Dominate Showbiz: Media Tycoon Discovered My Talent-Chapter 121: Press Meeting

The press conference hall was packed, every single seat filled. If the rows at the back were occupied by fans holding banners and hand signs, the front rows were taken by journalists and reporters from all sorts of media outlets.

Murmurs filled the small hall, but the moment the door beside the front stage opened, the chatter died, replaced by the rapid clicking of camera shutters, rapid-fire questions from reporters, and excited shouts from fans.

The girl they had all come to see since yesterday had finally arrived. Behind her stood the head of PR and the CEO of the label himself.

She wore a light blue midi dress, more modest and flowy than the one she had worn for her viral performance, yet no less elegant.

A podium was set up at the center of the stage, waiting for her. The entire time she walked toward it, camera flashes never stopped, yet her face remained lit with a faint smile, not a single hint of nervousness.

"Hello everyone," she said into the mic, gaze sweeping unhurriedly across the room. "I’m Kaija Sepala, and I am KE’s newest artist."

The room didn’t calm down after her greeting. It only grew more chaotic, voices piling over one another as everyone fought for her attention.

"Kaija, is it true that you’ve only trained for less than three months?"

"Kaija! How do you feel about losing the KE Annual Festival?"

"Kaija! Is KE trying to divert public attention from the unfair result by letting you debut so abruptly?"

"Kaija! Just one question, please!"

"Kaija!"

Seeing that the journalists were more than ready to drown the star of the day in questions, the head of PR stepped forward, raising both hands to calm the madness.

"Ladies, gentlemen, please take turns and coordinate with our staff for any questions you may have for Kaija," he said.

Only then did the chaos begin to die down, and some semblance of order emerged.

The star of the day poked the mic, eyes wandering to the ceiling as she recalled the details on the paper the head of PR had given her earlier.

"Alright, everyone," Kaija continued into the mic, "before we get into the Q&A, allow me to announce my upcoming debut first.

"So... I’ve been lucky enough to receive so much love for my performance of The Artist Behind the Star at the festival, and so my label, KE, has decided that this will be my first released single.

"It is scheduled to be released this weekend, since... well, I had already worked on the studio version of the song before the festival.

"I will also be making my first live television performance on the weekly music chart show called... uh... S Top Hundred.

"So... stay tuned and vote for my debut performance. You can watch it live on the Muzik Channel, or on online video streaming platforms.

"No actually, come to the filming set at the Muzik Open Hall and watch it live. It’ll be more fun, hopefully."

She finished with a small shrug.

Behind her, the head of PR, who was now seated at the chairs readily arranged on the left side of the stage, could only feel his head start to spin.

As soon as her announcement ended, the conference hall was once again flooded with shouted questions.

Her gaze darted left and right at how the journalists were basically shouting at the staff for their turn.

With a tiny sigh, she clapped her hands together, a small mischievous smile lighting up her face. "Why don’t we make it fun and suspenseful for everyone here today?" she said, "I’ll choose each of you at random, and you ask away, yeah?"

At her words, the Head of PR almost jumped from his seat.

"That’s not how it’s supposed to go!" he screamed in his head, but next to him, Charles stopped him cold with a hand to his shoulder.

"Just let her do what she feels is right to do and see," he said, expressionless as ever.

The Head of PR reluctantly settled back into his seat, streams of sweat trickling down the sides of his face.

Kaija ran a finger across the screaming audience, sending them into an even wilder frenzy where her finger was pointing at.

At last her finger stopped at a man wearing a red tie.

"You, mister red tie!" she called. "Guys, give him the mic, please. Ask away!"

"Kaija!" the journalist cried, frantically reaching for the mic as if his chance might slip away in seconds. "Please tell us whether you think the competition results were rigged, and whether the label is now making you debut to cover up their mistake in not naming you the winner!"

Kaija’s face twitched slightly.

She stole a glance over Charles, as if asking for his permission to speak freely. At his slight nod, the faint smile returned to her face.

"Well, the results were decided by the judges," she said, "and all of our judges are professionals in the field.

"They’ve worked with KE for half of their lives and have seen countless performances at the festival. I’m sure their opinions are based on experience.

"As for why I get to debut, I believe it’s because I was lucky enough to receive so much love from everyone present today, which has nothing to do with the competition results."

The moment she finished, shouted questions drowned the room once again.

"Alrighty, you in the yellow dress," she said, pointing to another corner of the hall. "Give her the mic, please!"

"Kaija, I’d like to ask about how you became a trainee at KE," the journalist said into the mic. "We’ve heard rumors that you didn’t go through any audition at all, and that you were personally scouted by the CEO of the label, Mr. Charles Kosonen, who is on the stage with you right now.

"What is the nature of your relationship? Are you his new girlfriend? Has he broken up with his latest girlfriend, or are there other women involved in your relationship and you’re okay with it?"

Kaija’s smile began to show signs of cracking.

In his chair, Charles had also gone stiff.

Five seconds later, the smile vanished from Kaija’s face at once. She leaned over the podium, her voice rising through the mic.

"Hey, listen, miss," she said, her voice dropping low with anger. "Are you suggesting that our CEO is so tone-deaf that he only recruits people he brings to bed with?

"Under Mr. Kosonen, KE has produced some of the most talented and successful artists this country has ever seen, including Karl Hanski.

"Are you going to frame the next female artist who enters this label without going through a traditional audition as his girlfriend as well?

"Or are you suggesting that I’m so talentless that I need to be his girlfriend to be standing where I am today?"

The journalist bit down on her lip, her jaw tightening. All eyes in the room turned her way, cold glares gleaming in them, making her face darken by the second.

Reluctantly, the woman settled back into her seat in silence, handing the mic back to the staff.

Satisfied, Kaija spoke into the mic again. "Listen, everyone," she said. "Let’s make one thing clear before we continue, yeah? 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Just because you’re allowed in here doesn’t mean you can ask whatever question you want without thinking it through first.

"Have some decency before you open your mouth, or I’ll have to ask you to leave.

"Besides, this press meeting today is about my upcoming debut. Please do not ask questions that involve other people’s personal lives."

Rows of journalists nodded in unison at the growl in her tone, their faces paling.

They all sank back into their seats, finally behaving themselves instead of shouting questions like wild animals.

By the time the journalists were close to running out of questions, Kaija was nearly dozing off, her throat dry from speaking continuously for two hours straight.

At last, she could at least be glad that after her reprimand, the later questions were more civilized, though behind her, the head of PR had been holding his head in his palm the entire time.

Never in his life had he seen an artist talk to the press in such a casual manner, let alone scold and lecture them like that.

He couldn’t tell whether, after today, Kaija’s career would end before it even began, or whether this would mark the beginning of an evolution in press etiquette.

"All right, everyone," Kaija said firmly into the mic, sharp blue gaze eyeing the faces now sitting neatly before her like well-behaved cats. "If there are no more questions, I’d like to conclude today’s press meeting."

But just as she finished her words and turned around, she saw Charles rise from his seat and walk toward her.

She met him halfway, blinking slowly in confusion. "You have a speech to make?" she asked under a whisper. She couldn’t recall him mentioning that he would be speaking.

"Yes," he whispered back. "Stay just a little longer, will you? There’s one last part I haven’t told you about. It won’t take long."