A/N: The X-Factor!Blam story nobody asked for. Someone asked me to put it here, so I figured why not. The formatting for some certain parts of the story is a bit wonky because of ff, so if you find that that bothers you, you can find this story posted on AO3, where I originally posted it under the same title. (Story ID: 1235782)
I've never auditioned for the X-Factor, so the process is just from some accounts I've Googled around and I've probably missed a bunch of things. Also, my mental song library is very small lol so as far as their song choices go, I apologize. If you have any song suggestions for the next part, please feel free to tell them. (Why am I even writing this fic? I don't know anymore)
Any usernames (twitter and tumblr) used have NOT been checked are in no way affiliated with this fic, so if they do exist, oops, sorry?
It starts like this.
It's a quiet Saturday afternoon and Blaine and Sam are nicely situated on their ridiculously comfortable couch, with Sam laid out and his head rested on Blaine's lap and Blaine idly running his hands through Sam's blonde hair while they watched an outdated Bruce Willis action movie. One of the Die Hard's, probably, they don't really care to find out. It's the thought of having enough time and peace to enjoy mindless television in between Blaine's auditions and Sam's part-time job and their studies for once that counts. It's so horribly domestic, Santana would say, that you could feel the cavities forming on your teeth.
Then Tina bursts into their apartment without preamble, dropping her purse somewhere along the walk from the door to their couch and planting herself on Sam's legs.
"You're both auditioning with me." She tells (commands) them.
"Why did we give her a key, again?" Sam mutters while he tries to dislodge his legs from under TIna.
"Because we're good friends." Blaine replies without a second thought. "Hello, Tina. Nice to see you, Tina. How can we help you, Tina?"
"You two." Tina points at both of them. "Are going with me down to Long Island. Where we are all going to audition for the X Factor."
Blaine blinks. "Wasn't that axed after season 3?"
"Unless you're talking about the British one." Sam, his legs free, sits up. "Are we doing the British one?"
"No," Tina rolls her eyes. "They're going to try to bring it back. American Idol has been dead for years and the Voice just isn't cutting it anymore. Don't even talk about America's Got Talent. The masses need a singing competition to spend their Fall weekday nights on so. X Factor."
Blaine and Sam share a look. Blaine raises an eyebrow, Sam's nose twitches, Blaine bites his upper lip, and Sam curls his mouth. Their "weird, telepathy thing" (as their friends have taken to call it) doesn't even phase Tina anymore. (It does still annoy her sometimes, though.)
"Okay," Sam says and Blaine nods at her. "We'll go with you. Are we gonna do a group thing or what?"
"I'm going solo," Tina tells them. "You two do whatever you want. But if I get through and neither of you don't, then you'll have to be the ones fawning over me backstage, okay?"
"As if we'd do anything else," Blaine grins.
Blaine and Sam decide to register solo. As fun it would be to audition together as Blam, a little bit of friendly competition between them couldn't hurt. Besides, maybe it'll raise the chances that one of them three will go through the competition. (Sam bets it'll be Blaine considering he's a better performer and impossible to dislike, Blaine disagrees and says Sam has a great voice and that America is always a sucker for Boy-Next-Door types like Sam. They agree to disagree and share a kiss while Tina tweets about being friends with an old married couple. Almost all of their mutual friends like and retweet it.)
On March, they head down to Long Island early armed and ready with necessities. Blaine brings a huge textbook for a class he has a midterm on the day after the next after auditions are over, and Sam brings sheets of notes and his laptop for a paper due on midnight tomorrow. Tina is glad her mid-term hell week was last week, so she concentrates on trying to decide which song to do for the first round and making sure Blaine is appropriately caffeinated and Sam isn't about to have an essay-related breakdown.
A few hours later, they're up for the first round of auditions. True to the accounts from a few years ago, being able to sing really well didn't mean being able to go through to the next round. It was disheartening to see a bunch of talented girls and guys do the walk of shame while a bunch of terrible voices do the walk of glory.
"Well now we know why this show got axed," Sam murmurs to the two of them and they share nervous giggles.
Because despite years of show choir and auditions, you never do get rid of pre-audition nerves. At least, the three of them don't. And Sam hasn't even done an audition since Glee, being an art student and content to keep his singing between friends, his guitar, and the occasional bar.
They get herded into separate booths, sending good lucks to each other before each facing a producer or two. Sam can pick out Blaine singing a P!nk song, of course, from the mass of voices while he opts for something by Jason Mraz. Shockingly enough, he gets a yes, and finds himself holding a golden ticket. It's only a few minutes later that he has an armful of Blaine, holding his own golden ticket, and suddenly Tina is there with her own.
Damn lucky, that's what they are.
Their luck held strong for the second round the next day. It was similar as the first round, with just as much waiting, to Sam's dismay.
"Is it like this for your auditions?" He asks Blaine while they waited to be called, idly plucking the strings of his guitar.
Blaine laughs weakly, "The waiting isn't this bad."
"Dude, I'm never auditioning for a show like this ever again."
But the three of them do get to go through. They're asked to come back a few months later, in the summer, to sing for the judges. In the meantime, they each get through the last semester of their respective college careers. They graduate, Sam and Blaine celebrate their fourth anniversary, and they tentatively start job hunting. Sam does a smattering of art shows, his pieces becoming a little more popular lately, while Blaine does a few off-Broadway roles. Tina and Mike are thinking of opening a small dance studio, but that's still in the air and probably far in the future.
Then finally, in one particularly hot July day, finally it was time to sing in front of the judges.
"Oh god," Tina groaned while they were backstage. They could hear the sound of someone butchering Britney Spears' Oops I Did It Again in center stage. "I'm going to die. Why are we doing this."
Blaine pats Tina consolingly, shooting Sam a look when it looked like he was about to say something like 'Well, it was your idea in the first place.'
Tina goes first, after a black woman who belts out Queen gets a yes. Despite any apparent nerves she has, Tina walks to the X on the stage with her head held high and a smile on her face. Sam and Blaine are standing right in front of the television backstage, doing their duty as her fanboys.
Tina Cohen-Chang, she introduces herself, born and raised in Lima, Ohio but went to school here in New York. She lives with her boyfriend Mike, who couldn't make it today because he's rehearsing for a very important dance thing. So instead, she dragged her best friends to audition with her.
And when Sharon Osbourne gives her the go to sing, she gets the crowd going and the judges interested with an Amy Winehouse song.
Sharon, Kelly Rowland, Adam Levine give her encouraging praise, while Simon Cowell is a little bit more judgemental. Of course he is. Still, Tina goes through to be considered for the four chair challenge with three yeses and a "I'll give you another chance" in her pocket.
"One down, two to go," Tina jokes in between hugs from each of them.
Sam goes next, guitar strapped on him and looking very much like the All-American Boy with his flannel and jeans and sweet smile. The girls in the crowd go wild. Kelly already has a pleased smile on her face.
"The Sam Evans charm is up to a 100%" Tina says as they watch Sam from the TV.
"It's always up to a 100%" Blaine grins. "It doubles when he's shirtless, though."
"Hi," Kelly Rowland greets him sweetly. Simon rolls his eyes knowingly at the other end of the table. "What's your name, sweetheart?"
"Sam Evans, ma'am," He replies, his smile turning bashful when the girls start screaming again.
"And where're you from, Sam?"
"Ohio, but I went to school in New York."
"Oh?" Kelly gestures to the side of the stage with her hand, "You must be one of Tina's friends then?"
Sam laughs sheepishly, and Tina swears the audience melts. Blaine definitely has his dopey love expression on. "Yeah," Sam rubs the back of his neck with a hand, "She kinda commanded the two of us to audition, too. Can't say no to a lady."
"God, he has them hook-line-and-sinker." Tina nudges Blaine. "Better watch out, Blaine, he's definitely gonna be on TV and America's gonna love him."
"Right, Sam Evans, let's hear you sing."
And Sam sings. He does an Ed Sheeran song, rearranged a bit to make it more Sam, and yeah, he's definitely going through. The crowd and judges love him.
"You have this charm about you, Sam," Simon even says.
With a yes from all four of them, Sam gets greeted to an enthusiastic hug from Blaine, who's practically bouncing in place.
"Two down, one to go," Sam grins, rubbing Blaine's back and pressing their foreheads together. "Show 'em what you got, baby."
"Another cute boy," Kelly comments as Blaine walks to the X on the stage. "I'm liking this, keep them coming!"
"Down, kitty," Simon drawls as the audience laughs. It's Adam who greets him and asks for his name.
"Blaine Anderson," He replies, oozing sincere politeness.
"Let me guess, from Ohio but studied in New York?" Adam teases. Blaine chuckles in response and nods.
"Guilty as charged." Blaine grins. "I'm the last of our trio, don't worry."
When the notes of a Christina Aguilera song starts playing, the camera zooms to the judges faces, showing surprised and raised eyebrows. Simon, especially, looks skeptical. But then Blaine sings, and Sam knows better than anyone how far he's improved. If he was great in high school, then now, after four years of proper performing arts training, he's absolutely fantastic.
He kills the song. The audience is on their feet and the judges are pleasantly shocked. Kelly is even giving him a standing ovation, and the other three are clapping hard.
"Boy, if there are any more of you 'from Ohio, but studying in New York' types like you and your friends, you gotta bring them all out!" Kelly exclaims.
Simon is first to say yes, and the other three enthusiastically say the same. Blaine is still thanking them profusely when Tina grabs Sam's arm and barrells the both of them straight to Blaine. They squeeze each other on stage, laughing, before finally thanking the amused judges one more time and running off stage.
"Oh, if none of us go to the four chair challenge, I'm going to sic my wrath at them." Tina says, looping her arms around one of Sam's and one of Blaine's.
"So, are we gonna break the news to New Directions yet?" Sam asks, because other than Mike, no one else knew they were even auditioning.
"Oh please," Tina sniffs. "As if you guys want to listen to Rachel and Kurt's opinions on TV singing competitions. We'll do it when we're live on television."
"You know, it is possible that none of us would go through." Blaine points out, always the sensible one. "They probably have hundreds of contestants."
"Don't be ridiculous." Tina says firmly. "If none of us go through, I'm eating my knee-high Doc Marten's."
tinacc: good day w/ blaineling & samchameleon
blaineling: tinacc more like crazy!
samchameleon: blaineling tinacc crazy good day!
Tina doesn't end up eating her knee-high Doc Marten's.
The Girl's category is called up first, and Sam and Blaine anxiously wait with the rest of the Boy's group for Tina. Considering she was the one who dragged them both to the auditions, it only felt right that she should go through.
And she did, judging from the wide grin she's giving them while rushing towards them backstage. They're ecstatic, of course, hugging her tight and shooing her so that she could talk to Mike while they and the rest of the Boy's category is ushered to the stage.
Four other names are called before Adam Levine says, "Blaine Anderson," and Blaine lets out a huge sigh of relief as Sam holds him tight before he steps off stage. Still, the relief is short-lived because Sam is still in stage, and he might not even make it through. He should, of course he should, but Blaine gets more and more restless as boys six, seven, eight, and nine appear from the stage with wide, triumphant grins. And then Sam appears with the biggest smile on his face that Blaine couldn't help but shout and jump into his arms with exuberance, forgetting about the camera that is sure to be pointing at them.
"We made it through," Sam laughs, pressing their foreheads together and smiling sweetly at Blaine. "All three of us."
"We're going to have to sing against each other," Blaine sighs, but even that doesn't wipe the grin off his face. "But we're doing this. Together."
"Yeah," Sam strokes the nape of Blaine's neck. "Together."
They don't get to meet up with Tina, because they're soon herded with the other eight boys to meet with their judge mentor. Personally, Blaine is quietly hoping for Adam, but Kelly, who does end up as their mentor, is just as awesome.
"I got Simon," Tina groans when they finally do get to reunite. "He was the only one who didn't really like me in the audition."
"Well, you got through, so that should mean that he doesn't totally dislike you, right?" Sam points out.
The thing is, with ten contestants fighting for four seats in each category, something like the judge's favor could change the game for anyone.
"You two are lucky to get Kelly," Tina sighs, "She loved you two at first sight. And if you somehow lose your shirt during your performance, Sam, I'm sure you'll get a seat."
"Haha, funny."
blaineling: CONGRATS TO samchameleon & tinacc :)
samchameleon: blaineling DUDE CONGRATS TO U 2
mottamotta: samchameleon blaineling CONGRATS FOR WHAT?
tinacc: motta motta samchameleon blaineling WE GOT 3-WAY MARRIED IN LA
mike_ch: tinacc samchameleon blaineling AND YOU DIDN'T INVITE ME?
They still don't tell any of their friends about their participation in X Factor. Not in spite or anything like that, but they decided that it won't be a big of a deal unless they go through the live shows. That, and they thought it might be a little funny to see what their reactions would be in seeing them in TV suddenly.
They do tell their families about it, and Cooper was more than happy to be in the audience in place of the ever-travelling Anderson parents, to Blaine's outward dismay (inwardly though, Sam knew he was pleased at his brother's enthusiastic support). Sam's own family flew over for it, too, Stacy and Stevie now teenagers but still loving their big brother. Tina's father couldn't make it due to work obligations, but her mom and Mike were enough to support her.
The Over 25's, under Sharon's jurisdiction, went first. The nerves steadily climbed for every contestant as they watched singers get a chair, only to be switched out in the end by someone better. Sam held Blaine's hand tight and Blaine returned the grip with equal force, eventually relaxing as the final four of the Over 25's was decided.
Only for it to tighten again once the Girls were announced next to perform. Tina is sixth in line, and when it came her turn, three of the chairs are occupied and two girls were turned away on the spot.
"Oh god," Blaine murmurs, and Sam mutters something like 'You can do this, Tina.'
Tina sings Florence and the Machine. She sounds good - definitely better than the girl who did a trainwreck of Ke$ha's Blah Blah Blah and at least one of the other girls already on a seat. Simon's face, however, is unreadable, and that's what makes Blaine and Sam nervous.
"I liked this better than your first audition," is what Simon says. "But I'm still not sure."
"Oh, come on," Kelly frowns at Simon, "that was really good!"
"I promise you," Tina firmly tells him with conviction, "that I'll be bigger and better each time I come back to the stage."
The audience is chanting 'Seat! Seat! Seat!', clearly on Tina and Kelly's side, and Sam and Blaine want to join in the chanting too. They spot Mike hollering 'Come on!' at Simon, and Tina's mom fiercely echoing the sentiment.
"Alright, Tina," Simon sighs, but smiles and gives her a quick wink, "Have a seat."
The audience cheers, Mike fistpumping the air and Sam gives Blaine a side hug before clapping with him. Unfortunately, they all knew that she wasn't completely safe yet, as there were still four more girls left and no more seats left. So unless they were all terrible…
The seventh girl is good, and it's clear she's a judge favorite, with her Southern charm and cute, petite form. She's definitely a country singer, there's no doubt about it, and the girl on the second seat is quickly replaced with her. Number eight isn't too bad, but she forgets the lyrics after the first verse and it was game over for her. Nine is a tall, confident brunette, looking like she belonged with models and superstars. Unfortunately, her song choice was poor and left much to be desired, and so she was let go. And then the tenth girl, a modest, shy little Filipina is up. She belts out Kelly Clarkson like it was made for her and jaws drop.
"Oh shit," Sam breathes as the last lingering notes of the song fade away. Blaine takes a deep breath and exhales.
There's no question to it, Ten is definitely getting a seat, and the four girls on one are all tense and not at all happy about the sudden development.
"And the one I'm switching out is…" Simon looks down at his notes, then back at the girls, before moving toward the mic. "Tina."
If it weren't for Blaine's grip on his arm, Sam would've stood up in shock. Instead, he grimaces, running a hand messily over his blonde locks. Blaine has his free hand over his mouth, eyes wide and glassy.
To Tina's credit, she manages to give Ten a tight smile before leaving the stage with her back straight and head up high. And when Mario Lopez announces the commercial break, Sam and Blaine don't hesitate rushing backstage to their friend.
"One of you - or better yet, both of you - better get your nice perky butts on a chair and stay there, you understand me?" Tina tells them, teary eyed. "Or else I'll make Rachel Berry's vocal routine look like it's for amateurs and I'll drag you both back to audition again next year."
A stagehand is ushering them back on stage, and oh, it's their turn, isn't it?
"I don't know about you," Sam whispers to Blaine as everyone takes their places before the cameras start rolling again. "But I sure as hell don't want to do that audition thing again next year."
Blaine snorts, giving Sam a teasing smile. "Well, we better make sure at least one of us gets our 'nice perky butt' on a chair, huh?"
Blaine goes second, and he sings OneRepublic. While it's not as big of a performance as his audition was, the judges look approving and Kelly's smiling. Sam sees the other guys look a little worried and he can't help but think, good. Blaine's definitely a top-contender, and from the looks of things, already a judge favorite. So it comes to no surprise that he takes the second seat.
By the time it's Sam's turn, all seats have been filled and there's already been three switches. Blaine's the only one among the first four seated that's still in his seat, and Sam hopes it stays that way. He's ninth and gets to do a stripped down and acoustic version of a Beatles song. Cliche and overdone, probably, but it apparently works because Kelly is looking at him consideringly and smiling.
"I think we need someone like you in this competition, Sam Evans," Kelly tells him. "I'm gonna have to give you a seat!"
The audience cheers, and he sees Stevie whoop in victory. But this means that he'll have to take someone's seat, and Sam mentally prays to God that it won't be Blaine's.
And God is listening, because the guy on seat three is replaced with him and he hugs Blaine hard.
(Un)Fortunately, boy ten, a young teenager who probably hasn't even had his first kiss yet, succumbs to nerves and ends up being cut by a truly apologetic Kelly. Which means he and Blaine are through to the live shows, and holy shit, their friends are going to freak.
samchameleon: oh my godddddddd
blaineling: oooohhh myyyy goodddddddd
tinacc: samchameleon blaineling i expect lavish gifts for my part in this
blaineling: tinacc we 3 u so much how does fancy italian sound
samchameleon: blaineling tinacc is it wer we ate for our anniversary last year
tinacc: samchameleon blaineling r we talking about the one with the chicken and shrimp thing u guys were raving for weeks
blaineling: tinacc samchameleon yeah that one
tinacc: blaineling i'll be ready at 7
samchameleon: tinacc bring mike
Blaine Anderson
Guys, watch the X-Factor tonight. You'll see why. ;)
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Sam Evans, Tina Cohen-Chang, Mike Chang, and 3 others like this.
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From: Kurt Hummel
To: Blaine Anderson
YOU. PHONE CALL NOW.
'
From: Rachel Berry
To: Blaine Anderson
YOU THREE AUDITIONED ON X-FACTOR?
'
From: Puck
To: Sam
dude u shud've called me to go w/ u
'
From: Artie
To: Sam, Blaine, Tina
yo good job!
'
From: Kitty
To: Tina
Make sure those two don't give the entirety of America diabetes
And tell them to give save some tickets for us!
'
From: Tina
To: Kitty
Please, I got this
keylie3: boys this year aren't half-bad #XFactor2017
lilileanne: hey those 2 r the bffs from ohio right #XFactor2017
roger_rogers: lilileanne blaine n sam? yeah dudes r good
tripletony reblogged captainAmen
captainAmen:
loki-laughing:
what do we think about this year's x-factor lot? worth the revival?
for the boy's? definitely. sam evans is yum. not sure how to feel about the groups tho
anyone else notice how close evans and anderson was during whole 4 chair challenge? lol
23 notes
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tripletony
[anonymous asked:
sam evans and blaine anderson are best friends, if you didn't see that in the auditions. apparently they're both from ohio and they live together.]
yeah i knew that. but idk man i've never seen guy best friends THAT close. just saying.
3 notes
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tripletony
[anonymous asked:
they were def holding hands and clinging and whispering to each other the whole time]
(VIBRATES INTENSELY) I SMELL A NEW SHIP ARRIVING