At this moment, the members of Nogizaka recalled the days when they were selected to join the group.
The members were numbered according to the 50 syllables of their names, and unfortunately Amamiya Shiori was ranked first.
Everything is difficult at the beginning, because there is no talent worth talking about, so when Amamiya Soi introduced himself, he picked up his early settings and performed a little magic. The only episode was that the magic almost failed, which made the staff in the audience laugh.
After the carefully crafted self-introduction, everyone stood in a row anxiously waiting for the announcement of the voting results.
The people in the audience who decided on the second act were not the audience, not the fans, but the staff who had been together for almost a year.
Their choices may be slightly different from those of fans. After all, you will learn much more about the true situation of idols at work than fans will know on screen or at handshake meetings.
How will the staff I work with day and night think of me? This is probably a question that exists in the minds of almost all members.
"Then, the results of the selection will be announced, and the members who were called will take a step forward."
Unlike the general election, where every candidate was put on trial, the announcement was very fast, and one name after another was called continuously.
"No. 1, Amamiya Shiori."
"Hi!" Amamiya Soi took a step forward after hearing his name.
"No. 3, Erika Ikuta."
"No. 4, Rina Ikoma."
…
The members who were not called were still looking forward to it one second, and felt lost the next second.
"No. 24, Mai Fukawa. No. 25, Minami Hoshino. No. 29, Yumi Wakazuki."
"That's it. Those who haven't been called will end here." The narrator still said words that sounded a bit cruel in a serious tone. "Thanks for your hard work."
"Thank you for your hard work." The member who was not selected bowed and trotted off the stage.
The selection of staff members is not entirely in line with the order of popularity, and is slightly different from the selection list.
The remaining members did not dare to look around because the assignment of roles in the second act was then announced.
"The rankings are now announced. No. 16, Asuka Saito. No. 15, Mica Eto..."
The character played by Amamiya Sugawara is the hat house, ranked fifth in the order. Behind her are the March Hare played by Hashimoto Nanami, the Dodo played by Rina Ikoma, plus nine "playing cards"; In front of her are the Cheshire Cat played by Nanase Nishino, the White Rabbit played by Mai Shiraishi, the Queen played by Kazumi Takayama, and the protagonist Alice played by Erika Ikuta.
"Then please staff and actors get ready to start the performance." After the narrator introduced the list, the second act began.
The musical requires all the members to sing. The members who don’t have much stage experience are not good at singing, and they don’t have enough breath to sing while performing. The only "hard" song "Beginner" is also very soft. But don't be too demanding on them. It’s not easy to become familiar with the positions of more than a dozen characters in just a few days.
After the last song "The Courage of the Left Breast" ended, everyone held hands and bowed to the audience under the leadership of center Erika Ikuta. They were greeted with endless applause.
"OK, everyone performed well. Although there are still many flaws, as long as you keep working hard to present the performance to the audience, you will become more and more proficient." The director commented while applauding. "The performance tomorrow morning is at nine o'clock. You don't have to practice for too long tonight. Make sure you get a good rest."
"Hi!" the members on the stage responded in unison.
"That's all I have to say. There will be a reporter interviewing you later. Let's go backstage and prepare." The director flipped through the form in his hand.
The members who had just finished the second act could not wait to return backstage.
"I was really nervous just now." Erika Ikuta said uneasily, but her face was filled with joy that could not be concealed.
She has been fond of musicals since she was a child, and her future career goal was to be a musical actor. Normally, she should join a well-known musical troupe, but she chose to become an idol based on someone's advice.
And she firmly seized this opportunity. During the training, she was favored by the director, and she became the protagonist in this rehearsal.
"You are~ Alice——" Amamiya Shiori imitated Queen Kazumi Takayama's tone to tease Ikuta. "The incredible kingdom of Udon. ~Welcome~"
"Dong dong, Iku dong, Alice dong, woo~~~dong!" Ikuta responded with her adapted version of her self-introduction.
The two of them went backstage to change clothes while chatting and laughing.
When we came to the dressing room, the atmosphere was not as cheerful as when performing on stage. In order to take care of the mood of the defeated members, everyone suppressed their smiles and remained silent, not daring to speak loudly.
Amamiya Sōri and Ikuta Erika were still chatting, but after stepping through the door of the lounge, they consciously lowered their voices and then closed their mouths.
Some members had red eyes and seemed to have been crying for a while.
How should I put it, this is just an internal selection, and the official performance hasn’t started yet tomorrow. Amamiya Shiori felt that this list was not very important, but as someone who had been selected, she felt it was not appropriate to use this reason to comfort them.
The several unsuccessful members present are actually not bad, but voting is not only based on stage ability. The first official performance tomorrow will be based on popularity as the main factor.
So everything is still unknown. If you lose today, it doesn't mean you won't have a chance tomorrow. Being selected today does not mean that it will be favored by the audience tomorrow.
The atmosphere in the dressing room was rather dull, and Amamiya Suga couldn't bear to see the disappointed look of these girls, so after changing clothes, she went to the auditorium of the theater.
Directly below the main stage, reporters from various media were adjusting the equipment. The staff in the front row of the auditorium are also busy with their work.
Amamiya Shiori saw the girl sitting alone in the back row at a glance. She was wearing a cool summer dress and was playing with her mobile phone.
"Yo~" Amamiya Sori walked up to her and said hello.
"Ah! Eh?" The girl was so panicked that she almost lost her phone and dropped it to the ground.
"Manatsu...san? Is that your name?" Amamiya Suga simply sat down next to her.
"Ah, hi! Yes, it's me, Akimoto Manatsu." Akimoto Manatsu recognized the member in front of him as Amamiya Shiori, whom he had only met a few times before, and answered quickly.
"Amamiya-san just scared me." Akimoto Manatsu patted his chest, looking frightened.
"I'm sorry, I didn't notice you were so focused." Amamiya Sori apologized.
"It's okay, don't worry." Akimoto Manatsu forgave Amamiya easily.
"When did Manatsu-san come?" Amamiya Sōri asked curiously.
"Well, actually I will come and take a look whenever I have free time in the past two days." Akimoto Manatsu said, "From the first day of rehearsal, the staff gave me this and asked me to come and observe."
Akimoto Manatsu showed the work permit hanging around his neck to Amamiya Shiori.
"How do you feel?" Amamiya Shiori glanced at the work ID and asked.
Staff were walking up and down the aisles.
"How should I put it?" Akimoto Manatsu didn't expect Amamiya Shiori to ask such a serious question as soon as he came up. He pondered for a while, "Although I couldn't go backstage and observe the members' efforts behind the scenes, just from the rehearsal just now , I feel everyone’s efforts.”
Akimoto Manatsu praised, "It's very interesting for Ikuta-san to introduce himself while singing, and Takayama-san's every move has the charm of making people laugh. Everyone's self-introduction is very unique, and the performance in the second act is also very exciting."
"Hmm..." Amamiya Sori nodded while listening to her words.
"Did Manatsu-san also participate in the voting?" Amamiya Suga suddenly asked.
"Uh... yes, I voted just now." Akimoto Manatsu instinctively felt that this was a dangerous topic.
"Can I take the liberty of asking who voted for it?" Amamiya Souri asked gently, trying not to make Akimoto Manatsu nervous.
"Well..." Akimoto Manatsu hesitated.
"It's okay, just ask, I won't tell anyone."
"Well..." Akimoto Manatsu thought for a while. This in itself was not something that couldn't be said, and it was just a rehearsal vote, so it didn't matter.
"I voted for Ikuta-san, Shiraishi-san, and Saito Asuka-san." She said who she voted for.
"Any more?"
"No more." Akimoto Manatsu said weakly.
"Eh? Don't you have me?" Amamiya Sori pretended to be resentful.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Akimoto Manatsu saw something was wrong and quickly apologized, "A person can only vote three times. If there is a next time, I will definitely vote for Amamiya-san."
"Really?" Amamiya Shiori looked unbelieving.
"real!"
"Don't lie to me?"
"I will never lie to you." Akimoto Manatsu assured her.
"Pfft~" Amamiya Sōri smiled, "Manatsu-san should vote according to his own wishes, if he comes to watch the official performance in the next few days."
"Eh? Amamiya-san doesn't care?"
"What's the big deal? I was just teasing you."
"Mou~ I told you earlier, I was so nervous just now." Akimoto Manatsu complained. Just now she was really afraid that she would say the wrong thing and make Amamiya unhappy. After all, she is not very familiar with the members. If she gives a bad impression, it will be very difficult for her to return to the team and integrate into the group later.
"Masatsu-san should be back soon, right?"
"Maybe. Konno-san said that the operation seems to have been arranged."
"Really? That's good."
The reporter's interview will begin in a while, and the staff in the corridor are busy coming and going. Amamiya Sōri ended her conversation with Akimoto Manatsu and returned to the background.
Directly behind the stage, Sayuri Matsumura and Rina Ikoma seemed to be discussing something. Hashimoto and Shiraishi stood next to each other.
Hashimoto didn't know if he was careless, but the zipper on the back of his singing uniform was not zipped properly, exposing half of his smooth back.
"Nanamin, the zipper of your skirt is not closed." Amamiya Soi patted Hashimoto's shoulder as he passed by.
As if Hashimoto didn't react, he turned to look at Amamiya Shiori, and then turned back with a serious face.
It seems that Ikoma Rina and Matsumura Sayuri are having a lively chat. Amamiya Souri looked at Shiraishi Mai with a slightly questioning look, and Shiraishi Mai gave her a complicated expression in return.
"Then Osomatsu, who do you think everyone except you is?" It's rare to hear Ikoma speak in such a weak and crying tone.
"But everyone..." Sayuri Matsumura seemed to only focus on the quarrel with Rina Ikoma now, and did not care about the arrival of Amamiya Shiori. "Other people..." She changed to such an ambiguous pronoun.
"Don't say hurtful words like 'other people'." Ikoma sobbed while retorting to Matsumura's words.
"Well, they are under. They don't usually have many opportunities to appear. I have appeared so many times, and there are obviously so many people working with me, but no one chose me just now." Matsumura habitually held his hand and let go. Near the chin, he moved uneasily while speaking in an Osaka accent.
"Sayuri——" Shiraishi and Hashimoto realized that something was wrong, and Matsumura and Ikoma talked about sensitive topics.
