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

The dressing room of the "My Sunshine" drama crew.

He Xuanlin held up her phone, the screen showing the live broadcast of the finals.

"Wow, the grand finale! Xu Yao is going to win the championship! A new generation of singers is rising in the Chinese music scene!"

He Xuanlin couldn't contain her excitement and gripped Wu Qian's arm tightly with both hands, her nails almost digging into her flesh.

Wu Qian felt a sharp pain from her grip and flung her hand away: "What's wrong with you? Is Xu Yao my ex or yours? Aren't you overreacting? You don't actually like him, do you?"

"No... I didn't, don't talk nonsense."

He Xuanlin hurriedly explained, feeling her heart race and her cheeks flush slightly.

She didn't know why she was so excited, but seeing Xu Yao standing on the stage, with that radiance emanating from within, made her want to applaud.

She paused, then leaned closer: "I advise you to hurry up and get back together with Xu Yao. He's so handsome and sings so well, he's bound to become a huge star. By then, you won't even be able to catch up with him."

"A good horse doesn't eat the grass it has already grazed; I'm not going to do that."

Wu Qian spoke, but her eyes never left the screen.

She was tough on the outside, but her mind was in turmoil—what was wrong with Xu Yao?

How did you suddenly become so outstanding?

He used to stay in his rented room writing songs, never shaving or cutting his hair, and walking around in slippers all day. If someone said a few words to him, he would get annoyed.

What now?

Standing on the stage of the Capital Indoor Stadium, Xu Yao sang "Chasing Dreams with a Pure Heart" shirtless, and the entire internet was shouting "Xu Yao has become a god."

I should have known better than to make such definitive statements during the previous calls, or my phone number would have been blocked. What should I do now?

He Xuanlin looked at Wu Qian's expression, her lips twitched slightly, but she didn't say anything more.

Hua Shao's voice echoed in the stadium.

"Next up, the first round of the ultimate showdown. Xu Yao, the champion of Yang Kun's group, will perform 'Bubble'."

The entire room fell silent.

Xu Yao didn't choose this song randomly.

In the first round, Zhou Shen sang "I've Crossed the Ocean to See You," and that ethereal, heavenly voice is Zhou Shen's forte.

Advantages can sometimes be disadvantages.

Zhou Shen's ethereal voice is innate—clear, pure, and untouched by worldly concerns. But precisely because it is so clean, it is not well-suited to singing those heart-wrenching love songs.

From a competition perspective, the number of votes garnered by empathy and tears will never be low.

But "Bubble" is different.

G.E.M. (Deng Ziqi) made a name for herself with this song in the first episode of the second season of "I Am a Singer" in 2014.

The guests backstage looked puzzled.

"A very young pop diva named G.E.M., I really didn't know her."

But after the song ended, everyone fell silent.

Her Weibo followers surged to 181 million overnight, ranking first on both the Baidu Hot List for female singers and beauties.

This song is not only G.E.M.'s breakthrough hit, but also a recognized "litmus test" of her singing skills in the Chinese music scene.

When G.E.M. wrote this song, she was going through a breakup and flew to New York alone. She saw a clown blowing bubbles on the street. The scene was beautiful, but the bubbles burst at the slightest touch.

This led her to think that lies are like bubbles, beautiful yet fragile, and the moment they burst is especially heartbreaking.

The song has a very wide vocal range; the CD version ranges from E3 to C#5, nearly two octaves.

The live version of "I Am a Singer" even reached #D5, repeatedly bouncing around near the vocal break zone.

The bass in the verses drops to E3, almost at the edge of a male singer's comfort zone, and is an even bigger bass trap for female singers.

The chorus goes up an octave, with frequent switching between true and falsetto voices. The highest note is reached with a strong, powerful, and sustained vocal range.

G.E.M. delivers a powerful, live vocal performance.

Xu Yao has a male voice, so his vocal range is different, and the processing methods must also be different.

He wants to rewrite this song into his own version, adding depth and complexity.

It doesn't rely on switching between true and falsetto voices, but on the continuous output of chest resonance.

He uses his signature mid-low range to build up the "vulnerability" of the verses, and then explodes with a strong mixed voice in the chorus.

The intro begins.

The cello's bass notes unfold slowly, like someone sitting alone in an empty room late at night, surrounded by silence, with only their own heartbeat.

Then the piano came in, playing simple block chords, one note at a time, unhurriedly.

Xu Yao spoke up.

"The bubbles in the sunlight are colorful..."

His voice was very low, almost resonating in his chest.

The bass in the verses goes down to around E3, almost reaching the limit of male vocal range.

But he didn't try to cover it up with a sigh; instead, he supported it steadily with his real voice.

Each word was pronounced softly, yet the enunciation was remarkably clear and pleasing to the ear.

"Like me, being deceived, I'm happy..."

When Xu Yao sang the words "happiness," the emotion in his voice was not outward, but inward, something suppressed deep in his heart.

The strings then joined in, and the long notes of the violins floated in the air, like someone shedding tears, but without making a sound.

"What's the point of arguing about right or wrong? Your lies are based on the premise that you still love me..."

The screen was flooded with comments.

"Holy crap, Xu Yao's bass... E3, that's the limit for male voices, and he's supporting it with his true voice. That chest voice support is insane."

"Xu Yao's verses are a low-pitched outpouring, not a singing. He's talking to the audience, not showing off his skills. This narrative quality adds a layer of masculine restraint compared to G.E.M.'s original version."

"Seriously, can you guys stop analyzing? Can't we just listen to music in peace?"

The chorus is coming.

Xu Yao knew where the most dangerous part of this song was.

In G.E.M.'s original version, the chorus is raised by an octave, with frequent switching between true and falsetto voices, and the highest note is reached using her true voice.

For a male voice, singing C#5 is inherently more difficult than for a female voice, because C#5 is a high C above a male voice, which is already in the limit range of male voices.

But Xu Yao handled it differently.

He directly pushed it up with a strong mixed voice.

The vocal cords close and tighten instantly, and the breath is pushed out with all force from the dantian.

"It's all just foam..."

He used a strong mixed tone to pronounce the word "foam".

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

At that moment, the drummer simultaneously struck the bass drum and snare drum, and the string section played in full force.

"A firework that lasts only a moment..."

He added an angry syllable to the word "fireworks".

"All your promises, though so fragile..."

He sang this line without pausing, in one breath.

There is almost no breath fluctuation during long phrases in the high C5 register.

"But love is like a bubble..."

With the last sentence, Xu Yao suddenly stopped exerting force.

It's not that I can't sing anymore, it's intentional.

It abruptly stops at the climax, like someone stopping at the edge of a cliff and looking down into the abyss.

The entire room fell silent for about a second.

Then, the drummer struck the last snare drum.

Xu Yao's voice rose again, not gradually increasing in intensity, but crashing down directly.

"If you can see through it all, what's there to be sad about..."

He dragged out the last "guo" for eight beats, his voice going from loud to louder, until it exploded.

At this moment, the drummer frantically smashed the gong, and the strings played their last long note.

The comments section went completely crazy.

"Holy crap!!! He hit the high note!!! #C5!!! No cracking!!! What's this fat guy's voice made of???"

"Xu Yao's approach is completely different from G.E.M.'s. G.E.M. switches between her true and falsetto voices, while Xu Yao pushes out a strong mixed voice directly. It's more difficult, but the effect is more explosive."

"That angry note is located at C5, above the vocal break. Normally, singers can only shout it out when they sing it."

"Xu Yao is awesome."

"From 'I'm Ugly But I'm Gentle' to 'You Got Me Drunk' to 'Chasing Dreams with a Pure Heart' to 'Bubble,' every song by Xu Yao tells the same story. This is no longer a talent show; it's an autobiography."

"G.E.M. is a bubble in the sunlight, while Xu Yao is a bubble in the dead of night. One is a visible vulnerability, the other is an invisible scar."

The performance continued on stage.

"Say you love me? If you're lying to me, I'd rather you stay silent."

On stage, Xu Yao sang the last note.

The entire room fell silent for about two seconds.

Then, 18,000 people stood up at the same time.

Na-young stood up and clapped, then couldn't help shaking her head in admiration.

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

"Thank you, Xu Yao! This was the last song in the final battle of the third season of The Voice of China, and it was absolutely perfect and touching."