Chapter 109 The Finals (Part Two)

The hosts for this final competition were no longer Yun Mengtao, but the golden duo from Star Channel, Pang Bo and Qi Anni.

These two are already senior figures on Star TV, and they are usually not seen except at large-scale galas. The fact that they came to the set of "Team Up" has surprised the audience, who exclaimed that Star TV attaches great importance to this program.

The five mentors sat in the audience cheering on the trainees. Each of them was dressed to the nines. Having grown accustomed to their approachable demeanor during recordings, their attire and aura at this moment exuded the grandeur of superstars.

The stage light curtain opened, and Pang Bo and Qi Anni slowly walked out from behind the stage, stepping on the sensitive touch screens under their feet. Each step they took was like a dream, as if flowers were blooming under their feet, and it looked like exquisite special effects on the TV screen.

The two hosts gave a brief introduction to the mentors and special judges in the audience. The special judges were strictly selected by the production team after the previous incident. They had to have witnessed the performance of each team throughout the process, have their own unique insights, and have no business relationship with any company.

When the camera panned across the invited judges, each of them stood up straight, exuding confidence, as if afraid others wouldn't know they had gone through rigorous selection.

The live stream comments on the Starlight APP refreshed so rapidly that it was almost impossible to see each person's comment clearly.

[Great card...]

My internet is so slow! Help!

Wow, the special guest judges this time look very high-level.

[Qiu Lü was there too. Sure enough, he's exceptionally sharp-tongued when he's not affiliated with any company.]

Hurry, hurry, hurry! I can't wait!

...

Pang Bo pointed to the other side, and the camera focused on the area where the company representatives were. As soon as it was focused, the screams of tens of thousands of people in the audience could be heard, which can be said to be another small climax since the start of the show.

The trainees waiting backstage to go on stage were also stunned when they saw the backstage broadcast screen. The representative of the Will region was sitting there—Xu Cangyan, and Wei Ye, who appeared calm on the surface but whose body was obviously stiff, as Meng Fanxi could tell.

"Why is he here..." Xu You muttered softly, his heart pounding again after he had managed to overcome his nervousness.

Meng Fanxi guessed, "They might have come as your parent, but were too embarrassed to steal the spotlight from the other parents, so they naturally sat in the company representative's seat to attract everyone's attention."

Sure enough, the next second, after the camera panned across the serious company representatives, the next shot focused on the trainees' parents. The parents immediately sat up straight when they saw the camera, and Qi Anni welcomed them with a gentle voice.

Meng Fanxi noticed that Gu Huailang seemed a little dazed, with a hint of emotion in his expression. Following his gaze, she saw a woman with similar features to Gu Huailang sitting there with a refined air.

Next to her were Meng Fanxi's parents. Lin Wei held her hand affectionately, making the woman seem less lonely.

Lin Wei looked very excited. Meng Fanxi guessed that one of the reasons was that he had seen Xu Cangyan. He couldn't imagine how sensational the parents' seats would be if Xu Cangyan were to sit there.

Xu Cangyan's choice to sit in the company representative's seat, making the other company representatives uncomfortable, was a brilliant move!

Looking across that row, you could see parents of students who had earned six stars in the Eternal Six-Star program.

Sitting in the seat designated for Zhang Yang's parents was a stern-looking man in a formal suit, who appeared to be in his thirties or forties and bore no resemblance to Zhang Yang.

Lin Ruohe asked Zhang Yang, "Your parents still haven't come?" He didn't recall ever seeing Zhang Yang's parents attend any of his trainee events; they were very mysterious.

Zhang Yang shook his head: "They'll watch TV and pay attention. My brother is enough."

Meng Fanxi asked, "Is that your brother? I've never heard of him before."

Zhang Yang: "A taxi driver who is not related to me by blood."

The parents in this row were of different ages and had different expressions, but they would occasionally huddle together to chat, creating a strangely harmonious atmosphere, just like the six of them.

Viewers watching the live stream found the series of shots incredibly novel and overwhelming. They were amazed to see Xu Cangyan at the company representatives' table and how adorable the nervous expressions of the parents from each team were.

Meng Fanxi's parents have such a refined air about them; they look like a family!

Huai Lang's mother has arrived. I heard his family situation is quite complicated, so it wasn't easy for her to come. I guess she's also very distressed about her child being bullied.

[Is that Zhang Yang's parent? They look more like a manager who's here for a meeting.]

[Oh my god, the parents at Yong Liu are all so harmonious. Have they met before? Have they had a gathering?]

Xu Cangyan is so handsome, his looks are amazing!

Why didn't Xu Cangyan sit in the row with Yong Liu's family? He could definitely fit in.

[The person next to Xu Cangyan is also very handsome; even the company representative from Wei Erlian is so good-looking!]

[Those who said Will didn't take it seriously have been proven wrong. Other companies sent one person, but Will sent two, one of whom was Xu Cangyan!]

...

Next, the returning trainees were introduced. All the eliminated trainees returned to this stage that they both loved and hated. Of course, Jin Ziran, who withdrew from the competition, did not appear.

Meng Fanxi scanned each of their faces and couldn't help but feel a little dazed. Time had flown by. The scene of all the trainees focusing on him when he first appeared was still vivid in his mind, and now they had reached the final with only 35 people left.

When they parted, their faces were filled with resentment and regret, but now, upon seeing each other again, they are at ease, gazing at the stage with relaxed expressions.

Meng Fanxi knew that "Taking the Regiment as the Camp" was just an experience for them, and whether that experience would shine or dim was entirely up to them.

Gu Huailang was very agitated, and everyone could sense it. They gathered around him and whispered to distract him, until the next shot came through, and the six of them were shocked once again.

Pang Bo and Qi Anni thanked the audience who came to the event. The camera then cut to a wide shot and an overhead shot, showing an endless, densely packed crowd of people holding light sticks distributed by the "Team Up" program team, which were now flashing with dazzling light.

There were also cell phones and DSLR cameras of all sizes focusing on the stage, and the audience was very excited, cheering and shouting their own names in response to the host's interaction.

They had to perform in front of so many people, and what they actually saw was even more oppressive than they had imagined. Everyone had recovered from the emotions they felt when they saw their parents earlier.

The backstage space was large, but you could already see the trainees' faces covered in a fine sheen of sweat. The backstage area was getting hotter and hotter, and the trainees were fidgeting nervously, subconsciously continuing to warm up, unable to sit still at all.

Meng Fanxi exclaimed "Huh!" and quickly told his teammates to look at the screen. The camera panned across the screen and showed the students of the Xijingu Dance Troupe!

The production team arranged VIP seats for them, and they were waving banners supporting the six stars of Eternity.

"Xiao Shuai is swinging with such force." Meng Fanxi's eyes were focused and gentle.

Everyone laughed.

Tonight was unforgettable for them in every sense, and the memories to come are theirs to create.

Pang Bo: "Next, let's welcome the thirty-five trainees who have made it this far by overcoming numerous obstacles!"

The stage went dark, but the screams from the audience continued unabated.

The familiar sound of waves lapping against the beach drifted over, and the audience below immediately shouted out the song's name—the theme song, "The Group's Camp."

The grand arrangement was a perfect fit for a venue with tens of thousands of people, and with the production team's luxurious sound system, everyone in the audience was drawn into the music, and even the viewers in front of the screen held their breath.

Nothing is more powerful than a chorus of voices, and the screams and shouts add a heart-stirring realism to the performance of this song.

"Break through endless darkness, traverse the storm of gazes."

"Raise my flag and charge toward the dawn."

"Establish a regiment-based structure to safeguard the most moving ranks after the struggle."

As the singing began, thirty-five trainees appeared on a rising platform, each in their own team. The platform rose at different heights, making them appear from the audience's perspective as if they were standing on a continuous mountain range. Their determination was unwavering, and their eyes were filled with a competitive spirit.

As Meng Fanxi rose from the platform, he felt the echo from the entire stadium hit him head-on, his adrenaline surged, and his brain buzzed. He forced himself to calm down and sing along with the music in his in-ear monitor. He could feel that his voice was more powerful and more spirited than ever before.

He felt his blood boiling; he wanted to fight, to fight on and on!

The returning trainees also stood up and sang along firmly towards the stage. The audience had been following the show for so long that they knew the theme song by heart, and the entire audience sang along shortly after the show started.

The switching between the stage and the off-stage scenes elevates this theme song to a completely different level.

If the theme song was just a process of mutual probing and constant clashes between the groups when it was first released, then on the stage of the finals, the atmosphere of the song has been upgraded to an epic, fateful showdown where a great battle is about to break out and there is no choice but to move forward.

The song's real-time listens on music apps are rising rapidly.

The first episode and the finale of talent shows are usually when they attract the most casual viewers. "Team Up" made history during its broadcast, with a large number of people who knew nothing about talent shows becoming fans in almost every episode, truly breaking into the mainstream.

On the day of the finals, the real-time trending topics have already reached the top, and even when only the part where the trainees appeared and sang the theme song was broadcast, the trending topics "#TheGroupFinals" and "#TheGroupLive" had already exploded.

Countless users with no experience watching talent shows clicked into the live stream of the "Team Up" finale and were surprised to find that it was actually pretty good.

[This is live! Live! It's even more energetic than the studio version with so many people! That's the magic of live performances!]

[It must be pleasant to listen to; the foundation of any entertaining music program is that it must be pleasant to listen to.]

I'm completely captivated, I don't want it to end, sob sob sob.

Look at the lighting effects, look at the stage layout, the aesthetics are amazing!

[Postponing the teen idol competition finals was the right thing to do; what are you going to use to compete?]

Cen Qi looked at the latest data behind the scenes; the current popularity was far ahead of any talent show finale in China.

As the song drew to a close, light and shadow intertwined, and several lifelike butterflies appeared under the soft light. The camera slowly zoomed in, and Meng Fanxi cleverly used the shadows cast by the light to show the most perfect silhouette in front of the camera.

The interplay of light and darkness, the fragility and beauty of the butterfly, and the unwavering resilience beneath his dignified demeanor made the audience unconsciously hold their breath.

His voice was extremely steady, and his clear, spring-like tone brought the emotions to their deepest point.

"Offer glory, and merge into the radiant stars."

All the voices in the audience seemed to have been plundered, and then they all burst out in an instant without stopping.

-----------------------

A note from the author:

There's still a long way to go before it's finished.

Just a little spoiler: after the group-based section ends, there's a final part about reaching the summit.