diff --git a/ViewModels/MainViewModel.Overlays.cs b/ViewModels/MainViewModel.Overlays.cs
index 59619d3..6ff6a0f 100644
--- a/ViewModels/MainViewModel.Overlays.cs
+++ b/ViewModels/MainViewModel.Overlays.cs
@@ -129,7 +129,10 @@ public partial class MainViewModel : ViewModelBase
 
     private void TestAlert()
     {
-        _alertLayer.Enqueue(new Models.ChatMessage
+        // ⛔ OnMessageReceived, not Enqueue: Enqueue only fills the queue. The layer needs its scene
+        // list, its playback ticker started and its previews refreshed — that is what the chat path
+        // does (MainViewModel.Chat.cs), and it is why a bare Enqueue played nothing in the pane.
+        _alertLayer.OnMessageReceived(new Models.ChatMessage
         {
             AuthorName = "Test viewer",
             Message = "Test alert — this is what a Super Chat looks like.",
@@ -140,7 +143,7 @@ public partial class MainViewModel : ViewModelBase
             SuperChatCurrency = "$",
             SuperChatDisplayString = "$5.00",
             Kind = Models.ChatEventKind.SuperChat,
-        });
+        }, Scenes);
     }
 
     public ICommand OpenSettingsCommand { get; }