There's a First Time for Everything (Discontinued)

Chapter 8

A few weeks later, it was time for Team Boy George to rehearse for the Battles. The first thing that we did was film the pairing announcements. The order in which we would sing was a little different from when George announced the pairings in the hotel, with Tristan and Layla going three acts before Kieran and I. But other than that, everything was pretty much the same. We also got to find out what our songs would be. Rebecca and Ishana would be singing "Stitches" by Shawn Mendes, Layla and Tristan would be singing "Popular Song" by MIKA and Ariana Grande, and Kieran and I would be singing "Somewhere Only We Know" by Keane. Once all of us knew which song we would be singing, we all wrote our names on pieces of paper and put them into a glass bowl. George then proceeded to randomly draw our names out of the bowl to determine what the first rehearsal order would be. And unfortunately for Kieran and I, we got picked to go first. "Alright, you two. Follow me," said George as we followed him into a separate room with a piano. "Okay, here are your parts," he said as he handed us the sheet music. "Doesn't look too hard," I said. "Agreed. It may not be in my usual genre of singing, but it shouldn't be too difficult to learn," said Kieran. "Love the enthusiasm, you two! Now, shall we run through the song for the first time?" asked George. We nodded. "Great. So, Kieran, you sing first. I'll queue you when it's time to come in," he said. Then, the piano introduction began. And once it was over, George pointed to Kieran:

Kieran
I walked across an empty land
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand
I felt the earth beneath my feet
Sat by the river and it made me complete

Kieran and Emily
Oh simple thing where have you gone?
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

Emily
I came across a fallen tree
I felt the branches of it looking at me
Is this the place we used to love?
Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?

Emily and Kieran
Oh simple thing where have you gone?
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

And if you have a minute why don't we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything
So why don't we go
Somewhere only we know?
Somewhere only we know?

Kieran
Oh simple thing where have you gone?
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on

Emily
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

Emily and Kieran
And if you have a minute why don't we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything
So why don't we go
Somewhere only we know?
Somewhere only we know?
Somewhere only we know?

When we finished singing, George looked fairly pleased. "Not bad for a first run through. I did notice a few things, though. The first thing I want to go over is during the parts where you two are singing together. Don't try to drown out the other. Generally in a duet, there are two parts. There's a melody, and there's a harmony. There has to be a balance between the two. If you you let one part dominate the entire song, the audience will never be able to hear the other part. Both of you have plenty of instances to shine during this song. Which brings me to my next point. When you're singing alone, be confident and sing out. This is your moment. Make the most of it. You don't have to be nervous. And if you mess up, don't make a big deal about it. Just act like it's part of the song and keep going. Finally, one of the most important aspects of a duet is the chemistry between the two singers. And what I'm about to tell you two is exactly what I'm going to tell all the other pairs. What I want you two to do when you're not practicing the song is get to know each other. Try to find things that you have in common, and transfer that into the song. Trust me, it will make the performance a whole lot better," said George. "We'll do that," I said. "Great. And I believe that's all for this rehearsal. The dress rehearsal is next week, so you two are going to need to practice the song quite a bit between now and then. Understood?" he asked. "Yeah," said Kieran. "Cool. You two may go," said George. Then, Kieran and I left the room. "So, you got any plans for this evening?" I asked. "I was thinking about going bowling. You wanna come with?" he asked. "Sure! I love bowling. What time do you want to meet up?" I asked. "Let's meet in the hotel lobby at 7:00 pm," he said. "Got it. See you then," I said. Then, we went back into the holding room for the rest of the afternoon.