Chapter 18
Amid the noisy screams of the surrounding contestants, Su Xingyao's vision suddenly went dark.
All the lights in the studio were turned off by the program crew.
Then, a voice suddenly sounded in the darkness.
"Hello, fellow contestants, welcome to "The Voice of Heaven"!"
"First, let us invite our instructor to come on stage!"
After the deep male voice that appeared most frequently in all the major programs sounded, in the originally dark studio, several rows of lights began to light up from both sides toward the center of the stage.
Accompanied by several heart-shaking sound effects.
The stage in front, which was originally pitch black, appeared in front of everyone again.
At this time, mentor Wen Yun was already standing in the center of the stage.
He is nearly forty years old, with a calm and solemn smile on his face.
After the host called out his name, Wen Yun, a talented singer, just like his name, waved to everyone calmly, and then went to sit in the mentor seat on the far left.
Most of the contestants sitting under the stage were unknown amateurs. It was the first time for them to see the stars so close, and they all seemed a little excited.
In addition, Wen Yun is also a singer who is very liked and respected by everyone.
For a moment, applause and screams rang out continuously in the studio.
The cute young man No. 77 who was sitting next to Su Xingyao also started to cheer excitedly as if he had arrived at a star-chasing scene.
"Wen Yun, Wen Yun, your singing skills are unmatched!"
After he finished shouting, the mentor who came out next to Wen Yun was Xu Beizhou, who was known as a creative genius.
Xu Beizhou's singing skills are not as top as Wen Yun's, but he is very talented in composition, especially in arranging music. Many well-known singers in the circle have invited him to write songs.
There is no singer participating in "The Voice of China" today who has not heard the songs written by him.
Therefore, as soon as he came on stage and said the three words "Hello everyone", whistles broke out one after another from the audience.
Then Su Xingyao heard the cute cheering voice of No. 77 again.
"Xu Beizhou, Xu Beizhou, first-rate creation, the best on earth!"
Hearing such a smooth cheering slogan from No. 77 again, Su Xingyao could no longer focus on her mentor.
He felt like he was at a talent show and was curious about number 77.
He really wanted to know what cheering slogan the other party would shout to the mentor behind him.
Today's best supporter No. 77 did not disappoint Su Xingyao's expectations.
When the top idol Sheng Yan appeared on stage, he shouted out the most common cheers from the other side's fans without even thinking about it.
Seeing that he was as enthusiastic as every mentor's fanatical fans, Su Xingyao couldn't help but ask him in a low voice, "Why do you have so many slogans?"
No. 77 put one hand to his mouth and answered with a smile.
“Because I like all these instructors.”
Su Xingyao thought this answer made sense, so she smiled and raised her cat paw to give the other party a thumbs up.
However, just as he finished ordering, he heard the other party urgently giving him a patch.
"I don't like all of them, but this one is not acceptable."
When No. 77 was speaking, the host just happened to read out the name of the last mentor.
"Next, please welcome our last mentor!!"
"Everyone, please welcome... Teacher Shen~Huai~Xi!!!"
The program crew's camera jib instantly swept across the contestants' seats, and in front of the camera, the contestants immediately cooperated and burst into huge cheers.
This list of mentors had been announced online before, and basically no contestant present didn't know that Shen Huaixi was coming.
But because the camera was shooting right at their faces, many contestants deliberately pretended to know nothing and were very surprised to see Shen Huaixi.
Especially No. 79, who had been scolding Su Xingyao for being scheming, clapped his hands loudly when he saw the camera coming over, saying "Wow, they actually invited Shen Huaixi!"
No. 77 glanced at the old man speechlessly, and then told Su Xingyao the second half of the sentence he had not finished just now.
"He sings really well, so I won't give him any praise."
Su Xingyao smiled silently, and looked at Shen Huaixi who was being held up by everyone on the stage from a distance.
No. 77 obviously also knew about Shen Huaixi.
As he said, Shen Huaixi's singing skills are indeed not very good, and strictly speaking, he actually has no singing skills to speak of.
But because he is the lucky son of this world, his popularity is not affected by his singing skills or not.
Su Xingyao still remembered that when she had just returned to the Shen family, Shen Huaixi sang a song at the campus art festival, and Qin Mingchuan dragged her to support him.
After the performance, Shen Huaixi suddenly came to find him.
"Xiao Shuang, I heard from Mingchuan that you sing very well. Could you please tell me how I performed just now?"
At that time, he had just returned home not long ago, and he also regarded Shen Huaixi as a family member. Out of love for his family, he still praised the other party.
However, Shen Huaixi did not give up. He pulled me to tell him about his problems and asked me to teach him how to change them.
He was at a loss as to what to do, so he tactfully pointed out the problem with the other person's breath, and then patiently taught him how to adjust it.
Not long after, their conversation was recorded and the recording was released with the beginning and the end cut out.
Since then, this story has been circulating in both schools.
Yue Shuang was jealous of Shen Huaixi and Qin Mingchuan's good relationship, so she talked about him behind his back and slandered him for his bad singing.
From then on, whenever he came into contact with Shen Huaixi or appeared on the same stage with her, bad things would happen.
Even when they are on the show, I don't say a word and just sit there as a background board.
In the end, it may develop into a situation where the other party's fans take screenshots frame by frame and maliciously interpret it, and then everyone will scold him.
In the past, he didn’t understand why no one would believe him even after he explained. Instead, the more he explained, the more people thought of him as being sarcastic and jealous.
Later he realized that, under the influence of the plot, Shen Huaixi was the only absolute truth in this world.
What you say is unimportant.
On the stage, Shen Huaixi, who was not good at singing, did not seem guilty because his ability was not as good as the other three.
On the contrary, he confidently extended an invitation to all the players, "I hope all the talented players can join my team later!"
Su Xingyao didn't listen to Shen Huaixi's speech seriously.
Although there is no way to avoid recording a show on the same stage, he doesn't want to watch the other party's hypocritical performance too much.
As he was distracted, his eyes fell on the cat and mouse doll set.
Looking at his cat's paw, the image of coral appeared in his mind.
Then I remembered the scene of it playing with the sunset.
Then……
Then there was Lu Jiuxu's face.
Su Xingyao remembered the cell phone that had just been taken away by the staff.
Inside were photos of sunset and corals that Lu Jiuxu had taken for him.
After recalling the scene in the photo in his mind, Su Xingyao suddenly had an idea.
What does Lu Jiuxu look like when he takes photos of cats and dogs?
Aaaaaaaaaaah!!
Just as Su Xingyao was thinking of this, a sharp scream interrupted his distraction.
At this moment, a name came from all directions of him at the same time.
"Fu Qingyan!!!"
"Damn... the super tutor turned out to be Fu Qingyan!"
Hearing the name, Su Xingyao looked up at the stage and saw Fu Qingyan already standing there without her noticing.
Unlike when he met him outside just now, the other person had changed his clothes and styled himself.
He had his hair combed back and wore a pair of framed glasses without lenses. His shirt was buttoned up to the top, giving off a gentlemanly and ascetic vibe.
Fu Qingyan, who just won the Best Actor award at the end of the year, suddenly appeared here and immediately became the focus of the whole audience.
Fu Qingyan is really popular among the public.
Therefore, the reactions of the people around Su Xingyao were not as deliberate as when they were supporting Shen Huaixi.
Everyone was genuinely crazy about his appearance.
There were even contestants off the court who were his fans, and they kept calling him "male god".
"Ahhh, hubby, aren't you filming overseas? When are you coming back?!"
"This is awesome! We can actually invite the best actor to our singing show!!"
"It's great that the best actor can act, but for us, can we... just be good mentors?"
"Don't worry, have you forgotten that Super Idol also invited the movie star Gu Siye to be a super mentor? These top talents in the industry are awesome at everything they do."
Fu Qingyan has always had a good image and reputation in the industry. Although he has crossed over to host a music variety show, the contestants are very receptive to him. Even if someone questions his professionalism, there will be someone to make up for it immediately.
Even No. 77, who was sitting next to Su Xingyao, excitedly made up a cheering slogan for the other party on the spot.
After No. 77 finished shouting, he looked at Su Xingyao with confusion.
"How come you didn't react at all when you saw Fu Qingyan?"
No. 77 didn't have any other intentions, he just felt that compared to the excited people in the audience, Su Xingyao was a little too calm.
Su Xingyao couldn't explain to No. 77 the grudge between him and the other party, so he gave another reason.
"I ran into him on the way here just now."
"Wow, did you guess at that time that the production team would invite him?"
Su Xingyao nodded.
At the moment when the two were whispering, Fu Qingyan on the stage also began to announce the rules.
"Hello everyone. Now let me announce the rules of the competition."
Fu Qingyan's gentle voice echoed in every corner of the studio.
"There are only 48 qualifying spots in the first round of interviews, and each mentor holds 12 spots."
There are a total of about ninety contestants participating in the competition today, but Fu Qingyan said that only 48 can advance.
This means that almost half of the people will be eliminated in the first round.
Although all the singers who came to participate were prepared to face elimination.
However, most people were still surprised to suddenly learn that they would face such a high elimination rate in the first round.
As soon as Fu Qingyan finished reading the rules, the contestants who realized that they might be eliminated in the first round became uneasy.
"Please be patient," Fu Qingyan's voice was tinged with smile. After calming down the contestants who were a little nervous because of the elimination rate, he continued.
"In this round of singing, the opportunity for the contestants to go on stage will be granted by the mentors."
This sentence was not easy to understand, so Fu Qingyan carefully explained it to everyone.
"Only contestants who have received a mentor's light can go on stage to sing. If no mentor lights up for you during the performance, or if the mentor turns off the light directly, then... you will not be able to go on stage and will be eliminated directly."
What this means is that if you don’t sing well, you can’t even get on stage… let alone being eliminated in the first round, which at least allows you to show your face, but in this case, it’s very likely that no one will know who you are after you finish singing…
After the contestants understood what was going on, they began to realize how cruel this show is.
I have to say, the competition system is really cool.
However, the contestants obviously underestimated the ability of the director.
He won't limit himself to playing with these fancy things.
Anyone who has followed his variety shows knows that the competition system of the programs he directs is definitely not that simple.
As expected, Fu Qingyan then told everyone, "The bright lights only give you the opportunity to sing on stage. If you want to stay, you need to collect all the pass cards given by the mentors."
"Only contestants who have four pass cards at the same time can successfully advance and choose a mentor, while the remaining contestants who have not collected all the cards are all pending."
The contestants who were very excited before were now completely unexcited after listening to it.
The current popular rule on the market clearly states that as long as the mentor lights up, you can pass the level smoothly and join the other team.
In "The Voice of China", only those who get approval from all mentors can advance, otherwise they will just get a temporary opportunity to perform on stage.
After understanding the rules, some contestants who were originally hesitant about which mentor to choose have now become obedient.
This competition system clearly tells everyone.
Only the absolutely strong ones have the qualification to choose the mentor against the others. As for the others... don't have too many fantasies for now.
"Okay, I guess everyone is clear about the rules."
Fu Qingyan glanced down and said with a smile, "Then the competition will officially begin now. Please welcome the first contestant!"
The production team didn't give everyone a chance to catch their breath. The competition started immediately after Fu Qingyan explained the rules.
The contestant who drew number 1 was taken backstage by the staff. Before he could calm down, he stood on the lift.
The other party's singing lasted only fifty-seven seconds, and he was eliminated before he even got on the stage because the mentors turned off the lights.
Of these fifty-seven seconds, fifteen are the prelude.
The first contestant got off to a bad start and didn't even finish the entire song.
The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became serious because of this elimination.
Some of the less powerful contestants also put away their smiles and began to worry about how many seconds they could last...
The program is being recorded in full swing, and next group of contestants will take the stage.
The instructors were much more demanding than everyone imagined, and even Shen Huaixi, who everyone thought was the most amateur, had extremely strict standards.
In a blink of an eye, forty contestants came on stage, but in the end only nineteen remained, and there has not even been a single contestant who was passed by unanimous vote.
After these people’s trial, the contestants who have not yet appeared on stage have gradually lowered their expectations.
Many people started out struggling over which mentor to choose, then decided that as long as they could get on stage and not get eliminated, it would be fine, and then decided that it didn’t matter if I could sing a few more seconds or not…
By the end, many people had begun to pray, hoping that they would not be eliminated in the shortest time.
When contestant No. 60 came on stage, Su Xingyao was taken backstage by the staff.
Contestants No. 70-79 were called backstage by the staff and lined up in order to wait to go on stage.
No. 77 was a very supportive audience member in the audience, but when he was about to go on stage, he became nervous.
When it was almost his turn, he clasped his hands together nervously, closed his eyes and prayed silently, "Let me through, let me through."
No. 76, who was in front of him and about to go on stage with a relaxed look on his face, glanced at him and said sarcastically, "What's the use of praying? A blacksmith must be strong himself. If the Bodhisattva can bless us, then anyone can become famous."
After saying that, he raised the guitar in his hand, with disdain for No. 77 in his eyes.
Of course, Su Xingyao, who had a good relationship with No. 77, was also glanced at arrogantly by the other party.
Su Xingyao was playing with the doll given to her by No. 77, without even glancing at the other person.
The same went for No. 77, who was still immersed in his own little world and was too lazy to open his eyes to pay attention to him.
No. 76 felt like he had something stuck in his throat after being completely ignored.
Before going on stage, he specifically said to the two of them, "Listen carefully here."
"Wait for my four clearance cards."
After leaving these two sentences, No. 76 went directly onto the lift platform.
No. 76, holding a guitar, sat casually on a high stool. After pretending to tune the guitar a few times, he began to sing.
The sound of the guitar came through the microphone, and No. 76 had just sung three sentences when Shen Huaixi blew the light for him.
There was a tutor who blew the light so quickly that the lift box also rose up.
No. 76 was still singing with his eyes closed, and No. 79, who knew him, started praising him, "It went off in just ten seconds. Is this the first time today? People who can write their own songs are different."
Su Xingyao didn't really listen to what 79 said.
But at this time, he listened carefully to the original song sung by 76.
As he listened, the hand that was playing with the doll stopped.
No. 79 walked up to him and asked him provocatively, "What's up? Are you scared? I don't play tricks like you. I can still win the championship."
After saying that, he glanced at Su Xingyao's doll costume again, and was obviously very dissatisfied with his outfit.
Su Xingyao ignored his provocation and calmly evaluated No. 76.
"His singing skills are OK, but this song..."
Su Xingyao considered her choice of words and paused for a few seconds before speaking again, "There's something wrong with the melody of his song."
No. 79 did not understand the real meaning of Su Xingyao's melody being problematic, and immediately looked at him as if he were an idiot.
"What do you know about a guy in a doll costume? What's wrong with the melody of his song? Do you know how popular his song has been on short video platforms these days?"
After saying that, No. 79 started to laugh at Su Xingyao without any hesitation.
"Wait until you can write songs yourself before you come to me. I think you have a problem."
After saying that, he pointed to his head, implying that Su Xingyao had something wrong with her brain.
Su Xingyao did not change her mind because of the other party's attitude, and continued to speak calmly, "The popularity of a song can only represent the number of its listeners."
He chuckled softly, "But that doesn't mean it's original."
This time, No. 79 understood what Su Xingyao meant and immediately frowned.
"You can eat whatever you want, but don't say whatever you want."
The words "don't be sour" were on the tip of his tongue, but before he could open his mouth, he heard Xu Beizhou on the stage speaking on the microphone.
"I'm sorry, teachers. Please forgive me for having to speak first this time."
He held a pen in one hand, looked down at the two melodies written on the paper with a serious face, and then asked No. 76 in the center of the stage.
"Contestant, I would like to ask...is this song your own original work?"
As soon as Xu Beizhou asked this question, the atmosphere on the scene immediately became awkward.
Being asked this question by Xu Beizhou, it was obvious that there must be a problem, and it must be a big problem.
So almost everyone's attention was focused on No. 76.
Originally, everyone thought that he had good singing skills and some parts of his original music were indeed pleasant to the ear, so many people thought that he would definitely get four pass cards and become the first person to advance.
Who would have thought that Xu Beizhou would come out and question the originality of his music.
In other words... I think he plagiarized.
Many people thought about it for a long time but couldn't figure out where the plagiarism occurred, so they could only look at 76 on the stage with wide eyes, wanting to hear his explanation.
No. 76, who was originally smiling, was visibly panicked for a moment when asked this by Xu Beizhou.
"Yes, it is."
He spoke a little stutteringly, but still insisted on expressing his attitude.
But when Xu Beizhou saw the other party's shameless look, his brows furrowed even more.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever heard an arrangement by a relatively niche composer.”
"Her name is Misssu."
When Xu Beizhou said this name, there was no change on No. 76's face.
Instead, Su Xingyao lowered his eyes and started playing with the doll given to him by No. 77 again.
However, the sound effects at the show were very good, and Xu Beizhou's words were heard again and again in his ears.
"The melodies in your first and fourth verses are almost identical in arrangement to the two melodies she published four years ago."
After saying that, Xu Beizhou paused and said, "Of course you did make some changes to the arrangement."
He took the piece of paper in his hand and showed it to the camera.
Above are the scores of two songs he just quickly wrote down.
Then he pointed to two pieces of music and started singing on the spot.
Two almost identical melodies immediately resounded throughout the studio.
"Although you lowered the key in the last section, the melody and scale are the same as the other party's..." Xu Beizhou chuckled, "I can't say they are exactly the same, but I can say they are completely similar."
No. 76 opened his mouth to refute, but Xu Beizhou hit him back first.
"Misssu's arrangement is niche."
“But it’s not like no one has heard of it.”
"I believe you know better than me how this song came about, so please take care of yourself."
Xu Beizhou's warning made Su Xingyao stop what she was doing.
He raised his head slightly and looked towards the stage.
The alias misssu is the trumpet he used to compose music for his friends.
There are not too many works on this account, and they are extremely niche.
Therefore, he never thought that the unpopular and useless song that he was not very satisfied with at that time would be plagiarized today.
Moreover, the plagiarist was discovered by Xu Beizhou in person.
No. 76 was still quibbling on the stage, but Xu Beizhou was too lazy to listen and directly and mercilessly used his veto power to eliminate the candidate in the name of plagiarism.
No. 76 had no point in his defense and could only leave the stage in disgrace.
At this moment, the previous high-spirited look on his face was completely gone.
Upon seeing this, No. 79, who had previously excused No. 76, immediately shut his mouth.
As he quietly moved away from No. 76, he looked at the calm Su Xingyao with an incredible expression.
Who would have thought that this plain-looking doll costume could be identified as plagiarism at the first sight just like a big shot like Xu Beizhou?
No. 79 was very confused and was thinking about secretly asking him how he found out, but he heard the staff member calling Su Xingyao.
"No. 78, come here quickly and get ready to play."
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