Record Breaking

S01E06

Back in the Ninth Circle, Eman notices Ali's flagging energy. He reiterates his spiel about the best singers being the hardest working, adding that they're also the singers that work the longest hours. (Hint, hint.) Ali responds to this by asking when she can leave. In the lounge, Sue tells Ali to be more confident with her singing because her insecurities are showing in the song. She tries to get Ali to embrace the power of positive thinking.

When Ali returns to the studio, she has completely lost focus. Eman pulls her out basically to tell her to stop acting like a flighty 14-year-old. He blows some smoke up her ass about her "natural gifts," saying she "can definitely be a great singer." She fishes, "So I'm not now?" He wisely remains silent, eventually echoing Sue's counsel that Ali needs to be confident.

Later, Ali sits in her room talking to Dina-saur on the phone. I, for one, have a strong suspicion this was dubbed in post-production because I don't hear any thumping or shouts of "Jaeger bomb!" in the background. Dina-saur recaps her fabulous day with Cody, making Ali grouchy that she wasn't included in the fun. And I ask you, is she really bitching that she actually did what she came here to do? Because that's what it sounds like to me. Dina-saur promises that they'll make use of Ali's downtime tomorrow.

Later that night, Dina-saur and Ali walk and talk about what a hard day Ali had. How can she be this flustered on the first day? Did she think she would nail the songs on the first take and have the rest of the time for a Vegas vacation? Dina-saur explains to Ali that she wanted this, and she'll have to work for it if she wants to succeed. Then she gives her an escape route, saying that they can pack up and leave if Ali wants to. Dina-saur makes her decide yes or no, and Ali cheerfully says she wants to stay.

Dina-saur heads into the studio to micromanage Eman. She tells him that Ali needs breaks occasionally so she won't freak out. Eman continues to spout the company line about Ali's talent, concluding that he's sure they will get what they need.

The day, more bronze goddesses have all that fun that Ali's missing while making her dreams come true. Bitches. To cheer Ali up, Dina-saur takes her to The Palms' music venue, where she will perform her song on stage (thankfully not to an audience). She thinks it will give Ali a chance to create her own vibe. Once she's on stage, a Lil' Miss Booty Shorts embraces her inner Jojo. Though I'm pretty sure there's also some Ashlee Simpson action going on with the backing track volume levels, but at least my ears aren't bleeding anymore. As Ali sings, the editor actually pipes in sounds of a crowd cheering. Yikes.