That's My Spotlight | ✔

x. head in the clouds

INEZ HAS ALWAYS been an avid fan of Ariana Grande. From her time on Nickelodeon live actions like Victorious and iCarly to present day, she's always admired her and her journey from an actress to a popstar. All in all, Inez also admires her songs, especially the ones she created early on in her music career. With all excitement possible, the choir will officially sing her most popular and iconic Christmas song — Santa Tell Me.

It was a song she usually found herself singing to herself, whether it was Christmas or not. Over the years, she's sung it in the shower, hummed it while cooking up a small meal — really, she's sung the song anywhere. In a way, it hit home, especially during the cold winter months. She believed that it was the Christmas song that everyone needs to listen to at one point to lighten up their sprits. 

The version of Santa Tell Me the choir will be singing will be a choral arrangement specialized for choirs, so instead of allowing only one person to sing a solo, a few solo parts would be given out, exchanged throughout the song back and forth. The main choruses of the song will mostly be sung by the choir as a whole, while the separate verses will be divided among three people. While the solos take place, the rest of the choir will echo the song in the background, as Dr. Terry recently explained to the choir. 

For the solo parts, she chose Inez, Jolien, and another girl in the choir named Monique. She was a talented singer herself, as she was often complimented for her steady vocals. Monique wasn't too close with anyone in the choir, but she was mostly seen speaking with Angelica at times. Monique was given the first verse of the song, while the second was for Inez. That meant that the third verse was for Jolien. Dr. Terry explained to the class that the third verse was the most important solo because it leads into the main chorus with multiple high notes.

Jolien didn't know why exactly Dr. Terry decided to give her the part, though. Her eyes gotten as big as saucers as she planted her hands on Inez's shoulders to shake her. "This must be some kind of mistake. This part belongs to you, not me. These high notes aren't cut for me." 

"Don't say that, Jolien," Inez assured with a nod. "The part belongs to you one-hundred and ten percent." 

"Let's hope that I don't fuck this up, especially at the night of the concert," Jolien winced as she shoved her sheet music in front of her face. "I mean, I'll be hitting Ariana Grande high notes."

Inez mustered a smile as she tilted her head sideways. "Jolien, Jolien . . . You won't fuck anything up because Dr. Terry will work with you. She always does. She won't leave you out in the woods to prepare for this all on your own. She believes that you have the full potential." 

Dr. Terry knew damn well that Ariana Grande high notes were always so high. That was probably the reason why Jolien was chosen for the role because she had a broader vocal range in the higher areas. Dr. Terry was also the kind of teacher who chose roles because she believed that that specific person had the potential to nail it, even if the student believed that they couldn't. That was how much the choir director wanted her students to succeed in singing. Not for her own benefit, but for themselves and possible future careers that could've involved singing.

"Okay, class, let's take it from the top," Dr. Terry announced as she cleared her throat. "Let's start at measure five, but we'll do it without the soundtrack for now." Measure five of the sheet music was the part that everyone in the choir would sing. Because everyone would sing it, Dr. Terry heavily insisted that the first part of the song would make or break their entire performance. If it was sung with expression and love, they'd nail it — the beginning, at least. If it was the polar opposite, it wouldn't be as good.

Critics were the kind of people to notice these little flaws in songs. They always took note of how the song started, how it ended, and everything in between. Dr. Terry never said anything about critics showing up this performance, but in the past years, a few have mysteriously shown up. Sometimes, she invited them over for second-hand judgment before a big, important performance.