I'm Really a Superstar

In the morning.

At the venue of I Am a Singer.

After the 1,000 audience members were admitted into the studio, they got so excited that they couldn't stay seated.

"What time does it start?"

"I heard that there won't be a professional host for this?"

"Zhang Ye's not hosting?"

"It seems like he won't participate in the competition nor host the show."

"Really? Then what'll he be doing?"

"I think he's just the executive director. Who knows what he's thinking?"

"This is his show, so he'll figure out a way to appear onscreen. Just wait and see. I know this guy too well. He'll definitely have given himself a good role."

"What about the judging panel?"

"It doesn't seem like there's one either."

"Huh? Are they going to base it off our voting?"

"That's right. I think it's because they didn't want a judging panel to sway the audience's decision, so they decided to do away with it."

"No host, no judging panel, no interactions, just seven singers competing onstage? The professionalism and authenticity of this show are clearly much greater. It'll also be a stern test of the singers' skills. However good they are, it'll be shown as is. Everything is going to be as real as it gets without any sensationalism mixed in!"

"That's what will make it exciting!"

"I'm just worried that there won't be any good singers participating."

"Yep, that's what I'm worried about too."

"At least they could wear a mask on King of Masked Singers. Even if they lost, they could still choose not to reveal their identities. But there's no such thing on I Am a Singer, so will the big names really join? If you win? That would be expected! But if you lose? Then that would be too embarrassing. They might even suffer a drop in their popularity as a result. The risks are huge, so who would willingly come and participate? Even the appearance fees shouldn't be able to move them too easily, right? But then again, if the singers who join the show are only newcomers or little-known singers, it would be too boring. In that case, I'd rather watch Sing!"

"Yeah."

"Let's see how it goes."

Who would show up?

Which singers would be participating?

The audience was completely clueless and couldn't help but whisper among themselves.

All of a sudden, the lights dimmed.

The audience was startled for a moment before breaking into a round of enthusiastic applause.

Counting down to the start of recording.

Three.

Two.

One.

The entire studio fell quiet.

Everyone stuck their necks out in the direction of the moon gate at the back of the stage.

Meanwhile, the other singers and the team of host-managers led by Dong Shanshan were also watching this via the televisions in their rooms.

A female host of Beijing Television asked, "Who'll be the first singer?"

A young male host said, "I don't know, who's come?"

Some of them looked at Dong Shanshan. "Shanshan?"

Dong Shanshan shrugged. "Don't look at me, I don't know a thing either."

They really didn't know anything. As the host-managers to the singers, they did not take part in the pre-production of the show. There were also cameras pointed at them inside the room as there would be a segment later where they would fight to "sign" the participants. They really had a big role to play in this show. This footage would be included later by Zhang Ye in the final broadcast cut.

In Room #3.

Zhang Xia was sucking on a throat lozenge.

The staff members were doing her makeup.

In Room #4.

Xue Kaiqi said to herself, "Who could they be? Why can't I see anyone yet?"

In Room #5.

Chen Guang was watching in curiosity with wide eyes.

In Room #7.

Zhao Wuliu sat down like an old hand and hummed with crossed legs. "The first person to make an appearance will have tons of stress. I wish them luck."

Every participating singer was extremely concerned with who their fellow competitors were.

Of course, the live studio audience felt this way as well. Some of them stood up impatiently, wishing they had binoculars to see what was happening onstage.

Suddenly, the lights shined!

A figure appeared in the moon gate.

"Someone's coming out!"

"Who is it? Who?"

"Dammit, I can't see anything!"

"The backlight's too strong!"

"It looks like a woman?"

"It's a female singer?"

"She seems a little petite!"

"She's stepping out!"

"She came out!"

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

When she walked out into the light, the crowd screamed!

"Ah!"

"My God!"

"It's Xiaodong!"

"It's Sister Dong!"

"Ahhh! My Sister Dong!"

Applause thundered!

The audience was exhilarated to see her and found it a little unbelievable that she was here at all. They thought there wouldn't be any big names participating in this show and that those who joined would all be newcomers. But who could have expected that the first singer to make an appearance onstage would turn out to be an Asian star? She was the leader of the Asian idol girl group, Spring Garden's Xiaodong!

Backstage.

Zhang Xia was taken aback. "Xiaodong?"

Amy already knew that Xiaodong was participating, but she didn't know that she would be appearing first!

Chen Guang was eagerly rubbing his hands. "This is going to be interesting."

Xue Kaiqi said in surprise, "Xiaodong is here too?"

He Huan said, "It's her?"

Zhao Wuliu's eyes narrowed.

The host-managers' room blew up!

A female host shrieked, "I'm a fan of Sister Dong!"

A male host said, "Oh, they've really upped the ante!"

"Xiaodong has actually joined the show! How can that be!" another female host said in disbelief.

"She's so successful, why would she come and join this competition?"

"I want to become Xiaodong's manager!"

"Get lost! Sister Dong is mine!"

"Hahaha, let's see who ends up being able to sign her!"

"The rules mentioned that if the singer gets eliminated, their managers will get eliminated along with them. Xiaodong is for sure a safe choice! Anyone else might get eliminated, but she'll surely be able to stay on!"

The host-managers were starting to get their own ideas.

Onstage, Xiaodong bowed slightly to the audience before turning to the music director, Bai Yuanfei, and giving him a nod to signal that she was ready. Then she took a deep breath.

The music played.

The more attentive audience members were surprised. They realized the audio setup of I Am a Singer seemed even better than the King of Masked Singers' setup. What was going on? Did they upgrade the equipment again?

Unbeknownst to them, Zhang Ye had to withstand a lot of pressure as he negotiated with the upper management of Beijing Television for a very long time before they finally approved of his extremely high budget equipment for the show. The audio setup and other related equipment used on King of Masked Singers were the highest-end equipment available to the industry at the time. But Zhang Ye had sought to get all of them upgraded again. Even when compared to other countries' music shows, the equipment used here was definitely the very best there was. In this area, Zhang Ye had spared no expense. The extra funds in the production budget they had compared to Sing! were all spent on this! It was obvious from this just how persistent and determined Zhang Ye was in his work. He would either not do it, or do it to the very best by producing the most professional show in the industry!

It was a familiar melody.

Eh?

This song?

It was "Woman Flower"!

The audience was very surprised to hear it. A lot of people had never heard Xiaodong perform solo before, much less cover a song!

All eyes in the studio fell on her. Then, Xiaodong closed her eyes, perhaps to steady her nerves or something. Thereafter, she kept her eyes closed for the entire time.

The melody played on.

Xiaodong raised her microphone.

"I have a flower.

"It grows within my heart.

"A bud waiting to bloom for the longest time.

"Every moment,

"waiting for a sincere person

"to come to me in my sleep."

Just a few lines were enough to enchant everyone in the studio!

Chen Guang praised, "That was great!"

He Huan sighed, "You'd know that she's a great singer the moment she opens her mouth."

Xue Kaiqi was getting even more nervous now. "She sang with such heart."

But the greatest reactions came from the live audience. The impression they had of Spring Garden was that they were an idol group. They felt that their success was only due to their pretty faces and the youthful songs they sang as a group! Singing skills? Talent? Nobody had ever paid that much attention to them until several months ago when one of their members, Li Xiaoxian, had donned the mask of Sunset Glow to take part in King of Masked Singers and shocked everyone with her singing. It was then that the audience first realized that the group wasn't only about looks. Even when performing alone, they could still sing great. Xiaodong's singing today had proven that once again. A lot of people were mesmerized as they listened. They had never seen Xiaodong perform like this before. With her singing skill, perhaps even Li Xiaoxian would sound average next to her?

It was no wonder that Xiaodong was the leader of their group!

"Woman Flower, swaying in the red dust.

"Woman Flower, wavering softly in the wind.

"Only hoping for a pair of gentle hands.

"To sooth the solitude in my heart."

Woman Flower.

That's right.

This song reminded them of something they did not wish to remember. Everyone always had a misconception whenever they saw how youthful Xiaodong looked. Xiaodong hadn't changed much all this time, and Spring Garden was still that youthful and energetic Spring Garden they had always known. But the fact was that Xiaodong had debuted many years ago. This woman who had been skipping and dancing around on stage for the past ten years had been through a lot. She was no longer that young. In terms of seniority, Xiaodong might even have entered the industry earlier than Fan Wenli and Chen Guang.

The music ended.

The audience stood up and clapped!

Sighs!

Laments!

Reminiscence!

Enjoyment!

All kinds of emotions were stirred!

"Xiaodong!"

"Xiaodong!"

"Xiaodong!"

Countless people were shouting her name!

Xiaodong finally opened her eyes and bowed once more to the audience. "Phew, thank you."

The applause went on for a very long time.

Chen Guang was clapping from backstage as well.

Zhang Xia and Zhao Wuliu couldn't help but applaud her too!

But to everyone's surprise, Xiaodong did not leave the stage after her song. She looked into the audience and said, "Hello, everyone. I am a singer—and my name is Xiaodong."

Applause rang out again!

There was even whistling!

Then Xiaodong flicked her hand and made a stack of cards appear out of nowhere. When she saw the confused looks on many of the audience members' faces, she smiled and said, "At the same time, I'm also the part-time host for the first season of I Am a Singer. For here on out in the competition, I'll be taking over as the host. Please treat me kindly."

"Wow!"

"Xiaodong will be hosting?"

"Hahahaha!"

"That's really new!"

"Beautifully played! I've had enough of watching Zhang Ye host!"

The audience responded enthusiastically!

He Huan said, "So that's how it is!"

Chen Guang laughed, "Haha."

Xiaodong's first cue card was already clenched in her hand. She looked down at it and read aloud, "First off, we'd like to thank the leading brand of health supplements, the Brain Gold Company, for being the title sponsors of our show. Thank you to Hubei Pharmaceuticals…"

A bunch of advertising messages were recited amateurishly. She even stuttered as she read her lines. But the audience was highly receptive as they laughed along endlessly. This was how tolerant the audience was of an amateur. If it were Zhang Ye standing onstage, if he even breathed while reciting the advertising messages, the audience would have scolded him for sure, let alone stuttering. This was because Zhang Ye was a professional host while Xiaodong wasn't. She was only standing in for the role as a guest, so no one really thought much of her mistakes. In fact, they found this to be really fun.

"Phew, I've finally completed that task," Xiaodong said.

The audience laughed, "Hahahaha."

Xiaodong smiled and said, "You guys don't know how nervous I just was. I debuted so many years ago and have been singing for so long, but I've never felt the way I felt today. Because this isn't your usual show, nor is it a concert, and it's definitely not a karaoke box. This is the battleground we'll fight our peers. The singers will compete to get ranked over two weeks of competition, and the last place singer will be replaced by another singer. Frankly, that just means that they'll be eliminated from the show! As for who decides whether we stay or go, it'll be none other than you, the 1,000 lovely audience members we have in the studio. Each of your votes will decide whether the singers will stay on the show or leave. So please be very, very, very careful about who you vote for."

Elimination?

Yes, it was that cruel!

They were all singers, so who could afford to lose?

Xiaodong seemed to sense the audience's doubts, so she said, "Some of you might ask me, why did you come to take part in the show if that's what the rules are? Isn't this as good as digging a hole for yourself to fall into?"

Right!

Why did you come?

The audience was very curious.

Xiaodong nodded. "Then I'll reveal the reason to you guys right now. I agreed to come on the show because Zhang Ye called me one day." She imitated Zhang Ye's voice. "He said, 'Come quickly, I have a good show that I want you to take part in.' But I told him, 'I don't want to go, I'm not confident about taking part in such competitions.' Then he said to me, 'It'll be fine, the other singers are not your equal. Their popularity and singing skills are not as good as yours. If you join, you'll definitely dominate the stage.' When I heard that, I immediately agreed, 'I'll join! I'll join your show!'"

Everyone was laughing away.

Xiaodong waved the cards in her hands and went on, "Then, around half an hour ago, when I received the list of singers and looked through it, I wanted to say this to Director Zhang—" Xiaodong roared, "Director Zhang! Show yourself! How did I fall for your nonsense!"

Chen Guang chuckled, "Pfft!"

Zhang Xia belly laughed!

Zhang Ye, who was coordinating the recording in the wings, let out a hollow laugh just as the cameras swiveled to him.

The audience erupted with laughter!

"Hahahaha!"

"Xiaodong was scammed!"

"Aiyo, I'm dying of laughter!"

"Zhang Ye is such a trickster!"

"Sister Dong! How could you believe Zhang Ye's words in the first place?"

"Hahahahaha!"

But at the same time, everyone was insanely curious!

If Xiaodong was the first singer, who would appear after her? What kinds of people were the other six singers? Who could they be to cause Xiaodong to get so "flustered" and "scold" Director Zhang for it?