His Genius Wife Is A Superstar novel Chapter 1650

Chapter 1650: Call of the Spotlight (Part III)

"Sing this part for me," Iris Long instructed the second contestant.

The woman did so before Iris stopped her.

"Try doing it like this instead," Iris said before increasing her notes half an octave.

The woman followed suit.

Iris nodded while murmuring, "Not bad."

She continued guiding the female contestant to sing another half an octave higher. About two minutes later, the contestant finally managed to stably sing without her voice sounding strained.

"Very good," Iris said with a satisfied smile.

The contestant’s eyes sparkled. She looked at Iris as if she were a genie who granted wishes.

"Thank you, Ma’am Iris!"

Iris chuckled. She stood up and returned to the judges’ table. Albert Alcala and Dina Bendita watched her with awed expressions.

"Three minutes and you managed to make her sound like a recording studio-ready artist instead of an amateur!" Albert exclaimed.

"She was already talented to begin with," Iris said. "I just helped her utilize some proper techniques suitable for her."

"What a master class," Dina muttered under her breath, still looking somewhat stunned by Iris Long’s impromptu vocal lessons.

Master Beauty and the hosts praised the female contestant, chatting with her before introducing the final contestant of the day.

The third contestant was male. He was a farmer in an extremely rural mountainous province. He was the firstborn son among many siblings with an elderly, widowed mother. Their family could barely make ends meet. Indeed, his build suggested malnutrition. He was so skinny that he almost looked like a skeleton.

When Iris read about his brief information, her eyes widened. "What?! He’s only twenty-one years old?!"

Even Dina looked shocked, but she refrained from commenting. She only sighed. Her eyes, however, were now filled with pity as she looked at the contestant.

Iris still wanted to comment, but Dom poked her in the back in a silent warning. More often than not, she lacked filter and would say whatever was on her mind. In her home country, her fans and the industry were already used to her frankness. This time, however, she was just a visitor in another country. Thanks to Dom’s prompt warning, she was able to stop herself from saying something that might unintentionally offend the Filipino people.

Just as she nodded a silent thanks to Dom behind her, Master Beauty made an exaggerated exclamation.

"Huh?! You’re only twenty-one?! You look like you’re in your forties or even fifties! You look even older than Sir Albert!"

Albert Alcala grimaced at being mentioned. Dina Bendita shook her head.

Iris began to feel nervous and sorry for the contestant. Then the audience all laughed.

The song was one of the most technically difficult songs to sing in the era of contemporary music. According to Dom, however, it was also one of the favourite songs that Filipinos loved to sing in the karaoke.

Iris became serious as she focused on judging the contestant’s performance. In her mind, she had to give it to the contestant for having the guts to sing an Enrique Valdez song in front of her.

The male contestant had quite a unique tone of voice. It was raspy but also sounded clean at the same time. He hit the high notes, but most of his runs weren’t as smooth as the original song.

When the performance ended, almost everyone gave a standing ovation. Among the judges, only Dina Bendita stood up. Both Iris Long and Albert Alcala remained seated, although they also clapped like everyone else.

Behind Iris, Dom also couldn’t help but stand up. The contestant really sounded good!

Master Beauty led the other hosts into hyping up the audience even more. It was clear that they all liked the third contestant’s performance.

"Now let’s hear what the judges have to say," Master Beauty said.

This time, it was Iris Long who spoke first.

"This is one of the most technically difficult songs to sing," she said. "My mentor, Enrique Valdez, wrote this song at the height of his band’s career. It is a legendary song. And in my opinion, there is not a single cover, recorded or otherwise, that has justified it. Yours included."

Master Beauty was whispering what she meant to the contestant whose expression fell. Everyone glanced at him, worried that he would feel discouraged in pursuing his dreams.

Albert Alcala wanted to interject, but Dina Bendita stopped him with a warning look.