Chapter 22
His entry caused a burst of laughter, of course not ridicule, but a kind of surprised and friendly laughter.
“It’s so small.”
The other contestants expressed their feelings.
Unlike other contestants, Li Chu really looks like a high school student who accidentally entered the competition. He is not the youngest among the trainees, but he looks young and has some chubby face.
Because the piece to be performed on the first stage today is also youthful and lively, the performance costume he will wear was specially selected by Zhou Chunqing. It is a sporty suit with a few small decorations that makes it look cool, which is very suitable for the stage effect. At first glance, it looks like a high school student's uniform, making him look even younger.
When Li Chu entered the venue, all the trainees were stunned. The older Li Zi was the most surprised. He opened his mouth and asked, "No, is the market for trainees like this now? Has it all been taken over by the kids?"
The appearance of Li Chu was like a buffer, and the atmosphere was no longer so tense. He was also the one with the least halo here. He looked very obedient. He bowed and greeted people as soon as he came up, and he had no intention of competing for the C seat.
After everyone had a round of grabbing, there were only three seats left. He just picked one and sat in the middle seat, some distance away from the others.
He looked a little nervous and couldn't help but secretly clasping his hands as soon as he sat down.
This is not an act. After all, he has never experienced this before, so it is normal to feel a little nervous.
Li Chu was like a transition chapter. At most, other trainees praised him as "good" and "cute", because everyone present knew who the next two people were.
Even though the dressing room was deliberately partitioned off today, and before that the official account only released a silhouette in which nothing could be seen, it was definitely Qilin, there was no doubt about it.
Didn’t you see who came today?
Even Mr. Liang Xiaoliang from Qilin has come and is sitting backstage. He is so big that even someone with 800 degrees of myopia can recognize him.
Even though he had anticipated this, when he saw the two Qilins appear, Li Chu, who had just sat down, still heard the people around him gasp slightly.
Liang Xiaoliang really takes this competition very seriously, and the people he selected are among the top Qilin trainees, and they are very attractive just by looking at them.
Both of them are over 1.80 meters tall, with a very handsome and smooth figure. Their performance costumes and makeup are also specially made by Qilin. They are obviously a level higher than those of the program crew. Their auras are different when they introduce themselves. Their names are Qu Shoubai and Shanchuan, and they are good-looking.
But these two look like they are not easy to deal with, and it seems like they are here to grab the C position.
Li Chu thought so too.
Song Yu, who was sitting there now, was of course the most restless one, but he also forced himself to remain calm and prepared.
But unexpectedly, the two tall men came up the stairs, stood there and discussed in a low voice, then stared at Li Chu for a while, and then did not go up again. They turned around and sat down in the two empty seats at the end.
This resulted in Li Chu being sandwiched in the middle as soon as the two of them sat down.
Li Chu, who was a little nervous and just reacted, said: ...Wait a minute.
He originally had little presence, but now that he was sitting between these two Qilin trainees, his presence suddenly increased.
Especially since he is not that tall yet, and is only a little over 1.7 meters tall. Now he is surrounded by two people who are 1.81 meters tall. The whole picture presents a somewhat funny "concave" shape, and Li Chu is the low point in the middle.
No, you Qilin people are coming with such force, don’t you plan to make some effect at this time?
Maybe, maybe you think it’s unnecessary.
Li Chu took a breath and then politely introduced himself, but as soon as he said his name, the person next to him spoke.
"Li Chu, I know you," Qu Shoubai smiled at him, "I've heard of your name for a long time. I came here just to have a good fight with you."
Li Chu was stunned for a moment and said nothing.
At that moment, his whole body tensed up a little.
They haven't even stepped onto the stage yet, but their entrance alone is already very interesting, so much so that the entrance of the mentors later seemed dull in comparison. The trainees did stand up and applauded and cooperated with the show with excited expressions, but it was certainly not as genuine as when they were playing the game seriously before.
Then, Shen Huai from the mentor team stepped forward and briefly introduced the rules, and soon it was time for individual performances.
At this moment, he inadvertently glanced at Li Chu in the contestant seat. On the surface, he couldn't tell anything, and Li Chu didn't pay attention to him either.
Ever since he was attacked by the two Qilins, his mind has been focused on the competition.
The main reason why this season of Idol 4 became so popular is that many contestants are really talented, and several stages were so popular that the original composers and choreographers came out to repost and like them.
Now the replacement competition is even more intense, and it's explosive from the moment the first person goes up to perform.
From dance to vocal music to rap, everyone has their own unique skills. After watching a few performances, Li Chu gradually calmed down.
It’s great to be able to participate in such a competition.
He hasn't seen such a pure stage for a long time, and this is the competition he has always wanted.
He was so fascinated by the performance that he felt time passed very quickly. Before long, it was his turn to go on stage.
Li Chu took a deep breath backstage.
The dance music he chose to perform was the classic hit song "Bad Kid" from ten years ago. The original singer debuted at the age of eighteen and was famous for his youthful and sunny style. It has been covered and danced by countless people over the years, but the audience has always commented that it can only be imitated but not surpassed.
If you are not careful, you may be criticized for being greasy while trying to look youthful, so it is a difficult song to cover.
As soon as the prelude of the melody sounded, everyone present sat up straight. There should be no one present who was not familiar with this song. Some people could even sing along and clap their hands to the beat right from the beginning.
"Hey, You."
“Look at me.”
"Do you want to play this game?"
"Tell you the bad boy's secret."
But, can Li Chu do it?
Before such a question arose, the answer was already there the moment he turned his head, raised his hand and opened his mouth under the spotlight.
The melody of this song is simple, but the dance is not simple, in fact, it is relatively complicated. Dancing to this song requires very crisp and neat movements without any drag. However, due to the youthful style of the song and the lyrics that are obviously from a student's perspective, it is not very suitable for older and experienced dancers.
Although Li Chu, with a good face, is young, he doesn't look completely suitable for the role. He really looks too innocent. But when his expression changes after turning his head, he can actually show that ruffian spirit and a bit of arrogance that is not unpleasant under the youth.
The two teachers in charge of dance at the instructor seat also had their eyes shining when he turned around, staring closely at his movements without looking away for a moment.
An expert knows the ins and outs of the matter. Li Chu sings and dances at the same time. His vocal skills are not as outstanding as his dancing ability, but it is also excellent. His voice is also very stable with such movements, and he can be called an all-round player.
The whole performance was perfect. Surprisingly, he did not completely restore the song, but made some changes to the ending part.
A very well-known action in the original song is shaking off the cigarette ash, which can be called the killing part. Of course, there is no smoke in the actual performance. What is performed are finger movements and body movements. The original singer did it like a cool and handsome school bully, but Li Chu changed this action.
There is a big pocket on his performance costume that can be used to put things. Instead of holding cigarettes, he uses an orange-flavored lollipop.
When the lollipop suddenly appeared, the camera cut to his upper body, and the modified movement was particularly obvious. Combined with the original song's slightly raised eyebrows and a somewhat rebellious expression, this "school bully" looked flamboyant and a little naive.
This is a change that is very suitable for Li Chu himself.
After the rhythmic dance music "Bad Kid" ended, there was applause from the contestants' seats. Just watching the stage performance was simply unprecedented, with some unexpected little surprises in perfection.
Zhou Chunqing was watching from the backstage. From the first second the music started, she had to cover her mouth to prevent herself from screaming.
Li Chu dances well!
She is very proud!
It’s settled!
The two calmest people backstage were none other than Su Ning and Shen Mingzheng.
Su Ning was mostly relieved, as he always felt that his vision was correct. Li Chu had practiced this dance many times, and he had also seen it many times in the practice room in the past few days. What was rare for a kid like Li Chu was that he could not only dance, but also add his own style to it.
As long as he is given a stage, this kind of person will shine.
As for Shen Mingzheng, he saw it all and knew what was going on.
Li Chu had a rough life in his previous life. After Shen Huai got what he wanted, he sent him to debut casually to appease him. The configuration was very perfunctory. At that time, Li Chu could have become popular in a short period of time, not to mention such a good stage now.
Thinking of this, he looked at Su Ning again.
It's amazing that this person completely changed Li Chu's fate.
On the stage, after Li Chu finished his breathless performance, the dance instructor was the first to speak. While clapping vigorously, he said bluntly: "I want to give him an S right now! Also, let me ask you, how old are you?"
Li Chu nodded and answered honestly: "Twenty years old."
He was panting, with sweat on his forehead, making his eyes look bigger and rounder, and he didn't look like he was twenty at all. While answering, he reached into his pocket to take out the plastic wrapper and the small wire tie, and quietly stuffed the prop lollipop back and tied it up.
The instructor saw this little action, laughed again, and said, "Why, you can't bear to throw it away?"
"Ah, I don't think it's a good idea to throw it on the stage," Li Chu said, "This is a bit sticky."
He wasn't scheming all the time, he was just like this under normal circumstances, he just finished dancing and used up his energy, so he looked a little dazed.
It's just that the way he stood there and responded like this was very different from the "bad boy" on the stage just now, whose movements were sophisticated, neat and tidy, and who had a bit of a ruffian vibe. It was like two different people.
The instructor's smile never faded, and he said, "If you can't get an S, I feel like my trip here was in vain."
It was an extremely weighty assurance, and expressed her appreciation very clearly.
Because there are only two Ss, and in order to avoid being affected by the order of performance, which may cause unfairness to those who perform later, all the ratings of the contestants are not given on the spot, but will be decided by a unified evaluation after all the performances are finished.
Li Chu was already the eighth one, and there were two more Qilins behind him as the finale, but when the instructor said this, almost no one in the audience had any major objections.
No matter how you look at it, it’s an S-level performance, even if the people behind them are Qilin’s trainees.
But Shen Huai, who was sitting in the middle, spoke at this time.
"The stage was great, and I was also very shocked. This replacement match really gave me a big surprise, and I believe it was a surprise for everyone as well," Shen Huai also had a smile on his face, "but I am also very embarrassed. The program team really only gave two S-level places, so I want to ask this contestant, how about we show more?
"I saw the previous students had an impromptu dance session, why don't you do one too?"
His proposal was normal and no one raised any objection.
There were only ten students in the replacement round, so they had an advantage in the personal presentation segment because they had ample time and many of the people ahead had improvisation segments.
Li Chu on the stage was also stunned when he heard this. He thought Shen Huai had changed his personality and didn't make things difficult for him at this time.
Even if the other party didn't mention the impromptu performance, he would have taken the initiative to speak up and fight for it, so he nodded in agreement without thinking too much.
This improvisation was not written in the script. For a variety show like this, it is impossible for all the processes to be scripted. There must be some personal expression, so Chen Yuan did not think there was anything wrong. Only Su Ning frowned slightly and sat up straight.
"Okay then," Shen Huai said, "Come on, the music teacher will give us a piece of music."
The program team had a music library to play, and Chen Yuan didn't intend to make things so rigid, so the songs were really played randomly from the library.
But as soon as Shen Huai spoke, the prelude of the music played immediately confirmed Su Ning's previous uneasiness.
——The name of this song is “Knees”.
The song has a very strong sense of rhythm and is very famous. It is indeed very suitable for dancing, but as the name suggests, it has a lot of knee movements, and many of the movements involve smashing the knees.
Unfortunately, Li Chu had an old knee injury.
This is something Su Ning remembers very clearly, and because he was kicked by someone while fishing in Chunjiang, this old injury has become more serious recently.
The doctor he consulted saw him several times and tried some treatments. The doctor said it wasn't a big deal. People who practice dance for a long time will have some injuries, but he still needs to pay more attention to it recently. But there will be no problem with normal performances and training, just pay attention to the intensity.
But the intensity of the dance of "Knees", a well-known knee-ripper, was just beyond what Li Chu could accept.
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