Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 104 Setting an Example [Part 1]

Two days later.

A dike in the suburbs of Tianjin.

This embankment is a backup, located a kilometer away from the actual river channel, and is basically just a small earthen slope about two meters high.

Now, a section of the roof, three meters wide and six meters long, has been leveled by the TV station staff and covered with wooden planks to create a temporary stage.

Then there was another ramp, also made of wooden planks, about two meters wide, which extended down the embankment for more than thirty meters, forming an irregular T-shape with the stage on the embankment.

At the bottom of the slope, a small tent was set up.

"This is way too rudimentary!"

Guan Hu stood on the stage, looking down at the audience and grimacing: "The audience has to bring their own chairs, just like when movies were shown in the countryside in the past."

"It's the same now when showing movies in rural areas."

Zhang Yan directed several TV station staff to set up two tables and three chairs on one side of the stage, then called to Guan Hu: "Come on, let's go over the lines again."

Guan Hu walked over, looked at the nameplate on the table that read "Famous Musician Guan Hu," and his face looked like he was constipated: "Brother, we're just setting an example, there's no need to treat people like this, is there?"

"Hey, that's exactly what we're looking for – realism."

Zhang Yan said, "Anyway, the audience doesn't know you. When you're out in the world, you give yourself an identity—look at me today, I'm going to be a guest host, aren't I?"

As he spoke, he directly pressed Guan Hu into the 'output position' and began the final rehearsal of the lines.

As I was typing, the pager went off again.

Zhang Yan took it out and saw that it was the People's Art Theatre's mailroom again, so he ignored it and put the pager back in his waistband.

At this moment, Han Hong came out of the tent, jogged all the way to the top of the slope, stood in front of the microphone and began to read the words softly to the audience.

Zhang Yan listened for a while, then shook his head and said, "Han Hong, this won't work. Why don't you do some exercises in the tent before you go on stage, like squats or something? You'll be out of breath and flustered when you get on stage."

"I see."

Han Hong nodded. She actually had quite a bit of stage experience. In the past, when she went on stage to sing, she was always told not to be nervous. This was the first time she had heard the opposite advice.

She wanted to ask if this would work, but she was worried that Zhang Yan would think she was doubting him, so she silently returned to the tent in the end.

At this moment, Ma Yuan arrived with leaders from relevant departments. Seeing how rudimentary the venue was, the group exchanged bewildered glances, all feeling somewhat...

Although they weren't completely disheartened, they were all a little apprehensive, fearing that Zhang Yan's idea this time wouldn't work.

Ma Yuan hesitated before saying to Zhang Yan, "How about we find some of our TV station employees to act as viewers? At least that would be safer."

"Need not."

Although he knew it was well-intentioned, Zhang Yan still resolutely refused: "If we use our own people, how can we see the effect? ​​We need to recruit audience members on the spot to test the quality of this program!"

Seeing his confidence, Ma Yuan didn't say anything more. At Zhang Yan's request, he randomly pointed to two accompanying department leaders to go on stage and act as judges.

These two could only receive some last-minute training. Fortunately, the main focus was on Zhang Yan and Guan Hu, so they only needed to follow the script.

Once everything was ready, loudspeakers blared from nearby villages, announcing that the television station was coming to the countryside for a performance to comfort and entertain the villagers.

There aren't many entertainment options these days, and besides, November is already the off-season for farming. Before long, villagers, young and old, started arriving one after another.

When the audience was almost seated.

Zhang Yan tested the loudspeaker and announced, "It's a performance, but this isn't a rural performance; it's the preliminary round of a singing competition."

This is a new program that our TV station is preparing to launch. The three people on stage are professional judges, and the audience members are the judges.

After all, as the old saying goes, "the eyes of the masses are discerning." Whether our contestants can advance or participate in the finals on television depends half on the opinions of the judges on stage and half on the opinions of us, the judges in the audience!
What do you all think?!

As Zhang Yan spoke, he pointed the microphone at the audience, and a few people responded, while the vast majority remained silent.

This is the norm for rural performances. If it weren't for village officials leading the way, why would the villagers be so enthusiastic?
Of course, if the performance is truly excellent, the public will not hesitate to applaud and cheer.

The TV station executives, who were sitting in the corner observing the situation, couldn't sit still any longer and were increasingly worried that the project would fail before it even got off the ground.

Fortunately, although Zhang Yan is not a professional host, he is thick-skinned enough.

"Ok!"

He nodded in a mocking manner, then said loudly, "Very good, very energetic! The enthusiastic response from everyone has deafened me so much that I could barely hear anything just now."

A burst of laughter came from the audience, and the atmosphere improved somewhat.

"Alright, enough with the small talk, let me first introduce our professional judges."

Zhang Yan walked over to the judges' table and approached Guan Hu, saying, "This is Mr. Guan Hu, whom we specially invited from Beijing by Tianjin TV. Mr. Guan is about to go south to Hong Kong to challenge the Four Heavenly Kings. It is truly rare that he was able to take time out of his busy schedule. Mr. Guan, could you say a few words to everyone?"

As he spoke, he held the microphone to Guan Hu's mouth.

Guan Hu put on a cool facade, flicked his bangs, crossed his arms, and sneered, "The Four Heavenly Kings might actually number five!"

He cursed inwardly, "What kind of rubbish is this?"

To be honest, his acting skills are passable, at least if you don't look closely.

The next two 'judges' were much more low-key, only saying a few polite words.

Next up were the singers. The first was a young and beautiful girl, and the second was a handsome young man. Both of them were locally well-known singers.

They emerged from the convertible, jogged onto the stage, introduced themselves, and then began to sing.

Although the two were quite skilled, their banter, combined with Zhang Yan's jokes and Guan Hu's sarcastic remarks, did manage to liven up the atmosphere and earn them some applause.

However, Ma Yuan and others felt that this was far from enough. Perhaps Zhang Yan's witty remarks were more lively than the host of the "Young Singers Competition"; Guan Hu's guest appearance as a sharp-tongued judge was also more interesting than the "Young Singers Competition".

But in terms of the quality of the singers, they are on completely different levels.

So it wasn't until Zhang Yan called out the name 'Han Hong' that Ma Yuan and the others sat up straight, waiting for the grand finale to begin.

The moment Han Hong ran out of the tent, the villagers on both sides were stunned for a moment, and then they couldn't help but start talking about it.

The main issue is the stark contrast between her and the handsome men and beautiful women in front of her; especially when she runs, her flabby body undulates dramatically...

Han Hong naturally heard the discussions. Although she had expected it, her mood still sank involuntarily. After all, she had never been so close to the audience when she participated in singing competitions before.

Especially since the audience consisted mostly of farmers, they spoke without much restraint.

Once on stage, she took a deep breath and was about to announce her name when Zhang Yan quickly coughed beside her.

Han Hong coughed twice, then gasped, "H-Hello everyone, I-I am contestant Han-Han Hong, and I'm bringing you..."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!"

Guan Hu, arms crossed, interrupted Han Hong, saying sarcastically, "This contestant, are you a stutterer?"

Han Hong hurriedly said, "No, I... I was just a little nervous, and I was running a bit too fast just now."

"A singer who can't even control his breath, what kind of singing is he?" Guan Hu approached the microphone and shouted, "I suggest the organizing committee disqualify this contestant!"

"This……"

Zhang Yan looked at the other two judges with feigned difficulty.

The two men looked at each other for a moment, then both looked at Guan Hu, as if they didn't want to offend him.

Zhang Yan became increasingly troubled, and suddenly pointed the microphone at the audience, asking, "What do the judges think? Should Han Hong be disqualified, or...?"

There was a brief silence from the audience, but then someone who loved a good show shouted, "Let this chubby girl sing!"

This shout drew laughter from all around.

Han Hong hurriedly followed the script and bowed deeply in that direction to express her gratitude.

At this moment, Guan Hu jumped out again, indignantly saying, "What kind of judges are they? Do they even know what 'breath, voice, pronunciation, and tone' means?! They don't even understand the most basic things, what qualifications do they have..."

"cough~"

Zhang Yan quickly interrupted him, saying, "Teacher Guan, this is the station's arrangement."

"Humph!"

Guan Hu then snorted coldly, crossed his arms, and remained silent.

Zhang Yan went back down to the audience and asked again, "Does everyone think we should let Han Hong finish her song, or...?"

Let her sing!

Let her sing!

"Why can't she sing?!"

Thanks to Guan Hu's AOE attack, the response from the audience was quite enthusiastic, with shouts quickly becoming a continuous roar.

Hearing the shouts, Ma Yuan and several other leaders finally understood why Zhang Yan insisted on arranging for an unpopular, venomous judge.

Having an annoying villain does make it easier to stir up the audience's emotions.

(End of this chapter)