I'm Really a Superstar

The audience gradually filled up the studio.

“Could the people in front walk a little faster?”

“Hey, don’t squeeze.”

“Ah, I saw Zhang Ye!”

“I saw him too! Wow, there’s also Chen Guang!”

“What was with the poem from earlier? Isn’t Zhang Ye busy with the show?”

“Zhang Ye took some time to post it onto Weibo. I could see his phone’s screen from here. In the past, I’d only read Zhang Ye’s poems online. But I could have expected today to be such a good day, being able to see Zhang Ye compose the poem live on the spot. It’s just as the legends described: his poems weren’t prepared ahead of time or composed by others on his behalf. He did it all spontaneously on the spot!”

“That poem was absolutely the best!”

“But I wonder how the show will perform.”

“Aiyo, this stage is really huge!”

“Yeah, the stage is dazzling, it must have been very expensive to setup. Compared to those other talent shows’ stages, they’re basically worlds apart!”

“I could never have imagined the stage to be so big! It’s just a singing talent show, why did they set it up to look like the Spring Festival Gala! Is that even necessary?”

“It’s no wonder this is a production of over 100 million. They really broke the bank for this!”

After the audience had entered and been seated, they began conversing with one another.

From the other side, Ha Qiqi personally led a group of audience members into the studio. The reason why Ha Qiqi had to do this herself was because the members weren’t just any typical audience members. They were the CEO of Brain Gold company and its upper management team, along with some staff of the company. They had communicated earlier with Zhang Ye and expressed their intent to come watch the recording of the first episode of the show. Zhang Ye naturally did not reject and immediately made arrangements for their seating. Actually, the program team’s staff also knew that 100 million for the title sponsorship fee was a large sum for Brain Gold Group and not an amount they could afford to lose. The reason for them coming to see the recording was a pretext for inspection, as they wanted to see for themselves whether they would have the chance of recouping this 100 million yuan expenditure and help advance their company to another level.

After the title sponsors arrived, the program team was under tremendous pressure. If they somehow screwed it up, they really would have no way to answer to the Brain Gold company.

Ha Qiqi politely said, “CEO Wu, please have a seat over here.”

Wu Mo acknowledged her and took his seat.

“I’ll get Director Zhang to come over,” Ha Qiqi said, immediately turning to walk away.

However, Wu Mo stopped her. “There’s no need, just let him work. We can handle ourselves over here. I understand that this is the critical moment right now, so there’s no need to disturb him.”

Ha Qiqi said, “Alright.”

At the door of the staff corridor, Central TV Department 1’s leaders had also arrived.

Jiang Yuan was leading the group, and there were a few other middle-aged men and women beside him. Some were leaders and department heads; all had leadership roles at Central TV Department 1. They had come to the venue for the recording of the program.

Zhang Zuo went to welcome them, “Director Jiang, Director Lu, Chief Li…”

Jiang Yuan waved a hand. “Carry on with what you need to do, don’t worry about us.”

“Then…then alright.” Zhang Zuo hesitated for a second but went back to his job.

Not long after, people from the other program teams in Central TV also silently joined. They had not informed The Voice’s program team that they would be here, so they casually found some seats in the back rows and sat down. They were talking with each other, though nobody knew what they were discussing. Clearly, the first episode’s recording of The Voice was not only in the public eye, even Central TV’s internal staff and program teams’ supervisors were curious, curious how this cult program could make Zhang Ye claim that he would “someday ascend the highest heights”!

They were also considered industry insiders, but this was their first time coming onto the set of The Voice. They could not grasp what the show would be like, as it hadn’t even started yet, but the impact from the stage layout had clearly made an impression on them. This was truly extravagant beyond measure!

The light setup on the left was worth 220,000!

The machine at the right was worth 110,000!

Then, the large display screen behind the stage and it’s control equipment started in the millions!

In the whole of Central TV, other than the Spring Festival Gala venue which would need to use tons of money, there weren’t any other programs that dared to spend as The Voice did. Further, even if they dared to spend that amount of money, they wouldn’t have the budget to do so. Just looking at the stage which was estimated to cost upwards of ten million, those staff members of Central TV all felt that the setup here was far too extravagant! At the same time, they felt very envious! If they could use the equipment and stage over here, how nice would it be!

On stage, Zhang Ye yelled, “All departments, please take note, 5-minute countdown starting now!”

When the audience heard this, they also quieted down very quickly.

Zhang Ye started announcing some routines and procedures to the audience, “Could we trouble everyone to turn off your phones or set them to silent as the recording will begin shortly? Please do not be rowdy or speak loudly. When the contestants are performing and the coaches are speaking, try to maintain silence in the studio. Other than clapping, it would be best not to make any strange sounds, such as whistling or screaming, or else it will affect the recording and we will have to do it over again. As the program will be broadcast tonight, time is of the essence, so let’s make the most of the time we have from the start. I hope everyone will cooperate and understand us. Thank you.”

The audience obliged and turned off their phones or silenced them.

Zhang Ye turned around and held the microphone, saying, “Lighting, could you turn down the intensity of the lights here at Zone 3. It’s flooding to the outside….Please do one last mic check. Good….Are the coaches ready….Good….All departments, get into position. Ready the music….Counting down…3, 2, 1. Action!” When they broadcast the show on television, they would insert a short clip and introduction at the beginning, but for the live recording, they won’t be playing them. It began with the opening theme song!

The recording started!

The music played! 1

When the introduction fluttered out, a lot of the audience closed their eyes. They felt it was very enjoyable, the audio quality was outrageously good. The audio effects didn’t even need a mention, they were so good!

Jiang Yuan gently nodded.

A few of the Central TV staff were also full of praise. This was the highest-end equipment setup in the country and it was truly worth the money. Even though it was a little expensive, you got what you paid for!

The stage darkened and only a few spots of red light were visible as they lit up the different areas of the studio! Suddenly, a ray of white light lit up and swept from above onto the stage. All the other spotlights seemingly responded to its call and focused onto the stage as well, shining onto a figure of a person as the lights followed!

The first person came out—Chen Guang!

Chen Guang was dressed in a flowery suit, and holding a microphone as he slowly walked out. He started singing, “I wanna fly to the sky and walk side beside the Sun. The world waits for me to change it…”

The second coach was revealed immediately!

Before anyone saw her, her singing had drifted into the studio!

“Never been afraid of others seeing my dreams. Here, I can make it happen!” It was Chen Guang’s wife, Fan Wenli. In all the music industry, that light and ethereal voice was unique to her!

Following that, Zhang Xia appeared. Grandma Zhang’s singing tempo was more inclined towards her bel canto style, but somehow carried a lingering charm to it. It was especially nice to listen to and did not seem out of place when used in a pop song. “Laughing loudly, let’s walk side by side. Isn’t happiness everywhere!”

Finally, it was time for the final coach to make her appearance!

The moment she stepped out, the entire audience stood up and cheered, screaming without end!

Zhang Yuanqi had a very natural and poised smile on her face as she stepped onto the stage. “Casting off all worries, I stride forward bravely. Now I am taking center stage!”

The melody suddenly became more energetic!

The four coaches made eye contact with each other and sang together:

“I believe I’m me, I trust in tomorrow. I believe youth has no limits.”

“Whether sunset at the beach or the crowded streets, it’s the prettiest paradise for me.”

I believe in freedom, I believe in hope. I believe I can reach out and touch the sky. With you by my side, life is more exciting, every moment so wonderful, I do believe!

The audience roared with excitement, some of them waving their hands in rhythm, others screaming!

The four coaches vocal characteristics were all different. Zhang Xia’s voice was strong and sincere, Chen Guang had a more booming type of voice, Fan Wenli’s voice sounded light and ethereal, while Zhang Yuanqi’s voice was mature and had a magnetic charm to it. The four unique tones fused together perfectly and made the theme song sound unparalleled!

“I believe in freedom. I believe in hope!”

“I believe I can reach out and touch the sky!”

“With you by my side, life is more exciting, every moment so wonderful!”

“I do believe!”

It was the perfect stage!

It had the perfect audio setup!

They had the perfect singing voices!

Just an opening theme song alone had set the entire studio ablaze!

“It’s too good!”

“It was sung really well! This is my first time listening to a song performed live! It’s really satisfying!”

“The teachers are no doubt worthy of their statuses as talented singers in the music industry, they’re all really good!”

“It’s important that the song is also good! It’s only my first time hearing this song, but it’s already so nice! ‘I wanna fly to the sky and walk beside the Sun’? What level of boldness is this! Only someone like Zhang Ye could write a song like this!”

“This song is surely going to get popular!”

“Right. I don’t know about the show, but this song is awesome! This opening stage effects were really awesome as well!”

“I’m drunk from listening! This is what you f**king call singing!”

Many in the audience were only noticing for the first time that The Voice indeed had some differences with the other singing talent shows. In terms of the lighting and audio effects, it was already superior to others. Moreover, with these four big shot, talented singers, when a comparison was made, this opening stage had already dominated all the other singing talent shows!

The music had not stopped yet; the outro was playing.

Zhang Ye had already walked up on stage, and above him, a hanging microphone was dropped from the ceiling with the microphone head facing down. Zhang Ye grabbed it and in one single motion held it upright and announced, “Let’s give a warm welcome to our four coaches as they get seated! The first coach, Zhang Xia!”

Applause thundered!

With the music still playing in the background, Zhang Xia smiled and waved to everyone before walking over to her coach chair.

Zhang Ye announced, “The next coach, Chen Guang!”

Chen Guang was giving a thumbs up on both his hands as he trotted over to his chair.

“Let’s welcome our third coach, Fan Wenli!” Zhang Ye said in a very high-pitched voice. Hosting was a job that required a person to adapt to certain ways and styles to suit the different time and mood of an audience.

Fan Wenli was not so flamboyant and just quietly walked to her chair with a smile on her face.

Zhang Ye said, “And please welcome our final coach, Zhang Yuanqi!”

Old Zhang’s popularity had really gone through the roof. When she was introduced, the already loud applause from the audience raised another notch and the decibel level increased several times more. There were even screams from the audience!

Relaxed, Zhang Yuanqi smiled as she walked and blew some kisses their way. In front of others, Old Zhang looked much more approachable.

1. I Believe – Roger Yang