CHAPTER 60
He was quite nervous, especially after what just happened to his face. His hands even trembled slightly. This coming from the man who had a dead-steady hand that made kilometers away sniper shots in Bangladesh. The crowd and judges all immediately noticed the large bandage at the side of his face.
"Hello." Finn said into the mic.
"Hey, there. What's your name?" Nicole asked.
"My name's Finn Hudson." He said.
"And where are you from, Finn Hudson?" She asked.
"I'm from Ohio." He replied. A few members of the audience, presumably those from Ohio themselves, cheered.
"And how old are you?"
"22."
"Do you have anyone with you here today? Your mom, dad?"
"Um… unfortunately none of my family is here today, but I do have a lot of my friends with me. Yeah, um… I'm dedicating this performance to my dad, who unfortunately isn't with us on this earth any longer." He said. "He always believed in me, and I want to do him proud."
"Oh, wow, well I'm sure he's watching down on you right now." Nicole said. "What do you do for a living?"
"I'm actually unemployed right now, but I spent the past year in the WWF. I was actually wrongfully imprisoned for murder a couple of years ago. I was given a life sentence and I had to spend 4 years in prison before I was proven innocent."
"Wow. Well, I'm so sorry you had to go through what you went through but thank God the right thing finally happened and you're out." Nicole said. "Um… if you don't mind my asking, what happened to your face?" She asked, and Finn chuckled.
"That contestant who came before me, the P!nk tribute artist threw her mic after he left the stage, and I happened to be in the way as I was waiting to go on stage."
"Ouch, that's gotta have hurt." Nicole laughed.
"Again, I did spend 4 years in prison. That wasn't really flower-picking. Yeah, it didn't hurt, but what I'm worried about is that she actually knocked out one of my teeth, so I'm nervous that it'll negatively affect my performance. You know, this could potentially be my lucky break, and I want it to go as well as possible."
The audience let their sympathy be known, and the judges felt just as bad.
"I'm so sorry. I wish there was something we could do. But unfortunately, we can delay your performance, as you're the last act of the day, and actually are the last act before the six chair challenge. So, what are you going to sing for us today?" Simon asked.
"Um… I'm going to be singing a song I wrote myself. It's called Sign of the Times." Finn replied. Simon nodded.
"Well, whenever you're ready. Good luck…" He said. Finn nodded and grabbed his mic. He closed his eyes. There was no audience in front of him now. It was just like he was singing in the Glee club, in the McKinley auditorium. The music came on moments later and Finn began singing…
Just stop your crying
It's a sign of the times
Welcome to the final show
Hope you're wearing your best clothes
You can't bribe the door on your way to the sky
You look pretty good down here
But you ain't really good
We never learn, we've been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets, the bullets?
We never learn, we've been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
Your bullets, the bullets?
The first impression that the four judges had was that this gentleman before them had an incredible voice, with more soul to it than anyone they had seen before.
Just stop your crying
It's a sign of the times
We gotta get away from here
We gotta get away from here
Just stop your crying
It'll be alright
They told me that the end is near
We gotta get away from here
The judges instantly knew that they could be looking at the next winner of the X Factor, as messy, scruffy and destitute as he looked.
Just stop your crying
Have the time of your life
Breaking through the atmosphere
And things are pretty good from here
Remember, everything will be alright
We can meet again somewhere
Somewhere far away from here
We never learn, we've been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets, the bullets?
We never learn, we've been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets, the bullets?
Just stop your crying
It's a sign of the times
We gotta get away from here
We gotta get away from here
Stop your crying
Baby, it'll be alright
They told me that the end is near
We gotta get away from here
We never learn, we've been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets, the bullets?
We never learn, we've been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
Your bullets, the bullets?
We don't talk enough
We should open up
Before it's all too much
Will we ever learn?
We've been here before
It's just what we know
Finn sang the final chorus with such passion and emotion that it practically shook the whole room. The crowd were on their feet, cheering and clapping for him. And if friends, who were backstage, were crying and cheering hysterically.
Stop your crying, baby
It's a sign of the times
We gotta get away
We got to get away
We got to get away
We got to get away
We got to get away
We got to—we got to—away
We got to—we got to—away
We got to—we got to—away
To hear the actual song, click:
watch?v=Y8R-zl7SDUU
Or search, 'Sign of the Times Live Graham Norton Show'
For the first time that day, all four judges stood up and gave an act a standing ovation. Finn was so overwhelmed. A flood of emotion cascaded over him like a tsunami wave. Finn wiped a tear from his normally stoic face as the audience cheered and applauded long after he finished playing. It took around 2 whole minutes for them to quiet down. Finn was surprised at how positive the crowd's reaction was to his performance. Maybe he had done OK, Finn thought. Maybe, with some luck, he could've actually made it to the next round. Finally, the judges began to give their feedback, and it was the polar-opposite to Zoe's.
"Wow, Finn…" Tulisa said. "When you're up there, I just see you get lost in that world, and it's just you, the microphone, the music. Best audition of the day for sure."
Finn smiled. That was very positive feedback, and a very good sign. However, it was Tulisa's song that he covered, so maybe the others wouldn't be as lenient.
"Thank you. Thank you so much." He replied. Simon Cowell was next to give his feedback, and his was critical. Simon's vote often swayed all of the judges one way or another so it could be the difference between him advancing and him going home.
"Um, Finn… I don't think you know this but we actually have a five minute cap on the length of each audition and your performance was actually 5 minutes and 35 seconds." He stated. Finn blushed furiously.
"Oh, um… I'm really sorry." Finn stammered.
"No need to apologise. All it means is that I could have potentially stopped you when the 5 minutes were up and we would have judged you on the five minutes you sang. But there was no way in hell I was going to stop you early! We sit here all day and we watch lots and lots of people stand on that stage. For 99% of them, I sit there and go 'we need to change this, we need to do that.' If anyone dares touch what you do, cause it's so good… You should be very proud today. That was a fantastic audition. Well done."
Finn's smile grew steadily, and his friends watched from backstage with bated breath. Surely, with such a positive reaction, Finn had made it to the next round. Louis was next to give his thoughts on Finn's performance.
"Finn, you're real, original, and I think from today on, your life is totally going to change."
Finn's heart was pounding. Surely he had gotten the three votes he needed! Finally, Nicole gave her feedback.
"Finn! I came on this show and people asked me 'why did I come on this show?' I told them that I'm looking for an artist to inspire me. And that's exactly what you did today. And that's because you stood on that stage, and you bared your soul to us."
"Thank you so much. It means everything to me. It means the absolute world to me." Finn said into the mic. Now, there was one order of business left… the voting.
"OK, let's go to a vote." Nicole said. "Simon?"
"Finn… it's a yes from me."
Finn smiled widely. 1/1 so far. Two more. Just two more and he would make it to the six-chair challenge.
"It is a MASSIVE yes from me." Tulisa said.
"Finn, this is just the beginning for you. It's a yes from me." Louis said. Finn couldn't believe it. He was through to Bootcamp! Now he just hoped for that final yes, as a confident booster.
"Finn! Rightfully so, you have 4 yesses!"
"Thank you so much!" Finn exclaimed, waving and walking off the stage. He couldn't believe it. A sobbing Caitlin immediately flew into his arms. She was deliriously happy for her friend. He was chasing his dreams, and he was one step closer to making it a reality. Finn was hugged by literally every one of his friends, and Mr. Schue was also crying happy tears.
"I'm so proud of you!" Caitlin cried. "I told you that you were amazing!"
Once Finn was off stage, Tulisa turned to the other judges.
"He wrote his own song and he made it THAT good!" She said, still in shock.
"That was brilliant." Nicole said, still awestruck. "I want to write a song just to see what he does with it."
Once Finn stepped out of the backstage area, he was approached by Dermott again.
"So, how do you feel right now?" He asked.
"I'm just overwhelmed right now. I'm unbelievably overwhelmed. I can't tell you how great it feels. You know, I've had dreams about getting on that stage and it going really well, and it went better than those dreams."
"As you were performing, we spoke to the producer who auditioned you, and he said that you did an acoustic guitar number. Is that like your main style of performing?"
"Yeah, I am inseparable from my guitar. I've had it for more than 15 years now. Playing my guitar while singing is how I feel most comfortable, but I don't have a problem owning the stage without it, as proven by today. In fact, in the six chair challenge, I won't have my guitar. I'll be reaching out of my comfort zone and be singing a pop ballad. But yeah, my guitar is where I mostly live."
"Speaking of the six-chair challenge, what preparation are you going to do for it?" He asked. The six-chair challenge was known to be the most stressful part of the X Factor process. The acts were cut down from over 200 to just 24 in a grueling 24 hours of performing.
"I don't think my preparation is going to be much different to how I prepared for this audition, as it seemed to work, I think. Just going to practise a lot, but not so much that it sounds like I'm bored whilst singing. And I'm going to hit the gym - keep the stamina up."
"Who would you like to mentor you in the competition, should you make it the Judge's house round?"
Finn thought for a moment, but couldn't make up his mind.
"Honestly, if I make it that far, I couldn't care less who's mentoring me. All four of the judges are damn qualified at what they do, and they all have different strengths. Obviously Nicole holds that song-writing prowess, but it's Tulisa that writes the kind of music I'm into, but it's Louis and Simon who have the most experience at the job, as they have been there from the very beginning. I couldn't choose."
"What would it mean to make it through to live shows?" Dermott asked.
"To get through to the live stages and to be broadcasted worldwide in front of people and do what I do would… make my life complete. That's the best way I can describe it."
"Well, thank you Finn. And I look forward to seeing you again for bootcamp in a couple of weeks."
Finn smiled at him and left the building officially in the running to be the next X Factor champion…
Okay, I know this sounds like another story I wrote but trust me… it goes in a whole, completely different direction. Just keep reading and reviewing!
