Chapter 39: Sifting Gold from Sand
"The sky is a clear blue, and the gentle breeze adds to the romance..." As Li Sishi softly sang the first line according to the melody, she was certain that this was the true identity of the song.
That's right, this is Wen Huihui's representative work, "Beloved," which will be released at the end of this year.
The original song was a representative work of a female singer who was very popular in Japan in the 1980s. Later, through the record company's international copyright sharing plan, it was acquired by Hong Kong's PolyGram Records. It was presumably intended for Wen Huihui, who was a big fan of the female singer, to sing. Even the lyrics were written by Wen Huihui's friend, Li Dewen. So no matter what Li Sishi thought, she felt that this song should not appear in front of her.
Faced with Li Sishi's doubts, Zhuang Menghua gently explained to her, "This song is indeed a good song. Logically speaking, Bao Yiyin shouldn't have handed it over so easily. Unfortunately, it just went wrong because of the 'lyrics'."
"Is there something wrong with the lyrics of this song?" Li Sishi was even more puzzled. After all, Li Dewen was one of the performing guests at the Miss Hong Kong finals, and she had had some contact with her. Therefore, whether from her memory or from her real-life impression, Li Sishi did not think that Li Dewen was someone she needed to avoid.
"The lyrics are fine, of course, but the person who wrote them is the problem." Zhuang Menghua looked at Li Sishi's increasingly confused expression and smiled like she was teaching a child. "Wen Huihui's boyfriend is the famous writer Li Zhen. You should know him, right? His magazine 'Yea' has been quite popular among students your age in recent years."
"Yes, of course I know." Hearing this, Li Sishi vaguely realized something.
Sure enough, Zhuang Menghua's next explanation was exactly what she had expected, only more detailed and convoluted: Li Zhen, a famous and wealthy so-called "charming and talented man" in the circle, had countless romantic affairs before Wen Huihui. Even Li Sishi's predecessor, Yin Jiali, who was hailed as the "most beautiful Miss Hong Kong," was once captivated by Li Zhen's looks and talent.
After their breakup, Yin Jiali hooked up with a powerful and wealthy stock market tycoon, while Li Zhen found Wen Huihui, a pure and lovely "jade girl" who had just debuted, and founded the magazine "Yea" to promote his new girlfriend.
At first glance, it seems to have nothing to do with this matter, but in fact, Li Zhen is the kind of person who only allows officials to set fires while forbidding ordinary people to light lamps. He can have many romantic affairs, but he can't have Wen Huihui have any rumors—even if Wen Huihui and the rumored lover have no intention of having any relationship at all, and it is purely Hong Kong media making a fuss to attract attention, generate buzz, and boost sales.
And that
Hou Shih-ming, the unfortunate rumored lover, is also a rising star in TBL in recent years. Moreover, because his appearance and temperament are similar to those of the superstar Hou Bei-hua, TBL is grooming him as Hou Bei-hua's successor after he ventures into the film industry.
A popular young actor of this caliber would naturally collaborate with popular young actresses. After Hou Shiming and Wen Huihui co-starred in a TVB anniversary drama, Hou Shiming would, as is customary, praise his co-star during a radio interview, politely saying a few words of admiration for her. Little did he know that these few words would cause Li Zhen to become extremely jealous.
At first, he just took advantage of his position as editor-in-chief to give someone the nickname "Tumor Ming" in Yea magazine, and did everything he could to smear them. He would say that if someone bent down to tie their shoelaces, it was because they were taking the opportunity to peep under the skirts of passersby, and that if someone went out to buy something, it was because they were going to some unspeakable place to have fun. Spreading rumors is easy, but refuting them is incredibly difficult, especially in an era when newspapers and magazines still had a lot of influence.
"Later on, Li Zhen's smear campaign was no longer motivated by jealousy, but by the magazine's sales—because that's human nature; people don't really like reading normal reports, they just like those bizarre or even sensational false news..." Zhuang Menghua sighed, "In the future, you will inevitably encounter those who spread rumors with a guilty conscience. I'm bringing these things up to make things clear to you now, hoping that you can be mentally prepared to enter this industry."
“I understand, Miss Zhuang. I’ve experienced something similar during beauty pageants before, but the intensity wasn’t as great then.” Li Sishi nodded vigorously.
"This year is another year of signing new contracts, and Hou Shiming has been greatly affected. He's not very willing to stay in Hong Kong to develop his career anymore." Zhuang Menghua gradually connected the dots, "It's because Hou Shiming's story has spread within the industry that Li Dewen has recently stopped daring to contact Wen Huihui."
"As for Bao Yiyin, she felt that even if Wen Huihui, who couldn't persuade Li Zhen, became a huge star after getting the song, if she ruined another male artist, Wen Huihui's reputation in the industry would probably suffer. Therefore, she contacted Huasheng and exchanged the song with them for the Cantonese version of the theme song for Sailor Moon, which was to be broadcast on TBL TV later."
These days, record companies and television stations are closely connected. When a new song is released, it is often promoted by appearing on variety shows on television. Resource exchange is naturally not a rare thing. Many songs are also used as theme songs, ending songs, and interludes for TV dramas.
In this way, TV stations no longer need to put in the effort to produce related songs, and singers can take advantage of the nationwide reach of TV dramas to promote their work.
The new song truly exemplifies the saying that one party benefits while the other doesn't lose out.
At this point, Zhuang Menghua gave Li Sishi a deep look: "Originally, I wanted to get this Cantonese version of the theme song for you, but then I found out about this exchange, so I changed my approach."
The original song was already a huge hit in Japan, and with the addition of good local lyrics, it's almost certain to be a contender in this year's quarterly and overall Jade Solid Gold awards. In contrast, while the Cantonese version of the Sailor Moon theme song is also likely to be a hit, its reach will definitely be much "younger."
After all, at this time, cartoons were only seen as a favorite of teenagers and children, while adults had to consider the "character design" and couldn't directly express that they liked this kind of "childish stuff".
Moreover, after the Cantonese version of the theme song was changed, PolyGram Music also plans to add Kang Baoyi and Huang Yingping, the "PolyGram Music Three Little Flowers".
The other two girls in the group will sing a duet with Wen Huihui to create a "beautiful girl trio".
Sailor Moon is a well-known Japanese anime. If the first season is imported, more seasons will definitely be imported in the future. This means that the Cantonese version of the theme song will have priority in the competition. As a result, Wen Huihui, who was already in a bit of a predicament, agreed to the arrangement, intending to exchange temporary brilliance for long-term glory.
Zhuang Menghua needed a good song with wide appeal to lay a solid foundation for Li Sishi's music career. The two hit it off immediately, and thus this excellent song, which was definitely a great resource, came to Li Sishi.
“Anita is the eldest sister, and her singing voice isn’t really suitable for this song. But she saw your singing when she was a Miss Hong Kong judge and put in a good word for you, so in the end, this song ended up in your hands.” Zhuang Menghua clicked on the lyrics page and told Li Sishi another reason.
"I'm so lucky to have such a great song right away." Li Sishi couldn't help but laugh.
Those in the industry know that record company resources are always first chosen by the top male and female artists, and then those left over are passed down in order.
While this approach may occasionally result in overlooked gems or a few songs unexpectedly becoming wildly popular, the vast majority of the time, the quality of songs and promotional resources are selected and arranged from the top down, and then the process continues from top to bottom, from massive popularity to modest success and finally to obscurity.
This further proves the importance of having the right backer—without signing with a big shot like Zhuang Menghua, Li Sishi, such a fresh and promising new talent in the music scene, would inevitably...
However, they are subjected to layers of selection and exploitation, and in the end, they can only bitterly take the leftover oranges from the bottom of the sugarcane basket and try their luck.
After discussing the song that would soon be the title track, Zhuang Menghua then talked to Li Sishi about the upcoming arrangements: "Although you have gained some fame in Hong Kong through beauty pageants, you are still a newcomer in the music industry. So this time, I will only help you release one EP. Firstly, it will allow you to focus on your studies, and secondly, it will be a test to see the sales and audience situation before making any further plans."
Li Sishi continued nodding: "The so-called 'mini-album' is the common name for a mini-EP, which is a music release format between a single and an album. Most of the time, it only contains four or five songs, and at most it will not exceed eight."
The price and quality of EPs are usually higher than singles but lower than regular albums. Many singers release EPs because they don't have enough time or song resources to complete a regular album, but they want to share their latest music with their fans, so they choose to release EPs.
Of course, some singers release albums because they lack confidence in their new songs and want to test the waters, or simply because they want to make some money...
As Li Sishi pondered this, she flipped through another page in the folder and came across the sheet music for "Hateful Marriage".
"Your a cappella performance on 'Music Lecture Hall' was quite good, so we bought you the cover rights for this song." Zhuang Menghua, afraid that Li Sishi would misunderstand, quickly added a few more words, "Sometimes new songs aren't necessarily the best. Covering a widely popular old song can also guarantee a certain level of sales and appeal."
“I understand, I also really like this song, many of my favorite singers have covered it!” Li Sishi replied repeatedly.
"Yes, for example, Rong Juezhang covered it in his concert. It's a pity he has retired from the music scene, otherwise you could ask him to mentor you."
Zhuang Menghua smiled.
"He's still in the film industry, so maybe I'll be able to work with him again in the future." Li Sishi revealed a confident smile with a hint of smugness.
“That’s right.” Zhuang Menghua smiled even more broadly: she was never afraid of her subordinates causing trouble, only afraid that they lacked “ambition.”
Someone with Li Sishi's talent is destined for the big screen sooner or later. Keeping her in the "small circle" of the music and television industry now is just to lay a foundation for her and allow her to accumulate experience, not to extinguish her ambition.
Watching Li Sishi turn to the next page, and see her fall into deep thought again as she listened to the song "One, Two, Three, Each with Their Own Dreams," Zhuang Menghua comforted her.
"It's impossible to always have good songs. Although this song may seem a bit childish, the composer is a master who has written many great songs, and it's also suitable for your current age, so I took it too."
Originally, this song was also a new album by a rising starlet from Bao Yi Yin. Unfortunately, the rising starlet, who wanted to change her image, thought the lyrics were too childish, so she kept arguing with the producer and refused to accept it. So Zhuang Menghua, who was exchanging resources at the time, bought it on the spot.
Seeing Zhuang Menghua's slightly dissatisfied expression, Li Sishi almost wanted to hug the sheet music to show her love for it—this was truly a steal!
This is the only song in this year's Jade Solid Gold Awards that managed to win a dark horse award for a newcomer, despite being surrounded by four Heavenly Kings, thanks to its outstanding popularity and quality!
Surprisingly, this dark horse was initially met with strong disdain, and it only received reluctant acceptance after pressure from the producer and the company...
Since she had mentally prepared herself for a second child, Li Sishi didn't seem to feel uncomfortable about getting a bargain—it's perfect, if you don't want it, I will. Dreams and pride can't put food on the table, money and popularity are what really matter!
Before Li Sishi could finish feeling happy inside, Zhuang Menghua had already turned to the next page for her: "However, for this EP, I've still found you a duet partner..."
"This song, 'Longing in the Wind and Rain,' will be used as an interlude in our new TV series, 'First Steps into the Jianghu.' The timeline is quite tight, so after your vocal lesson the day after tomorrow evening, you need to go to the recording studio as soon as possible to start preparing to collaborate with Shang Hanyou from Baoyi Music on recording this song..."
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