Chinese entertainment: Top stars have no holidays

Chapter 120 premiered to great acclaim, igniting the flames of war!

Okay, okay, as expected, the entertainment industry in China still depends on Jiang Bai.

On the bustling Weibo forum, netizens continued to post and make memes as they watched the excitement unfold.

The fans of the two camps are still in a stage of testing each other and small-scale friction.

Everyone knew in their hearts that all of this was just the prelude to war.

The actual start of the war was at exactly noon.

February 9th, noon.

Tencent Video promptly rotated the homepage cover pop-up and tilted full-screen resources to showcase the highly anticipated blockbuster drama series for the winter break.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

It has officially launched exclusively on Tencent Video.

Tencent Video spent tens of millions on promotion and marketing for this day.

All project team members, from top to bottom, were on high alert for half a month of preparation.

The production team stayed up all night polishing and editing the final cut.

Jiang Bai's countless fans are ready and waiting for this moment for a long time.

According to the official update schedule released in advance, all six episodes will be released at once on the day of the premiere.

The first two episodes will be broadcast for free.

The remaining episodes 3 through 6 are only available to Tencent Video VIP members.

The moment the series was released, the army of viewers who had been waiting on the streaming page flooded in like a burst dam.

Within just a few dozen seconds, the number of viewers watching the video on the streaming page exceeded one million.

The massive traffic even caused a brief lag in the Tencent Video regional server, with page refresh delayed by several seconds.

This is enough to show Jiang Bai's terrifying appeal.

His fans, who are a mix of new and old fans, are just as enthusiastic!

As a result, the premiere data for "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" saw a crazy surge.

Within half an hour of the broadcast starting, the cumulative number of views exceeded 20 million.

Within an hour of the broadcast starting, the number of views skyrocketed to 50 million.

The growth curve took off almost vertically.

When the time reached 1:30 p.m., which was a full hour and a half since the series officially launched, Tencent Video's official operations department immediately released the premiere report.

Within 1.5 hours of its premiere, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" had already surpassed 100 million views across the entire platform!

A stone stirred up a thousand waves.

The news immediately went viral on Weibo, with the hashtag #Twinkle ...

Judging solely from the initial explosive power of its premiere, the opening data of this drama is slightly less than that of "Idol Producer," which broke 100 million views within an hour of its first episode. The two are roughly equal.

However, the data quality, audience engagement, and staying power of film and television dramas and variety shows are fundamentally different.

Variety shows are fast-food entertainment content, with most viewers watching during their leisure time in the evening. Once a single episode is finished, the viewing period ends, resulting in a very low retention rate and a rapid rise and fall in popularity.

When a TV series releases six complete episodes at once, with a coherent plot, well-developed characters, and a novel theme, it can firmly capture the audience's attention. The long-tail explosive power of this approach is something that talent shows can never match.

Most variety shows experience a sharp drop in viewership one or two hours after they finish airing, but when a new episode of a TV series is released, viewership grows rapidly for one or two days!

And that was indeed the case. By 3 PM, exactly three hours after the show started airing, the viewership had roughly doubled.

That's when I could watch all six episodes in one go.

According to the background statistics, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" has accumulated over 1.5 million views across the entire platform within three hours of its premiere, averaging 2500 million views per episode!

This data immediately caused an uproar in Tencent Video's internal office group.

If this were in a time when industry malpractices were rampant and platforms were widely inflating their metrics, this would be a different story.

Such viewership is just standard practice for new dramas and is not worth mentioning.

But things are different now.

At the beginning of this year, relevant cultural and tourism departments officially issued a rectification document for the cultural and entertainment industry, focusing on rectifying irregularities such as data fraud, malicious manipulation, and controlled comment marketing in film and television dramas and variety shows, with unprecedentedly strict supervision.

Under intense regulatory scrutiny, all major video platforms in China have reined in their underhanded tactics, and no one dares to defy the rules by artificially inflating data for dramas and variety shows.

In other words, every single view count that Tencent Video's backend now tracks is a completely accurate and unfalsified number of views.

With solid dehydration results, it garnered hundreds of millions of views in just three hours, doubling its value.

If you're not clear on this, here's an example: "Legend of Yunxi," the runner-up in online streaming on iQiyi in 2018, only surpassed 100 million views in 24 hours after its premiere, and its total views exceeded 3 billion, which already made it the runner-up for the year.

"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" reached 1.5 million views in just three hours, with an average of 2500 million views per episode across its six main episodes!

Moreover, four out of the six episodes released in the premiere had a VIP payment threshold.

In other words, more than half of the regular non-member users will not be able to watch these four episodes.

Despite nearly two-thirds of the content being restricted, the six episodes still managed to reach an average of 2500 million views per episode.

If we separate the first two episodes that were made available to the public for free and count them separately, the average number of views per episode skyrocketed to a terrifying 50 to 60 million!

Three hours, 50 to 60 million views per episode (after dehydration).

The background playback data surged at a visible speed, with the growth curve almost vertically taking off, shocking countless data analysts in the industry.

It's likely that among all young people currently online—students, office workers, freelancers—at least six or seven out of ten have opened Tencent Video and watched the free episodes of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

Furthermore, the vast majority of viewers did not just click to casually watch the episodes, but watched both episodes in their entirety, resulting in a completion rate far exceeding that of all other dramas released at the same time.

A youth campus fantasy romance drama has achieved such explosive premiere ratings, breaking the record for the premiere of a romance drama in the past three years.

In the conference room of Tencent Video's senior management, a group of executives looked at the real-time data in the background, their smiles impossible to hide.

Jiang Bai is really fierce!

This rising star may not have had many dramas aired, but the viewership for one of them is equivalent to that of several other stars!

These are the top-tier actors that major video platforms need!

The project manager immediately distributed large red envelopes in the internal group chat, and everyone celebrated.

The Tencent team responsible for the show's launch and operation was overjoyed.

They originally estimated that a total of around 50 million views in the first three hours of the premiere would be considered a huge hit!

The result is that it has achieved 1.5 million views, which is more than three times the expected amount.

Of course, the happiest person was Jiang Bai's fans and their white rice.

The supertopic was filled with jubilation, with celebratory posts flooding the top of the screen. Fans were elated and felt incredibly superior.

[I knew it! Our brother never disappoints his fans; his new drama's premiere was a phenomenal success!]

[1.5 million views after dehydration! This is a record-breaking achievement for any new drama this year, far surpassing any other talent show. What can some other variety shows compare to?]

[Zhang Wansen is so pitiful! Considering the known foreshadowing, I'm already starting to feel sorry for the male lead. Jiang Bai's acting is truly superb!]

Overjoyed fans, no longer restrained themselves, took screenshots of the official dehydrated data and went to various public squares and talent show supertopics to confront the show fans who had previously provoked them, showing off in various ways and celebrating wildly.

The already volatile relationship between the two fan groups has been further exacerbated.

However, the fans of the show unexpectedly chose to remain silent at this moment, instead of confronting and retaliating directly as they had in the morning.

While others are celebrating with champagne, it's still necessary to adopt a strategic defense and temporarily avoid direct confrontation!

The fans collectively chose to give up the afternoon's online battles, conserving their energy and pent-up enthusiasm, waiting for the first performance to air at 8 PM, at which point they would turn the tide.

The fans of the show did not press the issue further when the show's fans avoided the fight.

After all, the core of public opinion on the internet has long since shifted from fan wars to the drama itself, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".

As more and more people started watching the show, within just a few hours of its premiere, a large number of genuine viewers' feedback appeared on major platforms such as Weibo, Douban, Xiaohongshu, and Bilibili.

Related reviews and plot analysis posts have emerged one after another.

There are positive, neutral, and negative reviews, but overall positive reviews outnumber the negative ones, exceeding 80%!

As a fantasy novel with an innovative and forward-thinking setting in 2018.

The novel elements of parallel universes, time travel, regret and redemption, and mutual unrequited love are combined to instantly capture the hearts of countless young viewers.

Related terms have gone viral, dominating the real-time trending search lists on major platforms.

The Douban rating and comment section updates at an incredibly fast pace, accumulating tens of thousands of short reviews in just a few hours.

The top-ranked popular short comments almost encompassed the sentiments of all viewers.

Five stars! This is undoubtedly the biggest dark horse of this winter break. All the current romance dramas on the market are just blatant, artificial sweetness—the male and female leads fall in love at first sight and mindlessly shower each other with affection; we're already tired of that.

The parallel universe setting in this drama is truly innovative; the core theme of time travel and reincarnation to fill regrets elevates the entire series to a higher level.

Jiang Bai's portrayal of Zhang Wansen is absolutely the pinnacle of male leads in contemporary idol dramas in China. He is timid, insecure, and deeply affectionate, spending his entire life revolving around Lin Beixing. The brokenness and obsession in his eyes are simply divine, making viewers' hearts ache even through the screen.

Samsung's fair assessment: The advantages are obvious: novel setting, exquisite composition, comfortable yet cost-effective filters, and the male lead's excellent acting.

However, the flaws are equally obvious. The female lead, a thirty-year-old adult, travels back to high school, resulting in an extremely disjointed mindset and behavior.

Ge is basically a brainless high school student, reckless and impulsive, acting without considering the consequences. Her opening monologue was so awkward it was cringe-worthy, and the elephant toothpaste experiment scene was overly childish. The writers forcibly lowered her intelligence to advance the main plot. Hopefully, the later episodes will improve the female lead's character.

[Who understands! Zhang Wansen is a coward, but his love has never been genuine. The first five episodes are packed with foreshadowing, a treat for detail-oriented viewers. Every time travel and every timeline is full of hidden clues. Based on the plot hints, it's highly likely that the source of all the tragedies is related to the male lead. I already predict it will be incredibly heart-wrenching later on, so prepare your tissues!]

[Four stars added! Putting aside the male and female leads, what surprised me most was that this drama didn't have any villainous female supporting characters, melodramatic love triangles, or mindless parental interference—all those clichéd plot devices. All the characters are well-developed, and the storyline is logically sound. Based on this alone, it surpasses 80% of current youth idol dramas. Definitely worth watching!]

[Negative review, please avoid! I was purely lured in by the marketing hype. The pacing is extremely inconsistent; the sweet parts are mindlessly sweet, while the weak parts are incredibly drawn out. The side plots take up too much space, severely hindering the main storyline. Furthermore, I simply cannot understand the male lead's character; his constant, self-pitying, and subservient devotion is something I just don't get.]

The Xiaohongshu platform was dominated by a large number of atmospheric screenshots and clips featuring the male and female leads as a couple, receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews from young women.

Countless female netizens posted comments expressing their admiration, saying it was the first time they had seen such a restrained and affectionate male lead, and that they were completely captivated by Zhang Wansen. At the same time, they praised Jiang Bai's looks and acting skills, saying that the match was perfect.

Bilibili content creators responded quickly, and within just one afternoon, dozens of in-depth analysis videos, character design mashups, and plot foreshadowing videos were uploaded one after another, with the number of views quickly exceeding 100,000, further boosting the show's popularity and reach a wider audience.

For an entire afternoon, the Chinese entertainment industry's public opinion field was unilaterally monopolized by "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".

From the initial broadcast data to the actors' performances, from plot foreshadowing to novel settings, related discussions have remained high, with a significant surge in popularity.

Leading the entire internet.

Time passed slowly, the sun set, and night completely enveloped the land of China.

At 7:50 PM, only ten minutes remained until the release of the fourth episode of "Idol Producer".

The fan community, which had been lying low and patient for an entire afternoon, suddenly sprang into action like cheetahs poised to pounce, erupting across various supertopics and online communities.

The fan groups immediately became excited.

All the trainees' fans changed their profile pictures to support the trainees and flooded the screen with pre-show cheers. The resentment that had been dormant all afternoon was waiting for this moment to completely erupt.

At 8 PM sharp, Qiyi Video updated the full video of the first performance stage of the fourth episode of "Idol Producer".

In an instant, the main stage of public opinion in the Chinese entertainment industry changed hands.

The quality of the performance stage far exceeded the audience's expectations, with one hundred trainees competing in groups, and twelve groups of distinct stages taking turns to perform.

It features a wide range of styles, from rhythmic singing and dancing to gentle ballads and energetic youthful charm, making its stage performances truly highly entertaining.

In just fifteen minutes, more than ten trending topics suddenly appeared on Weibo's trending list, dominating half of the entertainment section. It was incredibly popular.

#Cai Xukun PPAP Stage#, #PPAP All Members Go Wild#, #Chen Linong Quitting Smoking Stage#, #Yuehua Three Members Perform Together#, #

Fan Chengcheng's explosive rap, #IdolProducerEliminationFirstPublication#, #XiaHanyuHighNotes#, #HowSweetIsTheFirstLoveStage#.

Cai Xukun, who ranked first in popularity, led the PPAP group in performing the song "PPAP".

With her mature stage presence, precise timing in singing and dancing, and strong stage presence, she crushed all other performances of the same period, directly topping the Weibo hot search list, with the hashtag reaching over 100 million views in just ten minutes.

After holding back all afternoon, the fans finally felt relieved and stood up straight.

The frustration of being mocked by Bai Mifan with his play count data was released at this moment.

Countless fans edited highlights of the performances, added support messages, and actively went to the public squares and comment sections where drama fans were active to launch a counterattack.

"Don't use viewership numbers to criticize one and praise another; mass-produced sugary dramas simply can't compare to original, high-quality singing and dancing performances!"

"Kun Kun's 'PPAP' performance is top-tier in the Chinese entertainment industry; this is the kind of positive content young people should be following!"

"Some drama fans shouldn't be so arrogant. Watching dramas is just a way to kill time; stage art is eternal!"

Meanwhile, because "Idol Producer" had not yet started airing when this episode was recorded, Cai Xukun's fan base was relatively weak, while the people present were mostly fans of Zhang Yixing and Jackson Wang.

Therefore, Cai Xukun's group did not win first place in the live vote, which is quite different from the popularity generated after the broadcast.

So much so that his fans felt sorry for Kunkun and made a promise to be number one next time.

Of course, this was just a minor incident.

The real big drama is that the fan wars, which had temporarily subsided, have reignited.

Furthermore, compared to the small-scale skirmishes during the day, the intensity of the confrontations at night is doubled.

The fans of both sides refused to back down, arguing about everything from the quality of the data to the target audience, from the core of the work to its future development, with their posts flooding the entire internet.

The Chinese entertainment industry has officially formed a peculiar situation where people watch dramas during the day and stage performances at night, with drama fans dominating the charts in the afternoon and show fans ruling the evening.

As one force finishes its performance, another takes the stage, with two major forces sharing the spotlight in the Chinese entertainment industry, creating a tense atmosphere that permeates every corner of the internet.

But behind this fierce battle between fan groups, the vast majority of neutral bystanders seem remarkably indifferent.

For ordinary people, the so-called choice between being a drama fan or a show fan is a pointless and fabricated issue created by the fandom.

We are all ordinary people who use the internet for entertainment and to pass the time. We are not elementary school students who see things in black and white. There is no need to force anyone to take sides.

With nothing to do in the afternoon, I opened Tencent Video and watched two episodes of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". I enjoyed Zhang Wansen's restrained yet obsessive unrequited love, dug into the foreshadowing hidden in the plot, and felt the fateful regret of parallel universes.

After finishing my chores in the evening, I would promptly tune in to a video platform to enjoy the high-energy performances of a hundred young people, and cheer for their outstanding singing and dancing.

Sweet romance dramas and explosive singing and dancing performances—adults can have it all.

Compared to the effort required to participate in fan wars and fight for the rights of unfamiliar celebrities, the most genuine pleasure for most bystanders is simply to watch the epic battle between the two major platforms and the two major fan camps and enjoy the spectacle.

The comments from casual observers on various gossip forums are truly hilarious: "I'm dying of laughter. The fans on both sides are arguing so fiercely. I finished watching six episodes of the drama this afternoon and then watched the first performance stage tonight. I had double the joy."

"When Tencent Video and Taobao's stars clash, the ultimate winners are us, the bystanders! We get free access to shows, free stage performances, and even free fan wars—could there be anything better?"

"Objectively speaking, dramas have a wider audience and a more stable foundation; talent show fans are more loyal and have unparalleled ability to generate data through spending money. Both sides have their advantages, so there's no point in arguing about it."

"Is there anyone like me who likes Zhang Wansen's gentle and affectionate style, but is also a fan of Cai Xukun's stage presence? I'm a fan of both, and I just watch the show from the beginning, hahaha."

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