Chinese Entertainment King: Starting as a Fat Boy and Becoming a Singing King

The live stream has temporarily ended.

The lights in the stadium dimmed, and the numbers on the big screen froze at 65.3% to 34.7%, but the audience couldn't see them.

Xu Yao stepped off the stage, returned to the dressing room, and quickly sat down to drink water to replenish his energy.

Backstage at the Capital Indoor Stadium, in the program team's meeting room.

Jin Lei sat at the head of the long table, with a laptop in front of him displaying the voting system's backend data on the screen.

Operations Director Liu stood next to him, holding a mobile phone and talking to the station.

The meeting room door was closed, but the sound of staff running around could be heard in the hallway outside.

Jin Lei hung up the phone, placed it on the table, and looked at President Liu.

"Xu Yao's votes are leading by a huge margin."

Mr. Liu sighed and put down his phone: "Yes, they completely dominated the game. Why not save that performance for the final championship round?"

A man who looked like a leader pushed open the door and came in; he was the deputy editor-in-chief of the station in charge of programs.

He walked over to Jin Lei, glanced at the data on the screen, and remained silent for a while.

"Let's announce the true results." He sighed. "With Xu Yao's current physique and face, becoming the champion isn't necessarily a bad thing. As long as he successfully loses weight, his commercial value will be redefined. The audience isn't blind; they can see who's giving it their all on stage. Xu Yao's performance today was undeniable."

Jin Lei glanced at him, then looked at President Liu.

Mr. Liu nodded.

"Alright, then let's announce the actual results." Jin Lei picked up the walkie-talkie on the table. "Prepare for the event. GG, get ready to close. Announce the voting results."

GG is over.

Hua Shao returned to the stage, script in hand, standing under the spotlight.

The entire room fell silent.

Nineteen thousand eyes were focused on him. The number on the big screen was still zero to zero, but everyone knew that the answer was in the card in his hand.

Hua Shao opened the card, glanced at it, and looked up.

"I already have the voting results."

He paused for a moment.

"The contestants who qualified for the final showdown of the third season of 'The Voice of China'—those who received 65.3% of the votes—are..."

"Xu Yao!"

The numbers on the big screen exploded simultaneously—Xu Yao 65.3%, Zhang Bichen 34.7%.

The screams from the entire audience surged up like a tsunami.

Some people in the audience stood up, some waved glow sticks wildly, and some shouted Xu Yao's name.

The four mentors stood up and applauded.

The comments section remained buzzing.

"Zhang Bichen's 34.7% is not low, but with Xu Yao's performance today, anyone would lose; there's no suspense."

"Wait a minute, Xu Yao beat Zhang Bichen, so the final showdown is Xu Yao versus Zhou Shen???"

"Holy crap! Xu Yao versus Zhou Shen! A battle of brothers! It's truly a clash of titans!"

"Let's all make a wild guess, who will be the final champion?"

Xu Yao walked out of the dressing room and onto the stage.

The spotlight shone on him again.

He had already put on a clean black T-shirt, but sweat was still dripping down his forehead.

He stood in the center of the stage, looking at the sea of ​​glow sticks below, his chest still heaving.

Zhang Bichen walked over and shook hands with him.

"Congratulations," Zhang Bichen said calmly, with a slight smile on his lips.

"Thank you," Xu Yao said.

Zhang Bichen turned and walked off the stage.

When she reached the edge of the stage, she stopped, looked back, and with great reluctance, left the stage with regret.

She wondered if it was just her imagination, but it felt as if something that belonged to her in her dream had suddenly vanished at that moment.

She still has a closing song, "Where Has the Time Gone," that she hasn't performed yet.

Hua Shao stood in the center of the stage and waited for the applause to subside slightly before speaking.

"Next, please welcome Zhou Shen to perform the song 'Sky'."

The stage went dark.

When the lights came back on, Zhou Shen stood in the center of the stage.

The spotlight shone down from above, illuminating him like a thin veil.

He stood there, quiet as a painting.

The intro begins.

The piano music flowed out slowly, simple and clean, like a soliloquy in the dead of night.

The original version of "Sky" by Faye Wong was included in her 1994 album of the same name, produced by Yang Minghuang. It was a milestone work for Faye Wong in expanding the Mandarin market.

The album achieved both high sales and critical acclaim upon its release, and was hailed by music critics as "a benchmark work in Chinese pop music".

In the song, Faye Wong showcased the divine charm of her "Faye-style singing"—an ethereal and clean timbre, a delicate and lingering breath, and a heavenly voice full of charm, which fans hailed as "an essential must-have for sound engineers and audiophiles."

The adapted version did not use the original's electronic synthesizer as a base, but instead used an unplugged configuration.

The piano is the main instrument, with harmonica and hand drum added to the interlude, which reduces the original's sorrowful mood and enhances the melodious dynamism.

The overall emotional expression tends to be fresh and natural, returning to the original color of the sky.

The screen was flooded with comments.

"I'm Zhou Shen, I'm here, I'm here, I'm here!"

"This intro... is it an unplugged version of 'Sky'? Who arranged it? It's perfect for Zhou Shen."

"Wang Fei's original version is ethereal with a sense of detachment, while Zhou Shen's version is ethereal with warmth; they have two different flavors."

Zhou Shen spoke.

"Why is my sky filled with wet tears..."

That voice... it's like someone talking to themselves in the dead of night.

The ethereal and clean sound drifted out of the speaker, like a feather slowly falling into the air.

It didn't come out of my throat, it floated out from the top of my head.

The vocal cords close very lightly, and the breath control is remarkably steady. Each word is as if enveloped in a thin mist, hazy but not blurry.

"Why is my sky always so gray..."

He added a subtle breathy tone to the phrase "always looking gloomy".

The voice suddenly became softer, as if the breath had stopped for a moment.

Moreover, there is almost no chest resonance; the sound is produced almost entirely from the resonance of the nasal and head cavities. This vocalization method makes his voice sound like it is coming from a very far place, yet clear as if it is whispering in your ear.

"Drifting on the other side of the world, letting loneliness invade, again and again..."

He sang this line without pausing, in one breath.

The harmonica melody then plays during the interlude, melodious and clear, like the wind blowing through a wheat field.

The hand drum was tapped softly, one beat after another, like a heartbeat.

The comments section started flooding again.

"The moment Zhou Shen spoke, my whole world went silent."

"Wang Fei's 'Sky' is a diva looking down at the world, while Zhou Shen is an ordinary person looking up at the sky. They are two different realms, neither is superior to the other."

"His breath control is too steady! You can barely hear him breathing while he's running. What kind of monster has that lung capacity?"

"Zhou Shen's soft mixed voice technique ranks among the top 3 of young singers in China. This is not an exaggeration, it's true."

"The arrangement of harmonica and hand drum is amazing. It turns the original sense of alienation into a sense of warmth, which is more suitable for Zhou Shen's voice."

In the second verse, Zhou Shen's voice rises to a higher level.

"My sky holds deep longing..."

He used a strong mixed voice to express the phrase "deep longing".

The voice suddenly deepened and broadened, carrying an undeniable certainty.

The volume remained stable, but the timbre changed—from ethereal to narrative, from dreamlike to resolute.

When will our skies become one...?

He drew out the three words "become one piece" with a long tone, slowly retreating from a strong mixed voice to a weak mixed voice, the volume gradually decreasing, like a person slowly, slowly closing their voice after saying something very important.

When the last note fell, the entire venue was silent for about two seconds.

Then, eighteen thousand people clapped at the same time, and the slow, increasingly loud tide surged up layer by layer from the first row to the last row, from left to right.

The live stream chat continued to flood with messages.

"Given Zhou Shen's condition today, anyone who comes here would have to think twice."

"Xu Yao sings 'I'll fight to the death to win,' while Zhou Shen sings 'I'm right here, I won't fight or grab.' Two styles, who will ultimately be the king?"

"Wang Fei's 'Sky' is an essential piece for audiophiles and sound engineers, and Zhou Shen's version is also a masterpiece."

"Zhou Shen is not a student, he is an artist. He is not a contestant, he is a singer who listens."

"The Voice of China owes Zhou Shen a championship."

"No, The Voice of China owes Xu Yao a championship."

"Stop arguing, the championship being decided between the two of them is already the best ending for this season."

Hua Shao walked out from the side stage and went to the center of the stage.

"Thank you, Zhou Shen!"

He turned to face the audience and waited for the applause to subside slightly before continuing to speak.

"He once again won applause and cheers from the entire audience."

Applause erupted again, and Zhou Shen stepped back and bowed to the audience in thanks.

"Please remember, Zhou Shen's number is 883. Vote for this song! Could he be the winner of this year's Best Singer award?"

"Next, Xu Yao and Zhou Shen, switch positions."

When Xu Yao took the stage, Zhou Shen flashed her cute little white teeth and grinned at him, then couldn't resist giving him a big hug.

"Seriously, this is the finals," Xu Yao whispered.

A battle between brothers.

See you at the summit.

The moment has finally arrived.