Chapter 5 The Host's Attitude
"Brother Xingzhi actually sang 'The End of an Autumn Hair'! Oh my god, I'm so happy!"
After watching Shen Xingzhi's performance, Xu Chichi couldn't calm down for a long time. She unconsciously took out her mobile phone and secretly took many photos of the performance screen.
Ren Limeng stared at Shen Xingzhi who walked into the hall with her deep eyes, and the strong emotions in her eyes flickered.
Hearing Xu Chichi's happy and excited scream, Ren Limeng's eyes instantly regained clarity. She smiled slightly, nodded in response, and said softly, "What a surprise."
On the stage, the same process as the previous guests, Shen Xingzhi returned to the hall after the performance and went straight to the stage to be interviewed by Chen He.
"Xingzhi, long time no see! Today we actually got to hear 'The End of an Autumn Hair' live. It's truly your famous song! It really lives up to its reputation! Your voice is so immersive, everyone was completely immersed in the song. I saw some of the ladies in the audience were so moved that their eyes were teary!"
Shen Xingzhi curled his lips slightly, and in the face of Chen He's endless praise, he just said "thank you" lightly. Standing in front of the exquisitely decorated stage, his surroundings lacked the cold loneliness that plundered everything during the performance, and became a little softer.
Unlike some of the previous guests who were cautious when picking up the microphone, Shen Xingzhi gave people a very calm feeling throughout the whole process. He answered Chen He's questions one by one without hesitation, and his relaxed expression revealed the confidence that everything was under control.
Until the last question——
"Xingzhi, I heard from the production team that you seemed to have decided to perform this song on the spot. Was it the performance that ignited your passion? As far as I know, you haven't sung 'The End of an Autumn Hair' in public for many years. I'd like to ask on behalf of everyone, why did you choose 'The End of an Autumn Hair' for your first performance?"
As Chen He made this obvious topic-generating attempt, the audience suddenly quieted down. "Twenty Changes of Mountains and Seas" would be broadcast on Wednesday, two days later. Everyone could predict that "The End of the Autumn Hair" would have a place on the high-ranking hot searches, and everyone was curious about the reason behind Shen Xingzhi's choice.
Chen Xingzhi's status is there, there is no need for him to create a topic on his personal show blog. What's more, Chen He's expression both implicitly and implicitly proved that Chen Xingzhi's change of song on the spot was sudden, and it seemed that the program crew was surprised, which is even more interesting.
Chen Xingzhi's "The End of an Autumn Hair" has no accompaniment at all, and relies entirely on piano and vocals to create that lonely and intoxicated atmosphere. If Chen He hadn't suddenly asked a question, it would be almost difficult for anyone to notice that Chen Xingzhi changed the song on the spot. Chen He's question was definitely instructed by the program crew.
Ren Limeng was also stunned for a moment. Her eyes moved slightly, and she raised her head to look at Shen Xingzhi on the stage, but found that he was still standing straight, holding the microphone calmly, as if he had no idea, or didn't care how much trouble his actions would cause others.
"Just sing if you want to."
With a smile, Chen Xingzhi concealed all his facial expressions, leaving only his unchanging indifference and elegance when facing the camera over the years.
Chen He's expression froze. He and Shen Xingzhi often met at major galas and award ceremonies. He had heard of Shen Xingzhi's coldness and indifference, but he had never taken it seriously. In the entertainment industry, a place of fame and fortune, apart from the carefully presented fan-attracting personas, how real could everyone be in front of the camera?
But after such close contact with Shen Xingzhi, Chen He became more and more unsure. His intuition as an actor told him that Shen Xingzhi's personality might indeed be the same as his appearance, cold and angular, and this was not a false personality painstakingly created by the agency.
Hearing Shen Xingzhi's indifferent voice, Ren Limeng's mouth corners unconsciously rose. She held back the smile in her eyes and suddenly felt how time had been kind to Shen Xingzhi. Not only did his handsome face remain unchanged, but he also had a familiar personality.
However, there are some differences. Chen Xingzhi has matured a lot after all. At least he will pick up the pieces himself when there is a lull in the conversation to ease the atmosphere and smooth things over. "The show 'Shan Hai' is more interesting than I expected. I am looking forward to the upcoming schedule."
What a high-sounding excuse, secretly answering Chen He's question and openly praising the program. Chen He could also naturally lead the topic back to the next process. If she hadn't heard on Douban that Shen Xingzhi had an ambiguous and even somewhat negative attitude towards this breakup variety show, as a live audience, she would have believed that he was very interested in the program.
Ren Limeng maintained a perfect and dignified smile, and tried her best to perform the expression that a spectator should have at every moment. Even when she was in the corner, she did not miss any of the necessary interactions. A small and transparent person like her could not control anything, and she didn't know when the camera would fall on her during the broadcast.
She actually wasn't used to it here. There were few people and a lot of work to do in the agricultural channel. Everyone was so tired that they fell asleep just by completing their work. Even if everyone had their own little ideas, the frequency would not be so frequent. It had only been less than four hours of recording, and Ren Limeng felt that her workload today had seriously exceeded the limit.
Fortunately, as a senior worker, her innate hard work and strong professional ambition still motivate her to hold her head high.
The team formation session finally began after Ren Limeng had been longing for it.
Chen He was the first to announce the ranking of everyone's initial stage performance. As the lowest star in the audience, Ren Limeng was a little surprised. She counted five or six names from the back before she saw her own. Although she still had an average of 200 yuan in pocket money per day, her ranking was higher than expected.
Putting aside external factors such as fame and qualifications, her stage effect may be better than expected, or it may be because compared with most singing and dancing stages, her performance is more memorable and has the influence of opera culture. After all, the theme of this season's "Twenty Changes of Mountains and Seas" facilitates the interconnectedness of cultures.
The top three were exactly the same as Ren Limeng's guess. Chen Xingzhi's "The End of the Autumn Hair" took first place, followed closely by Chen He, who only sang one song on the stage without any success and successfully won second place.
Compared with the third-place singer Chen Xi, Chen He's ranking is the result of a comprehensive consideration of his fame, status and other aspects of his strength, and it is also a subtle reflection of the program team's ranking basis.
As a top student who has studied hard for many years, Ren Limeng is more determined to solve the problem. Whether it is Shen Xingzhi or Chen He, she must find a way to join their team.
"The first leg will have four male guests serving as captains. This initial stage ranking will only be used to distribute pocket money during the first leg and will also serve as a reference for the male guests to form teams. Now, let me officially read out the team formation rules..."
Chen He's voice was rhythmic, but the lengthy team rules and the long recording time still made people drowsy.
Ren Limeng brought out the same concentration she had when doing English listening in school. As the only guest in the audience who was likely to have scored 9 points in IELTS listening, Ren Limeng couldn't help but cheer herself up every time she heard Chen Henian talking about the rules.
Every stick has its strengths. Although she has no fame, no qualifications, and no capital, she has a smart brain, which she has developed through hard work in the mountains of questions and papers, and has been trained through the torture of writing papers day and night.
Just as she summarized her position as a highly educated and considerate female host, the team formation rules for the first stop can also be simply summarized - quick answer and selection of people.
As one of the four captains of the first station, Chen He had already stood in front of the prepared answering position with Shen Xingzhi and others. Chen Xi was temporarily taking over as the host. Chen Xi's voice was very enthusiastic in promoting the process, and his fame was enough to support the stage, but Ren Limeng still couldn't help frowning.
Putting aside whether her Mandarin was standard, Chen Xi's hosting was a bit too casual. Within two or three sentences, no one in the audience could fail to see her preference for Shen Xingzhi. It seemed that because the two were friends who had worked together many times, Chen Xi's hosting not only favored Shen Xingzhi in her words, but also in her posture and demeanor.
This is not the attitude a professional host should have.
Whether it is Chen He or Chen Xi, it seems that letting big names replace the host position has become a tacit understanding in many variety shows. Chen He is an actor with clear articulation, and coupled with his age and experience, his hosting effect is indeed good. But it is a bit puzzling for a completely non-professional like Chen Xi to take on the hosting job.
Of course, the stars' flustered and nervous hosting is very interesting and can achieve a win-win situation for the program and the audience, but hosting is a profession and the professionalism is no less than that of actors and singers. In the long run, it will undoubtedly do more harm than good to the entire industry.
At present, news hosts are still okay, as their professionalism has always been recognized by the public and they are not so easily replaced. However, entertainment hosts have long been regarded as "just any person" in the eyes of many people, and are dispensable. No one cares about their painstaking efforts in secretly controlling the program, nor do they care about their painstaking efforts in expressing the program's intentions in the details.
It's no wonder that An Ling, the top host of Orange, couldn't help but jokingly complained during a live broadcast a few days ago, "There's no threshold to becoming a host anymore. It's a common profession. Anyone can do it. After all, they're just background people."
There was a bit of sincerity in the moment, which only they, as fellow hosts, could understand.
But so what? As an excellent host, speaking like this in public, such a small unprofessional performance will be infinitely magnified. More viewers will only look at An Ling with more critical eyes, and the platform will only think that An Ling is getting carried away. In the end, even the reality show "Twenty Changes of Mountains and Seas" has no chance to host An Ling, the platform's top host.
Instead, it was she, a small agricultural host, who took advantage of the opportunity. However, even though she was the only professional host in the whole show, the production team did not think of letting her host. Who told her that her hosting was not interesting enough and she was too unknown. How could she be worthy of such a grand S+ level ace variety show?
However, since she has come, she will never go back empty-handed. She has decided to get the microphone!
Ren Limeng looked at Chen He, who was concentrating on looking at the screen and preparing to answer questions on the right side of the center, and a trace of determination to win flashed in her eyes.
In the end, she took a gamble on Chen He.
During a break in the recording, Ren Limeng took the initiative to introduce herself to Chen He. Compared to the other female guests, her lack of fame was a major disadvantage, but Chen He already had a large fan base. In the filming of a travel competition variety show, her sincerity and advantages in terms of physical strength, attitude, and planning were obvious, which had already piqued Chen He's interest and attracted his attention.
Chen He finally agreed to reserve a place for Ren Limeng when they had the chance to form a team. Ren Limeng was very satisfied with this result after their first meeting.
It seemed that Chen Xingzhi ranked higher on the first stage, but one was the singer's own killer masterpiece, and the other was just a song sung casually by an actor. In Ren Limeng's opinion, Chen He's second place was definitely not less valuable than Chen Xingzhi's first place.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
