Chapter 353 Choice
Those in the music industry know that for a song to become a classic of an era, it not only needs to be catchy, but also requires the right timing, location, and people.
What kind of song can create a nationwide craze for singing?
First, it became an overnight sensation due to a series of coincidences; second, it was promoted by a barrage of mainstream media.
After a few days of buzz on social media, major official media outlets, starting with People's Daily Entertainment, began using Li Xiaobin's story as a starting point to explore the relationship between young people and their parents in terms of inheritance.
From that moment on, the song was given a more macro and broader value and meaning.
When Chen Ziyan received the call from the Spring Festival Gala production team, she was surprised and astonished, but at the same time, she felt that everything was just a natural progression.
The live broadcast report of "Idol Era" has been released.
"Green Apple Paradise" achieved overwhelming popularity and widespread reach, becoming a phenomenon and sparking a nationwide imitation craze.
Secondly, there's Yan Liang's rendition of "The Battlefield of Youth".
Amid the popularity of "Green Apple Paradise," it seems that not many people are paying attention to "Battlefield of Youth." However, this song ranks second on the play and download charts of major music platforms. Internal data shows that most of the listeners of this song are young people aged 14 to 22.
Especially in the last few days, the proportion of listeners aged fourteen has continued to rise.
Upon analysis, they were all students who would be taking the high school entrance exam this year.
The power of the "Exam Battle Song" has begun to emerge.
In fact, if we set aside the miraculously popular "Green Apple Paradise", almost every stage on the live broadcast night achieved very good data performance, including Lu Yanhe's performance of the theme song "Seventeen Floors". However, because the former was so popular, it overshadowed the popularity of the other stages.
However, the songs that truly broke out of their niche were "Green Apple Paradise" and "The Battlefield of Youth." The former appealed to all age groups, while the latter resonated with students.
The battle report from this live broadcast night, however, aroused great dissatisfaction among Ma Zhiyuan's fans.
"Green Apple Paradise" is one thing, but why does "The Battlefield of Youth" also deserve the label of "breaking out of its niche"?!
In fact, Ma Zhiyuan's performance on stage did generate a positive impact and feedback. Especially in other Asian countries and regions, the hugely popular "Green Apple Paradise" and "Young Battlefield" received relatively lukewarm responses overseas due to the lack of a Chinese-speaking context. On the contrary, Ma Zhiyuan's stage performance, with its cool effects, received very positive reviews among those who follow idol artist performances.
Ma Zhiyuan's fans compiled a long chart of comments from many overseas media outlets and feedback from netizens, and posted it online, condemning "Idol Era" for favoring Lu Yanhe and giving Lu Yanhe all the attention and publicity resources.
This angered Lu Yanhe's fans, who retorted with sarcasm: "Lu Yanhe isn't even a regular guest on 'Idol Era,' so how could the production team be biased towards him? Are you blind to how popular 'Green Apple Paradise' is online? If you think 'Battlefield of Youth' isn't mainstream enough, it just means you're getting old. Please go ask around at middle schools what songs they listen to most these days!"
The two sides had an argument.
One of Lu Yanhe's biggest fans appeared and pulled a fast one: "Don't come looking for trouble with Lu Yanhe. If your idol hadn't been so stupid as to choose a singer with such a bad reputation as Chen Ziliang as a guest performer, your idol might have been able to create a stage with an impact no less than 'Green Apple Paradise.' Blame it on your idol for not recognizing talent!"
Ma Zhiyuan's fans felt as if they had been hit on the head with a bang.
That's right. Ma Zhiyuan's solo stage performance was actually highly rated and ranked very high in the voting. Even Lu Yanhe and Li Zhibai's solo stages didn't rank as high as his. It's just that the group stage performance was too bad. According to the saying "1+1>2", their ranking had the combined efforts of fans from both sides, so their votes should have been higher than their solo stage performances. It was Chen Ziliang's appearance that dragged Ma Zhiyuan down!
They ignored Yan Liang's solo stage ranking and shifted their focus to questioning who arranged for Ma Zhiyuan to work with a weak and dragging-down guest like Chen Ziliang.
When Chen Ziliang saw that he was being criticized by Ma Zhiyuan's fans and trending on social media, he was furious.
But then his agent brought him another piece of terrible news.
"It seems that the Spring Festival Gala has sent invitations to the three of them, asking them to sing 'Green Apple Paradise' on the Spring Festival Gala."
Chen Ziliang felt as if his heart was falling into an abyss, filled only with the sound of a biting wind.
-
Hou Jun's office is located in the Northern Lights Video Company building.
Lu Yanhe sat on the sofa in his office and saw Hou Jun looking at him with a resentful expression for the nth time.
"Director Hou, please stop looking at me like that. It's making me uneasy."
Hou Jun gritted his teeth and said, "The stage for 'Green Apple Paradise' could have been used for my gala performance."
Lu Yanhe was completely exasperated by Hou Jun's resentful tone.
"Director Hou, this stage was designed for 'Idol Era' from the very beginning." That was all he could say.
Hou Jun: "But this stage almost came to me back then."
Lu Yanhe looked at him, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
“There’s plenty of time in the future, and besides, isn’t this the first time we’ll be showing all six of us together since the show aired at your gala?” Lu Yanhe said. “Director Hou, don’t underestimate the influence of ‘Friends’.”
Hou Jun: "No director is ever satisfied. I'm insatiable. I want it all."
Lu Yanhe: "..."
The two stared at each other, both falling silent.
After three or four seconds, Hou Jun broke the silence by speaking first.
"Fine, whatever you do next time, make sure to reserve the stage for the three of you together." Hou Jun said firmly, "I would never hold a vote to decide whether you stay or leave just because someone objects to you going on stage. That would be a desecration of your talent."
Lu Yanhe was actually grateful to Hou Jun, a director who had given him the opportunity to appear on "Little Song Gathering" during his senior year of high school. In particular, Hou Jun had helped Lu Yanhe in some ways during their subsequent interactions.
Lu Yanhe said, "Okay, next time we have a suitable song, we'll perform on your show."
“It’s settled then.” Hou Jun beamed. “Now let’s talk about the stage for Friends.”
Lu Yanhe: "I've already communicated with the others. You've already spoken with their management teams, right?"
Hou Jun nodded: "Everything has been arranged. In addition to you singing the theme song of Friends together, we also have an interactive segment on site."
"Let's not have any more questions about the sequel. I'm making it very clear that I won't be participating," Lu Yanhe reminded him.
"I know," Hou Jun said. "But there's something else. Beijing TV is planning to have Chen Ziliang join the second season. Did you know that?"
"I've heard about it."
“Beijing and Taiwan knew we wanted to do a reunion of the cast of Friends, and someone from them sent us a message asking us to bring Chen Ziliang along as well.”
"Huh?" Lu Yanhe looked surprised. He was surprised by the speed of information from Beijing and Taiwan, and also by their reaction.
Hou Jun said, "Regarding this special appearance of the six members of 'Friends,' I told Beijing TV that I only wanted to have the six members from the first season and didn't want to add any more people. Chen Ziliang was supposed to come, but he could come after the second season aired. Otherwise, it would be unacceptable for the audience who like 'Friends' to have an extra person. Adding an extra person would not be the scene that the audience wanted to see. As a result, Beijing TV told me that if Chen Ziliang was not allowed to join, they would not allow the six of us to appear on screen under the name of 'Friends.'"
"Do we, the six of us, need their permission to appear on screen under the name 'Friends'?" Lu Yanhe asked incredulously.
Hou Jun: "If we want to sing the theme song of 'Friends,' we need their permission, as the copyright is in their hands."
“Oh, that makes sense.” Lu Yanhe fell into deep thought.
"Moreover, from what they were implying, it wasn't just a problem with this song; they were going to prevent one or two people from participating," Hou Jun said. "I told them that everyone's performance contracts have already expired, but that's not a big deal. If someone really cancels at the last minute, there are many reasons they can give, and unless the situation is really serious, it's not easy to pursue the matter."
-
The actors in Friends are basically all related to him, or were selected through auditions by him and the directors.
They all went through the turmoil before the broadcast and the explosive popularity after it aired. In fact, it could be said that if Lu Yanhe hadn't "disappeared" completely after the broadcast, they wouldn't have been able to get so many publicity resources.
Aside from Yan Liang and Wen Minglan, the other three also regarded Lu Yanhe as someone who had shown them "kindness and recognition." Therefore, when Lu Yanhe called them and asked them to come and participate in the graduation gala performance, they all readily agreed.
It seems that if they don't bring Chen Ziliang along, Beijing and Taiwan won't easily allow the six of them to appear together in the same frame.
Lu Yanhe couldn't help but sneer.
The copyright of the theme song is one thing, but the main issue is that other people will continue to collaborate with Beijing and Taiwan. If Beijing and Taiwan really want to prevent them from appearing together, they have plenty of ways to do so.
That's disgusting.
Knowing that it would be difficult to communicate with Lu Yanhe, Jingtai directly sent a message to Hou Jun, hoping to persuade him through Hou Jun.
Lu Yanhe thought for a while and decided to have a serious talk with Chen Ziyan.
-
After listening to Lu Yanhe's story, Chen Ziyan remained silent for a moment before asking, "Yanhe, do you know what the biggest problem is between you and Jingtai right now?"
Lu Yanhe shook his head and said, "I don't know, unless you're talking about my past conflicts with them."
Chen Ziyan said, "You need to figure out one thing: do you have a problem with the entire Beijing-Taiwan region, or with Director Li who was behind the scenes? In many people's eyes, there is no difference, but I want to ask yourself what you really think."
Lu Yanhe said, "I actually have them all in my heart."
"Alright, let me ask you this: putting everything else aside, is it possible for you to reconcile with Beijing and Taiwan?" Chen Ziyan said. "Or do you think the problems between you and Beijing and Taiwan are irreconcilable conflicts?"
"It's not to the point of being irreconcilable, but since such a thing has happened, I can't just let it go so easily, pretend that nothing happened, and cooperate with it without any resentment."
"Well, let me put it this way, and see if you can understand. First, from the perspective of the general public, you have a grudge against Beijing TV. For an artist to have a grudge against a giant traditional TV station is, in the conventional sense, like an ant trying to shake a tree. But you two are in a special situation now. The show 'Friends' has brought the huge differences between you to a balance by a specific thing. In the eyes of the general public, Beijing TV has been brought down from its pedestal. In terms of absolute strength, they completely crush us, but in the public's perception, you are on the side of public opinion. This is an important reason why they haven't been suppressing you privately or even arranging for someone to apologize and make amends to you privately."
"So, here comes the second question. In this situation, when you completely rejected the reasons why Beijing and Taiwan made overtures in private, regardless of who it was, you made that stance clear. In the eyes of Beijing and Taiwan, you were clearly unwilling to resolve the conflict with them, right?" Chen Ziyan said. "In this situation, as a community of shared interests, even if Director Li did something underhanded in the early stages, you still became someone standing on the opposite side of them, right?"
Lu Yanhe understood that Chen Ziyan was right.
He nodded.
"You're riding high right now. You have the nationwide hit 'Green Apple Paradise' in music, the phenomenal 'Friends' in film and television, and the future growth potential of 'Three Mountains,' a work that makes the entertainment industry have high hopes for you. Even if you're not qualified to be their equal, you're qualified to look down on them. So, think about it from their perspective: after 'Friends' aired, your first public appearance together wasn't in Beijing or Taiwan. What would they think?"
Chen Ziyan's gaze seemed to pierce through everything in an instant.
Lu Yanhe was stunned.
“You can think they’re being unreasonable, but from the perspective of Beijing TV, it’s like you’re openly slapping them in the face,” Chen Ziyan said. “Because you’ve achieved what they couldn’t do—appearing together in the same frame—so why did they bring Chen Ziliang in? To warm up for the second season? That might be one aspect, but the most crucial aspect is that Beijing TV’s reputation can’t be tarnished by your six-person appearance together. Bringing Chen Ziliang in, on the surface, represents the transition from the first season’s you to the second season’s him; on the real level, it shows that you and Beijing TV haven’t completely fallen out and can still part ways amicably.”
Lu Yanhe suddenly understood.
“We’re the ones who have been refusing to join the sequel,” Chen Ziyan said. “Even if Jingtai makes a thousand mistakes, it’s impossible for them to admit to even one. So, here’s the question: Yan He, are you going to stick to your guns with Director Li, or are you going to continue this cold treatment with Jingtai?”
Chen Ziyan's question seemed to be a blow to Lu Yanhe's head.
People always need to learn to look at problems rationally.
Lu Yanhe now understands the meaning of those words.
It has nothing to do with right or wrong, and nothing to do with right or wrong.
Chen Ziyan said, "Actually, even if you hadn't come to me to ask these questions, I felt it was time to talk to you about them. We've had conflicts with Beijing and Taiwan for about half a year now. Whether to resolve them or not, we need to make a decision now."
(End of this chapter)
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