chapter8: overshadowed

march 23, 2009

 It’s now March. So far, 8STARz have wrapped up almost all of season 4 of popSTARz. They still had a few more episodes to film, but everything has been put on hold. It’s because 8STARz are getting ready to go on tour with 7STARz.

 Their MySpace web docu-reality series, follow the juniorSTARz, has become a hit with the ever-growing fan-base. At the same time, they’ve been in dance rehearsals and voice lessons for their opening act.

 Now they’re at a meeting with Seth, and 7STARz. He began, “I know both of you are in rehearsals for the 7STARz Carnival tour. Now here’s the plan: 7STARz, you’ll wrap up promotions for your third album, In The STARz, after the North American leg of your world tour is over. As for you, 8STARz, you’ll begin promotion for your debut single, Explode. It’s one of the songs in the setlist.”

 8STARz were excited with this news. They finally get to release their music. They knew their debut single had potential to be huge hit. As for 7STARz, the members looked like they’re trying to smile, but it kept fading.

 Seth continued: “And 8STARz, once the North American leg is over, you’ll move into your new house. It’ll be in Beverly Hills.”

 That made the 8 really excited. Finally! They get to leave their hotel suite. They get to live in a house. 7STARz, on the other hand, were trying really hard to look happy.

 Then the meeting was over. As both bands left the building, Breanna said to her bandmates, “I can’t believe that kiddy band is getting a mansion.”

 Molly said, “Bree, let it go. They’re a band. They need someplace to crash.”

 “Are you all blind, or what? Can’t you see that this fucking spin-off is going to take us down? Their stupid MySpace series is a hit!”

 Matt told her, “Breanna, stop. Let them enjoy their rising success.”

 Breanna said angrily, “Fuck you, Matt! I’m going to give this kiddy band a piece of my mind!”

 So Breanna march up to the 8, and glared at them. Sarah asked, “Breanna, are you okay?”

 She gave a scoff, and said, “No, I’m not! I’m done pretending everything is fine between my band, and your band. I’m finally going to tell you what I think of 8STARz.”

 The 8 stood there, feeling uneasy. Breanna explained, “I think you guys are a nothing but a fucking kiddy band. You’ll never amount to anything. You were only formed just so Disney can continue to make money off of the STARz franchise. But 7STARz are the real money-makers. We got a fan-base all over the world. We’ve been labeled as both the new S Club 7 and RBD. You? 8STARz will crash and burn. No one wants you around. You’re just a rip-off of the originals. And nothing more.”

 With that, Breanna stormed off. The 7 saw the 8. They weren’t sure how to react to that scene, so they left also. As for the 8, they stood there, stunned.

 8STARz were now back in their hotel suite. They were silent after Breanna told them off. Then Emily asked, “Why were we formed if we’re not wanted?”

 Maddie asked, “Have you seen the shit 7STARz did? It’s no wonder why Disney formed us. But that bitch is right about one thing: Disney wants to continue making money off of the STARz franchise.”

 Suddenly, Sarah’s iPhone buzzed. She saw she got a notification from TMZ. She clicked on it, and saw it was an article about 7STARz member Luke leaking out photos of him naked with his rumored boyfriend. (Luke hasn’t said if he’s bisexual or gay.)

 Sarah muttered, “It never ends for 7STARz.”

 Greg asked, “What is it?”

 Sarah gave him her phone. He wasn’t surprised by what he read, but he was disgusted. Then Greg said, “You know, 7STARz became a global phenomenon because they get caught doing shit. If they weren’t caught, they wouldn’t be international stars.”

 That made the member stare at Greg. Ryan asked, “Are you suggesting we should get caught doing shit?”

 Greg explained, “7STARz are already doing that. What I mean is that we flaunt bad behavior.”

 Maddie asked, “You mean we deliberately act bad? Why the fuck would we want to do that?”

 Greg replied, “Look, if we want to show the world that we’re a legit pop band who deserves the limelight, we need to prove 7STARz wrong. We can be more than a kiddy band. Hell, we are more than a kiddy band.”

 Then Sarah chimed in, “You know, Greg’s right. We need to show the world that we’re better than 7STARz. We will amount to something.”

 Maddie suggested, “We should be a grand appearance. We’re already gaining a fan-base, but we could grow rapidly if we did something shocking. Something like…Lady Gaga.”

 Ryan said, “Lady Gaga is kind of out there, but she did get people talking about her performances.”

 With that, Maddie became impressed, so she said, “Exactly. We should get people talking about our performance. We’re already YouTube and MySpace popular. If we make a shocking performance, we can become a trending topic on Twitter, and show the world that we’re better and badder than 7STARz.”

 That got the members intrigued and excited. Then Rylie asked, “So, we’re going to be bad? In front of everyone who owns a camera phone? Wouldn’t we end up on YouTube?”

 Sarah said, “That’s the point, Rylie. We can go viral again with our grand premiere. But the question is, how are we going to shock the audience?”

 The members thought for a moment, and then Ryan and Maddie said at the same time, “I got an idea.”

 With that, both Ryan and Maddie glared at each other. Ryan said, “You first.”

 “Thanks. Ladies always go first. Anyway, my idea has to do with our costumes for the concert. You know, our concert-version of the popSTARz school uniforms.

 “Same here.”

 That got the members plotting. They knew they needed to make an impression. This was their first time performing in front of hundreds of people at stadiums. This was also their first time performing as an 8-piece. They knew this performance could either fail them, or it could make them the most talked-about teen pop act America has ever seen.