26 Catwalk and grades

Finally after a long hour of waiting the models were called one by one to pass on the stage, a guy dressed in a simplistic suit went first, he walked slowly on the long carpet, took a natural position at the end of it and went back.

Slowly the people inside the waiting room started going, one after the other and finally came the three bullies's turns, they all went one after the other. The guy who did the bet with Sam was probably the best of this batch as the applauses sounded stronger than the rest of the people that went before him.

When he came back in the room he looked confident and even winked at Sam with a smug smile, he felt like the judges were subjugated by his performance, it wasn't for nothing that the applauses sounded stronger for him.

On his part Sam didn't care at all about what the judges thought about his performance,

Sam had already been waiting in that room for an hour before the show and still waited another half an hour for his turn, while waiting and browsing through his phone he received an email

The content was as follow

« Dear Mr.Sam,

We are very happy to announce you that the preliminary auditions of « La France a un incroyable talent » are over and the date of the live round is : 3rd May... 

...

Thanks for your consideration.

Sincerely.»

The next round would be happening in one week, he was focused on the show so he close the email and put it somewhere in the back of his mind.

The person holding the list of the candidates was a middle aged woman, she was also holding a timer. Each model had one minute and a half on stage, after that she sent the next one even if the last one didn't end, she was doing her job just as asked.

She called

« Sam Petit it's your turn. »

Sam stood up, nodded to her and went toward the stage's entrance. He went through the door and analyzed the stage for a second, the stage was around 20 meters long. On each side were around fifty people sitting, je would have felt pressured by this audience a few weeks ago but he had sang in front of at least a thousand people's during the talent show.

In front of the stage were 4 people sitting and watching him, each holding a notebook. Sam took the first few steps with a small smile, very neutral just as if he was taking a stroll inside a park, usually models wouldn't smile during these kind of shows but he felt like he had to be unique, anyway such a neutral smile wouldn't make him lose points in the judges eyes.

He slowly walked until he arrived in front of the judges, he took off his jacket and flicked itover his shoulder and went back. Everything happened very smoothly, he did nothing too flashy, he just displayed his basics and it worked.

« He was the greatest tonight, we don't need a show off. What we need is someone that can showcase the greatness of the clothes, that boy before him obviously tried to shine but it casted a shadow on the clothes he wore, this boy was in the shadow and the clothes were totally in the light, his basics were also perfected.»

Said one of the judges to the other three, this was the effect of the level two skill book, it gave him an advanced level so of course he was better than those aspiring models.

« He also didn't stick to the norms, he was the only one that had a different facial expression, he gave me a refreshing feeling. I also think he was the best today. »

Said the only male judge.

« The clothes he wore were also very good, It wasn't unique enough but it definitely impacted me more than the rest we've seen today. »

« I think we are all thinking the same thing, both the designer and the model were better than the rest of this batch. Let's watch the remaining few and make it the end. »

After another quarter of an hour everybody was done and the designers joined their models in the room while waiting for the judges to deliberate on the grades.

« Sam you did great ! How come you became better at walking so suddenly ? »

Rena came over while smiling from ear to ear, she was feeling like her choice of model was perfect.

« Hahah even I don't know, I usually perform better under pressure. »

« Anyway I don't think anybody can beat you today, I saw the way the judges looked at you.»

"Hahaha don't make me laugh, this rookie will win over us ? Be ready to give me your bike man."

Said Jimmy, the guy who he did the bet with , he and his friends were sitting right across Sam and Rena. With them were also their designers that also saw the full contest, they also felt like Sam did great but they weren't specialists of catwalks so they weren't sure who will win but them and Rena still looked curiously at Sam and the group of three.

"Why would you have to give him your bike Sam ?"

Rena asked and everybody else also looked at him to know the answer, it wasn't everyday that you heard such a ridiculous thing.

"We did a bet, whoever get the best grade wins something belonging to the other."

"And your bike is at stake ?! What did he bet for you to accept ? Your bike looks so expensive !"

"His car."

Everybody looked at Jimmy, they had seen him sitting on his Porsche when they came in earlier so everybody guessed that was the bet.

'Are these guys crazy to bet that much money ? I get it for Jimmy as i heard that his dad is filthy rich but what about Sam ?'

Seconds later the woman with that lost that was announcing the names one by one came in the room and said

"Everybody on stage, designers stay with your models please."

Everybody went over, there were at least 40 people walking on stage, each group was made of a designer and a model.

"You all performed great, both the designers and the models. Today the reward that the first duo will be a page in a famous magazine to showcase your talent."

Said one of the judges as she stood up, she was dressed, styled and made up perfectly, as she was the first one to speak and also in the middle it could be guessed that she was the leader of the group of four, or at least that she had the highest position.

"We'll enunciate the grades from worst to best, first the designer's grades then the model's grades, don't feel too bad ifyou are ranked low. Hard work is more important than talent, if you don't give up and keep working hard you chance will come eventually !"

Finally she started telling the grades, one by one designers lowered their head, they had given it their all but couldn't even rank in the top three.

When she made it to the top three Rena's name wasn't told yet and the fourth had 7,5 out of 10 so she couldn't get less than that.

Sam looked at her and smiled, of course he was proud of her as he also helped in the making of these clothes.

"Third : Paul Thomas, congratulations your grade is 8 points out of ten. You should try being bolder in your making, I felt like your clothes lacked boldness."

Since he was the third the issue with his clothes weren't obvious, she was just giving him advices to step up as nothing was perfect, these experts of course even had advices for the first.

"Second : Rena Gall, congratulations your grade is 9 out of ten. Your clothes are great, I'll give you the same advice as the person before you, you stayed in the safe zone, if you don't take a step out of it you won't the able to become a world class designer."