Chapter 11: A Selection of Songs

The next morning, the contestants gathered in the auditorium as usual.

When Qu Qinghuan walked onto the stage, the contestants in the audience applauded and cheered, and the atmosphere was very lively.

"Hello everyone!" Qu Qinghuan smiled and waved, her voice clear and powerful.

“Today we will be selecting songs for the first performance of ‘Road to Starry Dreams’.

The first performance stage is very important to you. It is not only a chance to show your abilities, but also a good opportunity to accumulate popularity. I hope everyone can give it their all.

Next, I will announce the rules for selecting songs for the first performance, so please listen carefully."

She paused and continued, “There were 15 songs in the first performance, and each song was performed by 6-7 people.

The order of song selection is: S-level contestants will be the first to choose a song and select teammates. After the S-level contestants finish selecting, we will draw lots to decide the next contestant to select a song, and so on.

When choosing songs, contestants can choose their favorite songs or freely combine them according to the strength and style of their teammates."

After Qu Qinghuan finished explaining the rules, he glanced at the contestants below the stage, his tone carrying a hint of seriousness:

"The first performance stage is not only about your performance, but also about your first ranking announcement after the first performance. Please choose the songs and teammates carefully.

The team ranked first in the on-site voting will receive a bonus of 10,000 votes per person; the player ranked first in the on-site voting will receive a bonus of 20,000 votes.

If both the team and the individual rank first, that person will receive a cumulative bonus of 30,000 votes."

When the contestants in the audience heard about this bonus, they were all eager to try, their eyes full of fighting spirit.

This bonus is very attractive to the contestants, and everyone wants to show their talents on the first public stage.

After Qu Qinghuan finished speaking, he signaled for everyone to be quiet and then stepped aside.

The name of the first song began to play on the screen on the stage - "The Passionate Road".

The strong rhythm and passionate melody instantly ignited the atmosphere of the whole venue.

This song is the theme song of a passionate youth comic. The melody is powerful and the lyrics are full of fighting spirit.

The contestants next to Xie Qingyu couldn't help but dance to the rhythm. It was obvious that this song was very famous in the world.

As the song plays, the screen begins to introduce the background and characteristics of the song.

Although Xie Qingyu did not understand the songs in this world, he could feel the charm of this song.

He listened carefully to each of the following songs, silently evaluating which one was more suitable for him.

The program team has a pretty good eye for song selection, and there aren't any bad ones. There are two songs that he likes the most.

An ancient style song called "Spring and Autumn on the Strings", this song combines popular singing techniques and ancient style singing very well.

As soon as the chorus began, Xie Qingyu got goosebumps, with the melodious sound of traditional folk instruments such as the guzheng and erhu as the background.

Adding elements such as drum beats creates a majestic atmosphere, which is very, very nice to listen to.

There is also a song called "FIRE BLAZE", which is a very classic boy group style song. It opens with a strong drum beat and the rhythm is compact and powerful, like the beating of a burning flame.

The melody of the main song adds some low bass lines to the rhythm, creating a calm and powerful atmosphere.

In the chorus, the melody becomes more passionate, with the addition of high-pitched synthesizer sounds, like a flame erupting, pushing the emotion of the song to a climax.

If you perform this song live in the first public performance and don't overdo it, it's easy to liven up the place.

Psychologically, Xie Qingyu prefers the song "Spring and Autumn on the Strings", but he knows that if it is a live performance, "FIRE BLAZE" will have more advantages.

After listening to the first selection of songs, Leo was still not satisfied, so he whispered in Xie Qingyu's ear and asked him which song he liked.

Xie Qingyu whispered to him the names of two of her favorite songs. Leo felt a little confused after hearing that.

Because he liked "Hot Blood Road" more, but he really wanted to perform a song with his brother.

Seeing Leo's pretty little face wrinkled in confusion, Xie Qingyu smiled silently.

Tell him not to worry too much, because they don’t choose the songs themselves, so they may not be able to choose the songs they like.

It would have been fine if he hadn't remembered it, but after he remembered it, Leo felt even sadder.

After the 15 songs were played, Qu Qinghuan asked Gu Qi to go on stage to choose a song.

Everyone thought Gu Qiong would choose "FIRE BLAZE", but he hesitated for a moment and finally chose another youth campus song called "Carousel".

The song has a light melody and lyrics full of youthful sweetness and sadness, and is also very popular among fans.

The next teammate was chosen quickly. Gu Yan stood on the stage, glanced at the contestants below, and chose Wei Liangchen first.

Wei Liangchen has already demonstrated his adaptability to this type of song on his first stage. He is quite popular and his face is very convincing.

Immediately afterwards, Gu Qi did not directly choose teammates, but asked the contestants in the audience to recommend themselves.

The contestants who were interested in the song raised their hands, and Gu Qie selected four people who had the right image and decent abilities to be his teammates.

After S-level contestant Gu Qi finished selecting his song, a staff member walked onto the stage holding a large box, stood in front of Gu Qi, and motioned for him to reach in and draw a lot.

The box contained the name tags of 98 other trainees besides the S-rank ones.

Gu Yan reached into the box and pulled out a piece of paper at random.

Qu Qinghuan handed him the microphone and motioned him to read out the name on the note.

Gu Yan opened the note, took a look at it, raised the corner of his mouth meaningfully, and deliberately kept the other person in suspense.

Seeing this, the contestants in the audience couldn't help but urge them on.

"Gu Yan, stop keeping us in suspense and tell us who it is!"

"Yeah, hurry up and read out the names, we can't wait!"

"Don't keep us in suspense, hurry up!"

"God bless me, beat me"

Gu Qi smiled, and without further delay, he read out the name on the note: "Zhu Xiaojun."

When the names were read out the first time, no one stood up. Gu Qi read them out a second time, and the contestant next to Zhu Xiaojun excitedly pushed his shoulder:

"Xiaojun, it's you! Come on up!"

Zhu Xiaojun finally came to his senses. It turned out that when his name was called out for the first time, he was stunned by the surprise.

He stood up suddenly, his face full of disbelief, and then jumped directly onto the stage.

Zhu Xiaojun was a Class C contestant, a sturdy man standing 1.9 meters tall. As soon as he stepped onto the stage, he excitedly grabbed Gu Qi's hand, shaking it up and down, muttering non-stop:

"Thank you so much! Thank you so much! I really didn't expect it would be me!"

Gu Qi smiled and patted Zhu Xiaojun's shoulder with his other hand.

Then he calmly withdrew his hand, handed the microphone to Zhu Xiaojun, and walked off the stage and returned to his seat.

Zhu Xiaojun stood on the stage, clearly still in shock. He held the microphone and spoke incoherently:

"I...I really didn't expect it to be me! I...I'm so excited! Thank you Gu Zheng for choosing me, thank you to the production team, and thank you everyone! I will definitely do my best!"

The contestants in the audience looked at his excitement, understood him very well, and smiled at him kindly.

Qu Qinghuan reminded from the side: "Zhu Xiaojun, you can start choosing songs."

Zhu Xiaojun finally came to his senses and turned to look at the remaining fourteen songs on the screen.

"Carousel" has been selected by Gu Qiong and turned gray.

He just took a casual look and then walked firmly towards a magical song called "Banana Over the Atlantic".

As soon as the name of the song came out, the contestants in the audience suddenly became agitated. Qu Qinghuan couldn't help but step forward and asked:

"Contestant Zhu Xiaojun, are you sure you want to choose this song?"

Zhu Xiaojun nodded firmly: "I'm sure!"

If there is one song among the fifteen that Xie Qingyu is most afraid of choosing, it must be "Banana Over the Atlantic".

The name of this song has a nonsensical style, and the lyrics are even more hilarious.

Xie Qingyu couldn't imagine herself singing "Banana banana, turn into a spaceship and take us to the blue sky" on the stage.

He debuted in another world in a parallel time and space for many years and had never been exposed to this style of music.

After Zhu Xiaojun finished choosing his song, he turned around and started choosing his teammates. This song required a team of seven, so in addition to himself, he needed to choose six more teammates.

He scanned the crowd excitedly and suddenly met Xie Qingyu's eyes.

Xie Qingyu's scalp tingled, and he had a vague sense of foreboding.

Sure enough, it was as expected.

The first teammate Zhu Xiaojun chose was Xie Qingyu.

Xie Qingyu had no choice but to stand up.

The contestants next to him all looked at him with sympathy. He was initially rated A and then ranked C in the theme song, but was so hastily chosen to perform the divine song in the first public performance.

When he stood up, he stopped Leo who was about to raise his hand to recommend himself, and signaled him not to be impulsive.

Zhu Xiaojun’s second teammate was Bai Lang.

Bai Lang stood up expressionlessly, seemingly indifferent, but Xie Qingyu, standing behind him, saw the veins on the back of his neck bulging.

For some reason, Xie Qingyu suddenly felt much better.

Next, Zhu Xiaojun read out the names of Qian Song, Sun Lele, Huang Ke and Cai Jiashu.

Except for Cai Jiashu who is in Class C, the other five are Class A contestants who are in the initial stage or re-evaluation.

The contestants in the audience had mixed feelings. They didn't expect that the first "Galaxy Battleship" would appear so dramatically, and it happened to be... such a song.

"Zhu Xiaojun, this is a targeted selection. They are all Class A players!"

"This song is so easy to fail when performed live that even the original singer doesn't dare to perform it easily."

"If he had chosen a normal song, this lineup would have easily carried the show. What a pity..."

After Xie Qingyu sat down, he felt a mixture of emotions. He sighed silently. Since he couldn't change it, he would just give it his all.

After Zhu Xiaojun finished his selection, the staff member came up to the stage again with a large box and signaled him to continue drawing lots.

Zhu Xiaojun reached in, pulled out a piece of paper at random, and read out the name: "Zhang Zixuan."

Zhang Zixuan is a contestant from Class D. After hearing his name, he stood up excitedly and walked quickly onto the stage.

He took the microphone and followed Zhu Xiaojun's lead, saying excitedly:

"Thank you contestant Zhu Xiaojun for picking me, and thank you to the production team. I will definitely do my best!"

Zhang Zixuan chose a song that is relatively easy to perform, "Starlight Tonight". The song has a light melody, few dance moves, and more stage movements.

The teammates he chose were all friends he was familiar with, mostly players from Class D and Class C.

Although his overall strength is not top-notch, he should have his own considerations.

Afterwards, several more contestants were drawn, and the songs and teammates they chose were also unique.

Some chose slow lyrical songs, some chose dance music with a strong sense of rhythm. Everyone made a choice based on their own style and strength.

Xie Qingyu now only hopes that Leo can successfully enter the "Hot Blood Road" that he has always been thinking about.

Fortunately, the song was chosen by a contestant from Class B, who invited Leo to join the team.

Ding Zai is also in the team, and the overall strength is good, with most of the players from Class A and Class B.

However, Leo's mood did not improve because of this. From time to time, he turned his head with wet eyes and looked at Xie Qingyu with a hint of loss in his eyes.

He had hoped to be on the same team with his brother, but the reality made him a little disappointed.

When he turned his head again, Xie Qingyu pushed it back mercilessly, asking him to look at the song selection carefully.

There were cameras all around. Xie Qingyu felt that ever since the night when Leo was photographed leaning on his shoulder by fans, whenever he and Leo were together, the program crew's cameras would turn towards them from time to time.

So, in Rio, who didn't know what was happening, the local light rain turned into heavy rain.

What is more surprising is that the song "FIRE BLAZE" was left until the end.

This song is quite difficult, with a tight rhythm and requires extremely strong stage performance. Perhaps the contestants felt it was too difficult and lacked the confidence to perform it, so no one chose it.

Finally, the song was chosen by a contestant from Class C. He stood on the stage, looking at the remaining contestants. He had no choice but to pick a few tall ones from among the short ones.

He selected 2 contestants from Class D and 4 contestants from Class F, and Wei Ran was also selected for this song.

When Wei Ran heard her name, she was obviously at a loss and stood up with her head down.

When the contestants in the audience saw that "FIRE BLAZE" was chosen, they began to discuss in low voices.

"This song is too difficult. Can they perform it well?"

“It feels a bit uncertain”

"If you perform well, you'll make a comeback. If you don't, you'll pack up and go home."

"This team has mixed strengths and may flop during live performances."

“………”

Xie Qingyu sat in the audience, feeling a little complicated.

He knew that although the song "FIRE BLAZE" was difficult, if performed well, it was very likely to blow the audience away.

Unfortunately, it will be a bit difficult given the strength of this team, but having said that, who can predict the outcome until the very end?

No one can guarantee that they will perform better than others.

After the song selection was completed, Qu Qinghuan walked onto the stage and concluded with a smile:

"The first public performance is about to begin. I hope everyone will give their all and show their best selves!"