There were very few things that Simon didn't understand.
He knew Carrie Underwood was going to be as big a hit as Kelly Clarkson in her own genre. He knew how the industry works, from the inside out. He had a knack for predicting things, such as that Latoya would be out even with her supporters. She had the voice, but not the passion. He knew Chris was going to be a hit after he was kicked out, possibly even recreating the same success that Clay did when he outsold Reuben in terms of records. Yes, Simon was the go-to person, the most stable thing in the unstable world of music.
That was part of his job, after all. To sift the songs and the singers that could stand the test of time, and those who would vanish within a time span of a couple of months. And he was good at it.
But this boy standing in front of him, he couldn't quite get his head around. Greg Pitchard, that was his name.
He looked every inch a wannabe rockstar. He saw so many of those everyday, in fact he'd already seen too many of those today. All hopefuls with either too little talent, too much screeching, or too cocky. This one was polite, courteous, shy even. And the music that floated in the air the moment he opened his mouth, that puzzled Simon the most. It was exactly like stumbling over a dog in the alley, and finding out it mewed instead of barked.
Piers loved him. So did Amanda. So did everyone else in the theatre in fact, once they got over the initial shock and surprise. The one whom they expected to belt out the latest rock hit turned out to be someone who could beautifully belt out an opera song. Unexpected, but pretty damn awesome, and the audience made sure that appreciation rang through the air.
Judging time came before he had much chance to recollect his thoughts. So he told him of his exact sentiments: like finding a dog in the alley and hearing it meow. Completely strange, completely surreal, completely unexpected.
But unexpected was not necessarily a bad thing, as Simon knew. In fact, for many things, the unexpected proved to be a good thing. Simon shook his head as he told the boy he was through to the next round. He was definitely going to keep a close eye on that one.