Huayu: Starting from the top talent show

Chapter 333: Tear Down That Pride, Praise My True Name

After completing the first round of performances at this year's Coachella, Shen Juan's album promotion and singles schedule officially began.

After returning to Los Angeles, I first used the daytime to complete the recording of the very familiar "Corden Carpool Show".

In the car, he sang with host James Corden some of the hit songs that have performed particularly well since the album was released.

For example, "Levitating", "Circles", "Mood", "Adore You", "Ghost" and the early release of Blind Light.

We also talked about the creative process and revealed a little bit about the plans for the Leviathan World Tour:
Simply put, it is divided into the first and second halves.

上半场19年7月到20年1月覆盖全球，下半场20年3月到7月同样覆盖全球。

Although Shen Juan knew that the second half would most likely not start because of the 20-year friendship that had erupted and spread across the world.

But it’s still the same sentence:
He must show his attitude! Let fans around the world see his sincerity and know that he really wants to meet everyone!

As for whether he met him or not, that is another matter. After all, force majeure is not something he can control.

After recording the show, Shen Juan took Corden to eat a hot pot meal whose taste had been improved after traveling across the ocean to North America.

At Corden's suggestion, this segment was also recorded and will probably be broadcast online as a special later.

Shen Juan has always been happy to spread Chinese culture.

However, rather than forcibly expressing his patriotism by draping himself in the national flag, he prefers to spread and influence others in a subtle way.

Because this will make it easier for fans to accept it.

After dinner, I took the time to complete the cover shoot for Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People.

As the name suggests, the Time 100 features 100 people, but not all of them are worthy of being on the cover of the magazine.

For example, this year the six most representative influential figures were selected through multiple dimensions, fields and levels. They are: Dwayne Johnson, Taylor Swift, Shen Juan, TV host Gayle King, football player Salah and an old witch whose name cannot be said.

Although this is a list selected by Americans, it is becoming less and less popular with the awakening of national self-confidence.

But no matter what, it does have value.

Therefore, it is definitely an important achievement that deserves to be touted by fans and news media in China and even throughout Asia.

This means a lot to all Asian artists!

In addition, in addition to Shen Juan, who was selected in the artist category, other Chinese people selected as the top 100 most influential people in the world this year include Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, who was selected in the industry leader category, ByteDance CEO Zhang Yiming and Space Administration Director Zhang Kejian, who were selected in the leader category, and He Jiankui, who was selected in the pioneer category for his gene-edited baby technology.

Alas, I can only say that Mr. Lei is still a little green.

Otherwise, wouldn’t it be great for Xiaomi to have two supreme ones?

On April 4, after finishing his radio activities during the day, Shen Juan came to the Coachella Music Festival again in the evening.

As the finale guest on the main stage today, A妹 invited her good friends Shen Juan and Justin Bieber to come and support her.

We guys just met on Shen Juan's finale stage the day before yesterday, and we met again at Ari's place today.

I can only say that the circles of friends are all similar.

If you don't get involved with that group of black rappers in Europe and the United States, there are really only a few small groups to choose from.

Of course, you can also choose not to join any small group and go the "I upgrade alone" route.

But that way, there would be a lot less drama.

If you don't make enough splashy incidents, Americans will think you are boring, and you will become like Dua Lipa, whose songs are famous but she herself is not.

Shen Juan couldn't stand this the most!

It is the eternal truth that a person is more famous than his works!

Therefore, in order to truly enter the North American market, we will naturally make changes to our character design based on local actual conditions.

What’s interesting is that in order to make tonight’s stage more interesting, Shen Juan and Bieber swapped their identities. Bieber replaced Shen Juan on stage to sing “Intentions” with Shen Juan’s younger brother Li Nacha, and then Shen Juan went on stage to sing Bieber’s classic song “Sorry”.

Not only did it leave another classic stage at this year's Coachella, but it also made countless fans and audiences who watched the live video through various channels exclaim:

How could it be possible? ! ! How come they switched roles and sang each other's songs without any sense of incongruity?
Could this be the legendary sound hooligans' end up in the same place by different means?
And why do I feel that Alex sings better than Justin? This shouldn't be just my illusion, right?

Shen Juan also took this opportunity to gain a group of passers-by fans who like Bieber's voice and works but dislike him as a person.

Bieber is a weird guy.

He became famous at a young age and became famous all over the world.

Then he went astray and became hated by everyone, to the point where the masses even jointly petitioned to expel him from the United States.

He then released a phenomenal album "Purpose" and announced his return to the spotlight again.

However, most of the popularity and fans he lost in the past few years will never come back.

Moreover, his development in the past two years has been very average.

Therefore, his positioning in North America is like Lu Han in the domestic entertainment industry. His popularity has indeed been interrupted, but he doesn’t have many fans anymore.

Fresh faces like Shen Juan, who have no solid black material but continue to produce works, are the current trend.

In other words,
The era of Justin Bieber has completely passed, and the current era belongs to younger and fresher blood.

On April 4th, I returned to LA to continue my solo work.

The first part was the outdoor recording of "Jimmy Kimmel Live". The plan was: How would the fans react if the mother secretly met with her idol?
The program crew first sent out fake invitations online to trick Shen Juan's fifty fans into going to a place where they were told they would be able to meet their idol later. Then they asked Shen Juan to meet their mothers. Finally, the two groups were connected remotely, and the program effects were created through the fans' envious, jealous and hateful reactions.

After completing the recording of this part, Shen Juan came to the recording site to complete the recording of the main talk show.

During the show, he also took time to read out some vicious tweets from celebrities that the show is famous for.

"Alex Shen is just a bartender who thinks he can charm all the women in the world! Dear God, please give XXXTentacion back to us, we are willing to exchange him for Alex Shen."

Shen Juan curled his lips speechlessly and said nothing. He just silently raised his middle finger to the camera.

Who is XXXTentacion?

A black rapper who was born in 1998 and died in 2018.

He died young and his body was found on the street.

And the cause of death was robbery and shooting by gangsters!

Considering that in the United States where guns are rampant, anyone can be shot in the head on the street! Even the most powerful people in power!
So this tweet can’t be said to be anything but vicious.

Immediately afterwards, Shen Juan completed the recording of another American ace talk show "The Conan Show" in LA.

The recording experience was very good and the program effect was also OK.

After the broadcast, it is estimated that Shen Juan’s personal popularity and album popularity in North America will be improved to a certain extent.

I have to say that Conan O'Brien has a pretty good sense of humor. Shen Juan has seen many celebrities on his show before and the comedic effects were all very good.

For example, in 17, Big Brother Cheng appeared on this show to promote "The Lego Ninjago Movie" in which he participated in dubbing and "Beyond the Border" in which he starred, and showed off his sense of humor and talent in comedy.

The time came to April 4th.

On the sixth day after Leviathan was launched, it is still very popular!
Today’s work task is to shoot McDonald’s global advertisements and work flash mob at McDonald’s to get close to fans.

During the break in filming, a new piece of news came out that attracted Shen Juan's attention.

Time magazine announced this year's 100 most influential people in the world, and the six covers were released online at the same time.

Shen Juan was among them.

So when the news spread back to China, various voices immediately appeared on the Internet to celebrate the demolition of Pride and create history again.

[Shen Juan is indeed worthy of the title. He is the star with the greatest breakthrough significance in the Chinese entertainment industry in recent years. He is definitely a milestone! In my opinion, he and Cheng Long are both top stars in China who can represent an era. The others are far behind and are not qualified.]

[Auntie Juan is making a fuss. Is Time Magazine so awesome? Didn’t Pug and Chunchun appear on the cover? If you don’t know, you might think SJ confiscated their cover! ]

[First understand the difference between the Asian version and the American version (international version) before you speak, clown! The American version is the most valuable! ]

[Red people's fans are like fence-sitters who have lost their ability to protect themselves. They will go to whichever side is popular and help the tigers and take advantage of the power of others. ]

[I am so funny that I am a fan of the celebrity? Then you are just a jealous beggar in the sewer. Deleted]

[This is really awesome! Shen Juan and his fans are awesome. This really opened my eyes. Hahahaha! ]

[Can anyone tell me how awesome it is? ]

[Let’s just say that many Hong Kong and Taiwan stars have appeared on the cover of Time magazine before, but they were all on the Asian edition. Considering China’s overwhelming size advantage in Asia, the value of the cover of the Asian edition of Time magazine is actually just that, not as good as Wa Juan.]

[Please know that before me, the only Chinese celebrity who appeared on the cover of the American edition of Time magazine was Zhang Ziyi. And the international Zhang was on a group cover with dozens of people, and her entire face was only the size of a fingernail. It is completely incomparable to my single cover, and they are not on the same level.]

[How can they be on the same level? If it weren't for the fact that we are now in the streaming media era and actual sales in the entire US are very sluggish, I would even want to say that I am the best-selling male in the world. The actual sales of his album are more than the top five best-selling albums of the new generation of male artists combined. It's really scary! ]

[In fact, Li Lianjie is like Jay Chou, and Cheng Long is like Shen Juan. It seems that Li Lianjie and Cheng Long are similar. Anyway, their popularity has reached the top in China, but they have never been artists of the same level. How many people know you, Jet Li and Jay Chou, when you go abroad? It's like you get 100 points in the exam because you are only 100 points in level, and the top student gets 100 points in the exam because the full score is only 100 points. I think you can understand what I mean, right? ]

Actually, there is nothing wrong with this.

Rough words are not rough.

It seems that Pug and he are known as the two prides of the Chinese music scene.

Actually it is not.

One of them is more business-oriented and the other is more sports-oriented.

Just like the people born in the 70s disliked Pug.

No matter how hard Shen Juan tries, his status in the hearts of those people born in the 80s and 90s is unlikely to surpass that of Bage.

This has nothing to do with personal achievements, it is purely determined by the times. There is no need to explain the lethality of Bai Yueguang in youth.

Similarly, Pug's status in the hearts of those born after 95 and 00 cannot be higher than Shen Juan. This is also determined by the times.

So in another five to ten years, when this group of fans who are still in school grow up, start working and become the cornerstone of society, Shen Juan will naturally become the supreme leader of the Chinese music scene. By then, there will be no more remarks like "the two prides of the music scene" or "the big and small kings".

One emperor and one courtier.

This is no longer a power struggle or dynasty change among singers; this is purely a battle among fans to seize the right to speak!

So Shen Juan’s thoughts now are very simple.

I don't care if you recognize me or not, I don't care who you think is awesome, I don't care what kind of dirty water you throw at me or what kind of black material you make up.
Anyway, I am a top global superstar in the world!

If you don’t agree, come and hold a couple of concerts outside to see my strength. If you agree, just stay in China and wait for me to come back and dominate the domestic entertainment industry!

At five o'clock in the afternoon, after transforming into a temporary store clerk and communicating closely with fans for about half an hour, today's McDonald's flash mob came to an end.

On the way back to the hotel, Yang Yangjin listed all the work reports she had compiled over the past two days and the matters that needed to be personally confirmed by Shen Juan. For example, in terms of business endorsements:

The contract renewals of Haagen-Dazs, Canon, Adidas and Jaeger-LeCoultre, which were signed between May and July last year, went smoothly.

Among them, Canon and Adidas have directly upgraded their endorsement scope to the entire line, so the remuneration will be higher.

(Canon directly kicked out Chen Kun, who was originally the spokesperson for the EOS line, this year and let Shen Juan serve as the sole spokesperson for the entire line)
However, it seems that Rejoice could not afford to pay Shen Juan the endorsement fee of 20 million Chinese Yuan, or perhaps because they felt that Shen Juan was not of much help in their brand promotion and performance improvement, so they gave up the contract renewal. So Shen Juan immediately found his next buyer - Clear, which was currently endorsed by Wu Jiaheng.

After Kris' endorsement expires, Shen Juan will take over directly.

Poor Kris was bullied again without knowing it.
"There are several European tours to come. In order to better promote and warm up your world tour planned for the second half of the year, and also to seize your current high popularity to generate as much revenue as possible, Republic is temporarily planning to organize a surprise concert for you, scheduled for the beginning of next month."

"However, since all the relatively suitable venues in North America have been booked, and the scale should not be too large, since it is a temporary preparation, the venue can only be held in the Royal Albert Hall in London, England. This is a good opportunity to expand your influence in Europe."

"Of course, you can refuse if you don't want to. Universal has no power to force you to work."

"It is indeed possible to hold a concert here. I seem to have heard of this venue before. Many singers and musicians from home and abroad have held concerts here. But if I remember correctly, this venue doesn't even have a capacity of 10,000 people? Can you really make money by holding a concert here?" What Shen Juan didn't understand was how to make a profit.

"It's very simple. We don't make money from box office, but from selling concert Blu-ray DVDs." Yang Yangjin gave the answer.

Shen Juan's expression changed immediately: "That's no problem on my side. Just let me know as soon as the time is decided."

Concert Blu-ray DVDs are also a great way to make money.

Not to mention anything else, ARASHI, the artist group with the highest sales of Japanese music works in 2019 in the original time and space, sold more than billion Chinese yuan through concert Blu-ray DVDs, making it difficult for a mortal like Shen Juan not to be envious. Not only Shen Juan, but all singers around the world, including Taylor, are envious!
(TWICE and BTS ranked fourth and fifth in annual sales. Japanese music is highly introverted, but the market is very inclusive)
This is just as exciting as a Hollywood blockbuster seeing the booming and thriving Chinese film market!
Last year, Shen Juan sold more than 200 million yuan with an English album and a Japanese EP, so naturally he wants to make more this year.

So when Japan paid him to compose the theme song for this year's summer Koshien some time ago, he agreed without a second thought.

There is no need to explain the status of Koshien in the hearts of Japanese people.

In order to cater to the young group, the organizers chose to have a Chinese sing the theme song, and it was none of their business what kind of reaction this would cause from the outside world.

The only thing Shen Juan knew was that after singing the Koshien theme song, his popularity in Japan would surge again.

By then, he will be closer to his goal of expanding his influence in Japan and becoming a new generation of national idol.

"Another question is, do you have any ideas about the opening performance of this year's Champions League final?" Yang Yangjin asked.

"Fuck! You asked me if I had any idea about a stage of this level? Of course I did! Did they invite me?"

Shen Juan's eyes widened instantly. In his heart, the Champions League final stage was definitely no less valuable than the Super Bowl halftime show!
Damn, hundreds of millions of people around the world are watching the Champions League final at the same time, so how many of them can see the opening stage?

At that time, we just need to cooperate with the company's global marketing. Isn't this just a double explosion on the basis of Leviathan?
"The invitation is there, but there is a problem now."

"what is the problem?"

"The Champions League sponsor is Pepsi, and you are the spokesperson for Coca-Cola. The competitive agreement is written in the terms and conditions."

"Pepsi doesn't want me to go up?"

"On the contrary, Pepsi would like you to divert traffic to this finals and let their logo be seen more times."

“So it’s delicious?”

Yangyang Jin smiled without comment. As century-old rivals that have been fighting for hundreds of years, Coca-Cola's current brand value is almost twice that of Pepsi. Naturally, they are unwilling to let their own spokesperson run to support the rival, lest the other party find an opportunity to stimulate stock price increases through public opinion marketing.

"But I really want to go. I can't give up such a good stage just because I'm the spokesperson for Coca-Cola, right?"

Just like the previous World Cup, if I can’t play in the Champions League, can’t I stand on the grass and sing a few songs?

Rounding it off, I am also the Champions League champion!

Seeing that Shen Juan's eager expression did not seem fake, Yang Yangjin sighed and said, "Then I will try to communicate with Coca-Cola, but I can't guarantee that we can make a deal. After all, anything related to Pepsi needs to be dealt with seriously by Coca-Cola."

"Thank you for your hard work, Yangyang!"

"The better you develop, the more I earn. We are partners, so it doesn't matter whether it's hard or not."

Yang Yangjin glanced at Shen Juan with an ambiguous look in her eyes. She really couldn't figure out whether Shen Juan was interested in her or just had a simple sister-brother relationship. Sometimes he acted so seductively, as if he was about to come in, but sometimes he strictly controlled the distance, as if he was suddenly pulling away.

This hot and cold, yet distant feeling really distressed her, so much so that sometimes she would dream about Shen Juan.

And the most exaggerated thing is that in her dreams, she always seems to appear as a kind of lazy bootlicker and enjoys it shamelessly, which makes her happy and ashamed. Almost every day before seeing Shen Juan, she has to repeatedly remind herself in her heart that she must not lose her composure in front of Shen Juan in order to work normally.

"Just partners?" Shen Juan looked at the older girl in front of him who was pretending to be calm and tried hard to suppress his smile.

"If they're not partners, then what is the relationship?"

Yangyang Jin secretly glanced at Shen Juan without showing any expression, but she didn't expect that Shen Juan would kick the ball back directly.

"You're my agent, I'll listen to you, so Yangyang, whatever you say is our relationship is."

Looking at the handsome face in front of her whose smile was particularly gentle and elegant, Yang Yangjin could only sigh silently in her heart.

Some happy, some excited.

But more of it is actually emotion.

Knowing that I prefer to be passive rather than active, he deliberately plays with my emotions.
Well, it turns out that I am not very good at dealing with this top-notch sea king who roams among a hundred flowers and is proficient in time management.

On April 4th, Coachella Week 19 officially began.

After finishing their performance in the afternoon, the BLACKPINK quartet had a rare chance to rest and decided to go back to the hotel and change back into their private clothes.

After dinner, we went to Coachella to watch the 90-minute finale performance by Shen Juan.

Actually, I wanted to watch it last week.

But after returning to the United States, time is too tight.

Either it's a performance at Coachella, or it's radio interviews and talk show recordings to expand his popularity in North America.

The day before yesterday, on the 17th, I held a concert in Los Angeles, which also required a lot of time for rehearsal and preparation.

So even though they knew Shen Juan was in North America, it was difficult for them to squeeze out time to meet this old friend they were not very familiar with.

Moreover, he has been actively promoting his couple relationship with the "first female star of the new generation" Ariana Grande recently!

Even when they were still active in South Korea, we often saw news about Alexana on the Internet.

The male and female protagonists of the intergenerational gap are a perfect match made in heaven, so why would they, a bunch of newcomers who haven't yet found their feet, get the chance to join in the fun?
So after thinking about it from their perspective, they decided to watch Shen Juan's live performance as ordinary audience members.

If it’s not important, don’t bother the big star, so as to avoid making people suspect that they want to suck blood from him.

Even though they do have this idea, if their little thoughts are exposed, they may not even be able to be friends anymore.

Others don’t know, but Kim Ji-soo definitely doesn’t want to lose this friend who made her heart beat faster the first time they met.

Although most people, including the original poster, know that the South Korean girl is unforgettable, only the fans think it is true.

But if it were possible, it would be very beautiful and satisfying to make it a real reality.

As for Kim Jennie, although she broke up with EXO's Kim Jong-in as soon as her relationship was exposed by D agency at the beginning of this year, it seems that her career is far more important than love at this stage. But if her partner is Shen Juan, she will probably show a "love-brained" side that is completely different from before.

After all, Alex Shen is the best of the best, the man among men in South Korea and even in the entire Asia-Pacific region!
It's so exciting to be in a relationship with a man like this, so how could I possibly break up with him just to keep his fans?

As for Lisa and Park Chae-young, who had never met Shen Juan before, they didn't think too much about it. They were simply curious about Shen Juan, the singer who made a name for himself in the foreign world with his yellow-skinned body. However, if they could get close to him, they would do it. After all, that's what celebrities are like, and getting close to him is healthier.

Several people with different moods were listening to music and enjoying the lively and cheerful atmosphere, while they were chatting to kill time. It seemed that not long after they felt it, it was time for Shen Juan to go on stage.

All lights are turned off.

The audiences from all other stages swarmed in front of the main stage, fell into an extremely crazy mood and began to scream loudly to release the burning flames of passion in their hearts!
About two minutes later, images began to appear on the big screen on the stage. It was a promotional video for the Leviathan World Tour.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

The screams of fans at the scene reached a new level in decibel level.

The show then opened with the familiar song "Hold On". However, when it came to the transition stage where the main guest should have gone backstage to replenish water and rest, Shen Juan stayed on the stage and performed a song called "Old Town Road" with his younger brother and guest star Li Nacha.

"Yeah, I'm gonna take my horse to the old town road."

“I’m gonna ride ’til I can’t no more.”

This melody rap with Country Trap style perfectly hits the aesthetic G-spot of most of the beautiful people at the scene.

The catchy and brainwash melody makes many listeners who hear the song for the first time can't help but sing along.

Then they inquired and found out:
This song has actually been out for more than four months.

Although it failed at the beginning, with the launch of the "Cowboy Challenge" on Yangdou, the subsequent results were quite good.

It was only with the release of Shen Juan's remix of Old Town Road early this morning that it came into the sight of "most people".

It has become another hot topic of discussion in the American music scene besides "Leviathan" which is wreaking havoc in the American entertainment industry.

【Fxxk! This is really brainwashing. I feel like I'm already dancing to the rhythm when I put on headphones and listen to the song! 】

【Now I completely believe that Alex is not racist. He even treated a black man like this, and those media still have the nerve to say that he discriminates against black people? It's so funny. These damn unscrupulous media are just a bunch of shit! They can say any shit to make news! 】

[It’s really fucking hi! Alex is a hit-making machine! No one can compare to him in terms of creation! ]

[It's really ironic that a black guy and a yellow guy are cosplaying as American cowboys.]

[I found that Alex's MVs all seem to have a special meaning. There are female protagonists with yellow, white and black skin tones in the MVs. "Adore You" even speaks out the exclusion and discrimination suffered by an Asian child in a white community. He is really working hard to unite everyone! ]

[No wonder the media said he was trying to divide teenagers. This guy is indeed from the other side of the ocean.]

【Thank you for the generous gift! From last year's "Underrated" to this year's "Leviathan" and now this "Old Town Road", why can Alex always create popular pop songs? And he produces them continuously and efficiently, not just a flash of inspiration. Is it possible that the orthodoxy of American pop music is in China? 】

Shen Juan had no idea whether the orthodoxy of American pop music existed in China, and he had no interest in chatting with this group of people.

The only thing he knew at the moment was:

This song was so popular in the original time and space that it was jokingly called the American "Lone Warrior" and was loved to death by American elementary school students. It became a super hit on streaming media. In the current time and space, with the blessing of his traffic, it may achieve even more amazing results.

(Don’t worry, the protagonist can share the money)
He didn't know whether this was good or bad, nor did he know whether it would affect the chart success of other songs in his album.

He just knew that times had changed.

For a first-line singer with a number one single, the actual album sales and total streaming volume are the most important things.

Of course, the crown order has value.

But it is no longer as high as before.

So instead of suppressing these music supernovas who cannot be suppressed, it is better to turn enemies into friends and recruit them as your subordinates.

In this way, when they become successful in the future, they will be able to "sing my true name" in the North American music scene, right?

(End of this chapter)