Before they knew it, one more fashionably late contestant appeared. This dude was a mountain! Standing at what had to be six feet tall at the minimum and weighing something upwards of two hundred pounds, this guy had sandy blonde hair, a striped V-neck sweater and a no-nonsense look on his face. Meg looked around at all the other contestants vying for a slot, all with a stunned expression as if to convey that this guy was not one to be trifled with. Even Grace and Daniel had them.
"What's with Sasquatch?" Meg finally whispered.
"That's Johnny Richards," Grace answered back. "He has been the winner of the Picture Makes Perfect three consecutive years, and two times runner-up. He rarely speaks, is smart as a whip and paints like you died and went to heaven."
"He is so handsome," Daniel added. Meg and the gang watched as Johnny took his place at the corner of the backstage area, doing a couple of last-minute superstitious good-luck measures, including prayer and brief meditation.
Suddenly, the stage was set and the host walked forward into the spotlight. Meg, Grace and Daniel immediately noticed and watched from their cushy backstage view, all of whom were nervous as nervous could be. Meg noted that the host reminded her of Caesar Flickman from his mannerisms and manner of speaking.
"Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen," the host started, "to the qualifying round of the Picture Makes Perfect art competition!" This introduction was followed up by applause. From where Meg was there had to be at least a hundred and twenty people attending. This made her all the more nervous but also excited. She was having a difficulty locating Brian at first until he spotted him in the fourth row just getting seated. Then a lot of her nervousness melted away. She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins. She never did anything like this before. "Backstage we have many contestants all wanting that ever coveted reward. To be one of the three lucky people to represent Rhode Island in the Picture Makes Perfect finals in Washington D.C.! Our three judges will oversee everything our young artists make and you in the audience get to vote on which three will advance to the next round. Who will it be? Let's find out!"
"Three are now advancing?" Grace said worriedly.
"Yeah it was ten last year." Daniel replied.
"I guess they made a couple of changes."
"And for the better if you ask me. Some of the crap that went through last year was kinda inexcusable."
Five contestants at a time in a random order would take the stage and paint for three minutes while some pop song played in the background. There was no theme, just paint anything. Since there was a fair number of people at the auditorium at this point, it took a while before the gang took their turns. Grace was the first person up. She drew a picture of a vase with blue roses while "I Feel it Coming" was playing. Grace almost did not finish it in time, and was quite disappointed with her finished painting, even though Meg and Daniel assured her that it looked great.
Then it was Johnny who was up. One that could be said about him, he was fast and he was accurate. His painting of a beach was on-point and quickly grabbed the judges' and audience's attention. He was like a rock star up there. After his three minutes, he left the stage and went back to that same corner again, continuing his rituals as per usual. All throughout that entire ordeal, Meg did not see him speak a single word to anyone.
It took a considerably longer amount of time for Daniel to get called up, but when he did, he brisked up onto the stage and tried to make the audience laugh with his goofy walking. It did work as the audience did guffaw pretty loud. He was also somewhat over-the-top with his painting practices, half going for laughs but half being somewhat serious too, all while "Grace Kelly" by Mika played. He did get the stage a little messy with his paints, but mostly kept track of what he was drawing. Grace mostly did not mind her brother's behaviour, but in the back of her head, she always worried that he would make too much of a fool of himself. Regardless, Daniel pressed on, and his portrait of his Mother was almost complete. He made a couple of mistakes, but he hoped that his personality would make up for it. Daniel very confidently walked off the stage with the biggest grin that anyone could put on.
"You are such a nut," Grace said playfully while giving her brother a noogie, both laughing and Meg looked on with a smile.
Meg was in one of the last groups to hit the stage. When she heard her name being called, she slowly walked towards the stage, almost forgetting to bring her painting equipment, all while her new friends were cheering her on.
"Good luck," said Grace while Daniel added, "I believe in you".
Meg was in the last easel to the right and approached it while the remaining four contestants' names were called up and walked to their adjacent easels. All throughout, she heard some unpleasant noises come from the audience. Must have been a couple of Quahogians in the audience. Meg tried to let it all go and focus. She stared at her blank white canvas, so transfixed, hoping that doing so her nerves would go away. She was so hypnotized by it that she almost missed the countdown to begin painting. Then she heard "Shut Up and Dance" by Walk the Moon play and felt more at ease because she felt a more up-tempo song would help her to focus more. She decided to draw and attempt the painting of a park in winter. Meg felt it was a bit of a risk to do something like that, but she was on such a high from doing something that was way outside her comfort zone that she didn't care. She tried to add a lake with children skating on it, a park bench with two lovers having their first kiss, and a couple of people having a snowball fight in the background, all with a fresh blanket of snow on the ground and the gentle snowfall over top. Meg managed to get it done within the time limit and was physically exhausted afterwards. Now she truly regretted getting off that diet. She then walked back to see her new friends' verdict.
"Wow, Meg," Grace started, "that was a pretty ballsy choice there."
"Totally," Daniel added.
"Oh..." Meg said kinda gloomily.
"Oh no. Nothing bad like that!" Grace reassured her. "It's great. I mean... you did really great."
"Yeah I think that went about as well as you could've done."
"You guys really think so?" Meg said timidly. "Do you think I have a chance at making it?"
"Maybe," Daniel said.
"Yeah, I think it's definitely possible."
"Aw, thanks."
Soon every contestant in the auditorium had painted. It was probably about two hours later and Meg was really itching to hear what the results were, and was hungry because it was approaching lunch. Grace and Daniel had similar feelings. Johnny was on the completely other side of them, stoic as a statue.
And then, the host appears.
"Well, folks." He started. "Our judges have deliberated and seen all the contestants, and we have our results in this envelope! So I will no longer keep you in suspense." Meg, Grace and Daniel were incredibly nervous now as the music and stage productions changed dramatically to emphasize the results. The host opens up the envelope, unfolds the paper inside, looks down towards the page and reads off the first name.
"The first person," he said with brief pauses, "to represent Rhode Island... in the Picture Makes Perfect Competition... is...", Meg was really antsy as she could see Daniel mouth the words "get on with it."
"Johnny Richards."
The audience applauded. Johnny walked onto the stage maintaining the same blank expression he had since he entered. Standing next to the host, it was like David and Goliath. He received a special certificate indicating the authenticity of his achievement.
"Congratulations, Johnny! This is your sixth consecutive year and possibly your fourth consecutive win. How do you feel about this?" The host then points the microphone towards his him, but Johnny remains silent. "No comment as usual. Well, congrats either way, and we will see you in Washington D.C.!" Johnny then walked off the stage and made a bee-line for the door. Everyone in the backstage area immediately had their nerves disappear once he left.
"Well that is our first contestant, but there are still only two left to advance." He then brought fourth the second envelope from out of his pocket and began to open it. With the same brief pauses, he continued, "the second contestant to join Johnny in the next round of the Picture Makes Perfect competition in Washington D.C. is..." the host glaced at the paper and read off the name.
"Megan Schmidt."
Meg's risk paid off! She immediately jumped in jubilation and all of her nerves left her. She could not believe what was happening. She instantly ran onto the stage as excited as could possibly be, her friends most with ecstatic grins. The audience was also in agreement, though not quite as big of a celebration as Johnny's crowd. Brian especially was excited, although he looked as though he snuck a couple of martinis into the show. Either way, Meg was happy to see that he was clapping for her.
"Well, it is so great to see a newcomer advance. This is Megan's first competition and I bet that she has a few words to say about it."
"Damn right, I do," she started off. "You know, where I am from, no one believed in me. No one thought I could make it and thought I was destined to be a nothing for the rest of my life, but all those losers can suck it because I made it and they didn't!"
"Well, that is terrific." The host replied, "Well, great job and we will see you in Washington D.C.! Congratulations!" Meg received her certificate and walked towards her friends, both of whom were so happy for her.
"Meg, oh that is so awesome! I cannot believe that you made it," Grace said.
"Wow, thanks!" Meg replied.
"Shocked!" Daniel said boisterously. "Truly shocked! I am without speech now, girl. Truly amazing." He then extended his arm and gave Meg a handshake, followed by a hug from both of them.
Meg was at first extremely happy, but then she received a moment of sorrow when she realized that there was one slot left and two of her friends. One of both of them were not going to participate in the contest with her. "But... that means that... one of you won't..." she began.
"It's alright, Meg." Grace said. "There's always next year. We are just happy that you made it and that you got what you wanted."
"Yeah, we'll be fine." Daniel said, followed up by, "just as long as you take us to D.C. with you."
Meg laughed, "sure, why not. There's room in Brian's car for two more."
"Great! I am still not sure how a dog gets a valid license but whatever."
Then the host pulls out the final envelope and is about to announce the final name.
"And now," he said with his usual brief pauses, "the third and final contestant that will represent Rhode Island in the Picture Makes Perfect contest... is..." he opens up the envelope and looks at the name. His eyes open up.
"Well... uh... this is, uh..." he said with a stutter, "this is unexpected." He then regains his bearing and continues with his hosting persona. "Ladies and Gentlemen, for the first time ever, we have a tie in the voting for third place. Two contestants got the exact same score from our judges. We have never had a tie happen before in all the years of doing this contestant." The host begins to stammer as the officials try to look up what would happen in the event of a tie in the competition and alert him through his headset. Everyone else in the backstage area was in a state of euphoria and excitement.
Eventually, after word got in from the people running the contest, the host finally told everyone what would happen.
"I have just been informed that in the event of a tie, we will have both contestants advance. I guess the people who were making the rules for this contest were in a good mood. Anyways, the contestants are..."
The silence was deafening. You could literally hear a pin drop.
"Grace Zinsmeister... and... Daniel Zinsmeister!"
Meg, Grace and Daniel were ecstatic (well Daniel was normal, but Meg and Grace were even more excited than usual). They could not believe what had happened. Daniel was dancing and wiggling like he had ants in his pants while Grace was in tears, almost to the point of her mascera running. They both took to the stage, Daniel first of course in a comical fashion and stood next to the host.
"This is truly unprecented. I almost have no speech for the first time in my twenty-two year history of hosting. What is going through your guys' minds right now?" The host then gives Grace the mic.
"Oh man, I can't believe it," Grace began, "I mean, so much was going through our heads when this surprise that two contestants were advancing, but we didn't invision anything like this happening. Wow, I do not know what to say."
"I do," said Daniel. The mic was given to him. Taking a deep breath, he said, "#Blessed, yo!"
After a brief pause and the audience laughing, the host said, "Well said. Congratulations to Grace, and Daniel, and Megan and Johnny. All four of whom we will see in Washington D.C. for the next stage of the competition. From Providence, Rhode Island, this is Filbert Fleck, signing off".