Chapter 159

For those who didn't really understand music, Sienna's song still sounded quite pleasant. But there was an odd feeling to it. After hearing Maddox and Phoebe's comments, they finally understood what felt off: the contradiction in style. Sienna hadn't captured the essence of the song at all.

Lexie, a professional singer, had sensed something was wrong midway through Sienna's performance. She remarked, “Sienna’s singing style is completely mismatched with this song. She’s using such a soft, delicate approach to sing a song that wasn’t meant for that. It’s very contradictory. It also doesn’t fit her personality.” Lexie had a rough idea of what was going on, which only made her dislike Sienna even more.

Quintus chimed in, “Her songwriting style is quite unique. It leans more toward a masculine approach.” That one comment made James and Jimmy catch on immediately. The live stream viewers quickly joined in on the discussion. Sienna’s so-called “self-written” song was starting to seem suspicious; no one could say for sure. Some started suspecting that she had used a ghostwriter. But without evidence, no one could definitively prove it.

After finishing her song, Sienna received a little over half of the green button votes. It was less than what Quintus had gotten, but it put her in second place for now. She returned to her seat as Joshua took the stage. He picked up his guitar and began to sing. Like Sienna, he performed a new emotional ballad. Jenkins Entertainment had poured resources into him, suppressing other singers in the company who could have been competition. But to be fair, he did have some talent; otherwise, he wouldn’t have so many fans. His singing technique and tone were solid, though he lacked emotional depth. Compared to Quintus’s voice, his was still a step below. However, he performed better than Sienna, earning more green button votes than her.

After Joshua’s performance, Maddox chuckled meaningfully. “Sienna and Joshua really are siblings.” He turned to Phoebe and Lexie. “Did you two notice the little quirks in their songs?” Phoebe immediately understood Maddox was doing this on purpose. She smiled and replied, “I did. Every line in their songs ends with the same pattern…” Their songwriting style and habits are exactly alike. She had already noticed the similarities in their songs, so when Maddox asked, she immediately pointed out most of them. Then, Phoebe left some room for Lexie to add on; someone of her skill level would surely catch the rest.

Sure enough, Lexie pointed out some identical songwriting habits. She then sighed. “If we didn’t know better, we’d think they co-wrote these songs. Their style and quirks are completely identical.” Hearing Joshua’s song only confirmed what she had suspected earlier: Sienna hadn’t written her song at all. Joshua had. Lexie despised artists who pulled stunts like this. So, she, Maddox, and Phoebe deliberately pointed it out.

As the discussion heated up, even professional musicians started appearing in the live chat:

[How could two different people have the exact same songwriting style and habits? This is obviously written by the same person.]

[As a professional, I'm calling out Sienna. The song she just performed was clearly written by Joshua.]

|Agreed, it’s too obvious.

[Let me add something. Among the songs Sienna claimed to have written, four share the exact same style and habits. The other four songs also have two entirely different styles and composition habits.]

[No true songwriter could have such drastic inconsistencies in their work.]

[Exactly. Even if an artist experiments with different genres, their personal touch should still be evident. But Sienna’s songs don’t have that at all.]

[I’ve been saying all along that Sienna probably used ghostwriters, but when I mentioned it before, her fans and paid supporters attacked me and forced me off Twitter. Now, finally, people are seeing the truth.]

Even casual listeners started questioning the situation:

[I don’t know much about music, but Sienna’s and Joshua’s songs do sound very similar.]

[No wonder that one part of the song felt like it was written from the male lead’s perspective. It actually was!]

[Sienna is truly impressive. She managed to make a top-tier singer be her ghostwriter.]

[Isn’t she a graduate of a music academy? Does she seriously not know how to write songs!]

[She started her career primarily as an actress. If she can’t compose, she should just sing other people’s songs openly. Why pretend to be a songwriter!]

[This is Jodia’s fault for enabling her.]

[I mean, they have a close relationship. Swapping songs isn’t that unusual, is it?]

[Yeah, if the cameraman had arrived a little later last time, I bet they’d already be making out. Sharing songs is the least of it?]

[This is disrespectful to professionals and other singers.]

[I used to think that Joshua was only focused on singing and was a good singer. Now, it seems that I was wrong.]

[I didn’t expect my idol to be such a person. I also made a mistake-]

[I can’t believe my idol turned out like this. I’m done. Unfollowing.]

Joshua’s fans, especially those who admired him for his songwriting skills, were deeply disappointed. Seeing fans leaving, Joshua’s major fan accounts tried to calm them down. Meanwhile, Sienna’s die-hard supporters tried to argue back that Joshua didn’t use ghostwriters himself; he just helped Sienna with a few songs. But they were quickly countered. The problem wasn’t that he wrote songs for her; the problem was that Sienna falsely claimed them as her own. That was false advertising. Some thought Joshua wasn’t completely innocent either. He was complicit in deceiving and manipulating his fans. It was unethical. The arguments escalated, but one thing was clear: no one was denying that Joshua was the true songwriter. The exposé was a complete success.

Sienna soon became a trending topic for all the wrong reasons. Among those criticizing her, many were Jamar’s fans and Joshua’s supporters. Meanwhile, at the bar, Sienna had no idea she was trending again. When she saw the results of the singing competition’s audience vote, she forced a smile and congratulated Joshua. But deep inside, she felt disappointed. She didn’t even make it to the next round. An overwhelming sense of frustration and irritation took over her. She couldn’t explain why, but she had a strong feeling that something was working against her.

Sienna had entered the entertainment industry not just to compete with Phoebe, but to become a superstar. That was why she had chosen to attend a music academy in the first place. Once she became a top-tier celebrity, the more people loved her, the stronger her fortune and influence would grow. If this were before, she was certain she would have reached the final round. But now, her luck had declined, and it had completely disrupted her plans. She glanced at Phoebe, her eyes filled with resentment. She thought this was all Phoebe’s fault. Phoebe had ruined her strategy, caused her public image to collapse, and made her situation incredibly difficult to recover from. Now, winning back the audience’s favor wouldn’t be as easy as she had hoped. She needed to be extremely careful in the next few days and put on a perfect performance to change public perception.

After Joshua’s performance, several other contestants took the stage. Quintus had the highest votes, followed by Joshua. According to the bar’s competition rules, the two finalists had to perform the same song in a one-on-one battle. The audience would then vote for who sang it best.