Huayu: Starting from the top talent show

Chapter 424 It's time to give the white characters a boost.

The day after the Weibo Night event ended, Shen Juan stayed in Beijing to participate in his first Spring Festival Gala rehearsal of the year.

Unlike previous years, he was not performing a trio or a duo act this year.

It was a genuine solo performance.

He will be on stage alone for about four minutes on the Spring Festival Gala, under the watchful eyes of the entire nation.

So there's not much to say.

Let's listen to the princess's "What the World Gave Me"!
It can only be said that, similar to her song "As You Wish" from two years ago, the diva's songs are quite suitable for performance on large occasions like the Spring Festival Gala.

It touches on the main theme, but not too much.

Shen Juan likes songs like this.

Pop singers and kings of pop who rely on the global market and the support of many others should ideally maintain this delicate, almost detached state.

Only in this way can the foreigners, who are struggling to find a legitimate bargaining chip, find no opening to attack him.

Imagine if Shen Juan starred in a patriotic film about having sex with foreigners on the Korean Peninsula, where he would brutally rape both Americans and Koreans.

If the US and the South Korean government were to use media marketing to hype things up, he would probably lose both of those markets outright.

After all, the entertainment industry relies on soft power.

The key is in the word "soft"!

If you unleash your ultimate move right from the start, touching the opponent's sore spot and making them suffer terribly, then what's the point of dealing any damage?

They simply imposed a complete blockade and closed all stores in protest!

In the current international situation, excessive rigidity leads to breakage.

Unless Shen Juan, like his good friend Jackson, is nobody in foreign countries, then he can speak out boldly. After all, foreigners don't pay any attention to him. The so-called international top star is all hype. As a singer, he doesn't even have a single hit song. His overseas tours are all for thousands of people. He got the LV ambassadorship by relying on the Southeast Asian influence brought by his Thai teammates. After returning to the domestic entertainment industry, he showed off. He relied on information asymmetry to be hyped up in China as an international top star on par with the big shots.

This behavior is similar to the actions of Shen Juan's other good friend, Lay, who called out foreigners on Weibo, causing a frenzy among his fans.
There is no essential difference.

They're all just self-indulgent 18th-tier celebrities.

They had no idea this happened.

Even if they find out, they'll just laugh it off.

Because it has absolutely no influence.

There's no question of suppression or targeting.

Moreover, the attitude above is actually the same.

We've finally found a top-tier, unofficial channel that can represent the nation's image and speak out on a global scale, so we can't let him do such low-level, unskilled work!
That's right.

Making patriotic films and shouting slogans—simply feeding people the content they want to be produced—is the lowest form of output!
Because anyone can take photos.

Anyone can act patriotic.

Moreover, it can't be exported overseas at all.

So, what the fans said, "Shen Juan doesn't act in patriotic films, but Shen Juan *is* the patriotic film," is actually not wrong.

The main theme of our collaboration is for our own people.

His main theme is aimed at foreigners.

The gap is just too big.

Their value and significance are on completely different levels.

In this situation, as long as Shen Juan doesn't make any fundamental mistakes, his superiors will generally turn a blind eye.

This means that the entire Chinese entertainment industry is his backyard.

He can criticize whomever he wants, and do whatever he wants to do.

Anyway, my buddy has connections, so if things really get heated, the platform that's been given instructions will secretly help to side with him.

Meanwhile, the first-week results for Shen Juan's "Rain On Me," released on January 3rd, have also been released.

Billboard Hot 100 Weekly Chart Ranking:

1. "Rain On Me" Alex Shen & Ariana Grande
2. "The Box", Roddy Ricch
3. "Yummy", Justin Bieber
4. *Memories*, Maroon 5
5. "Blinding Lights" by Alex Shen
With its overwhelming first-week streaming and download performance, ROM unsurprisingly defeated the rising box king and Bieber's new song Yummy, which hinted at childhood abuse in its music video, and successfully took the top spot.

(Bieber is a typical single-song artist who relies on popularity. The melodies of his songs are mostly designed to follow market trends. For example, the arrangement of this song incorporates a lot of popular elements, but the lyrics are really weak.)

Fans who had been waiting for this moment for a long time were naturally overjoyed and began to promote and discuss Shen Juan's achievements on various platforms, calling ROM the first hit song of 20, which gave Alex a good start to his career this year, and Alex will continue to dominate the global pop music scene this year.

[As expected, RainOnMe has topped the charts! The rain has turned into a storm, the charts are roaring! From Senorita to ROM, this wave of sweetness is making me breathless! I suggest Alexana be nominated for the best couple of the 21st century! Couples whose friendships have soured are even more adorable than the on-again, off-again Jelena couple, hahaha!]

[Congratulations to Alexa and Alex Shen on their collaboration "Get Me Wet" debuting at number one on the Billboard charts this week! This marks Ariana and Alex Shen's fourth and eighth number-one singles respectively, and their second number-one single together. What can I say? Alexa slay!!!]

[A direct and overwhelming defeat of Miao Miao's new song, with a disparity in points that is utterly despairing. Now, no one should question Alex's position as the world's number one male artist, right? And no one should object to Ariana Grande's rise to diva status, right? Are people still saying they'll wait and see with the next album? Which group are these fake haters trying to stir up trouble with?]

[Congratulations to Alex and Ariana for making history by surpassing Mariah Carey to become only two artists in history with four number-one hits. Ariana took one year and four months, while Shen Juan took ten and a half months (starting from the February album "Blindness"). Shen Juan: An old fisherman who made the world feel that number-one singles were cheap because of his explosively high-quality songs. Ariana: A British and American flight attendant who only knows number-one hits. No more crying! Turning the world upside down with love? Landing at number one with love!]

Speechless, the water has reached the sky.

[All they ever say is "water, water, water," it's so sour. I'm getting jealous just watching them. I hope they don't break records and get criticized for being weak. Anyway, no matter how much you complain, they're still the most popular and have had phenomenal initial sales globally. Is it wrong to be famous these days?]

[Please understand the correct meaning of "empty crown" (or "empty crown")! "Empty crown" equals a large fanbase and genuine popularity, and has nothing to do with song quality! Why were there so many "empty crowns" in the past year? Because Shen Juan was incredibly strong, not because "empty crowns" became cheap! Please understand this concept! Stop making those low-IQ comments and giving everyone amusement!]

[In the 65 years since the Billboard Hot 100 was founded, there have only been about 40 songs that have reached number one, averaging about one every year and a half. I, Tui, achieved four of these in just 10 months ("Blind Light," "Miss," "Save Tears," and "Drenched Me"), making me the artist with the most and fastest achievement. Haters, stop being sour! The more you complain, the more popular I, Tui, become! Being the strongest artist of our time isn't something fans and media hype can create!]

[Most of Juanjuan's hits are collaborations with others, and her number one hits are all due to piggybacking. I don't know where her fans get the nerve.]

[You forgot about the person who just won the championship a while ago? Do you have a fish-like memory? And why don't you check the contribution rate of the championship points from professional data analysis websites? My contribution rate is 75%! So you mean the person with only a 25% contribution rate is the core player?]

Alexana is so adorable! She completely hits my sweet spot as someone who admires success and career! I have such mixed feelings right now. On one hand, I hope they can go beyond friendship and have a sweet romance, but on the other hand, I'm afraid they'll break up and never work together again. It's really agonizing.

[Thank you Camilla! Praise Camilla! I was wondering why Juanjuan suddenly switched from an EP to a full-length album. Turns out it was all a counterattack against Camilla's pessimistic and derogatory comments, hahaha! I hope there will be more clowns like this to spur my brother to release songs in the future. Go Juanjuan, go for it!]

Fans and music lovers really should thank Camilla.

Because of her attacks and smears against Shen Juan, claiming that he would only be popular for two years at most, her remarks, spread by anti-fans, did indeed go viral around the world to some extent.

So much so that now, when many haters and Alovers fight online, they like to use Camilla's words to attack Shen Juan.

Therefore, in order to slap the faces of the "Ka-mei" (a nickname for a female celebrity) and her haters, and to reverse the current poor public opinion and development trend under the deliberate guidance of Western media, Shen Juan had no choice but to temporarily suspend his plan of keeping a low profile and instead use his new album to directly transform this negative traffic into a stepping stone to help him move to the next stage.

As for those who suggested they date, Ariana Grande might be tempted, but Shen Juan would definitely not agree.

the reason is simple.

One reason is that long-distance relationships are already difficult enough.

Cross-Pacific long-distance relationships are only more difficult to manage.

He doesn't want to go his separate ways with his partner.

Moreover, he didn't have much interest in Ariana Grande in the first place.

So it's best to just play friendly matches.

When the mood strikes, I'll conduct a survey.

Dating? He has someone else in mind.

On the other hand, some fans are right, Alexana has a great relationship with her now.

As long as you don't date or enter each other's lives, it's difficult for conflicts to arise, leading to a breakup and going your separate ways.

This will also allow them to reap the benefits of being a couple, providing additional support for their respective career development.

For example, they are talking on the phone right now.

They made a phone call to discuss their respective career development.

"Looks like this rain was heavy enough to soak the list completely!" Ariana's voice sounded full of energy. "I'm so excited right now, Alex. I've said this so many times, but I still can't help but tell you, knowing you is truly a blessing from God!"

Shen Juan leaned back on the sofa, holding his phone in his right hand and gently stroking Nazha, who was stammering as she faced interrogation after the investigation, with his left hand: "Congratulations to you, and of course, to me too! This is what we deserve, Ari. It is also my honor to meet you and work with you."

"Stop with that official talk!" Ariana laughed heartily, then continued, "But seriously, aren't you releasing a new album in the first half of the year? My new album is scheduled for the second half, so I think we can strike while the iron is hot and collaborate on another single to maintain our current buzz. What do you think?"

"I think it's not bad."

In today's streaming era, where streaming data is increasingly important, even disregarding collaborations that combine the popularity of two artists' fans and the CP (couple) dynamic, Shen Juan's solo singles, as long as their quality isn't too poor or they don't coincide with a streaming blockbuster like "Old Town Road," can easily top the charts. In a sense, Billboard chart-topping singles are indeed losing their value, replaced by singles with over 10 billion streams like "Sound of the Sky."

After all, the statistics for the top-ranked charts are based on weekly data, which may be inflated to boost rankings, and are far less authoritative than the total statistics.

Even so, the value of a chart-topping single is still limited, and each chart-topping single enhances one's status within the industry.

So if possible, Shen Juan would naturally like to get more number one singles and rival the legendary players in terms of data.

"How about 'Save Your Tears'? I really like this song! I think it would be great if I added it as a feature!" A-mei knew that Shen Juan didn't like wasting time talking nonsense, and she was also a straightforward person, so she directly stated her plan.

"Save Your Tears?"

Shen Juan recalled the song's achievements in the original timeline—the runner-up on the 2021 Singles Chart, second only to Pa Jie's "Levitating." It was a bit too good, and he felt there was no need to release it this year, because he had already prepared an even more outstanding super hit single for this year.

So he replied, "That's certainly possible, but it's not the right time yet. I think we can collaborate on a new song first."

"Wow! Alex, you've got another idea?"

A-mei's exaggerated tone made Shen Juan laugh out loud.

"It's not exactly inspiration. I actually had a general idea a long time ago, but I kept it to myself, waiting for the right time to tell you." Shen Juan raised an eyebrow at Nazha's coquettish question. "For example, now is a good time."

Cheers erupted from the other end of the phone.

Ariana Grande was clearly overjoyed.

Perhaps in the eyes of her fans, they have a mutually beneficial relationship.

In fact, this is indeed the case.

When they first collaborated, Ariana Grande was dominating the North American pop music scene in late 18 and early 19 with two hit singles.

Shen Juan, on the other hand, was just a second-tier singer trying to get his first number-one single and to rise to the top tier.

But with the successful global Leviathan Era tour, things have changed dramatically.

At least for now, she is definitely the weaker party and the one who benefits more in this partnership.

Therefore, every collaboration with Shen Juan has greatly benefited her career development, and she deserves to be grateful for it.

"Deal! But it's agreed that next time we collaborate, you have to teach me how to properly thank my Chinese fans in Chinese!"

"Of course!"

Looking out at the dazzling night view through the floor-to-ceiling windows, Shen Juan suddenly felt that Los Angeles on the other side of the ocean was not fundamentally different from here. They were both equally prosperous, equally noble, and equally tempting to conquer. He couldn't wait to let more people around the world hear his name.

He let out a long sigh and said gently with some emotion, "But I still want to say, Ari, this is just the beginning."

"I know, after all, you've progressed so fast, so every day I meet you is a brand new beginning for me! In fact, I often take the time to carefully examine our relationship because you've changed so much, hahaha, I mean..."

After pausing for about two or three seconds, Ariana Grande spoke the words that had been building up her emotions over this period.

“I love you, Alex, no matter what the feelings are or what the relationship is like, I love you.”

I hung up the phone and tossed it onto the sofa.

Shen Juan picked up Nazha, who was kneeling on the ground.

"You choose between me and Zhang Tian'ai!" She nestled in Shen Juan's arms and asked the exact same question as Ai Bao.

"Of course it's you."

Without any hesitation, I gave a direct answer.

Shen Juan leaned down and kissed Nazha's soft lips, their lips intertwining and merging with the moist, supple lips of this woman.

Be decisive in your career.

We must be even more decisive in matters of the heart!

A man who aspires to become an icon of the times should not let romantic love delay his journey to the mountains and seas.

Furthermore, the mainstream media naturally wouldn't miss such a big event as Alexana's successful reunion and winning the championship.

Billboard's official website directly stated that Shen Juan and Ariana Grande both surpassed Mariah Carey in the number of chart-topping singles, once again proving their dominance in the streaming era. Shen Juan, in particular, whose contribution rate is higher, has further solidified her position as a global benchmark for pop music productivity.

B-list has always been known for its outspokenness.

Even if someone is an unknown nobody, as long as they can generate profits for them, they will still write articles praising them.

So let's not even mention Shen Juan, the contemporary leading pop superstar who owns and lives in a house on multiple Billboard lists.

Of course, Shen Juan has also discussed with Global Times that they will increase their marketing efforts to promote him during this period.

Moreover, the focus will be on Billie Eilish, Shen Juan's biggest competitor for awards this year, and a comprehensive comparison will be made from multiple dimensions such as album sales, music reviews, streaming data, tours, star power, appearance, and commercial value, so that the public can clearly understand how big the gap is between them.

Although it was somewhat hurtful.

But that's how competition works.

When self-interest is at stake, there is no room for mercy.

The purpose was to create public pressure on the Grammy Awards, which will be held in Los Angeles at the end of the month, so that they would know that if they rigged the event and made Shen Juan win nothing, it would not only cause controversy among racial knights, but also cause the authority and credibility of the Grammy Awards to suffer unprecedented damage.

While the Grammys certainly have their share of shady dealings, and no award in the world can be completely fair and impartial, the Grammys' past practices were actually within a controllable range. It's more accurate to say that some people were unfairly treated, rather than that the winners were undeserving of the award. It's nowhere near as outrageous as the Oscars.

In comparison, they still have some sense of shame.

Public relations efforts are not as important as the Oscars.

After all, singers are generally free spirits and few people are as deeply involved with a group of interests as actors.

So Shen Juan simply presented the data for comparison, and then, in accordance with local characteristics and traditions, engaged in a magical duel, and that was it.

I'll return this favor directly.

Leviathan's commercial success is so obvious that multiple mainstream media outlets consider it the number one hit album of the streaming era!

The gap between me and Billie Eilish is so huge. Her opponents are the next generation, while my opponents are everyone in the entire generation!

You can certainly link me and her together and call us "Generation Z Leaders," allowing my popularity to radiate to her.

But under these circumstances, if someone still dares to cheat and renege on their promises, then they are racial knights! They look down on people of color!
Even though Asians don't have a high social status in the United States, through his efforts in marketing and self-empowerment over the past two years, he now represents not only Asians, but the entire minority group except for Black people. So by stirring up trouble on TikTok, he can gain a large number of minority groups' support and solidarity.

Faced with a truly well-known and influential Gen Z leader, a global superstar with fans all over the world who controls the discourse of future society, the Grammy officials, unless they are brainless idiots who only care about the present and not the future, should know how to make the right decision.

It can only be said that the competition for awards is not limited to the works themselves; the behind-the-scenes battles are equally exciting and intense.

Forbes, which previously topped the 2019 Global Celebrity List, focused more on the business sector:

The success of "Rain On Me" is not only an artistic achievement, but also marks Alex's transformation from a "phenomenal pop singer" to a "game-changer in the music industry in the streaming era".

According to authoritative data websites, the song not only generated considerable direct revenue on multiple music platforms in its first week, but also drove a significant increase in sales of derivative products (such as the YSL waterproof makeup line endorsed by Alex).

Alex's business empire has expanded once again, further solidifying his position as one of the world's most commercially valuable singers.

This is indeed true.

Thanks to his massive fan base and numerous brand endorsements, Shen Juan's current commercial value is indeed frighteningly high.

Especially after seeing Porsche achieve a surge in both stock price and sales through the car chase scenes in Shen Juan's music video, almost every other brand wanted to product placement in Shen Juan's music videos. As a result, Shen Juan not only doesn't have to spend money to shoot music videos, but can even make money through these brand endorsements.

As for the indispensable "music critic heavyweight" Rolling Stone:
Despite the polarized reviews that followed the strong rise of "Rain On Me" to the top.

Some say that the "Kongguan" (空冠) is essentially a numbers game driven by fan economy, and that Shen Juan's works are too commercially oriented, lacking sufficient depth in terms of musicality and cultural penetration. Alex Shen, often touted by fans and media as the new generation of MJ, is unable to create a completely new era like MJ.

Others argue that Shen Juan's actions are redefining the possibilities of pop music in the streaming era.

He was backed by the market, and the amazing records he created were far more convincing than any authoritative music critic.

At the same time, his success also proves that in the streaming era, data itself is part of art, and only by finding the critical point between the popular and the refined can the best songs be created!
When Shen Juan rewrote Mariah Carey's record in ten months, he was not only making history, but also defining the future!

So it still comes down to that old saying.
Alex Shen is the music industry.
This also gave Shen Juan new inspiration for his "creation".

He was ready to make history by winning a Grammy Award and becoming the undisputed "World's Number One Man," and then he began working on a new song in response to Camila and all the haters.

　Thank you all for your votes, monthly passes, and subscriptions!
　　Thank you to reader 20200127021937708 for the 500-point reward for the character Hu Lianxin and the reward for the character Cheng Xiao!
　　Thank you to reader 20210301105351918906 for the generous donation of the character Tian Xiwei!

　　Thank you to 鹤鸣九皋1217 for the 466 bonus points!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)