Chapter 9 Blind Boxes
Chapter Summary: Celebrity Senior Student Comes to Support the Performance
"Zhang Mengyu".
Xie Chaoyun read out Zhang Mengyu's name.
The production team deliberately stirred things up, immediately switching the camera to Mu Zhi.
Viewers in the live stream originally expected to catch a smug look on Mu Zhi's face.
To everyone's surprise, Mu Zhi remained calm and composed.
They seemed completely unsurprised by the result.
But thinking about it, it makes sense.
Previously criticized for being a slacker and useless, she was still ranked 5th in popularity; in the second performance, the group "Beautiful Skin" ranked 1st in total votes, and Mu Zhi ranked 2nd in individual votes and popularity, successfully turning around her reputation online.
There's no reason for him to remain the fifth oldest.
When the camera cut to Zhang Mengyu, she expected her lowest ranking to be 3rd or 4th, but she didn't expect to drop to 5th. She was so stunned that she couldn't control her expression and froze.
But as an experienced artist, she reacted quickly, forcing a somewhat forced smile and bowing to the camera, saying, "Thank you to all the producers for voting for me. On the next stage, I will definitely show everyone a different Zhang Mengyu."
Next, they announced the trainee who ranked 4th in the vote.
Because the top 3 most popular trainees in this ranking will have a 2-minute solo performance in the third stage, everyone is paying extra attention to this ranking.
Mu Zhi, Xia Xinyan, Liu Cai, and Zhou Jingzhu were invited to the stage below the steps, where a microphone was placed.
Following the script, Xie Chaoyun asked the four trainees, "Where would you like to be ranked?"
Xia Xinyan, Liu Cai, and Zhou Jingzhu all frankly stated that they wanted to win first place.
It was Mu Zhi's turn.
"Let's start with the third step, proceeding gradually."
Xie Chaoyun slightly raised her eyes to look at Mu Zhi, and continued to announce, "The contestant ranked 4th in terms of likes is Zhou Jingzhu."
Zhou Jingzhu remained calm upon hearing her name called, turned around and hugged Mu Zhi, "Congratulations!"
He then walked up to the microphone and gave his remarks.
Xia Xinyan, Liu Cai, and Mu Zhi are the top 3 contestants in terms of likes.
"Congratulations to Xia Xinyan, Liu Cai, and Mu Zhi, these three trainees will have a 2-minute solo performance in the third show. The songs they will perform will be chosen by the national producers through voting."
Before announcing the song list, Xie Chaoyun revealed the specific rankings of the top three.
As Mu Zhi had predicted, she ranked 3rd, Liu Cai 2nd, and Xia Xinyan 1st.
Her comeback in the second performance was not enough to shake the popularity of the top two trainees. In addition, the full episode of the second performance will not be released until tonight. The current voting results show that most of the votes were cast by the national producers who are highly engaged with the show, those who watched the live broadcast or saw the trending topics, as well as fans.
The number of votes from passersby was not high.
If Mu Zhi wants to compete with Xia Xinyan and Liu Cai in popularity, she needs to attract new fans as a national producer.
Behind them are Zhou Jingzhu, Zhang Mengyu, Lü E, and others whose popularity is closely matched.
There are wolves in front and tigers behind.
A fighting spirit ignited in Mu Zhi's eyes, but she was momentarily stunned when she saw the piece of music she was to perform.
This season of "Chasing the Light" collaborated with the Douyin platform, and the three songs selected by the national producers through voting are the most popular songs on Douyin recently.
The song chosen for Xia Xinyan was a hot and sexy hit, "Good Night Kiss," which suited her singing and dancing style.
The song chosen for Liu Cai is a really cool finger dance called "Dua Tay Day Nao".
Mu Zhi was assigned a traditional Chinese style song and dance performance of Huo Yuanjia. Watching the dance on the large TV screen, she realized it required a high level of flexibility and the movements looked quite difficult...
Is he trying to get her to leave?
Oh well, I still have to keep up the smile.
The list of the 25 trainees who advanced has been announced.
So, trainees whose names weren't called out meant they were leaving the stage.
That's how cruel the competition is.
Xie Chaoyun continued to announce the trainees "down," and those ranked 26th to 30th were called down the steps and tearfully bid farewell to the stage.
Trainees ranked 31st to 36th bid farewell to the stage in tears.
Trainees ranked 37th to 41st bid farewell to the stage in tears.
Trainees ranked 42nd to 48th bid farewell to the stage in tears.
Both those on and off stage were in tears.
Mu Zhi stood quietly with her lips tightly pressed together, only clapping along with the others to cheer them on after each group of trainees had finished giving their farewell speeches.
No more expressions were given.
Although she has memories of the first four episodes, they weren't her personal experiences, and she didn't develop any close relationships with anyone. She feels that parting ways on the "Chasing the Light" stage is like people gradually wrapping up and leaving during filming.
It's a very normal thing.
We can get together again when we have time, or perhaps we can collaborate on the same stage again in the future if we have the chance.
There's no need for everyone to cry so sadly.
Xie Chaoyun had been frowning slightly, and only spoke after the last contestant had finished giving their farewell speech:
"Stopping on the stage of 'Chasing the Light Girl' is not the end, but just the beginning of your pursuit of dreams. The road ahead is still long."
"Tears can be a way to release emotions, but I hope that what you leave behind on this show is a silhouette of your sweat and toil for your dreams, not useless tears. Wipe away your tears, dry them, and on the stage in the future, don't show your vulnerable side; it won't win you sympathy or opportunities."
"A true strong person makes others cheer and shed tears for their dreams and strength."
Xie Chaoyun's voice was clear and cold. After feeding the trainees a bowl of chicken soup, they all stopped crying and straightened their backs.
Mu Zhi also drank it. As expected of the trainees' recognized inspirational mentor, the saying "tears are useless" coincides with her philosophy.
The brutal elimination rounds are coming to an end.
After saying goodbye to the four mentors and the 25 trainees who advanced, the eliminated trainees left the studio together. Accompanied by staff, they went to their dormitories to pack their luggage and leave the "castle".
The remaining 25 trainees rested for 15 minutes to touch up their makeup and calm themselves down.
Next, we'll record the following segment.
"In the third performance, celebrity seniors will come to help you and collaborate on stage with you."
Upon hearing the news, the trainees' gloom vanished, and for the sake of the show, they cheered happily in front of the camera.
The 25 trainees will be divided into 5 groups of 5.
Regarding the question of how to form teams and which celebrity mentor to collaborate with, mentor Xie Chaoyun explained: "In a moment, each contestant will take turns going out to make a selection and will randomly enter a room. Contestants in the same room will automatically form a team. The trainees in that room will also collaborate on stage with the celebrity mentors who have made the same selection."
The trainees whispered among themselves, speculating that different song titles were posted on the doors of each room, and trainees who chose the same song were placed in the same team.
But what songs are included? Nobody knows, we couldn't announce it in advance.
Presumably in order to choose songs they were good at, the trainees with lower rankings were more proactive and rushed out to make their selections first.
Mu Zhi didn't care. The world in the book was similar to her original world, like a parallel universe. When she wasn't filming and was resting, she usually acted in plays, read scripts, watched movies, and met up with friends. She had very little experience in music and was not familiar with girl group songs or popular dance music.
Therefore, there is little difference between choosing first and choosing later.
When she and four other trainees were left, their mentor Xie Chaoyun said they could go together.
Upon reaching the Corridor of Destiny, Mu Zhi and the others discovered that the five doors were painted in different colors: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.
Is this a blind box opening?
"Yes, that's right. Selecting the same color will automatically group them together," Xie Chaoyun explained.
Mu Zhi could imagine how bewildered the trainees who rushed in to choose songs were when they learned that "choose a color and team up randomly."
While he was distracted, the other four trainees had already quickly chosen their colors.
Only a green room remained.
Mu Zhi: "..." She pushed open the door and went in, where she saw a familiar face, Liu Cai.
"Hey, what a coincidence, it's our turn to work together."
Mu Zhi shook hands with Liu Cai and nodded to the other three trainees she was working with for the first time, greeting them as well.
Once everyone was present, their mentor, William, walked in.
Liu Cai and the others were half surprised and half delighted. "Could it be that the celebrity senior we're collaborating with is our mentor, William?"
Professor William nodded solemnly, but broke down the next second, waving his hand in denial, "I'm not him, he's here."
He was holding a mobile phone.
The director explained on behalf of the students: "Later, Teacher William will make a video call to the celebrity senior to find out what song they will be collaborating on. You can ask the celebrity senior yourselves."
In other words, the songs performed were chosen by the celebrity senior.
The show's format this season is truly wild and unrestrained.
As soon as their mentor William made a phone call, Mu Zhi and the others came over and appeared in the frame together.
In the video, a man with an old-fashioned side-parted hairstyle, wearing a white shirt and a black vest, is sitting in front of a makeup mirror. He turns his head and waves happily at the camera, saying, "Hello, I'm Ning Yao."
"Hello, Teacher William. Hello, sisters."
After their mentor William greeted Ning Yao, Mu Zhi and the others also gave Ning Yao a brief self-introduction.
Seeing Ning Yao's exquisite appearance, William asked curiously, "Are you going to film a movie later?"
Ning Yao explained that her new drama had just finished filming half a month ago, and she was currently in the backstage dressing room of a variety show, where she was about to record the program. "I'll come over tomorrow to rehearse with the girls. Our team must try our best to get first place!"
Wow, they're pretty confident.
Liu Cai mustered her courage and asked, "Senior Ning, what song did you choose?"
Ning Yao brushed aside her non-existent bangs, revealing a set of beautiful white teeth. "No rush, let's talk first. Why did you choose green? Did you know it was me?"
Mu Zhi and the others: "???"
Seeing the girls across from her looking blank, Ning Yao said, "Green is my English name, didn't you know that?"
"..." I really don't know.
Mu Zhi originally thought that after exchanging a few pleasantries and the celebrity senior announcing the song, the call would end, but she didn't expect the other party to be such a chatterbox.
Finally, Ning Yao's manager, who was standing to the side, couldn't stand it anymore and reminded Ning Yao that it was time to go out and join the other celebrity guests.
Ning Yao finally revealed the answer: "The song I gave to the production team was a rap, 'Beauty'."
After ending the call.
Liu Cai covered her head with her hands, wearing a mask of pain: "I tried rapping on the last stage, but I don't want to this time."
This rap song has a Peking Opera style, so it's not easy to sing.
The key point is that one trainee looked puzzled and asked, "Can senior Ning Yao rap? I've never heard of him."
Ning Yao is an artist under Shengyu Media. Last year, he became popular for playing the second male lead in a period drama broadcast on satellite TV. Then, he became a regular guest on a popular variety show. Because of his sunny and handsome appearance, humorous personality, and witty gameplay, he became popular again.
Ning Yao mentioned that he finished filming an S+ level ancient fantasy drama half a month ago, in which he played the male lead.
In less than a year, an unknown nobody transformed into a popular celebrity.
However, Ning Yao has never sung in public, let alone rapped...
After the teams were formed, the five teams visited each other to gather information.
Mu Zhi was thinking about how she missed the camera during rehearsal and was wondering if she could borrow a staff member's phone to watch her solo dance and the song "Jiaren".
Zhou Jingzhu pulled him to the restroom, her eyes hinting that she had something to say.
There's no one in the restroom right now.
Zhou Jingzhu pulled a phone out from her lower back: "You're being attacked online, you know that?"
Mu Zhi asked in confusion, "Weren't all our phones confiscated?"
Zhou Jingzhu, with a "I have a brilliant plan" look on her face, winked at Mu Zhi: "I have many cell phones."
Wait, that's not the point.
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