"Ladies and gentlemen, our first judge is a prolific composer who created the much-beloved theme songs of our favourite telenovelas for the past three decades. He’s also the loyal husband of our legendary Queen of Ballad, please give it up for Mr. Love Song himself, Albert Alcala!"
The middle-aged man, Albert Alcala, appeared and waved at everyone before taking a seat on the judging panel right in front of the audience facing the stage.
"Our next judge is an icon whose voice has graced us in the past six decades. Her songs are genuine classics that are always among the top ten most sung in karaoke. She is also known to support and mentor so many of our current favourite singers in the country. Please welcome to the stage, the Radio Siren herself, Dina Bendita!"
A younger male host supported the elderly lady, Dina Bendita, as she waved and took her seat on the judging panel beside Albert Alcala.
"And finally, we have a special guest judge for today. She came all the way from—"
"Boss Iris, we love you!!!"
"Kyaaaaaaaaah! Boss Iris!!!"
"Iris Long! Iris Long! Iris Long!"
Master Beauty pretended to take off one of her high-heeled shoes to throw at the audience. "At least wait for me to finish introducing her!"
"HAHAHAHAHA!!!"
The Filipino Black Stars who managed to secure free seats in today’s live audience shook the banners they brought. Fortunately for the program, they didn’t insist on making a ruckus and quickly settled down.
"Wow, so disciplined," Master Beauty couldn’t help but comment.
Albert Alcala and Dina Bendita nodded their heads in agreement.
Master Beauty cleared his—ahem, ahem—"her" throat and restarted the introduction for the final judge.
"And finally, we have a special guest judge for today. This is her first-ever visit to the Philippines. You might know her as the songwriter and the original singer of the theme song of the hit C-Drama ’Our Love, Our Destiny’ along with her brother-in-law, the Chinese superstar Jin Chonglin. She is also recorded to have made history for creating new musical techniques. Please help me welcome for the first time ever in the Philippines, the beautiful, super talented, multi-award-winning singer-songwriter and producer, Miss Iris Long!!!"
Iris stepped on stage and waved at everyone. The Black Stars led the entire audience to cheer for her.
The program staff didn’t need anyone to hype up the crowd. Even those who weren’t Black Stars couldn’t help but gasp in surprise upon seeing such a beautiful woman.
Master Beauty along with the other hosts shook hands with her. This time, they didn’t allow her to sit on the judging panel right away. They made her stand on stage with them first for a short casual conversation.
"First of all, I would like to thank you for coming in today as a special guest judge," Master Beauty said.
Iris smiled. "It’s an honour to serve as a judge in such a popular singing competition here in the Philippines. I’m very excited to see what kind of talents you have here in ’Call of the Spotlight’."
Host 2: "I heard that you met with Mr. Albert and Madam Dina backstage and that you already knew about them beforehand?"
Iris Long: "Yes, it was such a pleasure to finally meet them in person. I knew about them because of my best friend and assistant, Dominic Chua. He’s Filipino, by the way. Although I’m not very familiar with most of the showbiz personalities here in your country, I at least know a few of your musicians. Mr. Albert and Madam Dina are just some of those whom I know about."
The camera panned to the audience where Dom was seated. He saw himself on the monitor. He immediately beamed, drawing another wave of cheers from the Black Stars who were obviously familiar with him.
Master Beauty and the other hosts chatted with Dom for a bit. Meanwhile, the camera couldn’t help but shift to the handsome man sitting beside Dom.
Host 3: "I’m sorry, but I have to interrupt. I can’t concentrate while looking at such a handsome man."
Master Beauty: "Me, too! Iris, is it okay if you introduce that gorgeous specimen?"
Iris laughed, her eyes shining with amusement. "Of course. Everyone, that man is my beloved husband, Liam. He’s my rock and my biggest supporter. Thanks to him, I was able to give birth to our beautiful twin babies."
Jin Liwei smiled at his wife while giving a polite nod to everyone else.
The hosts looked like they wanted to chat with him, but it seemed that Jin Liwei had already made a special request to the program director not to allow it. He wanted everyone to focus on his wife during this trip and not on him.
Master Beauty listened to the instructions on his earphones before signalling to his co-hosts to drop it.
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