Chapter 169 [Bonus Chapter] 169 - Duet
Chapter 169 [Bonus Chapter] 169 - Duet
My version of Up Down was different from the original version from my past world, mainly because while the original version was extremely country oriented, my version was much more rock oriented.
Even though I liked some of the country songs, that style was very niche because it was also much more interesting to older people than the young audience I've been cultivating since the beginning.
Of course, I know there are a lot of young people who like country music, especially in the South, but I already had my own version of a very successful country song, "A Bar Song," so I didn't need another one.
So I changed the rhythm of "Up Down" to something more rock-oriented to try to make it a more general and universal version, something that not only the southern part of the country would really appreciate, but anyone listening around the world would like.
And seeing how the girls responded to it, it worked very well, as both the birthday girl and her friends were singing and dancing very excitedly in front of the stage.
As I looked further in the background, I saw that the girls' relatives were also smiling and enjoying the song, although the birthday girl's father was looking at me with a strange expression.
When I finally finished singing "Up Down", I took a few breaths, grabbed my bottle of water and drank a lot to soothe my throat.
Since it was a 15-year-old girl's birthday, I didn't want to drink alcohol, so I had to make do with water.
"More people know this song than I thought..." I said with a laugh into the microphone.
"Everyone was watching Duncan Family when I said I was going to invite you to my birthday!" Victoria yelled at me excitedly.
"Ohh, really?! So you're responsible for everyone knowing my music, Ms. Victoria?" I asked jokingly.
Seeing that I was talking to her in such an intimate way, Victoria got even more excited and smiled back. "Yes!"
"I was wondering... since you were responsible for introducing them to my song 'Up Down', do you happen to know any of my other songs?" I asked.
"All of them! I know all your songs!" She exclaimed excitedly.
"Really? Then how about you come up here and pick a song for us to sing along to?" I asked as I held out my hand.
Hearing that, I saw her eyes light up even more and she started nodding quickly as she walked towards the stairs to get up on stage and quickly came to my side as she took my hand.
"What song are you going to sing?" I asked.
~ Bailando she replied with a perfect Spanish accent.
Considering she was turning 15 and having such a big quinceanera party, it wasn't surprising to me that she could speak Spanish, as this party was much more common and appreciated among families of Latin American descent.
Looking at the crowd and noticing Latin features in most of them, I realized that this was another party where I could use my Spanish skills and they would like me even more.
[Spanish Language Skills Lv 23 -> 25]
Since my Spanish lessons at school gave me an 80% learning speed buff, even if I only had a few lessons a week, it was still very useful for quickly increasing my skill level.
And considering that Lv 25 in this skill represented that I had 4 years and 3 months of practice with this language, my pronunciation and comprehension of Spanish at this point was very good, several times better than the last time I appeared in Spanish in the wedding vlog.
~ Hehe, do you happen to know 'bailar' so we can sing Bailando together? ~ I asked in Spanish, looking at Victoria.
Hearing me speak Spanish much better than she thought I could, Victoria was surprised. ~ Si, I can 'bailar' a little... not very well, but if you go easy on me, I think I can... ~
The way she spoke, very shy and with her head down, made her family and friends in the audience laugh.
The only one with an even bigger frown was her father, who wasn't happy to see a boy hitting on his daughter, but his wife just nudged him with her elbow and he had to sigh.
Something I found out later when I was editing the recording that Jason made, which happened to include this scene that would become iconic for the video.
~ Okay, then we can sing this while we dance slower. ~ I said in Spanish, leaving my mic with her while I took another mic for myself.
Since I would be dancing with her, I wouldn't be able to play the guitar, which I gave to Frank, who could play that very well, and I was left with just the microphone in my hand while I held out my other hand for Victoria to hold.
๐ผ๐ถ๐ค
You look at me and, girl, you take me to another place...
Got me feeling like I'm flying, like I'm out of space... n/รด/vel/b//in dot c//om
Something 'bout your body says: Come and take me...
Got me begging, got me hoping that the night don't stop...
๐ผ๐ถ๐ค
Since Victoria was nervous, I started singing and dancing slowly, using my [Dancing Mastery Lv 15] to lead her around the stage with one hand while holding the microphone and singing with the other hand.
At first, Victoria was still a little stiff and nervous, but as I gently led her around the stage, she slowly began to loosen up as she danced more and more freely.
At no point did she sing out loud, she just kept her voice low and hummed the lyrics very softly, concentrating only on the dance steps and how not to mess up the dance.
Luckily for her, I had learned a lot about leading a dance partner in my dance classes at school, which was a great help for her, as she just had to follow the movement of my arms pulling her from one side of the stage to the other, while she just had to concentrate on doing the steps with me to the rhythm of the song.
But finally, when it came to the chorus of the song, Victoria brought the microphone closer to her mouth and I noticed that she wanted to sing this, so I lowered my voice and changed my singing style to be the second voice, making the bass of my voice an accompaniment to the treble of her voice in this section.
๐ผ๐ถ๐ค
I wanna be contigo
And live contigo
And dance contigo
Para have contigo
Una noche loca (una noche loca)
Ay besar tu boca (y besar tu boca)
๐ผ๐ถ๐ค
Surprisingly, Victoria's voice was very good! Even though she had no professional singing training, she managed to keep her voice within the right notes, just slipping into the wrong note every now and then, but to lay ears like the audience, the quality was great!
I only had to adjust my voice once while we were singing together to use my voice to amplify her voice even more, so everything sounded great.
When we finished singing and dancing to the song, instead of just walking away from me, Victoria came over and hugged me happily.
And seeing how happy she was, the audience began to applaud excitedly for our impromptu performance together.
With all these excited reactions, I had to admit to myself.
Even though performing was fun, this life on stage, instantly intensifying the emotions of my audience, was what really motivated me to improve as a performer...