HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 316 [316] An English single made Qi Yuan earn fourteen million in Europe and America.
Fan Xiaopang burst into tears of joy, a mixture of happiness and relief at finally getting through the ordeal.

She used to be called a maid, which she resented and disliked, but she had no choice.

Aside from Jin Suo, she really doesn't have any other memorable roles.

As they hugged, Qi Yuan patted Fan Xiaopang on the back and said softly, "You're going up on stage to receive an award. If your makeup gets ruined from crying, you won't look good in the photos. You need to show everyone your best self."

Fan Xiaopang suppressed his emotions and went on stage amidst congratulations from Chen Kaige and Chen Hong.

Feeling the applause and cheers coming from all around, Fan Xiaopang was extremely excited.

When she went on stage and received the Best Actress award, she choked up twice during her acceptance speech.

After thanking the judges and director, Fan Binbin specifically thanked Qi Yuan: "Finally, I want to thank Mr. Qi Yuan, a benefactor in my life. You lent a helping hand when I was in my most difficult time and provided me with a lot of help. Without you, there might not be Fan Binbin standing here... Thank you, and thank you everyone."

Fan Xiaopang bowed deeply to thank everyone, and finally stepped off the stage with the Best Actress award.

Having won Best Screenplay and Best Actress, Qi Yuan and Chen Kaige are satisfied. They have no hope for any more awards; they have achieved their goals.

They also had no connection with subsequent awards such as Best Artistic Contribution and Asian Film.

After the awards ceremony, "The Bouquet" became the second biggest winner at this year's Tokyo International Film Festival, with the first winner being the Mexican film "Amores Perros".

"The Bouquet" is an art-house romance film, and it's quite remarkable that it has achieved such success.

Xia Yu's "The Western Mirror" crew fared even worse. They brought a production that claimed to have invested five million US dollars to the competition, but ended up not winning any awards.

Chen Kaige painted a rosy picture for Qi Yuan: "Yuan, you've already won the Best Screenplay Award, which is enough to prove that your screenwriting ability is better than mine."

The reason I didn't win the major awards and Best Director this time wasn't my fault, but the subject matter.

Put some effort into writing a grand, compelling screenplay for a blockbuster film, and we'll take a trip to the three major European film festivals and the Oscars.

After "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" toured film festivals such as Cannes, it was clear to anyone with a discerning eye that Li An was aiming for the Oscars.

Like Zhang Yingmou, Chen Kaige also wants to win an Oscar.

Zhang Yingmou, in particular, seems obsessed with winning an Oscar.

The Oscars' regional discrimination is blatant; unless you kneel down, it's very difficult for foreign works to win awards.

The three major European countries are worth trying.

Qi Yuan also believed that Chen Kaige possessed that ability.

"The Bouquet" is an art-house romance film without complex scenes.

Due to the limitations of the subject matter, Chen Kaige didn't even bring out 30% of his skill when making this film.

His true strengths lie in his ability to control large-scale scenes and his skillful use of color and light.

……

That night.

Fan Xiaopang was in high spirits after receiving the Best Actress award and decided to reward Qi Yuan properly.

She generously stated that any request could be made, no matter how unreasonable, she would accept it.

"Can I really make any request?" Qi Yuan asked with some doubt.

"Feel free to ask." Fan Xiaopang was generous and easygoing. What hadn't he and Qi Yuan done in Tokyo these past few days? How much more money could they possibly spend?

"Then I'm welcome."

Qi Yuan made a request without any hesitation, and then almost got bitten by Fan Xiaopang.

She knew Qi Yuan was a playboy, but she didn't expect him to be this wild, actually trying to stack ice balls together. What did he take her for? How could anyone treat someone so disrespectfully?

Considering that she had promised Qi Yuan that she could make any request, it wouldn't be good to go back on her word, so she relented: "If Sister Yuanyuan agrees, then I agree."

Gao Yuanyuan definitely won't agree, right?
Anyway, that's what Fan Xiaopang thought. As long as Gao Yuanyuan didn't agree, she wouldn't be breaking her promise; it was just that Qi Yuan didn't have the ability to deal with Gao Yuanyuan.

Qi Yuan knew Fan Xiaopang was playing tricks on him; what he wanted was precisely Fan Xiaopang's promise. The ice ball's happy ending was half achieved; the other half would be dealt with gradually.

……

The following day, Japanese media reported on the awards for this year's film festival.

[Chinese-language films shine in Tokyo! Fan Binbin wins Best Actress, while Qi Yuan, who has achieved success in the Japanese music scene, also wins an award for screenwriting.]

The jury praised Fan Binbin's performance for its rich layers.

Fan Binbin wins Best Actress award at Tokyo International Film Festival

The Chinese singer who topped the Oricon singles chart and the winner of the Best Screenplay award are the same person.

……

Qi Yuan and Fan Xiaopang's names appeared in many Japanese newspapers.

Some of it was initiated by Japanese newspapers themselves, and some was due to the financial power of Huanya.

"The Bouquet" won two awards at the Tokyo International Film Festival, and its release in Japan is a certainty.

Media Asia is in charge of this part, and naturally, they want to take advantage of the award-winning buzz to run a major advertising campaign and let more Japanese people know about the film.

Good news came from Zhang Hao's side.

"Ah Yuan, do you know how ridiculously well your concert tickets sold out in Japan? All 10,000 tickets were sold out, and 80% of the audience were Japanese."

You have become another singer, after Teresa Teng, Princess Wang, and Zhang Guorong, who can hold concerts in Japan and still have a market.

The data from Teresa Teng's era is unverifiable, but I know that the number of people attending a single concert by Princess Diana and Zhang Guorong in Japan was most likely less than 10,000.

You have made history; you will become the first Chinese singer to hold a concert for 10,000 people in Japan.

Zhang Guorong held multiple concerts this year in Yokohama, Osaka, Tokyo and other cities.

Hong Kong media only reported that Cheung Kwok-yung held ten consecutive shows in Japan, without mentioning the number of attendees per show, indicating that it was likely less than 10,000, just like the previous Princess Consort.

If they really held a concert for 10,000 people in Japan, the record company would have been hyping it up a lot by now.

The later F4 is a classic example, boasting extensively about holding seven consecutive concerts in Japan with tens of thousands of attendees, as if they wanted the whole country to know.

"Your good news doesn't stop there. Your 'Free Loop' sold 830,000 copies in the US, 390,000 in the UK, 120,000 in Canada, Australia... In Europe and America alone, it sold over 1.7 million copies. With sales in Asia, your first English single sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide."

Zhang Hao recounted the remarkable achievements of "Free Loop" abroad with great familiarity.

Qi Yuan is the lyricist, composer, and arranger of the song; he doesn't need to share the profits with the lyricist and composer.

He will receive approximately 33.3% of the revenue share.

Qi Yuan's singles sold well in Europe and America. Warner didn't offer discounts, and the cassettes sold for three dollars, while the VCD singles sold for five dollars.

According to Zhang Hao, VCDs sold quite well.

Qi Yuan did a rough calculation, excluding VCDs, all 1.7 million copies were calculated at three dollars per cassette.

Qi Yuan was shocked after the calculation.

He will receive $1.69 million, which, at an exchange rate of 1:8.2, is close to 14 million RMB, before tax.

Of course, Qi Yuan definitely wouldn't actually receive $1.69 million. A record has production and marketing costs. Record stores and suppliers also need to make a profit.

Qi Yuan can probably get between 10% and 25% of the retail price of a record, which is terrifying.

Qi Yuan finally realized how great US knife music is.

The release of the English EP is imminent, and he's itching to make a killing with the dollars, pounds, and Canadian dollars of Europeans and Americans.

(End of this chapter)