The music started. I let the notes wash over me, waiting for the part where I start singing and started. The vocals came first, low and steady. I kept my breathing controlled, hitting each note cleanly. My voice cracked at a note but I ignored ot and continued singing. Then the dance. I thought of all the pain I've been through recently and poured it into my movement. A reaching hand, trying to grab something out of reach. A turn away, rejection and isolation. A collapse, giving up and breaking down. Then a slow rise, desperate determination to keep going. The choreography was simple but I meant every second of it. Let every gesture carry the weight of real pain, longing and desperation. When the music ended, I was breathing hard, my heart pounding and I could feel a faint pain in my abdomen. The room was silent. The judges looked at each other, having some silent conversation with their expressions. “Well,” the first judge said. “That was…something.” “Your vocals are p