Huayu Entertainment: The Birth of a Succubus Top Star

After finishing his trip to Harbin, Gu Zhiyan flew back to Beijing with Nazha and Lan Yu. After staying at home for a day, he rushed back to the set of "Joy of Life 3" in Hengdian.

Filming for the series has entered its second half, with consecutive night shoots. After several key scenes were completed, the director organized a gathering where the main cast and crew members dined together in a hotel private room after work.

The private room was warm and cozy, with the table laden with food and drinks.

After shedding their heavy period costumes and temporarily setting aside their roles, the group chatted on their phones, and the conversation gradually turned to the recent controversy surrounding the crossover concert.

"The entertainment circle has been quite lively lately. Many artists whose main profession is not singing have started to hold concerts for tens of thousands of people," Song Yi said casually while swiping his phone screen.

As soon as these words were spoken, the private room immediately became lively.

Chen Daoming picked up his wine glass, took a sip, shook his head, and sighed, "The internet is in an uproar. Take Xie Na and Yue Yunpeng for example, one is a host and the other is a crosstalk performer, and they've both started large-scale tours, with ticket prices comparable to those of top-tier professional singers."

The director next to him opened the trending topics and read out the comments from various netizens.

"It's clearly more like a fan meeting, but they insist on calling it a concert. Do you really think you can pay over a thousand just to watch people chat and joke around?"

"Passion is understandable, but don't use fulfilling dreams as a pretext for profiting."

"It's truly disheartening that singers who are genuinely dedicated to music can't secure venue slots, while crossover artists easily grab shows for tens of thousands of people."

"Let's talk about Xie Na's tour first," the director read from online discussions. "Her main job is as a host, and the only musical work she can be proud of is her early song 'Pineapple Pineapple Honey.' She lacks a lot of original representative works. Although she sang live, her breath was unstable, and she often sang off-key. She relied heavily on the teleprompter. The entire performance consisted mostly of covers, interspersed with a lot of guest interactions and casual conversations. The solo parts accounted for a very small proportion, which netizens jokingly called a 'deluxe karaoke session.'"

Later, the state-run media outlet *People's Daily* criticized the lack of representative musical works and the reliance on popularity to organize tours. The Beijing stop was officially cancelled, and ticket holders received full refunds.

The topic then shifted to Yue Yunpeng, who was also holding a concert.

"There is also a lot of controversy surrounding Yue Yunpeng. As a crosstalk performer, singing is just a side job. Singing accounts for a very small percentage of the entire performance. Most of the time is spent telling jokes, interacting with the audience, and performing crosstalk segments. He repeatedly sang 'The Song of the Fifth Ring Road,' which is essentially more like a large-scale fan meeting."

The highest ticket price was set at 1580 yuan, which is higher than many veteran professional singers. There were occasional instances of singing off-key and forgetting lyrics. The event mostly relied on fans singing along to keep the atmosphere going, and there were even some audience members who shouted for refunds.

He himself posted an article admitting that singing is purely a hobby and that ticket prices are not determined by him. However, this statement only intensified the online debate.

Wu Gang sighed: "That's just how things are. The film and television industry is having a tough time right now. The number of productions starting in Hengdian in 2026 has dropped significantly. Both long and short drama projects have been reduced. Many artists are facing a situation where they have no roles to play. Actors' salaries have been drastically reduced, and some people are even unable to receive their final payment after filming."

The rise of AI-generated short dramas has further squeezed the living space of live actors. Filming cycles are long and unpredictable, and whether a drama can be broadcast smoothly is unknown.

In contrast, concerts have a shorter preparation period, can recoup funds during the pre-sale stage, and carry lower risk, naturally making them a preferred option for many artists.

"It's not just artists; the performance market is booming right now," a producer familiar with the performance industry added. "Concert ticket sales have skyrocketed year after year, and the market is experiencing explosive growth. However, the number of professional singers who can support ticket sales is limited, and venues with a capacity of 10,000 people are in very high demand."

To boost cultural and tourism consumption, various regions have implemented expedited approval processes for performances, lowering the administrative barriers to organizing such events. Venues and organizers need to fill their schedules, making established crossover artists with national recognition and a fan base less risky than new musicians, thus naturally more willing to take on these roles.

"For a concert with 10,000 attendees, the artist can receive more than 40% of the revenue, making the earnings per show quite substantial. In addition, with sponsorships and merchandise sales, tours can also offset the fixed costs of stage design and transportation, resulting in a very considerable cash flow," he continued. "Moreover, from the official announcement to the finale, the concert can consistently dominate the trending topics and maintain the artist's exposure. Many teams like to play the 'dream fulfillment' card, packaging commercial performances as personal ideals. Just like Yue Yunpeng, they simply turned their singing shortcomings into comedic punchlines and turned the live performances into a stress-relieving variety show-style stage, thus carving out their own market path."

Gu Zhiyan gently stroked the glass with her fingertips, listening quietly to the discussion.

After the discussions at the table subsided slightly, he slowly spoke, his voice not loud, but enough to drown out the noise in the private room: "I am not against crossing boundaries."

He looked around at everyone present: "If someone has musical talent and original works, even if their main profession is acting, holding a concert or a music show is their personal choice, as long as the audience is willing to pay for it, and there is nothing wrong with that."

The real contradiction lies in the misalignment of positioning.

If the audience were honestly told that this was a fan meeting or music party, focusing on interactive chat and interspersed with a few songs, and that the ticket price matched the performance's positioning, everyone would be willing to pay.

However, if a concert is held under the guise of a concert and high-priced tickets are charged at the level of professional singers, and the audience enters with the expectation of appreciating music, but spends most of the time watching casual chatter and talk shows, the huge gap between expectations and reality will naturally lead to controversy.

There's also the practical issue of resources. Venues accommodating tens of thousands of people are already scarce, and many dedicated musicians who want to secure large venues have to wait in line. Meanwhile, some popular crossover artists can get venues simply based on their popularity, which is a major concern for many musicians.

"Nostalgia is acceptable, but it cannot be used as a fig leaf," Gu Zhiyan said with a faint smile. "Market transactions are based on mutual consent. It is the right of fans to pay for nostalgia, but businesses must also adhere to the bottom line. They cannot sell stories of pursuing dreams while reaping high ticket prices."

"Popularity may boost box office revenue in the short term, but without solid works as a foundation, the backlash will come quickly once the hype fades."

After a moment of silence, many people nodded in agreement.

Ultimately, it's the work itself that speaks for itself.