Rise To Stardom - Chapter 55

Chapter 55: Surreal
12.9M streams on GrooveBox.

11.4M views on ViewTube.

278K+ subscriber count increase.

No. 1 on the ‘Buzzing 100’ chart.

All in the span of four days!

Right now, so many individuals who frequently used the internet, more especially those who were constantly on the most popular social media apps, had either heard of [No Clue] or had seen snippets of the music video.

Asides the major exposure that Carl Finch gave the song, so many other popular TicToc influencers had also joined the bandwagon, a lot of them using the song in their videos.

Various ViewTube music video analysts and reactors, had dissected his music video, explaining just why it was such a captivating one to watch and rewatch.

One from a small channel, even made a very accurate statement that went; ‘[No Clue]’s music video is a gem on its own, but, what truly elevates it is the song’s tune itself, especially the addition of the rock elements that further adds a cinematic and emotional dimension to the music video’s storytelling, one that causes the listeners emotions to swell during climactic moments as it effortlessly supports each and every verse of the song too.’

That video alone of the guy dissecting why the song and its video was such a hit, already had over 100k views, making that video his most viewed video over the course of his one-year period on the platform.

Rapidly, Kyle was becoming a hot topic, essentially because after people listened to [No Clue] and watched its music video, most of them became very curious about Kyle himself as a person.

Add that to the fact that a lot of them had seen the memes about him just last month, their curiosity increased two-fold.

Unfortunately for them though, there was literally next to no personal information about Kyle on the internet and most just had to resort to checking out Rising Voices’s last season just to glean anything they could.

As his song was just beginning to make its mark, a popular blogger who wrote about all things entertainment in the industry, wrote an article on her blog titled; ‘[No Clue] By Kyle Kestis; A Song That Truly Deserves All The Popularity It’s Getting.’.

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A song that truly captivates simply from its tune alone, further bolstered by lyrically relatable verses and Kyle’s lovely vocals, [No Clue]’s rapid ascent to the top of the charts is only just the beginning.

Coincidence or not, many have wondered if Kyle Kestis purposely targeted releasing the song close to Valentine’s as a sort of anti-thesis to target those who were without a partner (people like me), but, from my perspective, I doubt that was intentional.

I mean, why release a song that may very well get buried under the multitude of popular love songs that would be streamed to oblivion close to a mushy day like that? It just makes no sense really when you think about it and most musicians would rather not risk it.

All except our handsome outlier here, who may have not even put that day into consideration at all when he decided to release the song.

That aside though, Kyle, despite not having much of an actual social media presence, has been occasionally popping up here and there over the past few months.

From his time on Rising Voices where viewers around the world (especially the ladies), were treated to his charming, witty, humble, mature yet secretive personality, all in addition to his talents in singing and composing, it came as a bit of a welcome surprise when he also showed us he was capable of acting just two months ago.

And now, not even halfway into the first quarter of 2019, [No Clue], a power-ballad that resonates so strongly with a lot of people, reminds us once again of the magic he showed us during his time on singing reality TV show. This may very well be the early stages of the ascent of a rising star.

Indie musicians usually struggle to keep their fame but for Kyle, it’s almost as if he just wants to maintain his freedom as an aspiring musician, evidenced by the fact that he’s staying as an independent artist despite the many lucrative record label offers he’s gotten since he stepped into the world of showbiz.

That’s the mark of someone who seems to be really passionate about his craft and in my opinion, people like that tend to garner a lot of admiration from the public, a key ingredient that’s essential to any artist’s success.

That said, apparently, there’s been rumors that the popular talk show, Artistry Unleashed, might be having Kyle on their show this week.

If that’s really true, then it’s a chance for everyone to get to know more about the man behind such a beautiful song.

Will you be there? I know I will!

Until next time then folks; This is Princess Peach, signing out!

–

* * *

Asides from his newest song taking the number one spot on the ‘Buzzing 100’ chart, the other three which he had previously released, had also taken the first, second and top spots on the ‘Indie Sensations’ chart too, all as result of the publicity [No Clue] was getting.

Kyle, having just finished texting Christina, Lily and Ryan whom had been congratulating him, received another notification that another person had followed him.

“Surreal. This is all so surreal…” the young man lied down on his bed, his eyes gazing at his MediaGram follower count with an incredulous yet concerned expression he couldn’t seem to get a proper hold of.

It just kept increasing by the minute.

Previously at a respectable 42.7K, it had now skyrocketed to rousing 279.8K followers in the span of just five days!

Watching the number still going up by the minute, a bit wary about how he was even supposed to handle the account since he rarely posted anything on it, a notification message from his TweetTalk DM came in.

Seeing whom it was, Kyle’s eyes widened in genuine surprise.

– – –

TheCarlFinch: It’s nothing really. It was a well-written song that deserved to be heard. Congratulations.

– – –

Quickly, upon reading that response to his previous message which had genuinely thanked Carl Finch for his retweet of his song four days ago, Kyle responded.

– – –

Kyle Kestis: Nevertheless, I’m super grateful. Thank you for your kind gesture.

TheCarlFinch: (Thumbs up)

– – –

Seeing the reply from him, Kyle figured that it would be best if he ended things there.

Carl Finch was a very busy person after all.

Just as he placed the phone aside, Oliver walked out from the corner of the room, his phone in one hand and coffee mug on the other.

Donning a light smile on his lips, he then said to Kyle;

“Ready your best outfit by Saturday Kyle. You’ve been invited to a talk show.”

Hearing those words, Kyle jerked his head sideways, his eyes widening in another bout of genuine disbelief.

* * *

Backstage, just behind the foyer’s red velvety curtain, Kyle continuously inhaled and exhaled deep breaths.

A few producers, staff workers and cameramen kept making checks here and there, ensuring everything was as it should be.

Some female interns and staffs on the other hand, kept ogling the young man with star-struck eyes – not that Kyle was even aware of it.

Saturday had come so fast and even now, he was still finding it unbelievable that he was actually here.

Even if he didn’t frequently keep up with all the trends in Hollywood, this particular talk show was one he had watched a few times here and there.

Not for once in his life did he ever think he’d be privileged to be here though.

Having already been introduced to the owner and host of the talk show a few minutes ago, along with a few small talks here and there, Kyle was simply waiting for the show to actually start.

He had also been given guidelines on the things he could and couldn’t say, much like most talk shows would, but he wasn’t given a script to follow.

This was a very rare oddity in the space of showbiz were most things were usually planned and scripted to a T.

That too, was one of the major appeals of this particular talk show and it was also one of the major reasons why it was such a big hit among the public.

The ability of the charismatic host was all it really took for most actors to feel very welcome on the platform and judging by how the show hadn’t been embroiled in any controversies for over the past six years of its run-time, it served as a testament to the integrity the show worked hard to maintain.

Of course sections of the show may be edited in case the guests on the show didn’t follow the due protocols or said something untoward or wrong, but for the most part, the show tried its best to stay as transparent as possible.

Hearing the sounds of the audience from the other end of the curtain cascading over to his ears, Kyle let out another deep breath of air and donned a light smile while telling himself;

‘C’mon Kyle. Keep your nerves under control. You got this!’