Chapter 28: Semifinal Night
The semi-finals are one level below the finals, so they usually don't spend money to rent the Hong Kong Coliseum venue. Instead, they are arranged to hold the event directly in the studio hall inside TV City Studio 1.
Studio One is TVB's largest studio, mainly used for producing variety shows, the Miss Hong Kong pageant, and large-scale galas such as the TVB Anniversary Gala. The open space between the stage and the audience seating is usually used as a banquet table during the gala, while behind it are rows of red chairs arranged in tiers, with voting buttons next to each chair for live voting and scoring.
Apart from the front row banquet tables, which are conventionally arranged for social celebrities, company executives, and various artists, the audience seats in the back row require a certain fee to obtain.
Li Sishi vaguely remembers that the semi-final tickets that year were sold for a full 200 yuan each, and they were still in short supply.
Of course, the tickets for the grand final held at the Hong Kong Coliseum were even more expensive, reaching HK$250. After the first "ugliest Miss Hong Kong in history" was chosen that year, many audience members who paid to see the live show cursed the ticket price as outrageous, saying that people who paid to see an ugly contestant were truly idiots...
This is probably the first generation's "the scapegoat was myself".
Li Sishi was picked up early in the morning and brought to the TV city. She put her personal belongings into a compartment of the luggage locker according to the corresponding number, and then followed the group into the dressing room of Factory No. 1.
At TBL, apart from the two big sisters, Sister A and Sister Fei, who have private dressing rooms, everyone else can only do their makeup in the communal dressing room. The upcoming press conference and the semi-finals in the evening both require more dramatic on-camera makeup. Therefore, the first thing the candidates have to do after arriving at the communal dressing room is to sit in their seats and remove the makeup they put on when they left home.
Although it sounds troublesome and unnecessary, as a contestant in a beauty pageant, being photographed without makeup could become a lifelong black mark – so it's better to go through the trouble than to compromise.
Relying on her youth and good looks, Li Sishi only had a simple, presentable light makeup on when she arrived. After quickly removing it, she raised her hand to indicate that she had finished removing her makeup and could have the makeup artist come and do her makeup.
Given the limited number of professional makeup artists at the TV station, it's impossible for every contestant to have their own dedicated makeup artist. Therefore, in this situation, it's best to secure a makeup artist as early as possible: initially, there's no rush, and the makeup artist will have the patience to take their time with your makeup; later on...
As the time becomes increasingly tight, the makeup artist's movements may not be as careful and meticulous.
Moreover, you can't show any displeasure or urge them at this time, otherwise the makeup artist might deliberately give you a makeup look that looks like they put a lot of effort into it, but in reality, it goes against your own temperament and not only fails to enhance your appearance but also lowers your original attractiveness.
In the TV station, a veritable melting pot, even the most formidable figures are not to be trifled with, and their underlings are always troublesome.
Li Sishi was among the first to get her makeup done, and she always presented a lively and cheerful young woman. Her makeup artist, seeing this, felt more comfortable and was more adept at applying the makeup. "Okay, how does it look?"
Li Sishi looked at herself in the mirror and immediately smiled: "So beautiful! I never knew I could look this good... Thank you, Sister Hong."
The makeup artist, known as Sister Hong, nodded and accepted Li Sishi's thanks. She felt that she had done a very smooth job on the first person she was doing today: probably because her skin was young and it was easier for her to do any of the movements.
Such a good start should at least keep me in a good mood for a while—I just hope those contestants who are slow to act won't make things too ugly later.
Because of Li Sishi's reminder, Wan Jiamei didn't wear heavy makeup this time and was in the second batch to remove her makeup. So Hongjie planned to go over and do her makeup for Wan Jiamei, who was sitting at the table opposite Li Sishi.
"I'm all set here too!" Yu Xiaobao, who had always been at odds with Wan Jiamei, also called out.
Upon hearing this, Wan Jiamei immediately became furious: "Hey, don't you even know what 'first come, first served' means?!"
"What do you mean by first come, first served? Do you think there's a one-minute difference between you and me?" Yu Xiaobao retorted defiantly, then waved to Sister Hong.
Thinking about the rumors that contestant number 9 was related to a certain young master, Sister Hong hesitated for a while, but in the end she called over another relatively younger makeup artist and went over with her makeup case.
Wan Jiamei gritted her teeth, but she knew she couldn't offend the makeup artist, so she could only sit obediently in her seat and let the younger makeup artist do her makeup.
As expected, a scene of the beauties vying for the makeup artist unfolded next. Li Sishi quietly watched the chaos reflected in the mirror.
Instead, I felt increasingly calm.
After the slower contestants had to accept the makeup artists' quick work due to time constraints, Li Sishi calmly put on the pink and white sash marked "Miss Hong Kong 1993 Pageant" and then stood up quietly.
Seeing the chaos in the two lines, and Li Sishi, the youngest contestant who displayed the most composure, the staff waved helplessly, signaling the other candidates to follow them to the press conference hall.
The four judges for tonight have already been interviewed by reporters here. Two of them are socialites and two are from the entertainment industry, so the reporters' flashes were going off non-stop, afraid of missing any good show.
Compared to the four judges' relaxed demeanor, the contestants, who were being led behind their seats to take a group photo, appeared calm.
After taking the group photo, some individual photos, and small group photos, Li Sishi followed the staff's instructions and sat down in a seat.
Seeing Pei Yansang, one of the judges, being interviewed and smiling as she said that she had given up her usual cool and individualistic style for this elegant pink suit because she was here for the Miss Hong Kong pageant, Li Sishi also smiled.
She didn't just say she liked Pei Yansang to appease him in the early hours of the morning; on the contrary, Pei Yansang was truly her "idol" and "dream" for two lifetimes.
For a female artist from a humble background who relies entirely on her own efforts, to achieve success in singing, film, and television in an entertainment industry where men are more dominant than women, and to be just as good as, or even slightly better than, male artists in all three areas, is the best direction for an "ignorant girl" who aspires to enter the entertainment industry.
Perhaps it was the keen sense of a superstar that made her realize that someone was watching her. Pei Yansang glanced at the source of the gaze out of the corner of her eye and immediately saw the face of a girl who was staring at her with longing.
Seeing how adorable the young beauty was, Pei Yansang smiled and waved at her in a fleeting moment that the camera couldn't capture.
When Li Sishi saw this response, she was first taken aback, and then she was amazed by the lively charm of Pei Yansang's little gesture: as expected of the pinnacle of female artists in this industry, even such a simple and casual little gesture can make people feel her boundless charm.
This is something that her current acting skills, at the level of a supporting actress, and the flirting skills she has developed by competing with wealthy women, cannot achieve. People say that the photos she took of Xunhe are very artistic and have a sense of story, but those comments are only based on an "ordinary person" with little acting skills. If she were to face a superstar like Pei Yansang, who is talented and hardworking, she would be instantly outshone.
I wonder what Li Sishi is thinking at this moment.
Distracted by her thoughts, Pei Yansang, thinking that her little gesture had startled the cute little girl, habitually rubbed her fingers together, and then quickly focused her attention back on the interview, lest she affect the contestant's performance.
Meanwhile, Pei Yansang, who continued to focus on the interview, was unaware that Li Sishi, after regaining her senses, was taking advantage of this rare close-up opportunity to desperately observe her every move, connecting it with her own usual behavioral patterns in her mind, observing, imitating, exploring, integrating, and improving little by little...
Superstars cannot be replicated, but their charisma and style can serve as a learning reference for those who come after them.
Thanks to today's unexpected gain, Li Sishi's little scheme, which she had thought of earlier, has yielded an even better improvement idea than before.
The press conference ended in the afternoon. In order to showcase their figures for the evening's performance, the contestants dared not eat heartily during the late lunch.
After managing to eat and drink a little food and water to suppress the emptiness in their stomachs, they mostly sat listlessly in their seats, conserving their energy and waiting for the semi-finals that evening.
At this point, no one had the mind or energy to argue or make a fuss anymore. Looking at the group of people around them who were in the same boat, they might even feel a sense of shared misery...
But for those who have reached this stage, even if they are mentally and physically exhausted, it's only temporary.
Upon hearing the staff's call, the group of lazybones instantly perked up and resumed their bustling activity in the public dressing room and the lively gathering in the individual changing rooms.
After getting her stage makeup done and changing into the silver-gray and black-blocked performance costume that belonged to the space base students, she first followed the male host in a seemingly energetic singing and dancing routine, according to the positions and performance design arranged during rehearsals.
This is definitely not the kind of professional marching routine that is formally trained. It is more like an artistic marching routine specially designed for stage effect to showcase the contestants' figures and vitality. After a round of singing and dancing, the contestants immediately went to their respective positions and posed according to the positions and poses arranged during the rehearsal, piecing together a beautiful picture of youthful and beautiful women in various poses.
The two male hosts hosting tonight's semi-finals are both veteran hosts from the TV station. The tall, thin male host who led them in singing and dancing earlier is named Cen Yinjian, while the short, chubby male host who is now appearing on wires in an astronaut suit is Jiang Zhiwei, a veteran host of the variety show "Super Trio Series".
Immediately, Jiang Zhiwei will take the "documents" provided by the competition and, in a scenario mode where the commander inspects the new recruits, have each of the candidates come up to the microphone one by one to introduce themselves and answer questions.
As contestant number 2, Li Sishi's order of appearance was naturally just after Lin Lili, number 1.
Compared to contestant number 1, who hadn't made much of a splash during training and was only teased about her height, Li Sishi, after a brief self-introduction, was immediately faced with a question deliberately arranged by the competition organizers: "I heard you were sexually assaulted in Italy, did you call the police?"
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