After offending capital, my songs became more and more popular.

Chapter 213 Brightly Colored Flags, Patriotic Sentiments Take Root!

"Oh!!!"

"This song is great!"

"So passionate! Truly passionate!"

"Concise and straightforward, with powerful short sentences, the auditory impact is absolutely explosive!"

"You should learn this chorus from those guys at the Mandarin Music Awards next door!"

……

When Shen Mingen sang the verse of "The Red Flag Fluttering," many trolls in the online live stream were stirring up trouble, saying things like...

This song isn't even that catchy...

This is far inferior to Shen Ming'en's previous works...

【That’s it? 】

[His creative talent has run dry~]

……

There are always some people who don't try to understand the meaning behind a song, don't listen to the story within it, and don't feel the emotions conveyed. They just focus on the chorus, the chorus, and the chorus...

Now, the chorus is out, catchy and powerful, memorable and emotionally resonant. And Shen Ming'en, the singer, looks so sincere and genuine in front of the camera...

Just ask!

now!

What else can the haters say?

But then again...

It's no wonder those haters are stirring things up; the main reason is that Shen Ming'en's "Red Flag Fluttering" has such a unique and impactful melody.

As mentioned before, Shen Ming'en used the mid-to-low range for singing the lyrics of the verses.

When the chorus came, he didn't climb any notes; instead, it was as if he jumped directly into the high register.

The music's range expands, and the melodic line rises sharply, like an emotional outburst, transforming abstract emotions such as "pride" and "excitement" into an auditory impact.

This was specially designed by him and is one of the characteristics of this song. Unexpectedly, it also managed to fool those haters. Fortunately, the final effect was not bad.

【Awesome! 】

Look?

In the adjacent online live stream room, the nearly 100 million viewers watching at the same time were all in an uproar.

It's the National Day holiday right now, and hearing a song like this, full of blessings, gratitude, and sentiment, is incredibly comforting.

On stage, Shen Ming'en continued singing:

……

"The red flag flutters and flutters~"

"The red flag flutters and flutters~"

"The volunteers soared higher and higher like white clouds~"

"The red flag flutters and flutters~"

"The red flag flutters and flutters~"

A young heart never grows old.

……

【Ah ah ah...】

Someone in the neighboring online live stream said:
Unsurprisingly, Shen Ming'en is about to have another song that everyone can sing along to...

This guy said this not only because Shen Ming'en's song "Red Flag Fluttering" is very recognizable and the chorus is very catchy, but also because of the "use scenario"...

Whether they are elders who experienced the revolutionary era or young people who grew up in the new era, they all have their own memories of the "red flag". These memories include the red flag during school anniversaries, the red flag during military parades, or the red flag raised in their hometown. These are all symbols that are shared by all the people.

This "symbolic openness" allows the work to easily adapt to various scenarios, becoming a "common denominator of emotions" that transcends age and social class.

Although many people already have countless melodies in their minds when they think of our five-star red flag before today, after the release of this work, those few lines will still be added to everyone's minds:
"Five-starred red flag, you are my pride; five-starred red flag, I am proud of you!"

And that is the greatest success of this work!

"Ding-dong..."

The gentle interlude melody, combined with Shen Ming'en's singing, made the sincere feelings for the national flag even more intense.

To be honest, Shen Ming'en's arrangement of "The Red Flag Fluttering" is really quite good...

The entire piece uses a stable 4/4 rhythm with a clear pattern of strong and weak beats, like the steps of a group moving forward, subtly conveying the imagery of "unity" and "moving forward."

The string base creates a grand atmosphere, while the addition of popular instruments such as electric guitars and electronic drums enhances its approachability, reflecting both the solemnity of the "national symbol" and the auditory habits of ordinary people.

The climax begins with the dotted rhythm, which breaks the regularity and creates a forward momentum. It retains the sense of ritual while avoiding rigidity, making the audience want to move along with the rhythm and achieving "emotional resonance".

In addition, you can clearly hear some chorus voices added to the chorus. The shift from "solo singing" to collective singing is in line with the logic of "individual emotions merging into national sentiments", which elevates "patriotism" from personal experience to collective consensus!
That's meticulous!

Some netizens practically watched Shen Ming'en as he transcribed the sheet music. When he sang half of it, many people in the comments section had already provided precise "analyses".

You could say that a great Confucian scholar was defending Shen Ming'en, but they couldn't refute what the scholars said.

Who can resist the fact that this song is so beautiful and the emotions it evokes are so genuine?
……

"Oh!!!"

"The Five-Starred Red Flag!"

"Long live the motherland!"

Happy Birthday to our Motherland!

"Ahhhh!!!"

……

When Shen Ming'en finished singing, even on CCTV, the audience was so enthusiastic that they almost wanted to lift the roof off the recording studio.

It's worth mentioning that, since this was an official event, some elderly seniors were invited.

Even these veteran artists couldn't help but feel tears welling up when they heard this piece...

Today's young people are different from those of the past. Having experienced that turbulent era, they have a very special feeling for their country, for their motherland, and for the bright flag fluttering in the wind above Tiananmen Square.

Shen Ming'en's rendition of "The Red Flag Fluttering" was performed in a way that was almost like a "shout," which perfectly satisfied the special emotions in their hearts.

The classic status of this work lies precisely in this...

It uses the language of music to answer the question of "how to put patriotism into practice"!
This work respects the solemnity of the "national symbol" while endowing it with a personal, perceptible warmth; it retains the weight of the era while transcending time and space through the flexibility of artistic expression.

It is not just a song, but also a vehicle that carries the understanding and love of the Chinese people for the "country" in different eras.

This also proves that the most moving expression of patriotism is always the sincere embrace between the "greater self" and the "lesser self"!

"Thank you."

After Shen Ming'en finished singing, he bowed deeply to the audience, to the camera, and especially to the brightly colored flag that everyone was holding high.

That moment...

"Clap clap clap..."

"it is good!"

It's unclear who started it, but everyone in the audience couldn't help but raise their hands to applaud. Even though Shen Ming'en wasn't the first singer to perform, nor would he be the last, he was probably the only one to receive applause from everyone present, including the veteran performers.

This is an encouragement, and even more so, a recognition, since his feelings have already been accurately conveyed to everyone through his singing.

Anyone who feels that emotion can resonate with and empathize with him.
Back then, when the performance ended, the screen was filled with one sentence:

[No wonder he's a spokesperson for revolutionary songs!]

From the Olympics to CCTV's National Day Gala, Shen Ming'en has made his way to where he is today, increasingly proving the nickname that netizens jokingly gave him back in the early days of "Chinese Music Center".

Are you convinced now?

In the online live stream, someone responded to those haters, saying:

Who said my brother didn't deserve to sing the theme song for CCTV?

Who dares say that "The Red Flag Fluttering" isn't worthy of being tonight's theme song?

Why aren't you saying my brother got in through connections now?

……

Sometimes I really can't understand what those haters are thinking. When Shen Mingen's name appeared on CCTV's official announcement of the theme song creation list, the haters said that Shen Mingen might not get a spot and might just be there as a supporting character.
When Shen Ming'en's works were officially selected as two National Day theme songs, they said that Shen Ming'en had used connections, was a nepotism hire, and didn't deserve the position...

What now?
When the song "Red Flag Fluttering" and Shen Ming'en's voice are presented, all the six-eyed flying fish will calm down.

Do you understand the true value of being a "red song spokesperson"?

In short, the moment Shen Ming'en finished singing "Red Flag Fluttering," the discussion and popularity in the online live stream skyrocketed dramatically. According to statistics, on the same video streaming platform as "Chinese Music Center," the number of people watching the live stream at the same time exceeded 150 million!

Two "Chinese Music Awards" aren't enough to compete!

Many people are so engrossed in Shen Ming'en's latest work that they've completely forgotten about this lousy show...

It's a good thing they didn't go back to check...

Otherwise, Director Niu and the others would feel ashamed!
It's worth noting that when Shen Ming'en appeared on CCTV's National Day Gala, the number of viewers watching online at the same time on their end plummeted from 30 million to less than 10 million...

At the peak of Shen Ming'en's performance, their audience dwindled to a mere three million people...

Struggle for position?

A head-to-head competition?

Forget about whether they're worthy or not; they're completely trampled underfoot, not even noticed.

"What should we do..."

"Director, the company called, asking what's going on and why you weren't answering the phone..."

"Director, please say something..."

During the National Day special period of "Chinese Music Music Center: Red Song Season", they were in a panic when faced with such a situation.

Because his popularity plummeted from 30 million to just over 3 million, almost a tenfold decrease, the company called him and started yelling at him...

Knowing he was going to get scolded, Director Niu simply didn't answer the phone, and then the calls were evenly distributed to every member of the production team.

The end result was that a large group of people surrounded Director Niu and took turns questioning him.

"Squeak..."

Faced with this situation, Director Niu gritted his teeth in frustration, but it was a fact that he couldn't compete with others for audience share...

"Director, look at this..."

Just as a staff member was showing Director Niu his phone, which displayed a call from the company, Director Niu suddenly stood up abruptly and shouted in a commanding tone:

"Let's use all the marketing and promotion budget for the next few episodes to boost traffic. Tonight, we're going to go all out against that guy Hajime!"

As soon as these words came out...

"..."

Everyone in the control room was stunned.

“Ber, director, you need to think this through,” a staff member said. “If we use all of this, we won’t have any budget left for marketing and promotion…”

"You fucking idiot... Do you think I don't know?!" Director Niu's lips twitched as he shouted, "Just do what I say! I'll take responsibility for any problems that arise!"

With the viewership plummeting to this point tonight, if this episode doesn't improve at all, let alone the following episodes, it's questionable whether there will even be a next episode.

It's not impossible that the company might temporarily suspend their program in a fit of anger!
Once a show is suspended, that "temporary" suspension can easily turn into an "indefinite" suspension.

Instead of waiting to die, why not take a gamble and try your luck? You might just turn a bicycle into a motorcycle!
"...Okay... fine..."

Since Director Niu has already said all that, what can the staff say?
Do it!

Damn it!

As the hottest phenomenon-level hit variety show in the Chinese entertainment industry right now, although these two episodes were a bit slow, the time difference was short, and with the lingering popularity brought by Shen Mingen, their publicity budget has always been very high.

The funds from the last three phases were all used up at once and invested in major platforms, from video platforms to short video platforms, and they were basically featured on the homepage. This had an immediate effect.

The number of viewers watching their live stream simultaneously began to rise rapidly, almost visibly, at a rate of hundreds of thousands per minute...

It's quite a coincidence that they've just entered the second round of the National Day theme, and Shen Ming'en's performance of "Red Flag Fluttering" has already ended. You know what, the viewership of the National Day special episode of "Chinese Music Music Center: Red Song Season" is really climbing.

In less than ten minutes, the number of people online at the same time had exceeded 20 million, and it was still rising at an alarming rate.

"call……"

Seeing this, Director Niu and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The ringing of the staff's phones also started to decrease significantly...

We've finally stabilized!
But it was at this moment...

Just as the number of viewers in the live stream began to steadily increase, and everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief—before they could even exhale...

"Director...Director!"

The staff member who had been in charge of everything in the online live stream couldn't help but shout at Director Niu again:

"Traffic...traffic is starting to drop again, and it's dropping even more sharply than before!"

As soon as these words came out...

"What?!"

"Your mother!"

"What the hell?!"

"Holy crap..."

“Is this the end?!”

The people in the control room were completely dumbfounded!

What's going on here?!
How much money and effort did they put in to finally get the traffic back up? How come it's starting to drop again in such a short time?!

"...Could it be that Shen Ming'en's second song has started?" one of the people in charge asked.

The words fell...

"..."

The backstage control room of the "Chinese Music Show Center" program was eerily quiet.

Yes, that's right, Shen Ming'en's second theme song, "As You Wish," for CCTV's National Day Gala has begun.

……

(End of this chapter)