The main lights turned on, illuminating the entire studio. Over a minute already passed but the audience's applause and cheers still continued to reverberate throughout the entire place.
Iris put her hands on her chest, smiling at the crowd with an expression of amazed disbelief.
"Iris! Iris! Iris!" they continued to chant her name.
Finally, the two hosts walked back to the stage. They stood beside Iris and sandwiched her between them.
Male host: "Wow! Just wow! What an incredible performance!"
"Yes. Amazing! I'm feeling so emotional right now! My makeup is now ruined," the female host cried.
Male host: "Ahahaha! Don't worry. You're still pretty."
The audience laughed, as well as Iris.
A staff member climbed up the stage to hand a box of tissues. The male host received it and offered the box to both Iris and his female partner. Both women took some tissues, turned around and carefully dabbed the tears from their faces.
The audience was still standing and clapping and cheering and whistling and screaming.
After a few seconds, the two women finally turned to face the audience once again. The hosts waited for a few more moments before the audience began to settle down.
Male host: "First of all, we want to say welcome back, Iris Long!"
Iris: "Thank you. Thank you very much!"
The audience responded with enthusiasm.
"Welcome back, Iris!"
"That was so amazing!"
"I didn't know that you're this awesome!"
"I love you, Iris!"
"Marry me, Iris Long!"
Female host: "Just listen to the audience. They loved your performance."
Iris: "Thank you so much, everyone!"
The audience screamed and clapped harder before settling down once again a few seconds later.
Female host: "This is your official comeback performance. How does it feel to return to the stage after two years of absence?"
Iris: "Nervous. Excited. Happy. I can't describe exactly all of the emotions that I'm feeling right now. I'm just…so happy!"
Male host: "I bet. Iris, is it true that you composed all the songs in your upcoming album 'Rebirth'?"
Iris: "Yes, it's true. I know that it may sound unbelievable to many of you, but I really did compose all the songs in my album. I consider it as finding my true path. This is why I had to change my musical style because I discovered that my old style is not me at all. I changed because I found the real me. Creating my own music is my true path."
Female host: "I see. I'm happy for you, Iris. 'Black Star' is such an emotional and meaningful song. Did you write it based on your experience?"
Iris: "Yes. All of the songs in my upcoming album 'Rebirth' are more or less based on my real experiences and emotions."
Male host: "Speaking of your real experiences, I hope you don't mind that I'm asking you this but all of us want to know. What really happened to you? Why did you disappear for two years? There are so many rumours flying around about you, but we want to know the truth from your own words."
The audience leaned forward, as if doing so would make them hear Iris' answer more clearly.
Iris: "Some of you may have heard, I was involved in a car accident two years ago. It was very serious. Fatal actually. I died, but they managed to revive me. However, I failed to wake up and was comatose for one year."
Female host: "What?! Oh my God. So it's really true? I'm so shocked!"
Iris: "Yes, it's true. I only woke up about a year ago and I had to spend months of physiotherapy and rehabilitation. In fact, I still need to go to regular check-ups and occasional physio even now."
Male host: "We didn't know that something so serious like this happened to you. Are you okay now? Are you healthy?"
Iris: "Thank you. Yes, I'm alright now. I'm healthy. I just get dizzy sometimes, but nothing too serious. Please don't worry."
Female host: "That's good to hear. Before we let you go, Iris, please say something to everyone regarding your showbiz comeback, your future plans, and your upcoming album."
Iris nodded, faced the audience, scanning everyone with her clear eyes, trying to convey to them her sincerity.
Iris: "I know that I offended a lot of people before due to my ignorance and arrogance. I can only blame it on my youth, immaturity, and narrow-mindedness. I failed to appreciate your support, taking your sincerity for granted. I regret that I had to go through an actual life and death experience to realize how shallow and ungrateful I've been. That's why I hope that with my new album 'Rebirth', you can see and experience the new me. The me who will strive hard to become a better person than I was before, a more meaningful person, and to appreciate life and you, my supporters, all the more. I just want to share my music with all of you because my music is my feelings coming from the real me. So I hope that you'll take the chance to check out my album 'Rebirth' which will be released next week. Thank you very much!"
Male host: "Thank you, Iris! We'll surely look forward to your new album. Everyone, please give another round of applause for…"
Both hosts: "Iris Long!"
Another loud standing ovation.
"Iris! Iris! Iris!"
