Chapter 1552: Taking to the stage!

On TV.

The live broadcast was being shown.

The host was someone called Cui Na. Ever since Dong Shanshan stepped down from her role as a Beijing Television host, Cui Na took over the hosting responsibilities of I Am a Singer. She was one of the new generation of popular hosts.

The host said, “Hello, everyone! This is Beijing TV, and welcome to the finale competition of I Am a Singer. Today, we’ve invited the representatives of the past five seasons’ contestants to hold a never before seen battle of the grand champions in the music industry. The five contestants are all very talented singers of the music scene, and they’ll be coming together on the same stage for a versus competition in a bid to be crowned the greatest champion of the show. I believe that all of our viewers watching TV and the live audience at our venue cannot wait. Now then, we’re only 10 minutes away from the official start of the competition. Everyone, follow me to the backstage to have a look at the drawing of lots. Who will be the first contestant to take to the stage today? Let’s take a look.”

Backstage.

There were a total of five waiting rooms.

Room One was Zhang Ye.

Room Two was Guan Xue.

Room Three was Hai Yifei.

Room Four was Qi Liang.

Room Five was Qu Dong.

The room order was based on which season the grand champion had emerged from.

The female host came to the door of the first room. She spoke excitedly to the camera with a smile, “We’ll be knocking on the door of Room One soon. I’m quite nervous. The teacher in there was once a legend of the entertainment circle, as well as my school senior. Returning to the industry after so many years, he has once again stepped onto the stage of I Am a Singer. This is a phenomenal stage that he had helped to build back then, so I believe his mood is a little different.”

Knock knock.

A voice came from the inside. “Who is it?”

The female host cautiously tried to push the door open. “Senior, we’ll be starting the competition soon. How are your preparations coming along?”

The man on the inside said, “So-so, I guess.”

The female host pushed at the door a second and third time, then said, “Eh, why is it locked?”

The man laughed and said, “I’ll see you guys later onstage.”

The female host whispered into the camera, “I believe a lot of people are quite curious about how Teacher Zhang looks like now. Has he gained weight? Or did he become thinner? Ever since Teacher Zhang’s return, I haven’t met him. The last time I saw him was four or five years ago when I was still in my fourth year of university. It was a lecture that Professor Zhang had given at Media College, so Teacher Zhang is an industry senior, a school senior, and also a teacher to me. Since Teacher Zhang wants to leave his first meeting with everyone until he gets onstage, we’ll respect his wishes. Come on then, let’s go to the second room to have a look.”

Knock knock.

Room Two’s door opened.

“Sister Guan, I’m here!”

“Nana.”

“Today is the first round of the competition. Are you confident?”

“No, I have no confidence at all.”

“Ah?”

“Hur hur, the youngsters these days are too strong. I can only do my best and hope that I won’t get eliminated in the first round.”

Room Three.

“Teacher Little Hai, are you nervous?”

“I am, in fact.”

“What song have you prepared? Can you reveal it to us?”

“Haha, that, I have to keep a secret.”

Room Four.

“Teacher Liang-liang, we haven’t met in a long time.”

“Sister Nana, you’ve gotten prettier again.”

“Haha, thank you! We’ll be drawing lots soon. What order would you like to appear onstage?”

“I don’t ask for much, but it would be good if I were to appear third or fourth.”

Room Five.

“Teacher Qu, you’re the favorite to win as the greatest champion. A lot of people are very optimistic about your chances. Besides, as we know, you’ve just won as the grand champion half a month ago on the fifth season of I Am a Singer. So are you going to make a push for it as well this time and take the title of the greatest champion of the five seasons?”

“Of course I would like to win, but everyone is very strong too, so it won’t be easy at all.”

“We’re looking forward to your performance. All the best.”

“Thank you.”

The interview ended.

The highly anticipated drawing of the lots began.

…

On Weibo.

“It’s starting, it’s starting!”

“Let’s see who’ll be the first to take the stage.”

“Who’s gonna draw lots first?”

“Qi Liang is drawing first. Wow, it’s number three, not bad.”

“Hai Yifei is going first?”

“Haihai won’t fear that. He tends to sing the more powerful type of songs, so going first is an advantage for him.”

“Guan Xue is going second.”

“Qu Dong drew fourth!”

“Why hasn’t Zhang Ye revealed himself yet?”

“There’s no need to do that. Everyone else has drawn their lots. He’s going to appear last.”

“I haven’t seen Guan Xue in two years. It seems like she’s put on weight.”

“Yeah, I wonder what Zhang Ye looks like now.”

“It doesn’t matter what he looks like now. He wasn’t handsome in the past.”

“Our Ququ and Qiqi are still the most handsome. Haihai is also quite good-looking as well.”

“I’ve already decided to give my vote to Ququ.”

“Damn, they haven’t even started performing yet.”

“Perform what? Who cares as long as they’re handsome. For the old generation of singers, just leave them to be forgotten in time.”

…

Zhang Yuanqi’s house.

Ning Lan said, “Zhang’er’s luck is quite good.”

Zhang Yuanqi said indifferently, “That won’t help.”

Ning Lan said, “True, it still depends on what song he sings.”

…

At Yao Jiancai’s house.

Yao Jiancai said, “It’s starting soon.”

Yao Mi replied, “I’ve already told my classmates to vote for Uncle Zhang.”

“How many people did you get?”

“It’s depressing. Only two of them responded positively to me. The others are all saying that they will be voting for Qi Liang and Qu Dong. To think that they graduated from Peking University. How could they forget how much they liked Uncle Zhang back then.”

“People change.”

…

At Zhang Xia’s house.

Her daughter asked, “Is Teacher Zhang already in grave danger in the first round?”

Zhang Xia said, “Yes, everyone is saying that he’ll likely be eliminated in the first round.”

Her daughter said, “Then what’s going to happen?”

Zhang Xia said, “That depends on him.”

Her daughter said, “Do you believe in Teacher Zhang?”

“Actually, I don’t know either. I haven’t heard him sing in many years.”

…

The drawing of lots ended.

There were only five more minutes before the competition began.

The host had returned to the stage to mingle with the audience. Backstage, all of the staff and contestants were getting ready.

On Weibo.

In the forums.

In everyone’s Moments.

Today, at this moment, everyone was crazily posting and checking out the news online.

The trending popularity of I Am a Singer’s finale battle of the grand champions kept growing. An increasing amount of people were turning on their televisions to catch the live broadcast, and there was a continuous stream of people going onto Weibo to cheer on their favorite singers. The topicality of the show had shot through the roof. From the looks of it, it could only be imagined how glorious the viewership ratings would turn out. The entertainment circle had experienced a generational change. Many of the old variety shows from four, five, or six years ago were no longer around. For example, King of Masked Singers, Talk Show, as well as Do You Remember. Only I Am a Singer had firmly survived the changing times, and it even managed to become more popular.

…

At the venue.

The countdown was getting closer and closer.

The audience was screaming in excitement.

“Haihai!”

“Haihai, you can do it!”

“Haihai is the best!”

“Supporting Haihai!”

Glow sticks and LED light boards were being waved around by Hai Yifei’s fans at the venue.

The next moment, when the stage lights dimmed and the spotlights focused onto the moon gate, the crowd blew up. Countless people stood up and started shouting.

“He’s coming on!”

“Haihai is coming on!”

“Ahhh, he’s so handsome!”

“Haihai, I love you!”

“Come on!”

The competition began!

Hai Yifei was the first contestant to take the stage!

He bowed.

And gave his thanks.

Amid the applause of the crowd, the music played.

A song from Hai Yifei’s album that came out last year played onstage.

“Don’t Say You Love Me”

“I’ve always tried to hide.

“Not knowing how to face you.

“I’ve always tried to leave.

“Recalling the past’s melody.

“Don’t say you love me!

“I can only be silent!

“Don’t say you love me!

“I know, it was my fault!”

Today, Hai Yifei had uncharacteristically belted out a love song.

It was very tender.

It was very touching.

Quite a few people in the audience looked like they were enchanted by the performance.

When this song finished, the applause and screams nearly brought the roof down!

The faces of several young ladies were streaming with tears. Their voices had all gone hoarse from shouting!

…

Online.

“Let’s vote!”

“I already did!”

“It’s too good!”

“Haihai is great!”

…

Backstage.

There was no camera set up in Zhang Ye’s waiting room.

He was alone and watching the live performance from the venue on the television.

So this was a hot, young male star of this world?

And he wasn’t even the most popular one?

Even if it were the Heavenly Kings and Queens of his previous world, they would probably just be able to attract this level of screaming and shouting that was heard here. This was the first time Zhang Ye had come face to face with the popularity and appeal of the young studs of this world. No wonder his old friends were so pessimistic about his chances. No wonder his parents had not wanted him to join the competition. No wonder the people and netizens all felt that he would get eliminated in the first round. This was an era where the explosive popularity of male idols was unstoppable. Everyone had witnessed similar situations like this happening countless times in the past few years, and all of them were already used to it.

No one could understand why Zhang Ye would choose to come here.

Everyone felt that Zhang Ye was asking to be humiliated.

They had such a high level of popularity and such passionate fans supporting them. Some of these fans could even have been his fans in the past. However, people changed; people moved on. It really wasn’t going to be easy to seek what he had lost.

Zhang Ye, how will you respond?

Can you continue standing on a stage like this?