Life on queue

                    (photo: abs-cbn.com)

“You could not eat or drink something once you are inside Studio 8,” the marshal announced and the people seemed to ignore the fact that some of their basic rights and needs are going to be deprived as the studio’s doors open. The movements of the people seemed to intensify as the time to get inside was nearing. Some fixed their hair while others checked their outfits. The tarpaulin with the pictures of their idols came out from their tote bags and some donned accessories with the names of the movie stars they adore were printed.

You feigned a nonchalant expression but a whole new world is opened to you. The chance happened when an old friend tagged you along to the Grand Finals of The Voice Teens where a girl from their place was a finalist. Since you did not have anything to do for the day, you joined him.

The fans started their queue at 2:00 p.m. The show would go on live TV at 7:05. You computed the number of hours you will spend with just the queuing and the time inside the studio. You wished you brought with you a book that you could browse while the time snails to the director’s cue. Yet, you realized that the experience and the people around you are like books to be read.

When you got inside, you told the marshal that you need to eat in the canteen since you have a medical condition. Your blood sugar must not go down. Hypoglycemia is not interesting in show business. The guard seemed indifferent to the facts presented. Probably, he already experienced a worse kind of human being compared to your boring monotone. The rest of the pack stayed in the studio and started giggling with some wannabes hovering around the stage.

The floor director came and instructed the studio audience about the do’s and don’ts while the show goes live. He then arranged the better-looking and better-dressed attendees in the first row to be more “camera-friendly”. You then thought about marginalization of the aesthetically-deprived but no one seemed to mind.

Then, Toni Gonzaga came. An ear-splitting scream came out of the young girls beside you and you were pushed on the side as they rushed to the ask for some pictures taken. The series of screaming and flaunting continued as more stars came inside the studio…

Lea Salonga sat on a couch near you and you asked her about how she handles this chaos. She shrugged and told you that “it is how it is!”

The show commenced with the floor director telling the studio audience to raise the balloons and release more energy from the body movements to the intensity of the screams. An hour and some minutes doing that exhausted you. Yet, nary a trace of tiredness could be seen on the faces of the people around especially the young ones.

You thought that the activity would end after the last performance. But when you took your late dinner inside a fast-food chain, the coven was still there: The different teams donning the faces of the COACHES (Sarah, Bamboo, Lea and Sharon) printed on their shirts. They were on for the online voting.

By the time we went out of the store, the groupies were still stopped on their gadgets using their different accounts to vote for the stars their idols have mentored.

It was more like a religion. They adore their idols so much that they are willing to sacrifice their time, talents and treasures to "glorify" the stars. They bring flowers, make sure that the framed images of the stars are well-displayed and adorned in their rooms. Their faith is so strong they would fight for their beloved. They are holding to this crutch believing that when they will be touched and held by their idolized stars, they experience bliss; they are transported to an incandescent place...They will experience a miracle!

You pondered on this so hard your exhaustion escalated to the next level. When you crawled on the hotel bed, you directly went to oblivion.