Rewind With A Superstar System

Chapter 140: Award Show (4)

<🎧 Song Recommendation: Never Say Never by Justin Bieber, Jaden>

...

The show continued, and just an hour later it was time to announce the Best Music Video.

Von hadn’t received a hip-hop nomination for Masquerade, which had annoyed him slightly when the list came out. But the video was a different story.

"The winner for Best Independent Video is... Masquerade, by Von."

Von walked up for the third time. The room was starting to feel the weight of his sweep. He accepted the award, thanking the director and Vanguard, while dedicating the award to the fans.

It was because of them Masquerade even had a music video, so it was only right for Von to do so.

He walked back to his table and set the third glass trophy down next to the others. He had now picked up three awards in a single evening. It was already a historic night for a debut artist.

"Three in the bag. Do you think you can break the record?" Emily said while leaning close to his ears.

Von adjusted his seat and looked at her. "Which record?"

"Two years back, a pop trio called Pink Lions picked up five awards in one night from five nominations. That’s still the most haul in a single night in the history of this broadcast."

Von thought about it for a second. He looked back at the stage where the crew was setting up for the next presenter.

"That’ll be fun," he said casually. "But it’s not up to me. The votes are already cast. If I can’t break the record, I won’t be disappointed."

"That’s strange. You’re not looking as hungry as I’d want you to be." Emily frowned slightly.

Von sighed, making sure his voice didn’t carry over the loud background music. He knew Emily was right. Even though he wanted to sweep the awards, sitting here in the front row was making him question many things.

"I want to win, Emily," Von admitted. "But I’m just looking around and wondering how insanely fast things are moving. A year ago, I was literally nobody. Now I’ve got three trophies and half the executives in this room are staring at the back of my head. Sometimes I feel like I’ve done too much in too short of a time."

Emily smiled at his words.

"I want you to understand something right now. That’s exactly how success feels. It feels overwhelming. It feels like you’re moving too fast and doing too much. But the moment you start believing you’ve done enough, that is usually the end of most talented people."

"The graveyard of this industry is filled with prodigies who got comfortable. You shouldn’t feel satisfied. You should never feel satisfied. If becoming the best was truly your dream, you have to always strive to attain more. The hunger can’t die just because you got a few heavy pieces of glass on your table. Understand?"

Von thought of her words. He thought about his second chance, and his childhood aspirations and then looked at the three trophies.

She was absolutely right. His system, his regression, his endless hours in the studio and on the streets, he hadn’t done all of that just to settle for a good debut year.

"You’re right. Thanks."

Now, he really wanted to win them all.

Up next, the announcer called for Record of the Year. This was the award for the best overall album.

The presenter opened the envelope while the massive background screens cycled through the nominees, showing the album covers and artist names.

"And the Record of the Year goes to... Tie Me Up On A Train by SadBoiNoJob."

A cheer went up from the middle of the ballroom.

It was Von’s first lost nomination of the night. This category was undoubtedly the toughest of all of them, so he wasn’t too surprised. He applauded respectfully, but his interest remained fixed on SadBoiNoJob as the artist walked up to the stage.

He was dressed in a baggy black hoodie and wore a flat, smooth white mask over his face. Drawn on the front of the mask in thick black marker were simply two dots and a curved line forming a sad face: :( No one knew his real identity, that was just the image he was selling. No one could even tell if he was attending the show personally, or that was just a decoy.

"Well," the host joked into the microphone as he handed over the award. "This is your second award tonight, so I guess you’re not sad anymore."

SadBoiNoJob only chuckled behind the mask. "Maybe," he replied in a distorted voice. He quickly gave a small, humble speech thanking his team before walking off.

Von knew the guy’s history. SadBoiNoJob was another massive artist who had popped off last year. In some metrics, he was even bigger than Von because he had managed to grab two nominations at the actual Grammys with his debut album, along with his two awards tonight.

He was signed with an independent label, which gave him a massive budget while keeping him qualified for this particular independent award.

Ten minutes later, the broadcast continued.

"Our next award is a special one," the announcer’s voice boomed. "It goes to the artist who handled their entire business without a middleman. The winner for Self-Released Record of the Year is..."

The presenter opened the envelope.

"The Only Key That Knocks, by Dropout Boogie."

The crowd cheered again. A murmur of surprise ran through some of the tables near the front. Many expected Von to easily win that one.

But his album, Lost & Found, was released a few months before the prime voting period began. Even though it was undeniably more commercially successful than the previous winners and shattered streaming records, it still caught the snub from the traditional voting committee.

Even Von felt a bit disappointed with this particular loss. He expected to win it, considering Lost & Found was the definition of self-released success. All its features even featured independent artists.

Dropout Boogie, a veteran rock duo wearing denim jackets, walked up to the stage. They had been independent for years now and were seen as true, grinding inspirations to other indie artists in the room.

The lead singer took the mic. "We’ve been doing this out of our garage for a decade, so this means everything." He looked down at the front row.

"And we have to say, it was an honor competing for this award with Von and the other nominees. Keep being you, man. You’re pushing all of us to work harder."

That unexpected shoutout brought a genuine smile to Von’s face that remained hidden under his black mask. He gave them a respectful nod, deciding to stay put and focus as the show continued.

Just twenty minutes later, they announced Independent Song of the Year.

"And the winner is... It Doesn’t Even Matter, Von featuring Alex."

Von immediately stood up. Alex met him in the aisle, laughing behind his hand. It was their second trophy together for the night, and they were all smiles as they walked up the stairs to receive it.

This time, they didn’t give any prepared speech. They just leaned into the microphone, delivered a few genuine "thank yous" to the fans and their team, and quickly returned to their seats.

Von set the trophy down. Four wins out of six nominations wasn’t bad at all.

Now, there was only one final award before the night was completely over. It was the best one of the entire broadcast. Breakthrough Artist of the Year.

The winner of this category wasn’t just recognized for a good song; they were officially crowned as the next big thing.

The lights dimmed one last time. The low, dramatic orchestral music began playing through the massive ballroom speakers. The lingering chatter across the room died down completely.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the announcer said, his voice echoing perfectly in the tense silence.

"To present our final award of the evening, Breakthrough Artist of the Year... please welcome the CEO of Cloudary Holdings, Mr. Rex Sterling."

The crowd applauded as Rex walked out from the side stage.

Rex grabbed the edges of the podium and smiled out at the crowd.

"Good evening," Rex said while reading from a piece of paper resting on his podium. "Tonight, we’ve seen incredible talent. We’ve seen veterans prove why they are legends, and we’ve seen newcomers shake the very foundation of this industry."

Rex paused, looking up from the paper. He looked directly at Von’s table in the front row.

"The Breakthrough Artist award isn’t just about who had a good year," Rex continued, his voice projecting power. "It’s about who changed the rules. It’s about who looked at the closed doors of this business and decided to kick them down instead of knocking. The nominees in this category are the future of music."

Rex reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out the heavy silver envelope. He held it up to the stage light for everyone to see while the screen behind him cycled through the nominees.

"And the winner for Breakthrough Artist of the Year is..."

Rex slid his finger under the seal of the envelope. He pulled out the card, looked at the name, and opened his mouth to speak.

But no words came out.

Rex suddenly stopped moving. He stood perfectly still behind the podium. His eyes widened slightly, staring blankly over the heads of the crowd.

Before anyone could even register that something was wrong, his hands went limp. The envelope slipped from his fingers. He fell backward, hitting the stage floor with a heavy thud.

In a matter of seconds after his fall, as the camera briefly zoomed in on his unconscious face, it could be seen that his lips had turned into a pale, sickly blue color.

The whole room delved into chaos after that.