"Ms. Edwards, this is a global live broadcast. There's no room for mistakes, and you'll only have one chance to sing. If you don't rehearse and something goes wrong...
"And Rachel here has been rehearsing seriously."
Kelly cut him off, annoyed.
"You think I'll mess up? That's ridiculous. You've heard me sing before.
"With my talent, I'll blow those foreign singers out of the water. I don't need to rehearse."
The staff member wanted to persuade her further, but I quickly ushered them out.
I couldn't let them convince Kelly to rehearse. If she did, the production team might even replace her at the last minute, and that would ruin everything.
Kelly continued to scroll through her phone, lost in the false adoration of those fake fans.
Ha!
While she was distracted, I sneaked into the studio to watch the other singers rehearse.
Each one was more focused than the last, even the 50-year-old veteran diva.
I remembered how, in my past life, after the show aired, everyone praised her, calling her the guardian of Meriodland's music industry, the last bastion of dignity for Meriodland's music scene.
She single-handedly held her own against several foreign competitors.