[Chapter 6: Baby Blows Up]
On Saturday, April 3rd, in New York City, high school student Cassia and her best friend Dani strolled into a record store. The song Baby was playing, and many customers hummed along, noticing Linton's single covers prominently displayed on the shelves, with large posters spread throughout the store.
Cassia found two copies of the Baby CD, knowing her little brother would try to snag one from her, while Dani grabbed one for herself. They hurried to the checkout line, which was always packed and never seemed to have a lull. While waiting, Cassia observed that about one-third of the people in line were holding singles of Baby and remarked to Dani, "Looks like everyone loves Baby."
Dani replied, "Of course! I liked Linton after watching him on MTV last night."
There were murmurs of agreement around them. "Definitely, Linton sings well, and he's cute! Plus, he wrote the song himself, and I heard it's based on his personal experiences."
"How romantic and talented!"
...
This excitement was happening all across America as Linton and his crew had just arrived in New York for promotional activities. They had interviews with two local television stations during the day and were slated to appear on NBC's late-night talk show at 11:30 PM.
On set, guest host Jay Leno welcomed Linton and introduced him to the audience before starting the interview. The talk show was broadcast live, but most of the questions had been rehearsed. Linton handled the conversation smoothly. To enhance the show, he even shared some "awkward moments" from his upbringing. By the end of the episode, Leno praised Linton's talents, calling him the new idol of a generation.
...
That same day, multiple television networks, radio stations, newspapers, and magazines released previously recorded interviews, promoting Linton and Baby extensively. Music critics and veteran celebrities, benefiting from Universal's PR efforts, all began to sing Linton's praises, boosting the momentum behind Baby.
During prime-time hours, MTV continued playing the music video for Baby. The visuals of attractive young people dancing against stunning backdrops, combined with close-ups, captivated teenage audiences. The fresh yet slightly melancholic song and lyrics resonated with many. Soon after, radio request shows across the country were inundated with listeners wanting to hear the song, and radio DJs in cities like New York, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Atlanta began pushing it heavily on their stations.
...
Linton could feel his popularity skyrocketing. While meditating that night, he experienced a boost hundreds of times greater than the previous day, nearly startling himself. Even without practice, his skills began to improve automatically. At this rate, he figured he could reach the second level within five days. This exhilaration was palpable for him.
...
The next morning at breakfast, everyone was taken aback to see Linton in high spirits, looking far from tired, a stark contrast to the others. As he greeted them with enthusiasm, many internally speculated whether Linton, being newly famous, was simply too excited, wondering how long he could maintain this energy. Mira, who accompanied him through it all, discreetly reminded Linton to stay grounded and take care of his health, which left him speechless.
...
After breakfast, Linton had to head to New York Plaza to perform live and interact with fans, lighting up the atmosphere and creating a phenomenal show. Later that afternoon, they had to rush to Chicago to repeat similar promotional engagements. The events varied between city squares, parks, and shopping malls. In Las Vegas, one even took place at a casino, and all the events drew impressive crowds.
...
During this whirlwind of activities, Linton received calls of congratulations from Cameron Diaz, who expressed gratitude for the sudden fame brought by the music video. As the female lead, she benefited significantly from the attention, gaining a surge in opportunities with her agent reporting a spike in casting call invites and discussions about reuniting in Los Angeles.
His aunt Kelly's family also called, their words filled with joy and pride. "Keep it up, Linton! Your mother would be thrilled!" his aunt said, getting choked up. His cousin Judy shouted, "Cousin, you're awesome! A lot of kids in my class like you!"
Logan, the Vice President of the William Morris Agency, called to offer congratulations and reminded Mira to take good care of Linton. Daniel from Universal contacted him with another celebratory call. Their laughter was infectious even over the phone.
Countless messages of support from teachers and friends poured in, including his ex-girlfriend Connie, who, having recently ended things, reached out, subtly hinting at wanting to rekindle their relationship. Linton chose to ignore it.
Meanwhile, various record labels and agents tried to connect with Linton via Mira, but he instructed her to turn everyone down.
...
More good news came rolling in as sales figures showed several outlets running out of stock within two to three days, necessitating urgent restocking from Universal. They kicked off a third batch of 2 million copies, expecting first-week sales to exceed 500,000.
By April 15, the Billboard singles chart stunned everyone as Baby debuted at No. 9 with 330,000 in sales. Billboard magazine supplemented it with a brief profile on Linton Anderson, detailing his time as a film student at USC. His exceptional musical talent and reflections on life culminated in the creation of Baby, earning high praise as a new force in the music industry.
Regional stations started calling Universal, requesting the music video for Baby to be aired at no cost on their channels. The reality of the industry was that typically, stations charged to air music videos, but given the massive popularity of Baby, they sought Linton out to showcase it for free in hopes of boosting viewership.
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When they returned to Los Angeles on April 30, the only person still brimming with energy was Linton; everyone else seemed drained. However, the results were impressive -- Baby had surpassed 1.5 million sales, and its position on the Billboard chart had climbed to No. 3. What excited Linton the most, however, was his skill growth. He skyrocketed to the second level by April 8 and comfortably broke into the third level the day before.
...
With promotions coming to a temporary halt, the team disbanded to return home. While everyone else was heading back, Linton wasn't off the hook. Daniel urgently sought him to discuss music video shoots for the next two songs.
They had a miscalculation -- Numb was set to release on May 7. Initially, they planned to drop the song first and follow up with the music video, but that had been a big mistake. They needed to act quickly. Last week, they had already arranged for Carson, Zack, and Annie to prepare for filming the Numb music video, and everything was set, awaiting Linton's return to start shooting.
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