According to Esko, there were far fewer producers than artists at KE. Since not all artists wrote their own songs — producers did — the workload for each of them was insane. As a result, the waiting time just dragged on forever, even though the Production building was open 24/7.
Kaija's appointment was at 12 AM. She showed up at the reception more ready to sleep than to sing. Her eyelids were heavy, and her brain could barely recall her own lyrics.
Still, Esko had made it clear beforehand: the first meeting with the producer was crucial. If they didn't like her or her song, the producer could turn her down and pass her on to the next available one, which meant going back to the waiting queue.
Kaija had no time left to wait. The competition was only a month away.
