Chinese Entertainment Intelligence King

Chapter 334 On the night of the ceremony, all the women vied for the emperor's favor, and Fan Xiaopang outshone everyone.

At 7:30 PM, the Weibo Night officially began.

This time slot is mainly to accommodate the satellite TV stations broadcasting the Weibo Night live. At 7 PM, all satellite TV stations must rebroadcast "News Broadcast".

Therefore, these days, any ceremony or event broadcast live on satellite TV starts at 7:30.

However, the ceremony officially started at 7:30 p.m., and the previous red-light district interviews and behind-the-scenes footage had already been released in large quantities on Weibo and Tudou.com since the afternoon.

By the time of the Weibo Night live broadcast, there were more than a dozen related topics trending on Weibo.

Currently, Weibo is still primarily a client-based platform with fewer than 100 million users. Although it is known for its efficiency, it still lags behind the mobile era.

In addition, since the trending topics list has only been launched for a short time, resources and attention are relatively concentrated, and the topics on the list have a certain period of lingering popularity. In order to increase the value and influence of the trending topics, Weibo also tends to keep some trending topics on the list longer to increase their popularity.

Therefore, the information on the current trending topics list does not update very quickly.

Updates are counted in hours. If there are no special circumstances, a regular trending topic can stay on the hot search list for half a day or a day without any problem. More popular ones can often stay on for two or three days.

Some particularly popular topics, along with related topics, can remain on the list for more than a week, though their rankings may vary.

That's great, it fits the current pace of the internet perfectly.

Internet users grow up little by little. Before the 3G era even arrived, many people couldn't accept the speed and pace of 5G or 6G.

At the same time, this move also greatly enhanced the status and influence of trending topics.

Making it onto Weibo's trending topics is like a huge advertisement. While it might not be known across the entire internet, it can significantly boost one's fame on the Weibo platform.

Currently, many people have already benefited from this, and as Weibo continues to develop, many will consider it an honor to trend on Weibo.

Once that happens, there will be many more ways to play with Weibo's trending topics.

Putting everything else aside, whether they trend on social media or not, and what kind of trending topics they do trend on, these two points alone can control most celebrities in the entertainment industry.

Returning to the Weibo Night event, given the current trending topic mechanism, more than a dozen topics were already trending before the ceremony even started, demonstrating its immense popularity.

Considering the loyal users of Weibo, fans of various celebrities, netizens who are just watching the drama, users of Tudou.com, and viewers of TV stations, the number of people paying attention to Weibo Night at this moment will be in the tens of millions.

This is not comparable in scale to CCTV's Spring Festival Gala, but it is enough to surpass the New Year's Eve galas of ordinary satellite TV stations.

Compared to other internet celebrations that are more online and smaller-scale at the time, it is overwhelmingly superior.

At least at this moment, other internet company bosses who were paying attention to Weibo Night were both shocked by the scale and spectacle of the event and vehemently condemning Yan Li for cheating.

While Weibo Night is touted as an online gala, it is actually more of an entertainment extravaganza orchestrated by entertainment tycoon Yan Li using his connections, in addition to Weibo itself.

With the hottest internet social platform in one hand and half of the entertainment industry in the other, who can compete with that?

There's really no way to fight!
Yan Li sat upright in the center of the first row below the stage, watching the six hosts on stage for the opening.

Zhu Jun, Zhou Tao, He Dan, Li Xiang, Liu Yiwei, Chun Ni

A strong contender for the top male and female hosts on CCTV, the most famous entertainment host, former top female host of Hunan TV, a well-known host, and the top female host of Beijing TV.

This is the kind of content that's usually covered in the Spring Festival Gala or other national events, and the audience is filled with stars from mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

Yi An Group, Huayi Group, Orange Sky Group, Hairun Group... Four of the four leading actresses and two leading men came, all four of the top male stars were present, and more than a dozen popular artists from Hong Kong and Taiwan came. Those who were not popular enough were not invited.

With several high-ranking Weibo executives, entrepreneurs, celebrities, and special figures in the first row, many so-called A-list stars squeezed into the third row.

Actresses like Yang Mi, who aren't famous enough and have children to support, barely managed to stay in the fourth row thanks to the influence of actress Yi An.

Unless you get to go on stage or there are special circumstances, this position rarely gets any screen time. The fifth and sixth rows behind are basically just there for the fun of it all; most of the time, you can only post a Weibo to show off.

From this perspective, the guest lineup for Weibo Night tonight is actually a bit overwhelmed.

The third or fourth row of seats is sufficient for regular guests. The first and second rows are for popular guests, the third and fourth rows are for well-known guests, and at most, one more row is reserved for casual guests. This is cost-effective and ensures that the guests do not come for nothing.

But since it was the first time, there was a lack of experience, and Yan Li also intended to make it bigger.

Waste is waste, that's the feeling of luxury we want. First, let's make Weibo Night famous, raise the bar, and drive our competitors to despair.

After the opening ceremony, Weibo Chairman and CEO Yan Li took the stage to deliver a speech.

For the first Weibo Night, we still need to make Yan Li and Weibo's presence felt. No one will read the speech if we leave it until the end, so we must say a few words at the very beginning.

Yan Li knew that this kind of segment was not very popular, so his speech was not long and was relatively brief.

"Distinguished guests, dear Weibo users and television viewers, good evening..."

Yan Li, dressed in a well-tailored suit, stood tall and straight on the stage, delivering a spirited speech that drew the attention of the entire audience and even everyone watching the Weibo Night event to him alone.

At today's Weibo Night, Yan Li, as the founder of Weibo, was the absolute center of attention, surrounded by stars and basking in the spotlight.

A person's charm is often influenced by many factors.

In today's environment, Yan Li's wealth, status, and reputation are on full display. Every move he makes exudes the charm and style of a successful person, drawing admiration, envy, or even attraction from the audience.

Three rows below the stage, Huo Siyan stared intently at the stage, nudged Li Xiaolu, and whispered, "Think of a way to lure them to Palm Springs today."

Yan Li saw that she was alright, but given that Li Xiaolu generally only went to places she trusted, the Palm Springs apartment was their long-term base.

Li Xiaolu's eyes flickered: "How do we steal it?"

There were too many people here today, and she wasn't even sure how many of them were related to Yan Li. It would be difficult to lead them to Palm Springs.

Huo Siyan thought for a moment, then gritted her teeth and said, "Let's find a way. Didn't you make a mascot costume for Christmas? We can modify it."

"So wild?"

Li Xiaolu looked at Huo Siyan in surprise. This woman always said she was crazy, but when it really mattered, she was even more willing to go all out.

"Just tell me, are you going to do it or not?"

"alley."

Li Xiaolu glanced at Yan Li on the stage and said decisively, "This guy is really into it today. Just thinking about certain scenes makes me want to go to the bathroom."

As a fellow third-row player, Wang Ou stared blankly at the stands, then took out his phone and sent a text message to Bai Bing, telling her to go home and wait for orders.

After thinking for a moment, she sent another message to Wu Jiani. It was a pity that Yang Rong wasn't there, otherwise it would have been safer.

In the audience, Jiang Xin, sitting in the fourth row, held her phone, itching to send the message. After thinking for a moment, she sent it anyway.

Given the current situation, she's not favored and has no helpers, so the chances of her successfully taking someone are extremely low. But regardless, she'll give it a try, just in case.

Five rows below the stage, Kim, along with Wen Yongshan and Baby, watched Yan Li on stage and couldn't help but sigh.

"You don't know how powerful Yan Sheng is until you go to the mainland."

Qin Lan didn't want to relive the blog scandal, and considering that she still had to film "Beauty's Rival in Palace" later, Yan Li didn't force her. He arranged for Kim to bring people over to ride the coattails of the yacht scandal.

The effect was quite good. It trended on Weibo before the ceremony, which helped Wen Yongshan and her partner gain a lot of followers, and also attracted many gossip netizens who came to watch the drama unfold.

This excited Kim. Wen Yongshan and her partner were somewhat famous in Hong Kong, but everyone with eyes could see that the real future lay in the mainland.

So Kim has always wanted to lead a team to open up the mainland market, but this is not easy.

Mainland artists are rising in popularity, while the aura of Hong Kong and Taiwan artists has been declining. Established and popular artists are still relatively easy to deal with, but newcomers and minor actors may not be able to compete with the mainland.

Many young actors from Hong Kong and Taiwan go north full of confidence, only to return home looking dejected.

She occasionally makes appearances and gains some popularity, but her subsequent resources don't keep up, and she soon fades into obscurity.

Although the yacht scandal is unpleasant, at least it has given the outside world a label that will be remembered.

That's pretty good. Many celebrities who come from humble backgrounds started out by relying on certain labels; otherwise, they wouldn't have resorted to so many outrageous tactics and trying to ride on the coattails of others' fame.

"Sister Kim, what do you think, should we...?"

Baby's eyes sparkled, eager to try. Wen Yongshan glanced at Yan Li on the stage and then looked at Kim with a hint of anticipation.

With the yacht scandal breaking out, coupled with shared interests and the fact that it involved two people, Kim had a fairly good understanding of the situation between the two men and Yan Li.

In her view, the opportunity was practically nonexistent, but it was a chance to make her presence felt.

Yan Li must still have some novelty about the two of them, otherwise even if the yacht door was useful, he wouldn't have arranged for the two of them to come over.

Kim didn't really expect Wen Yongshan and Yan Li to stay together for long, or even gain his favor; it was too difficult.

Even Xiong Dailin was in a precarious situation with Aaron Kwok, not to mention Yan Li, who had countless women around her.

But since Yan Li's attitude is still pretty good right now, they can try to get as much benefit as possible. If they can keep Yan Li happy, a little bit of money between his fingers will be enough for Baby and her husband to eat and drink their fill.

"Be good, and be sure to know your limits. Fine, I'll figure it out for you two."

Kim gave them a few instructions, but still wasn't at ease, so he decided to personally discuss with the two of them how to send the text messages.

In the first row below the stage, Li Bingbing glanced at Fan Xiaopang, thought for a moment, and also sent a text message. Not only did he send it, but he also taunted Fan Xiaopang by waving his phone over when Fan Xiaopang looked over.

Whether you manage to snag it or not, it'll still annoy you!
Fan Xiaopang chuckled and crossed his legs, giving the impression of ignoring him.

Whether it's someone present today or someone like Lan or Xuan who's watching TV at home and secretly plotting to steal the opportunity, if she's here today, Yan Li can't possibly leave with anyone else.

Not to mention she has absolute confidence in herself, even if Yan Li is temporarily deceived, she can still forcefully take him back.

With her peach blossom eyes, she glanced at Yan Li on the stage. "That suit is quite nice. I won't let that bastard take it off... not the upper part."

"...Finally, I wish everyone a prosperous and auspicious 2009, and I hope tonight will become another memorable moment for you all in 2008. Thank you."

On stage, Yan Li finished speaking his last few words, bowed, and stepped down from the stage, amidst thunderous applause.

The host took charge and began the awards ceremony and performances.

Yan Li returned to his seat and took out his phone, which was covered with text messages. Luckily, he was used to keeping the sound and vibration off during meetings.

Yeah, they all went all out.

Yan Li was somewhat surprised that these women had all become aroused. What was even more noteworthy was that some actresses who had no prior connection with him were now blatantly extending olive branches.

This is Weibo Night, not a concubine selection night. Can you please be a little more reserved?

Yan Li was speechless and then put down his phone to focus on the stage. The first award had already been given out: "Person of the Year," and the winner was Yao Ming.

Several major events this year, including the Beijing Olympics, are worth mentioning. Of course, in terms of popularity, Liu Xiang's performance was more controversial, but ultimately more negative. Yao Ming receiving this award is a relatively safe choice. Although he wasn't present, his relatives were, and he also sent a video message.

Next were the Male Athlete of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year, special awards for Olympic years, which were won by Lin Dan and Zhang Yining, both of whom were present at the event. The award presenters were high-ranking officials from the Chinese Olympic Committee.

After these three awards were presented, singer Tan Jing came on stage to perform a song related to the Beijing Olympics, which served as a way of concluding the Olympic segment.

Then there were two awards in May, which were quite touching and inspirational, and the songs were similar.

After these two major events, things become more entertainment-oriented.

[Actor of the Year] Ge You; [Actress of the Year] Li Bingbing
[Actor of the Year in a TV Series] Li Youbin, [Actress of the Year in a TV Series] Shu Chang

[Hong Kong & Taiwan Male Actor of the Year] Zhen Zidan; [Hong Kong & Taiwan Female Actor of the Year] Shu Dazui
[Most Popular Actor of the Year] Huang Xiaoming, [Breakthrough Actor of the Year] Deng Chao, [Potential Newcomer of the Year] Yang Mi

[Male Singer of the Year] Chou Chieh-lun, [Female Singer of the Year] Tsai Yi-lin, [Potential Singer of the Year] Jam Hsiao
[TV Series of the Year]: *Crossing the Guandong*

[Film of the Year]: Painted Skin

[Song of the Year]: "Welcome to Beijing"

Well, the awards are mostly given out in bulk, so you can't expect to win every prize, but we try to make sure everyone gets a share and that everyone has something to gain.

To be fair, although there may be some shady dealings with the awards, those who win generally have some plausible reasons.

Among the film actors, Ge You was the box office champion of the year with "If You Are the One," proving that he is still going strong despite his age. Li Bingbing has two blockbuster films, "The Forbidden Kingdom" and "Painted Skin," and also won the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress.

Among TV drama actors, Li Youbin became a huge hit with "Crossing the Guandong" and "Bright Sword," making him one of the most popular TV drama actors. Shu Chang has several works airing, including "Magic Phone" and "Legend of Chu Liuxiang 2," and is currently enjoying great popularity, making her a representative of young actors.

Among Hong Kong and Taiwan actors, Donnie Yen benefited from her close relationship with Yi An, but she also had the achievement of "Ip Man". As for Shu Da Zui, needless to say, the competition among many Hong Kong actresses has greatly decreased after the X-ray scandal. "If You Are the One" is the most popular, so it is not difficult for her to rise to the top.

Huang Xiaoming is currently enjoying immense popularity, and Deng Chao is making rapid progress. With various parties intentionally creating momentum for them to compete for the title of "Number One Male Star in Mainland China," they are naturally destined for numerous honors.

Yang Mi is purely a family member, but she performed well. If there's any chance to promote someone, it's definitely a family member.

There's little controversy about who will be the singer of the year; Zhou and Cai Hong are hot commodities, while Xiao is on a good run.

Most importantly, all of the above-mentioned people, except for Zhou Jielun, attended the Weibo Night event, which is definitely a plus.

Even though she couldn't attend, Zhou Jielun sent a video message, saying that she's really become incredibly popular this year. Her Olympic promotion even led to the saying "Zhou half the world," meaning she can't compete with anyone else.

A few works have inevitably attracted some discussion, but there's no question of any behind-the-scenes manipulation.

"Crossing the Guandong" and "Welcome to Beijing" are definitely the least controversial, while "Painted Skin" will inevitably benefit from its home-field advantage.

However, in terms of both box office and word-of-mouth, "Painted Skin" is indeed the highest-performing commercial film of the year. Films with better word-of-mouth have lower box office, while those with higher box office have terrible word-of-mouth.

The subsequent awards were all given by Weibo accounts, including ordinary netizens, media accounts, and experts in related fields.

After these awards and performances were presented, it was time for the most prestigious awards on Weibo: Weibo King and Weibo Queen.

The two awards were won by Liu Huohua and Fan Xiaopang.

The former, due to her extreme activity on Weibo, has become one of the most popular stars on Weibo, thus winning the crown.

The latter is one of the earliest celebrities to join and has the largest number of fans. Its data in all aspects is not bad, and it has won the top spot.

Weibo King is relatively easy to predict, Liu Huohua has a clear advantage, and Weibo Queen Fan Xiaopang's victory was somewhat lucky.

Because Wang Fei and Huo Siyan, who are very active on Weibo, were once strong contenders for this honor, and the data of the three people had their own strengths and weaknesses, making it difficult to clearly determine the winner.

Wang Fei declined to attend the Weibo Night event because he didn't want to be in the limelight, which is equivalent to him automatically giving up.

Huo Siyan's disadvantage lies in the fact that her fame and influence are far inferior to Fan Xiaopang's. In the internal Weibo poll, Fan won by an overwhelming margin.

This year is the first edition, and many of the selection methods are relatively simple, such as Weibo King and Queen being purely based on data. However, next year we will definitely introduce some other selection mechanisms, such as popularity, fan growth, platform discussion, and even the number and duration of trending topics.

This gives popular celebrities a greater advantage, while hard-working models like Liu Huohua and Huo Siyan are less competitive.

Fortunately, Huo Siyan didn't know any of this, otherwise she would have been glaring at Fan Xiaopang with fury.

But it's pretty much the same now, because Yan Li personally presented the Weibo King and Weibo Queen awards.

Furthermore, the award trophy was not the previous crystal trophy, but two crowns, one for men exuding a powerful aura and the other for women, both gorgeous and exquisite, making a grand impression.

Many people gritted their teeth as they watched Fan Xiaopang bow slightly, have the crown placed on his head by Yan Li's hands, and then stand tall and proud.

What are you showing off for!
Some with good memories recalled that when Fan Xiaopang signed with Yi An, Yan Li also gave her a crown, and at the time they said that Fan Xiaopang and Yan Li were very ambitious.

Years later, this scene was repeated. Yan Li had become an industry leader, and Fan Xiaopang was incredibly famous. Ignoring Liu Huohua, who was just passing by, the scene looked more like a coronation ceremony that Yan Li had prepared for Fan Xiaopang.

Some people are mesmerized and obsessed with shipping couples, while others are driven to the brink of madness and internally spew out profanities.

Fan Xiaopang seemed to sense something, and held his head high, thinking, "You bunch of bastards, you'll be furious!"

Yan Li remained unmoved. It was truly just a coincidence; he hadn't run out of ideas to resort to the same old routine over and over again.

Using a crown as an award trophy was predetermined when the titles of Weibo King and Weibo Queen were established, and the same applies if Wang Fei and Huo Siyan were chosen instead.

After the awards ceremony for Weibo King and Weibo Queen was held, it also marked the start of the countdown to Weibo Night.

After a couple of events and a closing speech, the first Weibo Night came to a successful conclusion.

Assistant Ding Feng jogged over to report to Yan Li.

By the end of the event, nearly thirty related trending topics had appeared on Weibo Night, resulting in a significant increase in traffic data across various platforms, including Tianya and Tieba.

The ratings statistics for Beijing TV have not yet been released, but based on experience, they won't be low. Even if it doesn't rank among the top three in the same period, it's at least in the top three.

Tudou.com underestimated the number of online viewers, causing the live stream to experience severe buffering and nearly crashing at one point. This forced Tudou.com to limit the number of viewers and allow users to watch the replay afterwards, and they are now being criticized.

Yan Li shook his head; he had never been optimistic about Tudou.com's live streaming in the first place.

These days, video websites also have some so-called live streaming events, but they are not large in scale and are barely considered to be going smoothly.

However, given the scale of Weibo Night, Tudou.com's current technology and capacity are simply insufficient to handle a live broadcast. Therefore, Yan Li's initial idea was for Tudou.com to cooperate by uploading highlights videos and then posting a pre-recorded broadcast afterwards.

In this way, although it is slower than live streaming, video websites also have their own institutional advantages.

For example, features like quick replay, skipping and pausing, and online discussions are much more convenient than watching TV, and you can still get a lot of benefits from them.

As a result, Tudou.com became too arrogant, or perhaps due to recent pressure from Youku, and lost its sense of proportion, ultimately making a big mistake.

However, setting aside the issues with Tudou.com, judging from the feedback from all parties so far, Weibo Night can be considered a great success.

Moreover, this is just the live broadcast of the ceremony; there will be a series of follow-up events and further developments to expand the influence of Weibo Night.

Satisfied, Yan Li instructed a senior executive to return to Weibo to oversee the event, while he personally saw off the guests who had come to show their support.

Some guests gave a token amount, while others were simply there to show their support and express their gratitude. It was only polite to give them a gift in return.

Seeing that Yan Li was constantly sending people away, many people with ulterior motives stopped leaving and prepared to snatch people away.

Huo Siyan pulled Li Xiaolu away from Yan Liyuan. The two of them dared not be exposed, so they planned to wait for an opportunity to make their move.

Jiang Xin hesitated and didn't dare to get too close. Her relationship with Yan Li was not a secret to many people, but it was not made public either, and she was hesitant because of the people coming and going.

Wang Ou was the most ruthless. She wasn't afraid of revealing her hand or facing controversy, so while some people hesitated and Fan Xiaopang hadn't reacted yet, she seized the opportunity when Yan Li was giving someone away and made the first move.

"Today's ceremony was a great success. I had Bai Bing host a celebration banquet at home and invited Jia Ni over. I can also call Yang Rong later."

"Ouch!"

Yan Li's eyelids twitched slightly. One, two, three, four, let's say three and a half. The temptation was really strong.

Just as he was about to speak, his arm was grabbed by a hand. Fan Xiaopang openly linked arms with Yan Li and whispered to Wang Ou.

"I'll count to three, then get lost."

Wang Ou was somewhat unconvinced: "You're being too domineering."

Fan Xiaopang narrowed his peach blossom eyes, his gaze dangerous, and skipped straight to "two."

"Fine, you can leave then."

She can mess with Wang Ou, but she really can't afford to offend Fan Xiaopang. In fact, she relies on him for many of her resources, so she's really not tough.

As soon as Wang Ou left, Fan Xiaopang, because Yan Li still had to see the guests off, didn't continue to hold her arm. Instead, he stood next to her, acting like the hostess.

Judging from this situation, Huo Siyan knew that she probably had no chance, and forcing a conversation would only humiliate her.

Still dissatisfied with Fan Xiaopang, she went up to him and called him "brother-in-law," which disgusted him. However, Fan Xiaopang didn't even look at her, which made Huo Siyan very angry.

Jiang Xin also gave up hope. She pretended to greet him normally, gave Yan Li a resentful glance, and then left.

Kim and her group, who were lurking in the corner, didn't even bother to approach. Seeing that things weren't going well, they simply left through another door.

The boldest and most confident one was Li Bingbing, who looked at Fan Xiaopang with a smile.

"Are you sure you can manage on your own? Or can I help you?"

Yan Li's eyes lit up: "Okay."

Fan Xiaopang pinched him in anger, then glared at Li Bingbing and said, "Get lost."

Li Bingbing was just being annoying. He was happy to see Fan Xiaopang unhappy, so he took a step as if to chase Ren Quan away. But when the two of them weren't paying attention, he patted Yan Li's butt and then ran away.

Fan Xiaopang was furious. "This woman gets more and more slutty as she gets older."

"That's too much, I'll go touch it back."

Yan Li was also angry, but Fan Xiaopang grabbed his tie and said, "You're not allowed to go anywhere. Come home with me."

"Okay, but you have to wear the Christmas outfit I bought you?"

"Huh? Don't you not celebrate Western holidays?"

"There are some holidays I'd like to experience."

　(7000/194000)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)