From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Ah!

Ah, ah, ah!

Boom!

Vast and mighty, grand and fierce, a rolling heatwave crashed down, the orange sky warm and bright, quietly igniting, bit by bit seeping into the clear, bright blue, the sky painted with a translucent mint color, leaving all language colorless.

The temple auditorium, shrouded in spotlights, erupted with dazzling halos.

For a moment, it was unclear whether the magnificence and grandeur before them stemmed from the glamour of the celebrity scene or the magic of nature.

Eve blurted out, "Shit."

Edgar couldn't help but glance at Eve.

Eve met Edgar's gaze, unblinking, staring straight into his eyes, and cursed again, "Shit."

Her candid demeanor left Edgar speechless. He turned his gaze to Anson, only to find him leaning against the car window, quietly gazing at the sky, somewhat lost in thought. He couldn't help but ask with concern, "Are you nervous?"

Before Anson could answer, Eve drained her glass of whiskey in one gulp, "How can he not be nervous? Shit! Didn't they say they'd appear in the second half? What are they doing here in the first half, ruining the ecosystem? Showing their faces to whom?"

"Ah."

Eve immediately realized, "They're showing their faces to the Emmys, deliberately putting pressure on them. I wonder if this was Jennifer's idea or David Crane's. Shit! Couldn't they have informed their allies beforehand?"

The amount of information was a bit overwhelming.

A quick recap.

Appearances on the red carpet are very strategic. True A-listers like to make a grand finale, showing their importance and drawing all eyes to themselves. But even among A-listers, there's a silent competition. Not everyone can be the finale, so appearing early to grab attention and generate buzz is also a strategy.

A hypothesis: Lisa Kudrow, who plays Phoebe in "Friends," is an A-lister, but she doesn't have the advantage among a series of A-listers. If she chose to appear during the peak of the second half, she might not get any coverage. But by choosing to appear in the later part of the first half, the buzz is different.

Without comparison, there is no harm. Attention and buzz are created in this way.

So, when to appear, where to appear—it's all strategic.

Generally speaking, an actor's publicist or agent will gather information and make decisions based on the movements of those A-listers "who don't need to care about what others think," choosing an appropriate opportunity for their actor to shine. Then, they will communicate with the organizers, keeping each other informed.

The organizers also try to coordinate as much as possible, avoiding the appearance of feuding parties, enemies, ex-boyfriends, or ex-girlfriends at the same time, creating a potential disaster.

After all, for an awards ceremony, it's best when everyone is happy.

But occasionally—very occasionally—there are situations where people compete, deliberately appearing one after the other to show off, and the media applauds and welcomes it.

Eve was a veteran and naturally understood these twists and turns. Even though Anson was just a newcomer, she still tried to find a position—

The first half, a little earlier. The actors appearing before and after were all women, and their styles, types, channels, ages, etc., would not clash with Anson, ensuring that Anson would be the sole focus during those five minutes.

This was the shining moment they needed.

Not the finale, not the second half, not a superstar—none of that mattered. A publicist can create an illusion out of nothing.

Everything was according to plan.

However!

But!

Unexpectedly!

An accident occurred, and it was the ultimate bomb of the night at the temple auditorium: Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston appeared together.

Not to mention Anson, all the buzz from the other guests tonight combined couldn't match the "America's Sweetheart Couple" making their first public appearance after their marriage.

No wonder Eve cursed.

So, what exactly was going on?

In Eve's opinion, there were many possibilities. The most likely was a rebellion from the "Friends" cast. Whether David Crane knew was uncertain, but the six main actors definitely knew.

In the first episode of the sixth season, the "Friends" cast protested to the Emmys by signing their names with Courteney Cox's new husband's last name, because the Emmys' division of the six actors into leading and supporting roles was unsatisfactory. They stood on the same side, which was that all six were leads, not supporting characters.

As a result, the Emmys responded by only nominating Jennifer and Lisa for Best Supporting Actress on this year's nomination list, not only pushing Jennifer, who had always been nominated for Best Actress, to the Supporting Actress category to compete with Lisa, but also completely ignoring the other four actors.

The authority of the Emmys cannot be challenged.

Now, "Friends" was responding again.

Everyone knew that the ultimate highlight of the Emmys red carpet was Brad and Jennifer, which was the key to exploding viewership. The organizers had cleared a spot for this newly married couple through various negotiations—

A seat held in anticipation.

No need.

Whenever they appeared, they would occupy the headlines of all newspapers and magazines tomorrow. Whenever they appeared, it would not affect the heat of the focus of attention.

This was confidence.

So, Jennifer disrupted the Emmys' plan. Not to mention the red carpet viewership, it might even affect the awards ceremony viewership. By then, the sponsors' protests and complaints would be a headache.

The problem was that their move might hurt the innocent.

Like poor Jane Kaczmarek.

What Eve couldn't understand was that if David Crane knew in advance, he should have at least informed Anson. Anson was not only an ally, but he was also representing the "Friends" cast on the red carpet tonight.

Heh.

Anson chuckled.

Eve glanced at him, "You seem quite happy."

Anson smiled even more brightly, "I was nervous, no matter what, this is my first awards ceremony." From his previous life to now, awards ceremonies were unprecedented firsts, and it was also live—

Live broadcasts are ultimately different.

Moreover, it was 2000, and there was no delay in live TV broadcasts. It was a 100% synchronous live broadcast, which meant that even the slightest mistake would be broadcast directly and become historical data in the future.

But the scene before him was truly too powerful and too overwhelming, occupying all his thoughts, so that everything about the live broadcast, the nervousness, and the awards ceremony were all squeezed into the corner, leaving no room for worry, and instead, he calmed down.

"I now think that coming to see the excitement is actually quite good," Anson said.

Eve, "Pfft."

Edgar, on the side, had a look of utter despair.

Anson continued, "I think I might have a little bit of an idea what's going on. Brad and Jennifer choosing this time shouldn't be random. Maybe they thought that while completing their planned work, they could conveniently screw me over a bit. Why not?"

Third update.