1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 261 Are you convinced?
April is finally here.

As soon as this year's Chinese Songs Dragon and Tiger Chart was announced, the name of Zhou Huimin appeared in the music scene.

Last year’s rookie king Zhang Xueyou woke up and saw the published list and felt like the sky was falling.

Since the late 10s, Hong Kong Radio's Dragon and Tiger Chart has selected new songs every month as a barometer of the music scene.

In recent years, there have been a series of reforms.

The Dragon and Tiger Chart selects a 'champion song' every year as the basis for qualifying for the Top Ten Golden Melody Awards.

In order to promote this new star, PolyGram Records, the company that Zhang Xueyou signed with, started preparing for his first album in his music career at the beginning of the year.

Composed by Luo Dayou, sung by Chen Huixian, and produced by Ou Yuding.

Help Zhang Xueyou create an album called "Smile".

The first hit song in the album, "Smile Again Maria", was adapted from a famous Hungarian song, and a lot of money was spent on copyright fees.

When this song was submitted to Hong Kong radio stations for selection, it remained in the top three every week and every month for several months. PolyGram had already opened the champagne in advance and reserved the championship of this year's list for Zhang Xueyou. Later, she will be shortlisted for the Top Ten Golden Melody Awards. After the song is released, the sales in Hong Kong alone will make a lot of money.

As a result, "Blue and White Porcelain" suddenly appeared.

He participated in the competition a few days before the list was announced, and emerged as a dark horse without any publicity in the early stage.

"A shady story! It's definitely a shady story!"

In the Hong Kong PolyGram Records Company, General Manager Zheng Donghan banged on the table loudly: "Who is this Zhou Huimin? Is her father rich or is her husband rich? How much bribe did the director of the broadcasting department of Hong Kong Radio Station receive?"

Different from ATV and TVB.

Radio Hong Kong is an official broadcasting media directly under the Hong Kong government. The Hong Kong government knows that it cannot compete with entertainment radio stations in film and television dramas, so it specializes in developing "Police News", "News World" and cultural and educational programs, and has also gained a group of older audiences.

It was not until the planning and launch of "Chinese Songs Dragon and Tiger Chart", the first Chinese song ranking program in Hong Kong, that the listening rate of Hong Kong Radio during this time period skyrocketed and attracted young audiences.

Rankings are meant to provoke conflict, and provoking conflict brings traffic.

Seeing the program's surging ratings, Hong Kong Radio continued its efforts and came up with the top ten hits of the year. Now it has become the most credible music selection program.

"If Xueyou can't win this award, the sales of his album in Hong Kong will probably drop a lot."

Record producer Feng Tianzhi's face was not very good either. As the saying goes, good wine needs to be hidden in a bush. The key to record sales depends on quality and publicity, and the best publicity is of course winning awards.

Several other senior executives in the office also had frowns on their faces.

In a depressing environment.

Zhang Xueyou, who was sitting in the corner, was like a minion and didn't dare to interrupt.

Until his manager, Chen Ziqiang, patted him on the shoulder and broke the awkward situation: "It doesn't matter. It's enough for your first album to get platinum in Hong Kong. I will call the head office later to explain the situation. We will do more promotion for "Smile" in Taiwan and other places."

Zhang Xueyou nodded towards Chen Ziqiang with gratitude. Just when his mood had improved a little, Zheng Donghan poured another bucket of cold water on him.

"This is a Cantonese album. How much sales can it achieve by relying on foreign markets?"

Zheng Donghan knocked on the table and said something, then glanced at the publicity director beside him: "Are there any changes to the judges of the radio station this year?"

The director in charge of publicity and promotion shook his head and said, "No! They are all James Wong, Joseph Koo, Lai Siu-tin and the like."

Zheng Donghan said angrily: "I have said long ago that we will let our own people on the judging panel, but now it is all people from Huaxing Records. I even suspect that Zhou Huimin is the illegitimate daughter of Zhao Liushu!"

Hong Kong radio stations and wireless radio stations have close contacts. When the Dragon and Tiger Chart program was first launched, the jury borrowed musicians from TVB's Huaxing Records. PolyGram, on the other hand, has its international boss Universal Music to back it up, and its status is more prestigious than that of local record companies, so they will not join without being invited or taking the initiative.

"Maybe there really is a dark horse emerging." Chen Ziqiang shrugged and said, "Should we ask the judges?"

Zheng Donghan thought for a moment, took out his phone and dialed a number, a smile on his face: "It's me, Brother Jiahui. I just saw the radio station announce the champion song of this year's Dragon and Tiger Chart, so I came to you to get some information. Which company produced the song "Blue and White Porcelain"..."

I don't know what Gu Jiahui said in the receiver.

Zheng Donghan hung up the phone, frowned and cursed, "You're playing tricks."

Chen Ziqiang asked: "What did Gu Jiahui say?"

"He refused to talk on the phone and told us to watch the show tomorrow!" Zheng Donghan was dissatisfied and told the publicity director beside him, "Organize a group of fans to create some momentum and go to the entrance of Xiangjiang Radio Station to hold up banners to protest!"

Feng Tianzhi exclaimed: "There's no need to make such a big deal, right?"

Chen Ziqiang also advised: "The list has already been announced. No matter how big a fuss is made, it will not help."

Zheng Donghan hesitated for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, I'm also a musician and I know my limits. If the champion song is really of high quality, I have nothing to say. But now Joseph Koo won't even reveal the news, there must be something fishy going on!"

…………

“It turns out there are so many tricks involved in judging an award.”

Zhai Yuan met two music industry bigwigs, James Wong and Joseph Koo, in the coffee shop downstairs from his company.

After listening to them talk about the importance of the Dragon and Tiger Chart selection, I finally understood the Hong Kong music scene at that time.

He concluded: "So what this means is that my apprentice's song won the championship, and Zhang Xueyou, the new king, lost, which in turn affected his record sales?"

Huang Zhan nodded in agreement, and laughed in a hoarse voice: "The person in charge of PolyGram must hate you to death now. They spent a lot of effort to promote Zhang Xueyou this year, but you easily snatched it away."

Zhai Yuan scratched his head, wondering if he had accidentally ruined his future as a singing god.
In his previous life, Zhang Xueyou's star journey could be described as bumpy, with several ups and downs. He finally ascended the throne of the God of Songs and could have lived out his life in peace, but his wife failed in stock trading, and he had to go out and risk his life again in his old age.

It was a strange coincidence in this life that this happened to him right after his debut. Mr. Zhai asked himself in all conscience that he definitely did not do it on purpose...

"Zheng Donghan just called me. He was born in Taiwan and has always looked down on the Hong Kong music scene. He hinted at whether there was any shady dealings in this year's Dragon and Tiger Chart, but I bothered to respond to him."

Gu Jiahui smiled and shook his head: "To be honest, the theme song they created for Zhang Xueyou has a very distinctive style, but we judges have to consider all aspects of lyrics, composition and arrangement. Do you think that no one can tell that Smile Again Maria uses a Hungarian song? The originality is much worse. We have not confiscated your money, Mr. Zhai, so how could there be any shady dealings?"

Zhai Yuan smiled and asked Huang Zhan: "Is Uncle Hui's last sentence hinting that I should pay more?"

"If you want to give it to us, we have no reason to refuse." Huang Zhan made a joke and then sneered, "The PolyGram people have always relied on their power and wealth to look down on the Hong Kong music scene. It's not surprising that Zheng Donghan, a frog in a well from Taiwan, asked such a question. Let's wait until "Blue and White Porcelain" is played on the radio tomorrow and see what they have to say."

Huang Zhan does not have a good impression of PolyGram, mainly because he has a close relationship with Zhang Guorong. This year, Zhang Guorong took several songs of Zhai Yuan and they were widely sung, which had the potential to threaten PolyGram's number one, Tam Wing-lin. The other side organized fans to badmouth Zhang Guorong, and Huaxing Records was not to be outdone and launched a counterattack, which directly brought forward the belated competition between Tam and Zhang by several years.

Joseph Koo said: "In fact, Mr. Zhai has given them enough face. Otherwise, if they had submitted "Pearl of the Orient" or "Tomorrow Will Be Better" for the competition, plus this song "Blue and White Porcelain", there would not be room for other singers in the top three of the Dragon and Tiger Chart this year."

Zhai Yuan nodded with a smile, thinking to himself that he didn't know about this award in advance, otherwise he would definitely have participated.

He turned to look at Zhou Huimin who was standing beside him and said, "Did you hear that? Master didn't even put his own songs into the competition to support you. You must work hard in the future!"

Zhou Huimin nodded repeatedly with emotion, looking at Zhai Yuan with watery eyes.

Joseph Koo smiled and said, "Ms. Zhou's singing skills still need to be improved. The reason why two votes were abstained this time is because your singing skills are a little weak, otherwise you would have received all the votes."

Huang Zhan nudged his old friend who didn't understand the situation with his elbow and said, "Miss Zhou has Qiao Wang as her master, when will it be your turn to lecture her?"

Gu Jiahui shrugged his shoulders and stopped talking, but he felt in his heart that it was a bit of a waste to use Zhai Yuan's song "Blue and White Porcelain" to pick up girls. If a talented singer was used instead, the effect would definitely be better.

…………

PolyGram's publicity department began to take action in the afternoon.

A motley crowd of fans gathered at the entrance of Xiangjiang Radio Station, pointing out that the Dragon and Tiger Chart was unfair and demanding that the radio station play the original song of "Blue and White Porcelain".

"Please rest assured, dear listeners, the Dragon and Tiger Chart selection has always attached great importance to credibility. This year's champion song "Blue and White Porcelain" has not been broadcast on the radio due to the time of submission, but the full version will be released to everyone in the annual chart program tomorrow."

The production director of the radio station personally stepped forward to calm the public anger, with a smile on his face but cursing in his heart.

The flopped 91 Entertainment participated in the competition just a few days before the list was announced and inexplicably won the championship award. After the judges selected "Blue and White Porcelain", the songs on the list for that week had just been played, so the audience had no time to hear the song and only the title of the song was announced to the outside world.

Anyone in this situation would think there is something fishy going on.

As the fans made such a commotion, reporters swarmed over like flies.

The entrance of Xiangjiang Radio Station suddenly became as lively as a vegetable market.

Yin Jianxin, the director of the Gwailo Broadcasting Department, looked down from the second-floor window with an angry look on his face: "The program will be broadcast tomorrow. Are these people in a hurry to reincarnate? They can't wait even one night and come here to cause trouble?"

The staff around him were timid and dared not say a word.

Yin Jianxin closed the blinds and turned around to ask the person in charge of Channel 2, "What happened to the judges of your show? Did they accept bribes?"

The person in charge of the second station said with a bitter face: "Of course not, Director, you can listen to the song "Blue and White Porcelain", the quality is absolutely no problem."

"You are so old-fashioned! That song is in Mandarin. It's hard enough for me to learn Cantonese in Hong Kong, and I have to distinguish between Taishanese, Minnan and Hakka. What the hell is going on!"

Yin Jianxin cursed, deeply feeling the malice of the Chinese language system, and said: "Anyway, when the program is broadcast tomorrow, if public opinion is still so chaotic and affects the ratings of Channel 2, You, get out!"

The assistant director at the side glanced at the person in charge of Channel 2 and said, "Director, I think the main problem this time is the time when Blue and White Porcelain was submitted for review, which also exposed the shortcomings of the Dragon and Tiger List program. If it is not corrected, this problem will occur again next time."

Yin Jianxin glanced at him and motioned for him to continue.

"Since the audience feels that the judges are unfair, why not just give them the right to choose? In the future, cancel the judges and let the audience vote themselves. That way, the world will be peaceful."

The assistant director went on to say, "For songs like "Blue and White Porcelain" this time, we won't need them to submit them for selection in the future. We will ask listeners to write letters or call in to compile a list of songs to be played in this episode. Our program has nothing to do with the record companies from beginning to end, so no one can complain..."

…………

April Fools' Day just passed.

Hong Kong Radio finally announced the results of this year's Chinese Songs Dragon and Tiger Chart.

At the same time, the radio station announced to the outside world that it would cancel the judging system for music programs and replace it with audience voting to ensure fairness.

Zhai Yuan never imagined that his sudden inspiration to copy a song "Blue and White Porcelain" would cause a series of chain reactions in the music world.

He called Huang Zhan and said, "I'm sorry, Uncle Zhan, I've caused you and Uncle Hui to lose their jobs."

Huang Zhan laughed heartily on the phone and said, "Hong Kong Radio only gives us a few hundred dollars symbolically every month. They are so stingy. We haven't wanted to do anything for them for a long time, but we can't refuse because of the relationship. You have saved all of us this time." He hung up the phone and walked out of the office.

Zhai Yuan stood in the company lobby and clapped his hands: "Come on, come on! Everyone, look at me!"

The employees in the hall looked up blankly.

Even managers like Shi Nansheng poked their heads out of their offices, wondering what this boss was going to do next.

Zhai Yuan pulled Zhou Huimin to stand next to him and said proudly, "I have something to announce. My apprentice Huimin's song "Blue and White Porcelain" won the annual championship of this year's Dragon and Tiger Chart. Everyone applaud!"

Cack, cack, applause broke out.

Li Lizhen and Bai Anni looked at Zhou Huimin with envy. Ye Yuqing next to her snorted and pouted her lips so much that they touched her nose.

Zhou Huimin had never been stared at by so many people before. She lowered her head a little embarrassedly, but the corners of her mouth rose unconsciously, and her vanity was greatly satisfied.

at noon.

Under the watchful eyes of music fans, the annual Dragon and Tiger Chart has finally released this year's top ten songs.

Zhai Yuan asked someone to get a radio and put it in the conference room.

A group of slackers in the company quickly came over and congratulated Miss Zhou one after another. Even Shi Nansheng and Xu Ke put down their work to join in the fun.

Wang Jin smiled foolishly, pulled Zhai Yuan aside and asked, "Mr. Zhai, how much did you spend on this award? I'm also chasing after a little singer recently, I'll buy one for her if it's cheap."

Zhai Yuan squinted at him and asked, "Do you know how to greet people in Northeastern dialect?"

Wang Jin shook his head in confusion.

Zhai Yuan said: "Get out of here!"

FM 94.0 MHz, Hong Kong Radio Station .

The show has already started airing.

The radio station makes evaluations counting backwards from the tenth song, and the host will also read an advertisement or insert news or traffic information from time to time.

It was just ten songs, but it lasted two hours.

"Dear listeners, next up is the second-place song of this year's Dragon and Tiger Chart, "Smile Again Maria"! Since this song was broadcast on the radio last year, we have received many calls from listeners asking when Zhang Xueyou will release the album. According to first-hand information obtained by our station, "Smile Again Maria" will be released in April as the first hit song at the same time as Xueyou's first album "Smile". Listeners who like it will be able to buy it in major music stores soon..."

On the radio station, the host kept chattering.

Apart from taking taxis, Zhai Yuan hardly ever listened to the radio. He felt that this crappy program was really wasted time.

He yawned and took the time to ask Wang Jin beside him: "Hey Fatty, how is the filming of your third-level movie going?"

Wang Jin said: "It's almost finished, only a few location scenes are left, and with post-production editing, it will be released in May."

Zhai Yuan nodded, and then asked about the progress of several other main creators. Their respective projects were basically moving forward.

At this time, the radio host had just finished introducing Zhang Xueyou and his hit song.

Soon, the radio started playing the passionate prelude of "Smile Again Maria", which then turned into a melodious tune, and Zhang Xueyou's rich and textured voice followed.

"Let the long hair fall like clouds, soft and gentle like gauze, slowly falling down, in the long silver light, with the cool breeze blowing, the curtain is lowered, and it blows like a wedding dress..."

Zhai Yuan had never heard this contemporary song by the God of Songs before, and at first listen it seemed just so-so.

After all, he had seen the God of Songs at his peak. At that time, Zhang Xueyou had not yet formed a distinct style in both singing skills and voice.

But the people in the conference room had never seen a mountain.

Zhang Xueyou sang just two lines before his voice caught their attention and even the sound of their conversation died down.

"Is there such a big gap between the second and third place? I thought it was just another cliché song."

"The voice of this newcomer sounds quite soulful, a bit like Kwan Ching Kit's style."

"The woman singing the harmony has a very familiar voice. It seems to be Priscilla Chan who won the Golden Melody Award last year."

After the song was over, almost everyone in the conference room gave positive comments.

Everyone looked at Zhai Yuan and Zhou Huimin who was sitting next to him: You can get first place, and you say you didn’t spend any money?

Zhai Yuan was playing with Zhou Huimin's little hands under the table. He raised his eyelids to meet everyone's suspicious gaze and sneered.

It seems like you have never seen the world!
If Jay Chou at his peak, plus Vincent Fang at his peak, can't beat Ye Hanliang (Karon), the second-tier lyricist of "Smile Again Maria", I'm going to commit suicide by swallowing shit!

…………

At the same time, PolyGram Records.

Zheng Donghan and several senior executives were also listening to Hong Kong Radio.

Zhang Xueyou finished singing the song.

Everyone spoke one after another.

"Hey! Compared with the previous eight songs, Xueyou's song is undoubtedly the best, and Xiaoxian's harmony is also perfect. It's not a shady plot that they can't get first place?"

"The Dragon and Tiger Chart has completely lost its credibility this time. No wonder they changed the system to allow audiences to vote. I guess they want to restore their reputation."

"Don't jump to conclusions so quickly. Let's hear who this Zhou Huimin is from."

Gold medal agent Chen Ziqiang said: "What if he really is a dark horse? There is no shortage of geniuses in this world!"

Zheng Donghan snorted and said, "How can there be so many geniuses!"

Chen Ziqiang smiled and said, "It's Zhai Yuan from Jiuyi Entertainment."

Everyone was speechless for a moment; even Zheng Donghan was choked.

Bridge King Zhai Yuan is now almost becoming a psychological shadow for PolyGram.

In recent years, the Hong Kong music scene was originally dominated by Tam Wing-lin under the company. However, Zhang Guorong's song "Monica" suddenly became a hit, followed by several consecutive hits. In addition, his screen image in the two "A Better Tomorrow" movies was added, which snatched a large piece of the pie from Tam Wing-lin.

The shadow of Zhai Yuan can be seen in all of this. He can be said to have made Zhang Guorong famous. Even Chen Shufang's status in Huaxing is rising steadily, and she dares to confront Shen Dianxia directly.

The only thing to be thankful for is that artists from 91 Entertainment cannot enter the Taiwan market, otherwise Tan Yonglin’s sales there will be affected.

Chen Ziqiang rubbed his temple and said, "Fortunately, he doesn't seem to be interested in music. Otherwise, if he gets serious, the music industry might become like the current film industry, with three major players competing against each other."

Today, PolyGram is the only dominant company in the music industry, similar to Jiahe in the film industry. The remaining company, Huaxing, is similar to Silver Princess and slightly inferior. The rest of the record companies, big and small, are mostly artists who have transformed into bosses, and the capital backing behind them is not strong enough, so they cannot get much of the market.

Zheng Donghan said angrily: "After all, a person's energy is limited, and he also has to take care of his film career. Maybe "Pearl of the Orient" and "A Better Tomorrow" are already his peak. It's common for him to run out of ideas."

Chen Ziqiang turned up the volume of the radio and said, "It's time to introduce Zhou Huimin. If she really has the ability, I will consider signing her."

After the host on the radio finished reading an advertisement, the program entered its finale.

"Dear listeners, now it's finally time to announce the champion of our Dragon and Tiger Chart. This song "Blue and White Porcelain" is really amazing. Registration was only accepted three days before the competition ended, and it won the championship. This has never happened in the history of the Dragon and Tiger Chart. But this is not the most amazing thing. The real amazing thing is the lead singer of this song, Ms. Zhou Huimin. The information shows that she just turned 18 this year. According to the laws of the Hong Kong government, she is still an adult..."

In the PolyGram conference room, Zheng Donghan and his group's eyes popped out.

Eighteen years old? You don't even want to be on the Dragon and Tiger List?

In the radio station, the long-winded host was still chattering: "...But! Dear listeners! Do you think that Miss Zhou Huimin is the most sharp because she won the championship at the age of 18? Of course not! What we really want to introduce is the lyricist and composer of this song "Blue and White Porcelain". First of all, I would like to ask everyone, is there any musician in Hong Kong who is so talented that he can make an 18-year-old new singer the champion? Well! I will give you ten seconds to think about it..."

Zheng Donghan cursed with a dark face: "Can you file a complaint against this idiot host?"

Chen Ziqiang thought about it seriously and said, "Wong James is not qualified. Joseph Koo? Lai Siu-tin? Could it be Wang Fuling?"

The host quickly revealed the answer, and this time he didn't keep anyone in suspense: "That's right! He is the talented musician Zhai Yuan, who has been active in the film and music circles in the past two years and is called the youngest superstar by his fans! According to first-hand information obtained by our station, Miss Zhou Huimin turned out to be Mr. Zhai's direct disciple. No wonder she was favored by Mr. Zhai this time. Without further ado, let's listen to the song "Blue and White Porcelain" written and composed by Mr. Zhai Yuan..."

Zheng Donghan, Chen Ziqiang, Feng Tianzhi: "..."

Why didn't I guess it was him!

On the radio.

The first tune of the ensemble of guzheng, xylophone and castanets comes out.

Zheng Donghan swallowed back the anger that was about to come out of his mouth.

Refreshing.

Everyone here is a musician, and appreciation is a basic skill.

What musical instruments are used in the Hong Kong and Taiwan music scene at this time?
Bass, electric guitar, drum set...Except for opera troupes like the Beijing, Yue, and Yue operas, no one has heard traditional classical instrumental music for many years.

Along with the elegant and unique accompaniment, Zhou Huimin's gentle singing voice also sounded:

"The blue and white strokes on the blank are thick and then light, the peony painted on the bottle is like your first makeup, the sandalwood fragrance comes through the window and I understand your thoughts, the brush is halfway put down here on the rice paper..."

Chen Ziqiang listened to the beginning and took a deep breath with regret: "It's a pity that this girl's singing skills are not worthy of this level of composition."

…………

Nine One Entertainment.

As Zhou Huimin's singing sounded on the radio, the office fell silent.

The song is over.

Zhai Yuan looked around at the people who had doubted him just now, and there were only two words in his eyes: Are you convinced?

(End of this chapter)