Sing It to Win It!

Once upon a time there was a parrot named Jordan. Jordan was a jubilant bird, singing songs every day from the treetops. One day, however, a donkey by the name of Oliver was rowing a boat down the nearby river when he heard a curious sound from the trees. Oliver found delight in hearing this strange song, so he climbed out of his boat to investigate. Soon Jordan spotted the donkey approaching their tree, "salutations fellow creature of the forest!" Jordan chirped.
"Oh hello," Oliver responded, "I've found your song intriguing and I wonder if you'd be interested in attending the upcoming song contest in Boston."
"Oh wow!" remarked Jordan, "I've never competed in a song contest before. I should definitely give it a try!"
And so Jordan hopped out of the tree and joined Oliver in his boat. They rowed down the river in the general direction of the local airport, and soon caught a flight to Boston.
The venue was packed as the contestants prepared for their performances. The audience was becoming antsy for the contest to begin, as they found the warm up act by Lucas the suburban dog to be mediocre.
"Welcome one and all to the first annual Iraqi Premium Oil Song Contest!" the donkey announced to the crowd, "Twelve contestants will be singing the finest of verses. Only one will be crowned the winner and receive the grand prize of one million dollars!"
"If they desire to win, their singing must satisfy our feline judges," Oliver declared as he motioned towards three cats in sparkling attire, "May the best singer reign victorious!"
The order of the contestants' performances soon flickered into view on an overhead screen. Jordan was slated to perform last. As Oliver exited the stage, the spotlights focused upon the first act as they emerged from behind the curtains. After a two-minute performance by Mona the squirrel, the judges rated him with a four, five, and two, giving him a total of eleven points out of thirty possible. As the contest proceeded, Jordan started to feel a little nervous as their act approached.
"This is the act to beat and we have only one contestant left!" Oliver blared after Sandy the pony managed to score twenty-one total points, "Next up, the most magical parrot from the jungle, Jordan!"
Jordan emerged from behind the curtain, feeling determined to give the best performance they possibly can. After what felt to Jordan much longer than two minutes, their song concluded on an impeccably high note just before the clock ran out. The judges prepared their cards amid a deafening silence from the crowd. The first judge, Cytra, flipped their card to reveal a ten, followed soon by Asriel, with another ten! Anticipation filled the air as the last judge, Dynah the snow leopard, readied to reveal their card.
Even just one point will tie me with Sandy, Jordan thought. I might win the grand prize!
Dynah then unveiled a comically oversized card with a bold and glittering zero, "This just ain't my cup of tea."
With a mere twenty points, Jordan finished second behind Sandy, who then trotted onto the stage to be showered with stacks of cash. Jordan sighed, wishing they knew a song that could satisfy the tastes of the peculiar snow leopard, but soon they and everyone else in the venue were startled by a loud noise.
A large section of wall came crashing down as a SWAT vehicle rolled in, "Oliver! You are under arrest for drug trafficking, money laundering, and tax fraud! Also we knew your whole song contest scheme was rigged from the start. Surrender immediately!" thundered the voice of the proud Texan bull, Cade, from atop the vehicle.
Upon returning home to their rainforest, Jordan felt a sense of relief after the whole experience, "a shame I couldn't win a million dollars, and that the prize was fake anyway, but hey it sure was fun!"