Chapter 42 Chapter 42 Competition Ends + Mo Xun’s Birthday (2 in 1…
[Chapter 42, The Competition Ends]
In the blink of an eye it was December.
During this period, the five members of FTM took five microphones to the company's practice room every night, connected them to speakers, sang and danced, and focused on practicing singing and dancing with the microphones on.
If you don't control your breath well at the beginning, various problems such as mic popping, off-tune, and splits on high notes will occur.
After one song, everyone was exhausted and out of breath. Especially when they were doing the sword dance in the group at the end and had to sing at the same time, it was easy to get short of breath.
Obvious panting sounds could be heard in the microphone.
Teacher Qiao personally helped them correct their breathing frequency, teaching them which words to inhale and exhale when singing, and practicing over and over again until it blended with the rhythm of the dance.
We practice every day, but progress is very slow.
Physical fitness also has a great impact on singing and dancing with a microphone.
Mo Xun is the one with the best physical strength among the five. No matter how vigorously he dances, he will not make obvious panting sounds, and his breathing is very stable. The other four teammates cannot do this yet.
In addition to practicing singing and dancing, everyone also works out with Mo Xun, taking time every night to go to the gym to run and lift barbells.
Fang Yinnian envied Mo Xun's abdominal muscles and also wanted to build some muscles. Everyone has been strictly controlling their high-protein diet recently. Only by persisting in it for a long time can they develop core strength.
Seeing that they were practicing very hard, Xu Baichuan comforted them, "Singers who have debuted for more than ten years may fail even when performing live with the microphone on. Don't be anxious. Practice slowly. This is not something that can be mastered in a day or two."
Fu Fei asked, "Brother Xu, will we have a stage performance this year?" The others also looked at Old Xu expectantly.
Xu Baichuan said: "There are a lot of activities at the end of the year. I am talking to several satellite TV stations to see if we can let you perform at the New Year's Eve Gala."
The five people were shocked: "New Year's Eve party?!"
Are they qualified to go to such a large event?
Xu Baichuan said: "Many celebrities will be invited to the New Year's Eve party. A TV station has also found me and is in the process of negotiating, but the appearance fee is very low."
Fu Fei said hurriedly: "It's okay, we are newcomers, the appearance fee is just a token of appreciation, I really want to see the New Year's Eve party hehe~"
Tan Junwen asked: "Will the New Year's Eve concert be full of big names, and will the stage specifications be much higher than the company's concert?"
Xu Baichuan said: "Of course. Last year, the stage construction for the Southern Star TV New Year's Eve Gala alone cost tens of millions."
The more Fang Yinnian listened, the more he looked forward to it - they, FTM, had only performed once at the Shengyao Family Concert when they debuted.
Although the performance was recorded and uploaded to the Internet, it was after all a company team-building event, so its influence was limited and there were not many viewers.
So far, their only public appearances have been on variety shows, and there has been no formal stage performance for the public.
The New Year’s Eve galas of major satellite TV stations are broadcast live simultaneously and are aimed at audiences across the country. Their influence is much greater than that of company concerts.
Fang Yinnian asked curiously, "Brother Xu, which two satellite TV stations are they?"
Xu Baichuan said: "Nanxing TV and Yuntu TV. Our FTM has been very popular recently. Both of them have the intention to cooperate. I will discuss the salary carefully. Don't tell anyone yet. Make an official announcement after confirming it."
All five of them nodded. They are not sure what the specific "treatment" includes, but they believe that the agent will definitely do his best to help them.
Mo Xun said simply, "Brother Xu, you decide on the arrangements. We can go anywhere."
Xu Baichuan said: "Well, you guys continue to practice singing and dancing with the microphone, and it will be finalized in mid-December."
Since Xu Baichuan mentioned that they might go to participate in the New Year's Eve party, the five of them practiced even harder afterwards.
During this period, not only did Tang Che and Fang Yinnian practice until 2 a.m. every day, but Mo Xun, Xiao Fei and Junwen also stayed to practice together.
After all, group dance requires the cooperation of five people, and they can only sing and dance over and over again.
It is really difficult to ensure that the dance moves are performed well while keeping your breath and voice as stable as possible.
**
On December 7, the cover competition entered the final review stage.
This cover contest was extremely popular. It was also the first "DIY personalized accompaniment" cover mode in recent years, which attracted the attention of many netizens. The number of netizens who participated in the cover was as high as five figures.
——It is unprecedented that tens of thousands of people cover the same song.
There are endless excellent works in the competition area, and new cover songs are uploaded every day. Netizens will vote for their favorite works and select more than 20 songs to enter the final round.
All votes for the final round were reset to zero, and the homepage and official Weibo of Kugou released the audio sources of all the selected songs and opened the online voting channel.
The contestants began to find ways to canvass votes.
Several expert judges were also scoring seriously.
Teacher Yu sent the selected works to Fang Yinnian, asking him and his teammates to listen to them and give them scores for reference.
The five of them listened to music together in the dormitory after school. They heard a lot of interesting covers, one of which particularly surprised Fang Yinnian: "Entry No. 7 was sung by a child, right? The child's voice is so cute."
Mo Xun praised: "These kids really sang well."
Tan Junwen said: "Work No. 16 is also very interesting. Five girls imitated our FTM five-person harmony singing method and recorded a female version."
Tang Che said: "I saw them. They are college students from a choir. They sing in different parts. They are quite professional."
Fu Fei said excitedly: "There are many internet celebrities participating. The one with the highest number of online votes, Brother Fox, is a very famous Douyin internet celebrity!"
Fang Yinnian said, "Teacher Yu said that we are the original singers and our opinions are also important. Let us give a score to all the works, and their jury will use it as a reference."
Mo Xun took out a pen and paper and said, "Come on, start from the first song and listen to it from the beginning. The full score is 10. Let's each give a score."
It was the first time for the five people to serve as judges, and it was an amazing feeling to listen to various different voices covering their songs.
Especially hearing the version sung by children, the girl's version, the uncle's version, the duet version, etc., they are all very novel and interesting.
This is the charm of music - even the same song can be interpreted differently by different singers.
After everyone finished grading carefully, Fang Yinnian handed the score sheet to Teacher Yu. The judges will also refer to their scores and finally determine the ranking.
The internal ratings came out soon.
On December 14, after a week of fierce voting and final expert review, the #FTM 伴你一起唱和谐# National Cover Contest officially announced the list of winners.
As soon as the list was announced, it became a hot topic again!
Surprisingly, the first prize went to a version sung by several children. I heard that it was organized by an elementary school music teacher, who got five 8-year-old kids to cover FTM's single together.
The children's voices were very clear, and mixed with the FTM's voices, creating a wonderful chemical reaction.
This is undoubtedly a very special piece.
Netizens gave thumbs up to the post.
"Are kids these days so awesome? They sing really well~"
“The children’s version feels completely different and sounds great.”
"Keep going kids, when you grow up, let's form a group and debut together, hahaha!"
"I never expected that the championship would be won by a bunch of kids."
"This has completely gone viral, right? Even kids are singing it!"
The champion did not receive much doubt from netizens, after all, the children's version of the harmony was indeed very innovative.
This song has a cheerful style and netizens of any age can sing it without feeling out of place.
There were three runners-up, namely the harmony version sung by five college girls; the powerful and majestic cover version by a 40-year-old uncle; and the electronic cover by internet celebrity "Fox Brother".
The freedom to choose the accompaniment track gives each work a unique personality, and there are also a large number of excellent cover works in the third place.
The karaoke platform compiled all the winning cover works into a collection and displayed it separately on the homepage. The collection is called "FTM Sings Harmonies with You ~ Collection of Winning Works from the Cover Contest".
The popularity of the compilation has skyrocketed.
The collection of FTM's original single "For the music" continues to soar. One month after its release, the collection on a single platform exceeded one million!
A tall building discussing FTM appeared on the music forum——
“This song by FTM is so good!”
"I listened to a few of the award-winning works. They are really amazing. There are many experts among the people."
"I searched on Q Music and found that the number of comments and favorites for the song FTM has exceeded one million. Holy crap!"
“This should be the boy band’s most popular single, right?”
"It is also the first boy band single to go viral. Many people, young and old, boys and girls, are singing this song. The traffic on Douyin is also huge. Recently, many internet celebrities have also sung this song during their live broadcasts."
"Idols' songs are basically limited to their fan circles. FTM's manager has an idea. If they hold a cover contest, wouldn't their popularity increase?"
"On the Kugou platform, this song has been on the charts for three consecutive weeks, and there are endless cover versions. It's really popular!"
"I recently went to a KTV party with my classmates and saw this song on the first page of the song request list. It is also very popular offline."
“This song is really suitable for singing together at a party.”
"The cover contest is not a loss-making event. The total cost of the prize pool plus publicity is only about a million yuan, right? The effect is even better than spending tens of millions on marketing."
"This group debuted not long ago, and their first single has already received a lot of attention. I'm a little worried that they will start off strong but then go downhill."
"Men's groups still have to rely on the stage. If their stage performances are unstable, the reputation they built up in the early stages will definitely backfire."
"I am quite optimistic about this group, at least their attitude is very serious. I hope they can improve their professional ability and produce more works."
This cover contest made more netizens pay attention to FTM.
These passers-by netizens don’t know how to sign in to super topics, nor do they know how to collect data, and they are even too lazy to follow their Weibo - but they will know them.
If there is a performance by them, netizens might be interested in watching it.
Once the performance is bad, netizens will be left with a bad impression that "it's all just marketing hype" and "it can only be listened to through post-production sound editing."
Therefore, FTM's first stage performance is extremely important.
***
On the day the cover contest ended, agent Xu Baichuan called them to the conference room for an emergency meeting.
Xu Baichuan said: "The New Year's Eve party schedule has been decided, and Yuntu TV was finally chosen. I want to confirm one thing with you, do you want to open the microphone?"
All open mic, they have been practicing recently. Although there has been progress, no one can guarantee that mistakes will not be made on such a big stage.
Xu Baichuan said: "Yuntu TV's New Year's Eve Gala does not require full open mics. Singers can half open mics or even lip sync directly."
The agent looked very serious. "The New Year's Eve party will be broadcast live on satellite TV, and audiences across the country will watch it. Yuntu TV's ratings are consistently in the top three among several satellite TV stations. If something goes wrong, it's no joke."
All five of them fell silent.
Xu Baichuan asked: "How is it? Do you want to turn on the microphone?"
Fang Yinnian was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Let's all turn on the microphone."
His teammates all looked at him.
Fang Yinnian said: "Our signature is the 'harmonious group'. If the group doesn't dare to sing live with a microphone and can only lip-sync, then we can just pick five random people and edit the sound later, right?"
Fang Yinnian, who is usually mild-tempered, had a very determined look in his eyes at this moment: "I think it is a sign of respect for the audience for a singer to open the microphone and sing. Even if the singing is not perfect and has some flaws, it is more sincere than lip-syncing performance."
He paused and emphasized: "Besides, we are a music group. If a music group doesn't dare to use a microphone during a performance, what's the difference between it and a mute group?"
Hearing this, Mo Xun said decisively: "Then open the microphone. We have been practicing for a while, and our breath control has improved a lot."
He looked at Fang Yinnian: "I believe that Yinnian's lead voice can be stable, and our chorus will not make mistakes. As for everyone's solo part, everyone should work hard, try not to tremble, don't be out of tune, and give it your all this time!"
He looked at his teammates: "How are you guys?"
Fu Fei nodded vigorously: "I also think we should try to open the microphone! If we don't dare to open the microphone for our first stage performance, we will form the habit of lip-syncing and become more and more afraid to speak, right?"
Tang Che said: "Anyway, there are always many singers who fail at every New Year's Eve party. As long as we don't do anything too outrageous, the audience won't scold us too harshly."
Tan Junwen didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Tang Che, don't be such a pessimist. What do you mean by don't be too outrageous? We will definitely be able to sing it smoothly, okay?"
Xu Baichuan listened to the conversation between the few people and raised his mouth with satisfaction: "Very good, as long as you have such determination."
He was actually very worried that the five little ones would be stage fright.
After all, FTM’s trademark since their debut has been “music group”. If they don’t dare to open the microphone at large events, then they are not a music group at all.
As Yinnian said, just call it the "Dumb Acting Troupe".
I didn't expect Yinnian to be so determined. He is indeed very serious about music. As long as the lead vocals don't go off track, the harmony is basically acceptable.
As for each person's solo part, everyone practiced it every day during this period. Even when they were about to get sick of singing a song, Teacher Qiao kept an eye on them, and even their breathing rhythm had to be accurate. He believed that the five little guys would not fail.
Xu Baichuan felt relieved and said, "New Year's Eve is on the night of December 31st. We will go to rehearse on the 28th. Starting tomorrow, major TV stations will begin to officially announce the guest list. I will let you know when to forward it."
The five of them nodded in unison, unable to hide their excitement.
There are still two weeks until the official New Year's Eve, and things will be even busier in the future. But at the same time, Mo Xun's birthday is approaching.
Mo Xun was born on December 19, the tail of Sagittarius. His straightforward, honest, positive and optimistic personality is quite consistent with Sagittarius.
Fang Yinnian wanted to prepare a birthday present for him.
They have been very busy recently. In order to perform well in the New Year's Eve party while singing and dancing with the microphone on, they practice until late at night every day. It is impossible for them to find time to practice with a rock band like they did on Tang Che's birthday.
He believed Mo Xun wouldn't mind this.
As long as it is prepared with care, anything can be given as a birthday gift.
The four of them discussed it privately and finally decided to give the captain an anime figure - yes, Mo Xun likes to follow anime very much.
He shared his Bilibili account with Fang Yinnian, and there was a category in it specifically for the anime series he liked to follow.
Fang Yinnian is very attentive. From the frequency of his updates and the number of comments he leaves, you can tell which drama he likes the most.
It just so happens that this anime is currently selling an anniversary commemorative figure of the male protagonist. It is very finely made, every joint can move, and the price is quite high.
Sell the finished product directly, limited to 10,000 pieces nationwide.
It’s so hard to get limited edition figures, it’s simply a nightmare.
Of course Mo Xun saw the official news and set an alarm to grab it, but unfortunately he was too slow and missed the chance.
He plans to buy one in the second-hand market at a high price in the future.
Unexpectedly, his four teammates would steal the action figure behind his back.
The moment the figurine was released, Fang Yinnian, Tan Junwen, and Tang Che’s fingers were almost smoking. Then, from the “birthday temporary discussion group”, Xiao Fei’s howl was heard: “Ahhh, I got it!”
When it comes to hand speed, it depends on Xiaofei.
This guy's hand speed is really fast. After grabbing it, he immediately posted a screenshot in the discussion group: "Hey, I completed the important task assigned to me by the organization!"
Everyone immediately gave a red envelope to Xiaofei - it was Mo Xun's birthday gift and everyone agreed to share the price, so just treat it as a joint gift.
A week later, the figure was delivered and the four of them breathed a sigh of relief.
In a blink of an eye, it was Mo Xun’s birthday.
At 0:00 a.m. on December 19, Mo Xun's phone received a message on time: "Happy 20th birthday, brother~"
It was sent by my younger sister Mo Yao. She always stays up until the early morning to send messages every year. She is quite sensible. Mo Xun raised the corner of his lips and replied, "Thank you, little sister."
Mo Yao asked: "Brother, how are you spending your birthday this year?"
Mo Xun said decisively: "However, there are many activities at the end of the year, and we still have to rehearse the dance."
Mo Yao said, "It's your 20th birthday! I was thinking that today is the weekend, do you want to go home and we can prepare a birthday cake for you?"
Mo Xun said, "I won't go back. It's just a birthday, it doesn't matter whether you celebrate or not. Tell your parents not to bother preparing. We are too busy and really don't have time."
Mo Yao said helplessly: "Okay, then you are busy, come on."
After ending the conversation, Mo Xun looked at the silent phone and suddenly felt a little lost - today is his 20th birthday, and Fang Yinnian didn't even say a word of blessing?
After all, they are a CP that has been on the hot search, why don’t you care?
Mo Xun felt a little unhappy.
But I couldn't explain why I felt this strange discomfort.
He actually doesn't care about birthdays. When he was a trainee in Korea, he didn't celebrate his birthday for several years.
But this year, although he said he didn't care, he still hoped to receive blessings from his teammates, especially Fang Yinnian.
Mo Xun glanced at the guy sleeping soundly on the bed opposite him, frowned, put down his phone and continued to sleep.
I guess I'm too busy? I've been really busy lately. I'm exhausted from dancing practice every day, and everyone is under a lot of pressure from the New Year's Eve party. It's understandable that I ignore these little things.
It doesn’t matter, just pretend you don’t know.
The weekends are still filled with classes all day.
We went back to the company to practice together. We practiced until 5:30 in the afternoon. Fu Fei suddenly said, "Let's go back to the dormitory to eat tonight."
In order to save time, the life assistants would prepare meals and pack them in insulated boxes and send them to the company, where they would eat.
Mo Xun asked in confusion: "Why are you going back?"
Fu Fei said excitedly: "Auntie said she made pickled fish, but it's too soupy to pack up, so she asked us to go back and eat it!"
The teammates were all preparing to go back, so Mo Xun had to follow.
After returning to the dormitory, Mo Xun just opened the door when suddenly a ball of colored ribbons sprayed down from above his head. The four people behind him shouted in unison: "Happy Birthday!"
Mo Xun had his head covered with colorful ribbons and stood there in a daze.
After coming to his senses, he turned back to look at the four people helplessly: "When did you guys arrange these?"
Fang Yinnian smiled with his eyes curved: "Last night when you were taking a shower."
Fu Fei said excitedly: "Brother Nian is amazing, he is very quick and skillful, he finished the ribbon in 5 minutes, he even calculated the time for you to take a shower, hahahaha."
Tan Junwen asked with a smile: "Are you surprised?"
Mo Xun: “…”
After living together for so long, Fang Yinnian knew exactly how long it took him to take a shower.
Mo Xun wanted to laugh. Yinnian was quite good at pretending. It turned out that he had already prepared a surprise, but today he didn't even mention the word birthday.
Fang Yinnian took out an exquisitely wrapped box and handed it to Mo Xun: "The four of us prepared this together. It's a birthday present."
Mo Xun saw the familiar anime character on the box at a glance.
His eyes suddenly warmed up, and he took it in disbelief: "Limited edition figurines... When did you buy them?"
Fu Fei actively explained: "It was Brother Nian who suggested it. He said that you like this anime character very much, so we grabbed a figurine for you."
Tan Junwen said: "Luckily Xiaofei was quick enough to grab it, otherwise we would have gone to Xianyu Market to buy it at a high price."
Tang Che said calmly: "We didn't know you were following this anime, so Yinnian knows you best, right?"
Mo Xun: “…”
He remembered that he had previously shared his Bilibili account with Yinnian.
Fang Yinnian had obviously seen this drama in his favorites and noted down his preference. Yinnian was indeed the most attentive person in FTM.
Mo Xun felt a little warm in his heart. He reached out and gently hugged Fang Yinnian, whispering, "Thank you. I didn't get it myself. I didn't expect...you would help me get it."
Who can understand his excitement at this moment?
He didn't get the limited edition figurine of his favorite anime character, but his teammates snatched it away and gave it to him as a birthday present.
He never told anyone that he liked this role, but in fact he had liked it for many years. But Yinnian was very considerate and took the initiative to write down his hobbies.
Fang Yinnian, you are simply a little angel.
Mo Xun tightened his embrace and repeated, "Thank you, I really, really like it."
Fang Yinnian smiled and said, "I'm glad you like it. I was worried that I guessed wrong." He patted Mo Xun's shoulder gently, signaling him to let go.
Mo Xun let him go and said with a smile: "I will keep this figurine for the rest of my life. Thank you brothers!"
There was warm applause all around.
Fang Yinnian said, "Come and eat. Today's dinner is also very sumptuous. Auntie heard that it was your birthday and prepared a lot of dishes."
Fu Fei said: "Brother Xu will come over later, and I specially bought you your favorite roast duck, hahaha."
Tan Junwen complained: "Xiao Fei ordered the cake, this time it's a chocolate mousse cake."
Tang Che said: "Xiao Fei is abusing his power for personal gain. From now on, every time a team member has a birthday, he can order the flavors he likes."
Fu Fei smiled happily: "Hehe, since you all don't like sweets, I will buy birthday cakes for everyone!"
A moment later, the agent came with roast duck.
Fu Feiding's cake was also delivered on time.
The table was filled with a sumptuous dinner, and everyone gathered in the restaurant to sing the birthday song together - still with FTM's signature chorus version.
Fang Yinnian started the conversation: "Happy birthday to you~"
Several teammates followed suit: "Happy birthday to you~"
Mo Xun sat there, his eyes slightly warm.
After singing the birthday song, Fang Yinnian smiled and said, "You're 20 years old now. Make a wish."
Mo Xun blew out the birthday candles in one breath.
His wish was simple - he hoped that the performance at this New Year's Eve party could be completed smoothly. I also hope that FTM will have more and better songs and stages in the future.
Xu Baichuan took a few photos of them so that they could be posted on Weibo.
Halfway through the meal, Fang Yinnian suddenly came into the kitchen and said, "Let me make you a bowl of noodles."
Mo Xun was curious: "What kind of noodles?"
Fang Yinnian: "I want to eat longevity noodles on my birthday."
The last time Tang Che celebrated his birthday, everyone was eating hotpot outside. The restaurant owner saw that they had a birthday cake, so he gave Tang Che a small bowl of longevity noodles.
This time they were staying in the dormitory, so Fang Yinnian simply cooked by himself.
There was no time to knead the dough, so Fang Yinnian made a bowl of noodles, added a poached egg, cut a tomato and some green vegetables, and added seasonings.
A bowl of light and refreshing longevity noodles is ready.
The moment Fang Yinnian brought it out, everyone at the table started drooling - it smelled so good!
Fu Fei looked envious: "I want to eat it too."
Tan Junwen patted his head and said, "You don't celebrate your birthday today. Yinnian made this specially for the captain. There is no share for you."
Mo Xun took the noodles and couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.
Fang Yinnian made noodles specially for him. None of his teammates had any share, only he could eat it. This "exclusive privilege" made him particularly satisfied.
The poached eggs in the bowl are round, and the vegetables and tomatoes are colorful, which makes people's appetite increase at first sight.
Mo Xun took a photo carefully with his mobile phone.
Then he picked up the chopsticks and started eating without hesitation.
"It's delicious." Mo Xun praised it as he ate, "Don't you have any? Sorry, you can only watch me eat."
“……” His teammates really wanted to beat him.
"Brother Nian, can you make me a bowl of this noodles someday? It looks delicious." Fu Fei said while holding back his saliva.
"No problem, I'll make it for you later." Fang Yinnian smiled helplessly. Why did Mo Xun suddenly become childish today? Eating noodles is so exaggerated, can it be so delicious?
Mo Xun was indeed very happy.
After finishing his meal, he posted a Weibo: "I am so happy today. Thank you to my four brothers and my agent brother for spending an unforgettable birthday with me. Thank you to all the fans for their messages and blessings. I will continue to work hard~"
He posted a nine-grid picture.
There were group photos of teammates, cakes, and gifts, and he also took a photo of the longevity noodles made by Fang Yinnian and posted it online.
There are many fans of Mo Xun on Weibo who drew birthday pictures for him, including various Q-version pictures, cartoons, etc. Mo Xun has saved quite a few of them.
He also ordered this bowl of noodles as a separate collection.
After all, it was made by Fang Yinnian himself, and it was extremely delicious. It was undoubtedly the top-1 birthday and longevity noodles he had eaten since he was a child.
Mo Xun suddenly thought that Fang Yinnian was considerate and caring, and his cooking skills were particularly good. Who knows who will be lucky enough to be with Yinnian in the future?
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