Two weeks had passed, and at last, the long-awaited Global Competition was here.

During those two weeks, Dayo had been busy — not just rehearsing, but also digging diligently to gather as much information as possible concerning Michael and how he operates in the industry. The more he learned, the clearer it became to him that Michael was not just one man pulling strings. There had to be an organization or society backing him, because the level of control he had over artists, labels, and even media outlets was not something a single person could achieve alone.

This realization unsettled Dayo. In his original world, such a system didn't exist. It was foreign to him, dangerous in ways he couldn't yet predict. So he decided on caution. Since Michael hadn't approached him directly with an offer, Dayo chose to play dumb, to observe silently and bide his time making plans to counter him.

For now, all his attention turned to the one thing in front of him — the Global Competition.

The Global Competition, as the name implied, wasn't just another music show. It was the highest stage, the place where limits were tested. It wasn't about whose voice sounds the nicest or hits the notes right. It was about performance, originality, stagecraft, and cultural crossover. An artist wasn't only judged by their voice; they were judged by how they could represent themselves, their country, and sometimes even an entire culture. It is a stage for the top artist potentials.

This was more than a contest — it was the World Cup of music.

The competition was hosted every three years, so one can imagine the anticipation of the competition. The fans wave their flags in their different homes, cheer for their favorite representative, and even cry when they lose.

People stayed up through the night just to catch performances, not just because of the music but the love for their countrymen or women representing them.

Of course, not every country made it to the global stage. The qualification process was brutal.

First came the regional qualifiers inside each country, where contestants fought state by state. From there, the winners advanced to the national qualifiers, where the best of each region clashed. The champions of each nation then moved into the continental stage, where countries within the same continent battled it out until only a handful remained. And finally, those continental champions are pitted at the global finals, the true main stage.

For those who failed to qualify, there were no second chances. Once disqualified, you had to wait another three years before even trying again. And if you managed to qualify once but failed to advance, that was it — your shot was gone forever. The rule was strict: one lifetime, one chance.

This kept the stage fresh, stopped old names from crowding it, and pushed everyone to give their absolute best. Nobody wanted to walk away knowing they'd never compete again. It was either go hard or go home.

But what made the Global Competition unpredictable and interesting was the Wildcard and the Raffle system.

The Wildcard system was for artists who didn't apply for the Global Competition at any stage but had shown extraordinary promise. Judges would sift through thousands of online submissions and cut them down to a shortlist of about 30. From there, the spotlight shifted to the fans. Each contestant performed live, sometimes a cover, an original, and then the global audience was allowed to vote. For a limited time, fans from every corner of the world cast their votes online and through official apps. When the voting closed, the top three artists with the most votes earned a direct pass into the Global Competition. It wasn't just about talent anymore; it was also about support from fans.

Then came the Raffle system, which made the competition even more thrilling. Anyone could apply, not just professional artists, but ordinary people with dreams and raw courage. Millions submitted their names. From this massive pool, names would be shuffled live, broadcast across the world. Two lucky winners would be picked at random and given the chance to perform on stage. Sometimes it was an unknown talent who stunned the world, other times it was a complete surprise, someone who had never sung on a big stage in their life, suddenly thrust before millions. It was risky and chaotic, but that was what made it exciting. The raffle reminded everyone that they can be lucky enough to perform at the Global Competition.

In total, five extra contestants were added each season: three from the Wildcard, and two from the Raffle. These unknown and unpredictable artists ensuring that no matter how stacked the competition seemed, anything could happen.

The structure of the competition itself was also designed to test every possible side of an artist. Some rounds focused purely on solo ability just you, a microphone, and the stage to impress the judge and fans. Others would lead the contestants into randomly assigned teams, giving them barely seventy-two hours to write, rehearse, and perform something together. It was chaos, but it revealed who could adapt and who would crack.

At times, contestants would be asked to perform entirely original songs, showing not just their voice, but their creativity as writers would be tested. In other rounds, head-to-head battles against two artists take the stage back-to-back, each trying to outshine the other in front of the crowd and judges. And then there were cultural fusion challenges, where contestants had to perform in styles or languages outside their own, proving they had global appeal and versatility.

This is one of the funny segments of the show, as some artists would be asked to sing in languages that are foreign to them making them fumble. It's one of the hilarious segment of the show.

Judging the artist wasn't always straightforward either. Some nights, the judges had the final say. Other nights, it was left entirely to the fans — millions voting live in real-time as performances streamed worldwide. And sometimes, the two forces combined: judges gave their scores, fans cast their votes, and together they decided who stayed and who went home. This mix kept the show tense and unpredictable. No one ever really felt safe.

And with all these stakes, the prizes were massive.

1st place (Global Champion): $10 million USD + 2 fully sponsored albums + exclusive global record deal + fully sponsored world tour + endorsements with global brands.

2nd place: $5 million USD + 1 fully sponsored album + collaborations with top international stars.

3rd place: $2.5 million USD + a fully funded continental tour + major marketing push.

Semi-finalists (4th–10th place): $500,000 USD each + recording contract options + guaranteed exposure.

For Dayo, this was more than a competition. It was his chance to leave a mark on the world. He had an advantage that many do not have; he has thousands of unreleased songs in his catalog that no one has heard. He can speak and sing in more than seven languages, not to mention the fact that he is a producer, giving him an edge over others.

But even with all that, he knew the challenge ahead wasn't small. Many of these contestants had been training and preparing for three years, some for even longer. They were hungry, sharp, and relentless.

Also he belive that his stats are still lacking when it came to singing and he was trying hard to push and was seeing differences but he felt it was not still enough.

Still, when Dayo thought about the prize and the chance to stand on the biggest stage in the world, his motivation hardened.

This was it.

The Global Competition had begun.

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