki and Jiro exchanged
worried glances.

Mimi entered her own waiting
room in the studio. Her assistant, Ayaka, followed behind with her hands full
with her stage clothes and make-up boxes. She carefully placed them on the
table and sighed in relief. “I am definitely going to ask Niji for more hands!”
said Ayaka, picking up the outfits and hanging them on the clothes rack. Mimi
looked around the waiting room curiously. The room was rather bare with white
walls but it had a dressing table, sofa and garment racks. She was still
excited though, since it was her first television performance. She whipped out
her mobile phone and went outside to snap a picture of her name “Mimi” which
was pasted on the door. “If you don’t want to be laughed at, don’t let the
other artistes see you doing that,” Kenta said, shaking his head.

“Well, it’s my first time.
Kenta. Can I see the music chart?” she asked, sitting on the sofa.

“Here you go, and also please
look at the program line-up too,” Kenta said, passing her two pieces of paper.
Her eyes darted towards the number one position. The Fire Boys have been
holding the top spot for over a month with their newest single, “Violet Crush”.
She looked through the other entries and saw fellow Niji band Filth at number
ten.

“Is Filth performing too?” she
asked. Kenta nodded and replied, “Yeah, they are in the waiting room next to
yours, but I don’t think they have arrived.”

Mimi sat down in front of the
dressing table while Ayaka quickly got down to work, applying foundation on her
face. Mimi shut her eyes and felt herself nodding off. “Mimi, you’ve got a
message,” said Ayaka, tapping her lightly on the shoulder. Mimi opened her eyes
and reached out for her mobile phone. It was a text message from Yuki. He
texted:

Good
Luck! You are the best!

She smiled slightly after
reading it.

“Who texted you?” asked Ayaka,
picking up the hairdryer.

“A friend of mine,” she replied
hurriedly, putting her cell phone away.

“Mimi, sound check start in an
hour. I’ll leave you girls to get ready,” said Kenta, leaving the room.

Ayaka applied some foundation
on Mimi. “For the rehearsal, I’ll only be doing your hair and you’ll have some
basic make-up on. I’ll do the full works later.”

“Okay sure,” Mimi said. She
could feel the butterflies start to flutter in her stomach.

This time, her performance
outfit was the pink Betsy Johnson dress she wore for her debut performance.
Ayaka unzipped the garment cover and inspected the dress carefully, “Strange,
we never knew who got you this dress. Maybe it was some big fan of yours.”

“Yes, it is rather weird,
especially since it was before my official debut,” Mimi said as she put on the
dress. Ayaka passed her a small black top hat, complete with a black birdcage
veil attached to it for her hair. Later, her band entered the waiting room and
she noticed Kenta looking a little anxious.

“Are you alright?” Mimi asked.

“It’s nothing for you to be
worried about. I was talking to Filth’s manager and it’s just that Shuji hasn’t
arrived yet.”

“What? But the rehearsals are
starting soon.”

Kenta sighed and shook his
head. He placed his hand on her shoulder and said, “Mimi, don’t ever pull such
stunts on me. If Shuji doesn’t arrive soon, he’ll be fired.”

“Shuji will be fired?” she
gasped.

“No, Filth’s manager,” said
Kenta, looking grim. “Anyway, let’s take a few deep breaths, we can make it.
Your sound check is up soon. Take note of which television cameras are filming
you during your performance. The shooting sequence will be the same during the
actual filming, so make sure you’re looking at the right ones.”

Mimi took a sip of plain water
before stepping out of the room. Her heart was beating furiously. She kept
telling herself that it was just a rehearsal but it was hard to calm down. The
production assistant guided her to the stage and gave her a few technical
instructions. With her band standing behind her, she took a few deep breaths
and looked at the television producer, who was studying the camera monitor. He
then looked up at Mimi and signaled with his fingers, mouthing the words,
‘Three. Two. One.’ Her band started the introduction to “Maybe” and tiny golden
spotlights started to flash behind them. Placing one hand on the microphone
stand, she started singing.

After she finished, the
producer gave her the thumbs up. “Thank you,” she said, as she stepped off the
stage. She smiled at her band members, “Great job! Let’s knock them dead at the
actual performance!”

On the way back to the waiting
room, Mimi saw Filth in the hallway with Shuji walking at the back. So he did
turn up after all, she thought. She bowed politely and greeted them, but Shuji,
with his hands in his pockets, pretended not to see her. Mimi shrugged it off
and continued walking. She wondered how Yuki was doing. She turned towards
Kenta, “Do we visit other artistes’ room? You know, like pass them copies of my
single or something.”

“Hmm... We don’t really do that
unless you’re friends. I mean, in regards to visiting the other artistes’
rooms. But you can pass them your single personally if you get a chance to.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, you did a good job at
the rehearsal. I was looking at the monitors and they did a lot of close-ups,
so just take note of them.”

“Oh my...” stammered Mimi, suddenly
feeling self-conscious. In about two hours,
Music Stage
will go on air
and she will have her debut television performance. A million thoughts were
running through her head as she entered her dressing room. Ayaka carefully
removed her hair accessory and said, “Have something to eat first. I’ll apply
full make-up later.”

Mimi sat down on the couch
together with her band mates and Kenta. Each of them were given a bento set
(chicken cutlet and rice balls). It was already 5 pm, but this was her first meal
of the day. Her guitarist was only 18-years old. His name was Taku and he had
long spiky hair.

“Mimi, have you composed
anything lately?” he asked with his mouth full with rice.

“I’m working on a song, but
it’s not finished yet.”

“Cool, what is it about?”

“About the galaxy!” Mimi
replied, waving her hands around. He laughed at her enthusiasm and said,
“Sounds awesome! Looking forward to it.”

Her band members were clad in
black skinny jeans, T-shirts and black fitted blazers. They all had spiky hair
too, in varying lengths and colours. Ayaka asked Mimi to hurry up and eat. She
needed to get her make-up done.

Mimi sat on the make-up chair
and saw fake eyelashes with tiny jewels on them, on the dressing table. “Will I
be using those?” she asked, peering at them, curiously.

“Yes,” she said. Ayaka was
applying powder on Mimi’s face with a big brush. Mimi just looked at her own
reflection in the mirror as Ayaka placed the finishing touches on her face.
Mimi wondered if this was a dream?

If it is, I don’t want to wake
up, she thought.

The production assistant came
into the room and said, “Mimi, please stand by, you’ll be on soon.”

“Thank you!” Mimi replied as
Ayaka pinned the top hat on her hair. “Let’s do a cheer or something!” Mimi
suggested, rounding everyone up. Everyone in the room placed their palms on top
of each other’s. “Let’s give them a performance that they will never forget!”
she said. The rest of them cheered loudly and shouted, “Go Go!” while bringing
down their hands together in one full swoop.

Mimi walked towards the stage
and stood in position. The whole studio felt different now. The fans were
seated in the audience and there was an energy of expectancy. The performance
area was currently clothed in darkness. Mimi placed both her hands on the
microphone stand and waited for her cue.

Hiroki, the main host for
Music
Stage
announced, “Now at number eight we have a hot new rock artiste, Mimi.
Her debut single ‘Maybe’ is already causing a stir in the music charts. So
please put your hands together for Mimi!”

Taku’s guitar riff started and
Mimi felt as if her heart was going to explode. The gold lights came on and
Mimi’s raspy voice filled the studio.

Half an hour later,
Music
Stage
came to an end. Mimi’s first television performance had finished
smoothly and everyone was happy. Sitting alone in the waiting room, Mimi was
worn out. She slouched on the couch and closed her eyes. I miss Yuki, she
thought.

A clapping sound was heard in
the room. Mimi turned to see Shuji clapping his hands. “Congratulations.
Debuting at number eight is quite a feat,” he said with a smirk.

“Shuji?” she said. Shuji had
dyed his shoulder-length brown hair black, and was wearing thick black
eyeliner. But what was he doing here? He didn’t really seem to be really
congratulating her. She looked around and wished someone else would arrive
soon. He stopped clapping and looked at her with a sour expression, “You did
know Sato meant to give ‘Farewell’ to me right? I was Sato’s favourite, till
you came along.”

“I’m sorry...” She didn’t know
what else to say.

“Sorry? You and Sato have
something going on, don’t you? Did you give him some personal favours?”

“Excuse me, but what are you
suggesting?” she said, sitting up.

“We all know that Sato doesn’t
like men,” he said, approaching her. He was getting too close for comfort and
if he came any closer, Mimi was ready to scream for help.

“Leave her alone!” someone
yelled. They both turned to see Yuki at the door.
 

“Mind your own business,” Shuji
said, grabbing Mimi’s shoulders violently and causing her to yelp in pain. Yuki
quickly pushed Shuji away from her and the rocker responded by punching Yuki on
his stomach.

“Stop it!” Mimi cried,
horrified at the scene before her. The two guys ended up in a tussle on the floor.
Thankfully, Kenta arrived and so did Jun. The two managers broke up the fight
and pulled the artistes into their respective waiting rooms. Mimi saw that
Yuki’s lower lip was bleeding while Shuji had a bruise on his cheek.

“What happened? Are you okay?”
Kenta asked, upon returning to Mimi’s dressing room. Mimi nodded feebly and
described what had just happened. Her manager’s face turned grim. “Both of them
are such troublemakers. It’ll be best if this was kept under wraps. If the
media ever finds out, it’ll be trouble for everyone, even for you, Mimi. Let’s
get out of here.”