/‘Starpower!’: more infamous than famous 
Scene from Gold Side's show. Photo by Josie Shaw, Managing editor of production.

‘Starpower!’: more infamous than famous 

By Cady Inabinett, Managing editor of content 

Gold Side’s “Starpower!” follows wannabe-popstar Kira Kelly as she navigates her rise to popstar fame.  

The show opens with Kira and her three best friends—Cora, Grace and Cameron—watching a live stream of popstar Gigi Vegas’s one-night-only fan concert. They’re all excited because it has been a long time since Gigi has last performed. 

On the opposite side of the stage, Gigi performs her song “Live Ur Life,” but partway through her performance, Cora pauses the livestream. She reveals that a song Kira released the prior night, “Starpower,” is blowing up, approaching 30,000 streams.  

They continue watching the video and Gigi performs the rest of “Live Ur Life” before the scene transitions to Kira’s family’s restaurant, Golden Hour Bar & Grille. The restaurant is hosting an open mic night. 

Kira takes the stage and performs “Starpower,” and, as everyone in the restaurant applauds, she announces it’s out on streaming platforms now. Kira’s parents, Jo Ellen and Cash, are upset by the news and confront her, warning her that fame isn’t everything it’s made out to be. 

Kira then gets a video call from Cora, Grace and Cameron who tell her “Starpower” is playing on the radio. Cora says she’s been trying to set up a meeting for Kira with music producer Daniel McMichaels but hasn’t had any luck. Cameron suggests Kira should just show up to his office. 

As Kira ends the call with her friends, Jo Ellen and Cash try to persuade her not to go, singing “Protect You,” where they reveal they once had a family band with Kira’s long-lost sister. 

Nevertheless, Kira is determined to follow her dream and leaves to go to the record label’s office.  

As the scene changes, Cameron calls Kira, leaving a voicemail. He expresses excitement that Kira is going to meet Daniel McMichaels and might have the same producer as Gigi Vegas. Cameron also asks her to not forget about her friends at home. 

At McMichaels Record Label’s office, Kira is greeted by a receptionist, Elizabeth, who tells Kira that the next available appointment with Daniel is in 2026. But once Kira tells her that she wrote “Starpower,” Elizabeth lets her in to speak to Daniel immediately. 

At first, Daniel dismisses Kira, but after she reveals how popular “Starpower” has become he becomes much more interested in her. He tells her to come with him to the Lion’s Pride Music Gala this weekend and advises her to change her name from Kira Kelly to stage name Kira Star. 

After Kira leaves, Daniel reveals to Elizabeth that he signs inexperienced young artists to his label to make money off of them, singing the song “Moo-La.”  

As the scene changes, Cora calls Kira and leaves a voicemail. Cora tells Kira that she’s already reached half a million streams on “Starpower,” and asks for Kira to call her and her other friends soon. 

At the Lion’s Pride Music Gala, broadcasters David Dailey and Marcia Mayfield are introducing guests as they make their way down the red carpet. There’s R&B duo Miss Bliss and Diamond Opulence, rap artist Rex Rapstar, Gigi Vegas and, finally, Daniel and Kira. 

All of the celebrities sing “Famous” together, a song focusing on the dark side of fame. 

Daniel introduces Kira to the other artists, but must go speak with Rex, leaving Kira alone with Gigi. Kira reveals she’s a big fan of Gigi but asks why she hasn’t released any music in years. Gigi tells Kira that there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes in the music industry and, when Kira tells her she’ll be working with Daniel, gives Kira her business card before exiting. 

As the scene transitions, Grace is leaving a voicemail for Kira telling her to call her friends back. But partway through the voicemail, Kira calls in. She updates the three friends on her meeting with Daniel and about meeting Gigi. When her friends warn her to not get too sucked into fame, Kira cuts them off and says she needs to get some rest before hanging up. 

Together, the friends lament Kira’s changing personality, singing “Best Friend Blues” while they look through a box of old photos of Kira. To their surprise, they find a photo of Kira’s parents with Gigi Vegas. They conclude that Gigi must be Kira’s long-lost sister and decide to call her the next day to break the news. 

As the scene transitions, Jo Ellen and Cash call Kira, yet again expressing concerns about the dangers of fame. 

At the record studio, Kira and Gigi are meeting with Daniel who is playing a newly produced song by Kira. The song sounds very different from Kira’s previous song, but Daniel assures her it will be a hit. 

As Kira leaves, Gigi confronts Daniel, telling him not to take advantage of Kira like he did with her. 

Kira receives a call from her friends who tell her about finding the photo of her parents with Gigi. Upset and confused, Kira decides to come home to talk to her parents, singing “Lies.” 

At the restaurant, Kira confronts her parents who say they kept the truth from her to protect her from becoming exploited like Gigi. Gigi then walks into the restaurant, who tells Kira that their parents are right, saying that Daniel changed her identity and that Kira shouldn’t let him change hers. 

Kira agrees but says she isn’t ready to give up on her music-making dreams. With Gigi, she looks at their contracts to find a way out of them, singing “Change on the Way” where they reveal that their contracts are signed with their stage names, not their real names.  

In the next scene, Kira greets Daniel as he comes in the restaurant. As he takes a seat, Kira takes the stage to sing inviting Gigi to sing “Starpower” with her.  

After singing, Kira announces that the pair will no longer be working with Daniel. Daniel laughs them off, saying he owns them, but Kira points out he owns the rights to Kira Star and Gigi Vegas, not the Kelly sisters. Infuriated, Daniel throws a tantrum while storming off-stage. 

Kira and Gigi ask their parents to be their managers and Kira invites her friends to work with them as well. 

In the final scene, the sisters are performing their first show on their sold-out tour. Together they perform “Whatever We Wanna Be.” At the end of the song, the crowd demands an encore. Rex comes onto stage and raps before the entire show’s cast finishes the song for the finale. 

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Cady Inabinett is the editor in chief of The Alabamian. She’s majoring in English and double-minoring in political science and peace and justice studies. She enjoys reading, watching movies, caring for houseplants and generally just being pretentious in her free time.