Chapter Fifty-Nine: Song Selection

On the day of song selection.

"It's a great pity that I can't meet you in person right now, but the concert will bridge the distance between us."

Tan Yi's unique, magnetic voice lingered in everyone's ears as he appeared on the screen, hosting this segment.

Meng Fanxi and the other five, dressed in pajamas with their hair hanging down smoothly, sat loosely on the sofa in the villa's living room. Unlike their initial restraint, they now completely treated the living room as their own home, each with their own fixed spot, and focused intently on the television screen.

They were oblivious to the cameras around them.

A closer look reveals a hint of sleepiness in their eyes.

Not long ago, a bell, like a school bell, rang incessantly in the early morning, echoing throughout the entire villa. Meng Fanxi, looking bewildered, turned off the source of the sound in the living room—a small Bluetooth speaker—while wearing panda cartoon pajamas.

He went to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water, then sat in the dining room, lost in thought, still feeling drowsy. A moment later, Lin Ruohe came out in the same state. He noticed the speaker. "Was that played by the production crew?"

Meng Fanxi rubbed his eyes, got up and poured Lin Ruohe a glass of water as well, "It should be."

Last night, the production team informed us that we would be recording the song selection segment at 10 a.m. this morning, and that we only needed to arrive half an hour early to get our makeup done, so everyone tacitly decided to sleep in a little longer.

It's only eight o'clock. Meng Fanxi looked away from the clock. What kind of trouble is the production team up with now?

"Ding-dong-dong—" The sudden school bell rang again upstairs, and soon after, it rang in another corner as well.

How many Bluetooth speakers did the production team put in?

The speaker's mission ended with everyone being woken up.

The TV screen lit up with a "ding-dong" sound, and everyone sat down. Tan Yi appeared on the screen, and after a few simple greetings, he finally got to the point.

"Next, we will proceed with the song selection process."

"So sudden?" Xu You, the one who was always the most reluctant to get out of bed and the sleepiest, sat up in surprise upon hearing this while lying on the sofa.

Ren Yuchen, who was standing next to him, was startled by his movements. He wasn't frightened by Tan Yi's words, but he was startled by Xu You and quietly moved to the side.

While those less worldly-wise were still in surprise, the composed Meng Fanxi had already gotten up and fetched paper and pens to distribute to everyone, preparing them for song selection.

"Next, we will play 14 songs for you. Please listen carefully and then choose the song you would like to perform."

"Entering the corresponding song room means that you have confirmed your selection of this song, and you cannot select it again."

The location of the room where the song is played appears on the screen. The song title is posted on the door. It's behind Mushroom Park, and it looks like a temporary venue.

“What if there are different combinations that choose the same song? What should we do then?” Lin Ruohe asked.

The production team did not respond; that was all the information Tan Yi revealed. On television, he had already begun preparing to play the song.

No one had time to think about anything else; everyone picked up paper and began taking notes.

Each song plays for about 20 seconds, with the corresponding dance choreography displayed on the screen, and a line of small text at the bottom: "Adjustments will be made based on the actual number of team members."

There are familiar old songs and popular hits, as well as refreshing new songs. The musical styles are also diverse, including R&B, traditional Chinese style, HIP-POP, ballad, pure dance music and so on.

They were already quite excited, sitting on the sofa with papers in hand, dancing to the music and making their comments.

"This song can be kept as a backup; it feels very suitable."

"This song is so upbeat, I love it."

"This is very difficult to handle, and it's easy to mess it up."

...

"I don't know how to choose anymore, there are just too many good songs," Gu Huailang sighed.

Indeed, Meng Fanxi was surprised by the richness of the show's music library, with almost no bad songs. In terms of listenability, the first performance set it apart from many other talent shows.

After 14 songs finished playing, Tan Yi concluded, "Now everyone can make their choices according to their preferences. The deadline for entering the song selection room is 10:00 AM today. Teams that have not yet entered will be placed in the waiting list, waiting for the last available song. If there are two or more teams that have not entered the song selection room, they will be selected in order of their ranking."

Meng Fanxi looked down at the notes in his hand, his eyes filled with growing doubt. Tan Yi still hadn't said what to do if multiple teams entered the same room for the same song. Was it also based on level?

With limited time, he didn't dwell on the issue and started discussing it with his teammates.

“How about we try this song, ‘Hot Flame’?” Xu You chose a hip-hop style song, but it leans towards melody rap, which is relatively friendly to them. The style is also very pleasant and rhythmic. “When we were working on the theme song, Teacher Zhu Lou gave us a good evaluation. Choosing this song should allow us to get his special guidance.”

Thinking of this, Xu You became somewhat excited, and his admiration for Zhu Lou gradually increased along with his interest in hip-hop.

Meng Fanxi disagreed, saying, "This song is indeed very good, but it's not very competitive. We should consider songs that can immediately capture the audience's attention."

After all, it was their first performance, their first time performing with an audience, and they wanted to have a good start.

Zhang Yang nodded. "Fanxi is right." He also liked the song, but it wasn't suitable for the competition. He pushed the paper he had written to the center so everyone could see it.

"These six songs are the ones I think have a good balance in terms of music, performance and competition. I suggest you don't consider the others."

"Hot Flames" is not among the six poems.

Meng Fanxi looked at the six songs, smiled knowingly, and placed the notes he had marked next to Zhang Yang's notes.

Their choices were exactly the same, which surprised everyone and made them laugh.

The cameraman quickly grabbed his camera and took a close-up shot.

Ren Yuchen said, "I'll choose from these six songs. I particularly like 'Going Against the Current,' 'Speaking,' and those two ancient-style songs."

Everyone agreed, and the scope was narrowed down again to four poems.

Hsu Yu was the first to say, "I have no objection to these four songs. You guys choose. I can't decide."

Gu Huailang was the same; he didn't want to think about it, and once he decided which song it was, he would practice diligently.

Zhang Yang crossed out a traditional Chinese style song called "Xiaoyao Ling".

Lin Ruohe hesitated before crossing out "Speaking," saying, "The original version of this song is too deeply ingrained in people's hearts."

Finally, only two songs remained.

Meng Fanxi felt everyone's gaze on him, raised his hand and pointed to the name, "Swimming Fish".

"Although this is a traditional Chinese style song that is rarely tried on the singing and dancing stage, its rhythm is very suitable for us. The melody of the song is beautiful, the arrangement is very innovative, and it is not that popular, so it is easy to bring a sense of novelty to the audience. If performed well, it will be an excellent stage."

He had listened to the entire original song and also pointed out the difficulties of the song: "If I remember correctly, there is a long interlude in the second half, where the emotions and music will have a rapid shift and leap. If you don't handle it well, it will make the audience lose immersion. If you handle it well, it can become our winning highlight."

He was very confident in their performance. As he spoke, Meng Fanxi's eyes sparkled, drawing everyone's attention to his description.

No further discussion took place.

The other five people unanimously agreed to choose this song and couldn't wait to go back to their rooms to change into their training clothes. After tidying up, there were less than twenty minutes left before the 10 o'clock deadline.

Their villa was not far from Mushroom Park, and everyone immediately boarded a sightseeing bus as soon as they left the house, heading towards their destination.

Meanwhile, in other dormitories, discussions about song selection were in full swing. The WONE group had also reached the final stage, torn between two ancient-style songs.

“This piece, ‘Xiaoyao Ling,’ is very difficult. Although it’s quite popular, performing it is risky. Why not choose ‘Youyu’ instead?” Han Jia suggested earnestly.

"You haven't heard of 'Swimming Fish,' have you?" Zhang Ruizheng asked. He had heard the song. "The variation in the second half of 'Swimming Fish' is also very difficult, and it's not that popular yet, so many viewers probably haven't heard of it." He wouldn't say this in front of the camera because it's not conducive to building popularity.

Zhong Lifu and the others thought both were acceptable. He looked at Jin Ziran, who hadn't yet expressed her opinion, and asked, "Ziran, what do you think?"

Jin Ziran curled her lips into a smile.

...

The cool morning breeze brushed against Meng Fanxi's cheeks, finally dispelling his drowsiness and waking him up completely. Suddenly, a fleeting thought flashed through his mind.

What is it?

He always felt it was very important, and silently looked at the scenery along the way, lost in thought.

While his teammates chatted in the car, Xu You began to imagine the second public performance: "I wonder what the individual battle in the second public performance means. It won't be a solo battle, will it? Can't we all stay together?"

Gu Huailang complained, "They're already thinking about the second performance before the first one has even started."

Oh, right!

Meng Fanxi finally realized what he had forgotten. Thanks to their casual conversation, the second round was an individual competition, while the hint for the first round was...

Themed performances.

Since the song started playing, there has been no indication of the "theme". What's going on?

Meng Fanxi voiced his question.

"Theme? Right, why wasn't the theme mentioned? It might be another clue hidden by the production team." Lin Ruohe also felt something was off.

Everyone fell into thought, and the air suddenly became quiet, with only the sound of the sightseeing bus engine and the sound of the wheels rubbing against the ground continuing.

After thinking for a while, Ren Yuchen said, "Could it be that the theme has already been given to us? Like the ancient style theme?"

Following his train of thought, Zhang Yang said, "There are two songs in the ancient style, two in the hip-hop style, and so on, making a total of seven themes."

If there were two songs for each theme, Meng Fanxi would naturally recall some competitive programs from his previous life.

As if a fog had suddenly been lifted, his pupils dilated slightly, his gaze sharpened, and he looked at his teammates.

"The real rule of the first round should be a battle. Teams that choose two songs with the same theme will automatically become opponents and compete against each other. That's why it's so convenient and accurate that there are two songs for each theme."