Entertainment 2000: Supporting female stars will bring you a hundredfold return

Chapter 304 The Battle of the Gods in the Music Industry: Huang Bo and Phoenix Ascend to Heaven

Newspapers and magazines didn't have time to speak out for Tang Wen.

Renren.com and several other major websites have launched their own headlines.

Tang Wen sweeps the Grammys! A Chinese singer becomes the first to win both Best New Artist and Best Rock Song awards, making history in Chinese music!

Breakthrough! Tang Wen's "Nature" Conquers the Grammys, Rock Shakes the World!

A Chinese face appears at the Grammys! Tang Wencheng becomes the first Chinese singer to win both the Best New Artist and Rock awards.

Fans left numerous comments on Tang Wen's Renren.com page:

"Director Tang is amazing!"

"Three songs, two Grammys, that's a record even in the US, right?"

"Of course! That's why they say Tang Wen brought glory to the country."

"Haha, speaking of bringing glory to the country, that foreign beauty sitting next to Tang Wen is quite the 'light source' (i.e., very attractive)."

"I saw it too; it might be their racial talent."

"..."

The conversation veered off course.

Fortunately, the internet is a rapidly developing and unregulated new phenomenon these days.

The country and society have shown great tolerance towards this.

Don't even mention the posts being a bit risqué; back in 2003, some unknown editor even managed to publish something like "The Letter of Lost Love"—a love diary—online.

This move caused a huge uproar, and besides being criticized, she also became famous.

Well, Renren.com has already contacted her and is preparing to open a personal homepage on the site.

When spring arrives and flowers bloom, it's mating season for the animals.

We're about to launch her diary online.

Currently, no one knows that Renren.com has prepared this kind of "perk".

They're still discussing music and songs.

In fact, the domestic music scene was already bustling with activity at the beginning of 2003.

Starting from these two years, when later generations review popular music, they always add the phrase "the war of the gods" to start the story.

If we include Hong Kong pop music, the golden age of Chinese pop music actually began much earlier.

The decade following 03 can only be described as the final period of glory.

Even Tang Wen's "divine expertise" could not gain the upper hand.

In January of this year, the famous Taiwanese girl group S.H.E. released a single titled "Superstar," which kicked off a fierce competition among top artists.

The influence of the song "Superstar" needs no further explanation.

Those born in the 80s and 90s rarely haven't heard of it.

In the same month, Xu Xinhui also released an album, but unfortunately, the title track "July 7th Sunny Day" was copied by Tang Wen in advance and sung by Zhang Liangying.

This made her album look less impressive.

Otherwise, he could rival She.

Sun Yanzi, a relatively unknown pop diva, released her second album in February, and the song "I'm Not Sad" quickly became a hit.

The two sides began vying for control of the music charts.

"Superstar" has temporarily topped the new song chart with its more dynamic music.

Before SHE's fans could even enjoy their triumph for a few days...

The Spring Festival Gala is here.

Tang Wen's plays "Red-Clad Actress" and "The New Drunken Concubine" were broadcast on the Spring Festival Gala and became popular all over the country.

They stormed to the top!

Then, he released an album.

"The Glory of Tang Dynasty" makes its debut with "celestial beauty".

Sweeping across all the major charts.

Then, things got interesting.

Facing Tang Wen's collection of classic masterpieces including "Seven Mile Fragrance", "Hair Like Snow", "A Thousand Years Later", "Elopement", and "The New Drunken Concubine".

Musicians in the industry, however, were not thinking about avoiding his sharp edge.

Also in February, Shui Mu Nian Hua made their move with a campus hit song, "In a Foreign Land," which quickly climbed the charts.

It once squeezed out many of Tang Wen's songs and broke into the top ten of various charts!

Joey Yung and Fish Leong also released new albums in February.

Each category has its own outstanding songs on the list.

Next, Cai Yilin began promoting her album "Watch Me Change 72 Times" on the charts.

Her album already had its classic song "Say I Love You" given to Wang Xinling by Tang Wen, but the album as a whole is still great. It also features two other classic tracks: "Prague Square" and "Watch Me Change 72 Times."

In addition, according to Warner Music in China, the young singers from various companies are not trying to avoid Tang Wen and are preparing their albums in a step-by-step manner.

Next up are Yu Quan, Chen Yixun, Twins, Angela Chang, Shin Band...

Even someone as strong as Tang Wen could only say one thing: "We can't finish them all. We can't finish them even if we fight ten at a time. We simply can't finish them all..."

No wonder that 20 years from now, those born in the 80s and 90s will say:
"It's no exaggeration to say that I listen to these songs selectively."

"Today's Gen Z kids have no idea how hard singers had to work back then to get their music on our MP3 players."

Besides the aforementioned individuals, these are classics.

There were also online songs that Tang Wen had prepared in advance.

After February, the first season of "Avenue of Stars" concluded as scheduled.

Three people became famous overnight.

One was ugly in a very distinctive way.

The other two are a man and a woman, and they are a couple.

They are Huang Bo and Phoenix Legend.

The annual champion is Phoenix Legend.

Thanks to Tang Wen's clever maneuvering... he wrote six songs in advance for the two of them, including "Above the Moon", "I Have a Date with the Grassland", "Flying Freely" and "Waiting for Love's Rose".

The two defeated Huang Bo and won the championship.

To be fair, Huang Bo will lose mainly because his musical talent is inferior to the other two.

It's not that the songs Tang Wen gave him were bad.

At the end of the "Avenue of Stars" program, Phoenix Legend, who won the championship, tearfully expressed their gratitude to Tang Wen:

"We are extremely grateful to our benefactor, Director Tang Wen!"

Suzuka: "The song he tailored for us is so perfectly fitting!"

Zeng Yi: "Yes, it's practically our dream love song."

The runner-up was naturally Huang Bo.

"Xiao Wei", "Lilac Flower", "Mice Love Rice"

Ten Thousand Reasons, That Night, Two Butterflies

Although the six songs were slightly inferior in the competition, they missed out on the championship.

But online, among young people who listen to music, these six songs are even more popular than the six songs by Phoenix Legend!
It has even threatened Tang Wen's position on the list.

In his acceptance speech, Huang Bo also expressed his deep gratitude to Tang Wen:

"I've worked as an extra, run a factory, and formed a band. I'm getting old and have accomplished nothing. I even started to doubt myself... until I met Mr. Tang."

President Tang is undoubtedly a genius!

Moreover, there's a saying that's popular in the music industry and everyone agrees on it.

Tang Wen can write songs that others dream of!

Thank you, Mr. Tang!

After this segment aired, it was good that Zhou Jielun, Xie Tingfeng, Zheng Jun, Pu Shu, and others who knew Tang Wen also benefited.

Wang Lihong, Lin Junjie, Zhou Chuanxiong... whom he had never met before... so be it.

They all nodded in agreement.

They believe Tang Wen is truly talented, able to write the songs of his dreams!
The third place winner of "Avenue of Stars" is A Bao, who sings folk songs.

He should have been the champion in the first edition.

Now we have to settle for third place.

Renren.com quickly created personal homepages for Huang Bo and Phoenix Legend.

The fans they had accumulated from many matches quickly rallied.

Some of Phoenix Legend's fans are being secretive, seemingly unwilling to admit that they like listening to their songs.

Huang Bo's fans are extremely active.

Guided by Renren.com, they left comments and discussed in the comments section:

"Tang Wen has dominated the music charts for too long. If Tang Wen can make it, why can't Huang Bo?"

"Rebel against the Heavenly Gang! Huang Bo's songs were all written by Tang Wen, but I really like your idea!"

"..."

Warner Music also fueled the fire behind the scenes.

Huang Bo's two representative works are "Mice Love Rice" and "Ten Thousand Reasons".

With unstoppable momentum, it began its ascent to the top of the charts.

They broke into the top five in one fell swoop.

Second only to Tang Wen's Seven Mile Fragrance, Hair Like Snow, and A Thousand Years Later.

Huang Bo and Phoenix Legend, who have become popular, are inundated with offers for commercial performances.

Seeing them become famous, the Blue Star Artists Department was so moved they almost cried.

Finally, there are artists we can "exploit"!

Look at the company's other famous artists: Dong Xuan, Li Xiaoran, Wang Zuxian, Liu Yifei. The artist department has to be very careful when speaking to them. The decision to participate in events and accept commercial endorsements rests entirely with them.

Well, it's a bit inappropriate to put the young Liu Yifei here.

But she kept calling Tang Wen "brother".

Her schedule is only available to Tang Wen; no one else, including her mother, has the final say.

Zhang Liangying and Wang Xinling are a bit further away from Tang Wen.

But the two girls come from ordinary, even somewhat impoverished, families.

Without any company supervision, the two studied vocal music very diligently and performed commercially everywhere.

The artist management department shouldn't over-exploit them in pursuit of performance targets, right?
Now things are great; Huang Bo and Phoenix Legend have become incredibly popular.

You're all not young anymore, hurry up and make money for the company!

The more you earn, the more you get!
All three were people who had wandered the world and suffered setbacks in their encounters with society.

Naturally, they know how to cherish this hard-won opportunity.

When it comes to commercial performances, his energy is no less than that of Fan Xiaopang.

The success of the three made Tang Wen and Blue Star Entertainment even more renowned.

This ability to create stars is simply outrageous.

Huang Bo, a non-professional, oddly-looking, mediocre singer with no background and seemingly no distinguishing features, was able to become famous.

Is there anyone Tang Wen can't promote?

It's worth noting that before Huang Bo, there was also Wang Baoqiang.

I heard he's already landed the lead role.

In fact, Huang Bo, Phoenix Legend, and the other two had been wandering around in the entertainment industry for many years before they became famous.

Those at the bottom of the industry know very well what kind of situation it is.

Linghua's family were ordinary herders. In 99, they sold three sheep to raise enough money for her to go to Shenzhen to pursue her dreams.

Zeng Yi comes from southern Hunan. During the day, he works in an electronics factory fixing screws, and at night he carries a wooden guitar to perform in bars, earning 30 yuan per performance.

There's not work every day, but I can earn about 600 yuan a month.

After forming the "Cool Fire Duo," the two lived in a cramped urban village.

Everyone knows that there are many wealthy people in Shenzhen, which has led to a concentration of singers from the lower classes in the city.

For those of them who are not yet famous, the competition is particularly fierce.

Since they are a duo, their performance fees need to be split equally.

Often, the money I earn in a month isn't enough to make ends meet, so I have to do other jobs.

Now, he's on "Avenue of Stars," a show planned by Tang Wen, thanks to the songs he wrote.

He became the national champion in one fell swoop, and his asking price for commercial performances has reached 10 yuan per show!

The difference between this treatment and the previous one is like night and day.

Of course, after signing with Blue Star, they were already living the life of white-collar workers, or even gold-collar workers, in Beijing.

Huang Bo's experience was similar to theirs.

They formed the band "Blue Ban," oh no, it's "Blue Sandstorm."

The band consists of several people who sing and dance, but sometimes they only earn 50 yuan per performance.

Fortunately, he has a childhood sweetheart girlfriend, Xiao Ou.

They scrimped and saved to support his pursuit of dreams and encouraged him during his most confused times.

Huang Bo is also very hardworking outside. As a native of Dongshan, he can drink a lot.

In an attempt to secure minor roles, he drank himself into alcohol poisoning twice and had to go to the hospital for stomach pumping.

Later, he was admitted to the Broadcasting Department of Beijing Film Academy.

Tuition is 10,000 yuan per year.

Xiao Ou lived frugally, sending him 6000 yuan every year...

If it weren't for meeting Tang Wen...

Huang Bo will have to endure a few more years of living in a basement, eating pickled vegetables and steamed buns.

Now, his performance fee has reached 8.

These songs are just starting to become popular. Once "Mice Love Rice" becomes even more popular, the price will be higher.

Meanwhile, several of his songs are also major contributors to ringtone revenue.

When Tang Wen was in Jiangnan, he met with the heads of several local telecommunications companies.

I briefly mentioned the "ringtone" thing to them.

They are holding a meeting to discuss the possibility that, if all goes well, the pilot program for ringback tones will begin earlier than in the original timeline.

Moreover, the pilot program will be launched starting in Yuhang City.

The partners are naturally Tang Wen and Blue Star Entertainment.

Tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions, of yuan in annual revenue from ringback tones are beckoning to Tang Wen.

Despite the potential boom in ringback tones in the next few years, singers and songwriters may not necessarily receive a share of the revenue.

However, Tang Wen wasn't worried about that, unless the CEOs of several telecommunications companies in Jiangnan collectively went insane.

Otherwise, they would never have deducted his money.

Grammy news.

Different people focus on different things.

In Fan Bingbing, Li Xiaoran, and their three friends' QQ group, they were studying Scarlett O'Hara and Avril Lavigne.

"Hollywood has countless women with him!" Fan Bingbing was extremely annoyed and picked up the phone to complain about Tang Wen.

But she held back.

Leaving an impression of being a tattletale is not good.

The two older sisters are young people too, they will definitely read Tang Wen's news.

Once they see the photo, they'll naturally scold him... right?

Tang Wei also sarcastically remarked, "There's a Lin Chih-ling over there, but she seems utterly useless. Hey, Mr. Fan, why don't you call her and give her a piece of your mind, tell her she can't control people, and she should come back here as a star to make money."

"You and her have a conflict?" Fan Bingbing discovered the key point.

"You'll go to America sooner or later, and you're bound to have conflicts with her."

"Hehe, go ahead and scold me, show me your great director Tang's authority." Fan Bingbing wasn't fooled.

Li Xiaoran remained silent; she had known all along that Tang Wen had a woman over there.

But is this foreign girl named Scarlett really that big?
Li Dabai was a master in this area.

They completely ignored Avril Lavigne, that punk girl, and stared at the photos of the exceptionally talented Scarlett Johansson for a while.

Wang Zuxian was in Hong Kong at the time, checking emails on her computer, and casually searched for information about two American actresses.

Judging from their ages: one is 19 and the other is 17.

His lips twitched, and he closed his eyes helplessly.

When she opened her eyes again, the little penguin in the lower right corner of the computer screen was flashing wildly.

Upon opening the message, I saw that Fan Bingbing and Tang Wei were tearing each other apart.

We also need to get her to judge the matter.

After thinking for a long time, she racked her brains and came up with a comforting reason:

"Okay, you're arguing over a photo that's been used for publicity?"

Do you have any self-control at all?
Besides, even if it were true, so what?
Western women age quickly; before they even turn 30, they're unattractive without heavy makeup. What are you afraid of?

The two women thought it made sense and praised Sister Zuxian for her extensive knowledge and experience.

Wang Zuxian looked at the text she had sent, but it felt so unfamiliar.

Ah, is this what I said?

Oh dear, wasn't I deceiving them?
Western women age quickly, but there will always be young people.

She looked up and saw the Buddha statue in her home, silently uttered a prayer, and made a silent wish:

Once this busy period is over, I must go up the mountain to worship Buddha.

I hope Buddha will forgive my sins...

In New York, Tang Wen got into the car with the two women.

The atmosphere started to feel off.

There were outsiders present just now, and they were all famous female singers.

Scarlett was under a lot of pressure, which is why she was able to get along peacefully with Avril and stand together against external threats.

We're now in the car.

Then there's no need to unite anymore.

"Where do you live? We'll take you home first."

Avril raised an eyebrow. These young European and American girls, who debuted in their teens, are no pushovers.

One sentence was enough to tell that Scarlett wanted to get rid of him.

He immediately sneered, "It's still early. I've come out with you so early, let's go have a drink."

Are you kidding me? Trying to eat it all by yourself?

Tang Wen actually wanted her to leave, after all, Scarlett was practically his toy tonight.

However, it's not good to use someone and then dump them.

Besides, Avril Lavigne is a future superstar.

He patted Scarlett's side hip discreetly, gave her a look, and agreed, "Let's go get a drink."

Scarlett raised her eyebrows and stared at Tang Wen, thinking he was up to something.

She had seen quite a few of Tang Wen's scandals.

French Rose, Charlize Theron, Naomi Watts...

Scarlett gritted her teeth inwardly. If Tang Wen tried anything today, she would make him pay!
(End of this chapter)