14 First Group Assessment
Is it a long or short time to prepare for a small test in five days?
Yuan Xiao was not quite sure either. She had been dragging Gu Yuchen to meetings since Monday and had been listening to the demo until she was sick. She instinctively turned towards the meeting room when she went out. It was not until Brother Liu told her that she should go to the practice room that Yuan Xiao realized that it was already Wednesday.
"Oh, yes." She patted her forehead and asked Assistant Liu, "Where's Teacher Gu? Have you notified him to come along?"
Last night, the two of them each led a group of people to sit in front of the computer and listen to all the demos that Gu Yuchen had saved over the years, from the finished products that he didn't receive the final payment for some reason, to the fragmented and scattered inspirations that suddenly popped up in Teacher Gu's dreams in the middle of the night. In the end, when Yuan Xiao went home to sleep at night, the songs were still playing on loop in his mind.
This was Gu Yuchen's suggestion. Yesterday, the group was discussing the concept but couldn't come up with a final decision. After all, they had to produce at least two albums before their debut, and of course, the sooner they started, the better. Amid the stalemate, Mr. Gu suggested listening to the demo to find some inspiration, and then it became like this.
Of course, things are not much better now. Yuan Xiao is still listless and lacks energy due to lack of rest.
"I've notified you." He is indeed her most reliable brother Liu.
The selection and management team hadn't responded to any special situations regarding the trainees in the past few days, so Yuan Xiao naturally thought that everything was going well. After all, the staff she had recruited had more or less relevant experience in the job, so they should be able to have a relatively fair assessment of the trainees' level...
She took back what she said above. Half an hour later, Yuan Xiao, who was sitting in the practice room downstairs, said this.
"Um..."
As soon as he saw the third group, Yuan Xiao held his forehead, hid his face in the collar of his sweater, and let out a painful groan.
She sat in the largest practice room, with a row of tables in front of the mirror for assessment. Her left and right bodyguards were the leaders of the selection and management group, Yang Cheng and Gu Yuchen. The trainees' dance and vocal teachers' contracts had also expired. This was the first formal presentation since the project began.
There was a tablet in front of Yuan Xiao. At first, he was in the mood to write and draw on the tablet, but later, there was so much to write that he felt numb and simply leaned back on the chair.
Fortunately, she wore sunglasses today because she didn't get enough rest, otherwise her eyes would probably scare these little guys.
There were more than eighty people, divided into more than a dozen groups. Each group had one song and one dance. Even if they performed one after another, it took nearly two hours in total.
It was not until the last group finished that Yuan Xiao breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't say anything good or bad about the result of the test. He tapped the table twice with the electronic pen in his hand and said loudly, "Take a break. Everyone, gather here in ten minutes."
Some of the trainees who were sitting or standing began to go out gradually, while others chose to stand there and wait. Yuan Xiao didn't look at them anymore, but turned around and whispered a few words to the people around him.
Soon someone lowered all the curtains in the practice room, turned on the large screen mounted on the wall, took out the memory card from the video recorder that had been working, inserted it into the computer and then connected it to the large screen. The video recording of the first group of people appeared clearly on the large screen.
This caused a small commotion among the trainees. It was the first time for many of them to see what they looked like being recorded by camera, and they gradually gathered around.
Yuan Xiao glanced at the time on his phone. It was almost time. He reached out and knocked on the table. "Quiet."
He calmed down very quickly and was quite well behaved.
"Before I tell you the results of this quiz, I have a few more words to say." Yuan Xiao asked them to sit down on the floor of the practice room, and they looked like they had little mushroom heads. "I'm Yuan Xiao, your chief producer. You should have met me during the interview. The one next to me is Gu Yuchen, the top music producer in the industry and your serious senior. He will also be your future music director and will be responsible for the production of the album after your debut. He will also be your arranger. You should have met the other staff members, so I won't introduce them to you."
Gu Yuchen nodded in the eyes of everyone and frankly accepted Yuan Xiao's high evaluation of him.
"The original heart of this idol project is to become the best boy group in China, or even Asia. I am not bragging or making empty promises. If you dare not say such a goal, let alone achieve it. The company has invested a lot in you, so in order to achieve this goal, I will select the best people in terms of appearance, temperament, strength, and character from among you to form this group. The number of places is not fixed. If only three of you can meet my requirements, then only three people can debut. If none of you can meet my requirements, then we will keep training like this."
"So I hope you guys can hold yourselves to the same standards as the best boy bands in China, and don't let me see the same garbage as today again."
"When you signed the contract, you only signed a three-month trainee contract, so these three months are your first chance. After the first stage, we will dismiss two-thirds of you, or you can choose to leave. There will be a steady stream of new trainees coming in. If you want to debut in Yuanxin, you only have one way to go, and that is to do your best, do better, and be impeccable."
Looking at the obviously frightened expressions of the people below, Yuan Xiao wanted to sigh again. As expected, it was too difficult to expect a bunch of inexperienced kids to know what hard work meant from the beginning. Just look at this little test and you will know, what the hell this is.
"Let me briefly talk about the problems I saw." Yuan Xiao picked up the remote control from the table, "Group One."
She was too lazy to explain each one of them one by one, so she just played it for a while and paused. The arms of the seven people on the screen were twisted and crooked, like the hands of clocks in different countries with time differences.
"You should have the basic ability to judge what is good and what is bad, right? Look for yourself. It has been nearly a week since the notification of the test. Have you been carefully scrutinized? They didn't even let you move. You can't even do the simplest dance. I remember that when I selected the people, I didn't think I picked any ignorant noobs."
"Your timing is a mess, and your movements are getting out of shape. And we haven't even asked you to sing and dance yet." Yuan Xiao paused at one of the frames, feeling very disappointed. She was originally beautiful with a bit of ferocity, and when she got angry and looked sullen, the whole audience didn't even dare to breathe loudly. "Some of you even forgot the moves? This dance was just choreographed by your teacher with basic moves. Is it that hard? How dare you dance in front of me with such a level? You don't even need to sing, but you're still so soft. I remember that I recruited all boys. You don't need to fight for food in the cafeteria, so why save your strength?"
"If there are still people standing still in the middle of a dance next time, I suggest you just stop coming. You can terminate the contract and leave. There is no severance pay. I will also pay you this month's salary. No thanks."
"Singing is better than dancing, barely up to KTV level." Yuan Xiao picked up the remote control and turned up the volume. The whole floor was filled with the trembling voices of the trainees. "There won't be lip-synching in my group. Do you want to be criticized for being unpleasant to the ears and be on the top three trending searches by singing like this? I didn't hear the technique that Teacher Zhou taught you at all. Is it difficult to open your mouth and sing?"
Even though he just watched it once, there are still some big problems that Yuan Xiao wants to close his eyes. "Later, we will hire someone to teach you stage performance. You are indeed not old enough to be greasy yet, but pretending to be affectionate is still a bit funny. If you don't know what expression you should make, just stare at the audience. You are a performer. Even if you are acting, don't let the audience see the word guilty on your face."
Yuan Xiao took a deep breath to prevent himself from accidentally saying something more unpleasant. "There are some common problems that I will discuss with your teacher later. I can only say that your current level is far from enough. Your strength level and effort are far from enough. As I said before, if you feel that it is too hard and you want to quit, feel free to tell the staff."
"There are a few more people I want to talk to." Yuan Xiao put down the remote control and opened the records on his tablet. "It doesn't mean that there are no problems if I didn't click on you. Unfortunately, you didn't even leave any impression on me. This is when you only had two songs. After you debut, the audience may not even be willing to give you ten seconds."
She twirled the pen in a circle and began to call out names one by one. "Yan Fan, you didn't do it perfunctorily because the dance was too simple. From now on, you should focus on getting used to the hand microphone and learning how to use your voice."
"Su Chen needs to do more physical training." A golden retriever on the floor was visibly wilting. Yuan Xiao thought for a moment and pointed at a few people who seemed a little younger in age and height. "You guys, and Yu Le, get a glass of milk from the cafeteria every day."
"Pei Zijin's body rhythm is not right, stretch your muscles, strengthen your basic skills, your nasal tone is too strong."
"Avery's movements are not standard, please hold back a little."
"Jiang Tong." Yuan Xiao paused when he said the last name, as if he hadn't thought it through completely. "...It's okay, but not outstanding."
"That's all for today. Your teachers will come back to correct your personal problems later." Yuan Xiao looked around and made sure there was nothing else to add. Only then did she end the devilish review session. She watched the trainees stand up and bow in unison and leave the practice room. She didn't let out a long sigh until the last person walked out.
"It's already very good." Gu Yuchen, who was sitting next to him, tried to comfort Yuan Xiao, "I started with zero basic knowledge at that time, and I was still practicing how to use Dantian to make sounds a month later."
"Teacher Gu, did you provide food and accommodation at that time, and also have a basic salary of 2,000?"
Gu Yuchen wisely closed his mouth. Reason told him that it would be best not to respond to Yuan Xiao's words at this moment.
You can't blame Yuan Xiao for being strict. Indeed, the conditions of Yuan Xin's current batch of trainees are much better than when he was young. If they still don't work hard under such conditions, it would be better for them to change their careers as soon as possible.
Yuan Xiao didn't feel depressed for too long. Now that the project had just started, it didn't matter if problems were exposed. It would be better to solve them as soon as possible. "Everyone in the election management team, let's have a meeting in the conference room!"
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