Chinese entertainment, from radio love songs to superstars

Chapter 129, I Like It Fast [5 more subscriptions]

December 2002, 1.

With the arrival of New Year's Day, the city is filled with a strong festive atmosphere.

Every time this time comes, it’s time for celebrities to come out.

Because the festivals that people are keen on, such as Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Day, and Valentine's Day, have become their "money-grabbing festivals."

However, many people complained: "Why can we only see those second- and third-tier artists? How come big names like Cheng Long, Liu Dehua, and Wang Jingfei have never been seen in commercial performances?"

The New Year is indeed the best time for the commercial performance market.

But even so, it is still difficult to find first-line artists in the commercial performance market across the country.

On the one hand, they disdain to make money from commercial performances.

But then again, the high prices have become a stumbling block for them to work in nightclubs.

Currently, the highest price for commercial performances is Jacky Cheung, who cannot be hired for less than 300 million. The next highest price is the Four Heavenly Kings and Queen Wang Jingfei, who will cost more than 100 million to sing three songs.

Which shopping mall can earn millions a day for sure? So hiring these first-line artists is simply "suicide".

Compared with the sluggish market for first-tier artists, the market for second- and third-tier actors has been on the rise, with Xin Xiaoqi, Jin Haixin, Tai Zhengxiao and others performing constantly.

They make between 5 and 10 per show, which is a win-win situation. Businesses need stars, and stars are happy to make money. Besides, marginal stars like these don't have many opportunities to make money, so it's still good for them to perform for a while.

And Shen Lang, once a wedding singer and commercial performer, has also disappeared.

His appearance fee is over a million, and there are many people willing to pay this money to invite him.

However, he is not so short of money now, and he doesn't have the time.

After finishing work in the afternoon on New Year's Day, Shen Lang rushed to the CCTV building to attend CCTV's New Year's Day Gala.

By the time it was over, it was already early morning.

Forget commercial performances, there isn't even time for a festive dinner.

And today, Shen Lang gave Lao Ma 800 million US dollars for the second and third phase investments in one go.

Just last December, Jack Ma and a group of Alibaba executives stood together in a shabby office with no heating, wearing down jackets and tight scarves around their necks, stamping their feet and breathing out air to keep warm.

They stood at this station for 7 or 8 hours. With their knuckles red from the cold, this group of people with iron wills completed a brainstorming session that would determine the fate of the company.

In August last year, Alibaba launched the "Membership Service Provider" service for international sellers, and the funding shortage was alleviated.

It is expected that in March this year, the Huaxia Station "Integrity Pass" service and the "Keyword" service will be launched for sellers and buyers engaged in domestic trade in Huaxia, with the goal of achieving a balance between income and expenditure and getting out of the crisis.

Today is cruel, tomorrow is even crueler, and the day after tomorrow is beautiful, but most people will die tomorrow night, and only those who persevere can see the sun the day after tomorrow.

Shen Lang's 1200 million US dollars did solve Lao Ma's urgent problem.

"It's time to eat." Gao Yuanyuan prepared midnight snacks in the villa and waited for Shen Lang to come back.

"Such a rich meal, did you buy the vegetables this afternoon?" Shen Lang's mouths watered as he looked at the delicious dishes on the table.

Gao Yuanyuan learned how to cook a lot of dishes for him.

But her only problem was that she had rarely been to the vegetable market, was not familiar with it and did not know how to buy things. The dishes she made today were all brought from home.

I told my mother in advance yesterday and asked her to help buy some vegetables.

"Your cooking skills are getting better and better. When we retire, we'll open a restaurant." Shen Lang said with a smile.

"Okay." Gao Yuanyuan agreed without thinking. She was a love-brained person and had already regarded Shen Lang as her true love. She was happy to do anything together.

After dinner, it was getting late, so I washed up and went to bed because I had to get up at five o'clock tomorrow to go to the crew.

It snowed in Yanjing for a while, so we couldn’t shoot outdoor scenes, so we had to switch to shooting indoor scenes.

Fortunately, the filming locations are all here, so there is no delay. The progress of "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" is quite fast.

Lai Shuiqing is a Hong Kong director who follows their assembly line model, which is very efficient.

It is expected that all filming will be completed around the Spring Festival.

More than three months, one month faster than expected.

Shen Lang likes it this way.

It’s not that Wang Jiawei is bad.

The saying "slow work produces fine results" is most appropriate for him.

It often takes several years or even more than ten years for a movie to go from conception to release.

For example, the idea for "The Grandmaster" began in 1996, preparations began in 2001, but it was not released until 2013.

For Wang Jiawei, if he feels something is not right and the timing is not right, he will definitely not start the filming.

After more than 30 years in the industry, he has produced only a handful of works.

However, as long as it is produced by him, it must be a masterpiece.

It's okay to invest, but it's definitely not okay for Shen Lang to act by himself, because he has a lot of things to do and can't wait.

As they stayed in the crew for a longer time, the actors became closer and often joked with each other.

Shen Lang is always at the center, and everyone, young or old, male or female, will lean towards him.

Maybe this is part of his temperament.

"What do you think of Zi Han?" During lunch time that day, Shen Lang started chatting with Gao Yuanyuan.

"She is beautiful yet sexy, sexy yet intellectual, intellectual yet straightforward. She's also a chatterbox and likes to talk non-stop. The atmosphere will never be dull with her around. By the way, why are you asking this?" Gao Yuanyuan stared into his eyes.

"I was thinking of signing her into the company, so I asked the boss's opinion." Shen Lang said with a smile.

"She is a good actor who can endure hardships." Gao Yuanyuan gave her own evaluation, and did not overstep her boundaries to decide whether the company would sign anyone just because Shen Lang said that she was the boss's wife.

Chen Zihan is from Yuqing, and is half a fellow villager of Shen Lang.

A typical hot girl, she graduated from the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy. Her classmates included Jiang Qinqin and Jin Qiaoqiao, who were known as the "Three Flowers of Beijing Film Academy" at the time.

Although she has played many roles, she has not yet become famous overnight with a TV series like her classmates Jiang Qinqin and Jin Qiaoqiao. Some people even mocked her as the "eternal second female lead."

To be fair, her acting skills are acceptable, but there are no resources to find her. Who doesn't want a better career?
Shen Lang was attracted by Chen Zihan's perennial role as the second female lead.

Julang Film and Television will have no shortage of resources in the future.

Gao Yuanyuan is basically the female lead, so the second female lead should also be kept within the family.

It's just right to sign her.

"Find an opportunity to talk to her and test her attitude. If she is interested, I will talk to her again." Shen Lang handed the task to Gao Yuanyuan.

"Well, since neither she nor I have any scenes tomorrow, I'll ask her out to go shopping." Gao Yuanyuan already had a plan.

The next day, Shen Lang was nowhere to be seen in the afternoon.

He went to the Hong Kong Hung Hom Stadium to attend the "2001 Jade Solid Gold Awards Ceremony".

He had to go, as he was nominated for more than a dozen awards for his Cantonese album "Same Time, Next Year".

Don’t take it all, just take half or one third. If you are not present, you will lose points in impression.

The influence and popularity that we have just established in the Hong Kong music scene cannot be squandered just like that.

(End of this chapter)