Chapter 71: Hit Songs

The most anticipated event in the music scene right now is undoubtedly the "annual summary" released at the beginning of each year.

Every year, radio stations calculate the performance of singers from various genres in the music scene through their own channels, and then summarize the results based on factors such as sales, popularity, and reviews for a final comprehensive evaluation.

Correspondingly, after the comprehensive evaluation results are released, the various organizers will hold various music award ceremonies and present a series of annual music awards.

Among these, the "Top Ten Jade Solid Gold Songs Awards Ceremony" hosted by TBL TV and the "Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards Ceremony" hosted by Hong Kong Radio are the two annual award ceremonies that attract the most attention.

Comparatively speaking, the former focuses more on song sales and popularity, while the latter focuses more on song quality and level. Although the two are competitors, they also have their own focuses. Therefore, it is not impossible for some excellent works to be both critically acclaimed and commercially successful, and thus win awards at both award ceremonies.

"The Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards Ceremony is currently the most 'authoritative' awards ceremony in Hong Kong, so it appears more serious and conservative compared to other music awards ceremonies. Most of the winning singers are well-known singers who have been famous for a long time, or senior artists who have been in the industry for a long time and have accumulated enough experience..." Lu Yiting pointed to the documents in one hand while explaining to Li Sishi, "Newcomers in this ceremony generally do not receive any awards other than the few newcomer awards specifically given to them."

"Given this premise, you don't need to put too much 'heart' into the Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards Ceremony." It seems that the organizers of these two award ceremonies have a love-hate relationship, so Lu Yiting had a bit of a love-hate tone when talking about the Chinese Gold Songs Awards Ceremony, and even told Li Sishi some information that was actually gossip.

It turns out that TBL TV's "Jade Solid Gold" and "Top Ten Jade Solid Gold Awards Ceremony" were a business-grabbing tactic to steal a share of the market from Hong Kong Radio's "Chinese Gold Songs" and "Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards Ceremony." Therefore, they deliberately set the date of the Jade Solid Gold Awards Ceremony a few days earlier than the Chinese Gold Songs Awards every year. If it weren't for the fact that there are fewer songs and more singers these days, and that record companies of all sizes are emerging one after another, it might just be a battle between the behind-the-scenes players of a few big companies to clear out the market and seize absolute control of Hong Kong's music scene.

Li Sishi nodded: Although it doesn't seem like there's a single dominant company yet, it does give the impression that a few large companies are taking the lead and dominating the spotlight, while other companies are flourishing but rarely attracting attention.

Hong Kong music later declined from its peak, partly due to language barriers,

Besides factors such as resource depletion, the monopoly and exploitation by capital was also a key reason that accelerated its decline.

But she is still in the prime of her career in Hong Kong's music scene, so she doesn't need to think too much. Taking care of the upcoming challenges is already another turning point in her life.

Last year, every song on her EP was selected for the quarterly Jade Solid Gold Awards based on both sales and quality. So, she will definitely be a part of the Jade Solid Gold Awards this year, and she will also have a place at the Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards.

However, it's obvious that the Chinese Golden Melody Awards belong to someone else and are based on seniority. In the past, she would have been lucky to win a Best New Artist award. On the other hand, the Jade Solid Gold Awards are based on her own country and are based on popularity. She is almost guaranteed to win the Best New Artist award, and with some effort, she might be able to be a dark horse and win a Golden Melody Award from the ten spots that are divided among the four Heavenly Kings and several Heavenly Queens.

In particular, the song "One, Two, Three, Each with Their Own Dreams," which was both of high quality and lucky, became the dark horse of the year.

Because of her butterfly effect, this song is much better than I remember in terms of both production and performance. The song has the advantage of being an original song and lyrics, and it has been very popular in karaoke all last year, so it is a top contender for the Golden Melody Awards.

The time spent learning and honing skills always passes quickly amidst a sense of torment. With the arrival of the Lunar New Year's chill and joy, the day of the Jade Solid Gold Awards Ceremony is just around the corner.

This kind of relatively "serious and proper"

Some award ceremonies are not like the previous anniversary celebrations where people could freely express themselves within the theme restrictions. The key point of their attire, in the eyes of most people, is to avoid making mistakes rather than seeking merit.

However, having been used to competing with others in her past life and wanting to start a fashion business in this one, Li Sishi was not going to compromise with her seniors and experience in such a conservative way. Therefore, she was determined to dance in the most captivating way even if she was in shackles. She managed to spare some time and energy from her studies and apprenticeship to offer her opinions again. Her cousin Zhou Huichang and the designers at Theme worked on it for a while, and finally came up with a design draft of a ladylike dress that was more in line with the current aesthetic of Hong Kong people.

Considering her current qualifications and the weather, Li Sishi changed her look from the charming little devil she wore at the anniversary celebration. Instead, she styled her long hair into small curls, half of which was tied up and the other half draped over her back. She also changed her outfit to a more conservative white princess dress that reached mid-calf.

She wore a skirt with a fluffy white shawl over it, and at first glance, she looked like a tender little lamb that had just arrived and could be easily rubbed. Her pure and ethereal face had a pair of bright, blinking eyes that seemed to say "harmless to humans and animals."

No matter how you look at it, he doesn't seem like an ambitious little wolf cub vying for a Golden Melody Award nomination with the kings and queens of pop.

Li Sishi was very satisfied with her "pretending to be weak while actually being strong" look. Zhuang Menghua and Lu Yiting, who intended to groom her as the next generation of "Jade Girl" and gradually elevate her to the position of a leading actress on the silver screen, were also very satisfied. They said that she was both beautiful and pleasing to the eye, and not aggressive. As long as she performed normally as in the rehearsal, she would give the audience a dignified and graceful impression of a "young woman who has just come of age."

Li Sishi nodded to indicate that she understood, and then got into the van and headed to the hotel where the awards ceremony would be held.

It has to be said that fans in Hong Kong these days have a pretty good way to chase stars. Basically, their favorite celebrities live in the same relatively small city, so they can bump into them from time to time. If they really want to wait for their idols, they can go to the venues where various events are held to chase them. For example, Li Sishi heard Shang Hanyou and Ling Chen say that last year their fans pooled their money to go to a hotel for a banquet, and as soon as they saw a celebrity pass by, they would swarm around him to ask for autographs. It can be described as the best interpretation of the modern version of waiting for a rabbit to run into a tree stump...

Looking out the car window at the dense crowd of people and various flags, Li Sishi sighed inwardly: Sure enough, the seniors couldn't escape being besieged this year either.

But what she didn't expect was that when she got off the bus to enter the venue, she was surrounded halfway: a group of middle-aged and elderly people who looked quite old squeezed through with agility that rivaled that of the young people next to them, and stretched out their hands to hand her autographed book.

Yes, most of her adult fans were fashion enthusiasts she temporarily recruited for the anniversary celebration, while her music fans...

Knowing that her current fans are either middle-aged or elderly or minors, Li Sishi tries her best to accept the autograph books from these middle-aged and elderly fans who treat her like a daughter or even a granddaughter, and carefully signs her name before handing the autograph books back.

"Go for it!" A plump-looking middle-aged woman smiled at Li Sishi.

He smiled, his gaze as loving as if he were encouraging his own child who was about to participate in some competition...

Li Sishi smiled and waved, her obedient demeanor exactly like the kind of person elders love.

Li Sishi squeezed into the awards ceremony venue without any incident and checked the seating chart.

She sat down in the middle seat of the second row, and looking up, she saw her master, Le Yun, right in front of her.

Le Yun, a senior figure who rarely receives awards anymore, doesn't have as much of a competitive spirit, so he arrived earlier than her. When he turned around and saw Li Sishi coming over, he smiled at her, looking kind and reassuring.

"Don't worry, Master, I've been through countless 'tests' in beauty pageants, so I won't be too nervous in this kind of 'prepared' situation!"

Li Sishi smiled and replied, then patiently watched as the seniors in the front row took their seats one after another.

Although award ceremonies usually call ahead to "hint," most of the time the awards are still uncertain: the organizers call to confirm your attendance before making a final decision on whether to award you the prize.

There are instances where exceptional talent and achievements lead to awards even without attendance, or where hard work and dedication result in disappointment. However, most of the time, award ceremony organizers prioritize the entertainment value, ensuring attendance significantly increases a singer's chances of winning. For some big-name, heavyweight singers, the organizers might be even more direct, stating over the phone that attendance guarantees a prize, while absence means no prize.

As she thought this, something seemed to flash across her eyes: If she did well in her studies this year, she wouldn't need to sit in the second row next year and watch the people in the first row take their seats, right?

Of course, that's what she thought, but as one of the singers with songs nominated, Li Sishi couldn't even get a seat in the second row. She didn't get to say more than a few words to Le Yun before hurriedly saying goodbye and going backstage to prepare for the opening medley of songs and dances with a group of other artists with nominated songs.

She has two songs shortlisted for the final competition: "My Beloved" and "One, Two, Three, Each with Their Own Dreams".

This number is less than that of the superstars who have been nominated for several songs, but it is definitely more than that of the newcomers of the same period; so when she finally finished her performance and came back, the second row of seats was almost full.

After squeezing her way to her seat, Li Sishi once again embraced the mindset of an audience member watching her seniors perform at the anniversary celebration, watching one Golden Melody Award after another being presented on stage.

Shang Hanyou, Hou Beihua, Ye Shanyun, Li Dewen, Ling Chen...

As expected, the winners of these five Golden Melody Awards were exactly as predicted: three of the four Heavenly Kings won the awards.

Ye Shanyun is also a recognized diva, and Li Dewen has had a relatively stable record and singing skills since his debut. He is also the "successor to the king" handpicked by the previous generation king Lun Yongnan, so it is no surprise that he won this award.

Although the one of the four Heavenly Kings who hasn't won an award yet hasn't been named, according to Huo Gu...

Given Cheng's achievements and popularity last year, no one doubts that he can't win a Golden Melody Award in the second half of the year.

After the first five Golden Melody Awards were presented, the host temporarily paused the awards ceremony and began preparing to present this year's Best New Male and Female Artist Awards: the Best New Male Artist Awards were judged separately for male and female singers, with three different levels of trophies: gold, silver, and bronze, corresponding to three for each of the male and female new artists.

This is the moment when Li Sishi and her group of newcomers are most focused on listening to the roll call.

But to Li Sishi's and the other newcomers sitting in the second row and beyond's surprise, when the results of the first three gold, silver, and bronze female newcomer awards were announced, the host glanced at the opened envelopes and then called out a name that no one could have predicted—

"Next up is the Most Popular New Female Artist Award – Yue Ji! Please come up here!"

Le Yun, who had only come to join the fun, was completely bewildered: "Putting aside the fact that I'm almost ready to retire... what kind of award did you give me? Say it again?!"