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

Chapter 96: Debut on The Voice of China with a New Single

After the tour, Xu Yao rushed to the "Sing My Song" program team to report for duty.

This season's mentor lineup consists of Liu Huan, Zhou Huajian, Cai Jianya, and Yang Kun – four mentors in charge.

Originally, Yang Kun was unable to be re-elected because he had just finished recording the third season of "The Voice of China" and started a new round of national tour.

Later, because of Xu Yao's incident, Yang Kun knew that he would definitely fall out with the Voice of China production team, so he contacted the Chinese Song Contest production team again.

The "Sing My Song" program team certainly welcomed it warmly, after all, the mentor combination of Liu Huan and Yang Kun in the first season was quite effective.

When Xu Yao arrived at the recording studio, Yang Kun was already waiting at the entrance.

Wearing a dark gray jacket and a baseball cap pulled low, he leaned against a stone pillar by the door and took off his hat when he saw him walking towards him from afar.

"I've been waiting for you for days! Holy crap, you've gotten so thin!"

Yang Kun looked Xu Yao up and down, then reached out and squeezed his arm hard.

"You've lost weight again, haven't you? Have you been eating poorly lately?"

"Teacher Yang Kun, I'm fine. I'm now within the standard weight range. You're starting to sound like my mom now, always asking if I've eaten."

"You brat."

Yang Kun laughed and punched him on the shoulder, then took half a step back and looked him up and down.

"Alright, you look good. Come on, let me introduce you to some senior figures."

In the backstage dressing room, Liu was leaning back on the sofa flipping through a music theory book.

He had his signature long hair, wore black-rimmed glasses, and had a cup of tea laid out in front of him, the aroma of which wafted upwards.

Yang Kun pushed open the door and went in. He looked up, took off his glasses, and placed them on the book.

"Brother Huan, this is Xu Yao, whom I mentioned to you." Yang Kun patted Xu Yao on the back and gently pushed him forward.

Xu Yao bowed slightly: "Hello, Teacher Liu Huan."

Liu smiled and said, "Xiao Xu, I listened to your song 'Loneliness Is Not Good.' The melody is very well-written, R&B."

The chorus builds on a rhythmic foundation, and as it ascends, a chromatic transition is hidden within the vibrato, sounding almost casually thrown, yet perfectly placed. Only someone with perfect pitch would dare to write something like this.

Xu Yao was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Liu to break down and analyze the vocal transitions of his song, chewing it over word by word as if he were correcting homework.

"Thank you, Mr. Liu. When I wrote that semitone, I didn't think too much about it. I just felt that before the chorus went up, I needed an unconventional note to create a sense of tension."

"That's right." Liu nodded, a hint of interest in his eyes. "Good creations are often not calculated, but heard. You have a good ear."

Yang Kun chimed in at the opportune moment, "Brother Huan, this kid not only has great hearing, but also a powerful voice. You'll hear it when we record the show later."

Just then, a loud laugh echoed down the corridor, and Zhou Huajian pushed open the door and entered.

"Yang Kun! You just said that Xiao Xu is here? Is he the one who wrote 'Loneliness is Not Good'?"

When he saw Xu Yao, his eyes lit up, and he quickened his pace to walk over and extend his hand.

"You're Xu Yao? I'm Zhou Huajian. I listened to your song 'Loneliness Is Not Good,' it's really well-written. That line, 'I'm just a fool who loves you,' is clearly a self-deprecating ending, yet the melody rises rather than falls. Self-deprecation without self-pity—that's a delicate balance to strike."

Xu Yao shook hands with him.

Zhou Huajian's hands were strong, his palms were covered in calluses, and when he shook hands with him, he did so with an overly familiar and warm manner.

Xu Yao wasn't stupid. These people's enthusiasm was all because of Teacher Yang Kun's influence. Teacher Yang Kun genuinely recommended him; he was a true mentor and benefactor, loyal and righteous.

"Thank you, Mr. Wakin. I've been listening to your songs since I was a child, and I can still hum the melody of 'Friends' backwards."

"Hum backwards?" Zhou Huajian was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter, patting Xu Yao on the shoulder and turning to Liu Huan, saying, "Brother Huan, listen to this! This kid can even hum 'Friends' backwards! Yang Kun, the people you've trained are all extraordinary!"

Yang Kun burst into laughter, then calmly added, "Hua Jian, don't be so eager to get on his good side. He's going up on stage to push the lever, not to claim kinship with you. One thing at a time, Xu Yao, if you don't sing well, we won't give you special treatment."

"That won't do!" Zhou Huajian immediately stopped smiling and raised a finger at Xu Yao with a serious expression.

"Xiao Xu, if you sing an original song later, I'll definitely push you. Don't let Huan Ge's cheerful demeanor fool you, he'll be faster than anyone else when it comes to snatching people away."

Liu also laughed: "Is this a case of trying to snatch someone before the performance even starts? After he finishes his performance, all four mentors will turn their chairs. It's not certain who you'll be able to beat then. Tanya Chua hasn't even arrived yet. If she hears his breathy vocal technique, it's not certain who will be the first to tap her chair."

Yang Kun was full of confidence: "I don't know about the other contestants. But can you beat me at recruiting Xu Yao? Xiao Yao, go down and get ready. See you on stage later."

"Okay, Professor Yang Kun."

Xu Yao respectfully thanked them and left. Liu Huan and Zhou Huajian stood at the door, the three of them whispering and laughing.

Zhou Huajian leaned close to Liu Huan's ear and whispered, "Yang Kun has trained so many students, but this is the first time I've seen him so dedicated. He hasn't even finished his own tour yet, but he came here several days in advance to oversee the venue."

Liu picked up his teacup and took a sip: "He's holding his breath."

Hahaha----

The three mentors, without saying a word, threw their heads back and laughed.

Xu Yao sat in the backstage dressing room.

The noise of the audience entering the venue could be heard outside the door. Staff members walked back and forth with walkie-talkies, some people were practicing their singing in the corridor, and others were tuning their guitar strings.

He leaned back in his folding chair, put on his headphones, closed his eyes, and went through the information in his mind.

The second season of "The Voice of China" produced so many great songs.

The first episode features Su Yunying's "Wild Child".

When he first heard that song in his past life, he stood frozen in his rented room for a long time.

When that girl from Hainan stood on the stage, barefoot, and shouted into the microphone, "Blow, blow, my pride and indulgence," Liu got goosebumps all over, Zhou Huajian's eyes reddened, and all the mentors were vying for her.

It's a wild strength that grows from the very core of your being, indomitable, unafraid of the wind, and growing more proud the more it blows.

In the second episode, Nawukere's "Floating" was a rap performance by XJ, a young man who blended the sandstorms of Northwest China with the sense of drifting in the city, and all four mentors turned their chairs.

There's also Nao'er's "The Flying Wild Horse," where the fantastical vocals sound like a real wild horse hovering above the stage.

The Hanggai Band's performance of "Hanggai" in the third episode was world-class music. That performance wasn't just a song; it was like ten thousand horses galloping on the grassland. They were the favorites to win the championship.

Liu Huyi's "Slowly in the Past" went viral online after being sung four times, and was later covered and performed on the Spring Festival Gala.

The fourth episode was relatively uneventful overall, but viewers on the live chat and forums were already discussing whether the show needed to change its format.

The fifth episode, which is the one he's recording tonight.

In the future timeline, it was the episode with the highest viewership of the entire season, at 1.756.

In this episode, Dai Quan went on stage before him.

Xu Yao opened his eyes, walked to the side of the stage, and stood behind the curtain.

The stage lights came on.

Dai Quan, dressed in a black T-shirt and red pants, stood in front of the microphone, with stage lights pouring down from the dome.

The bamboo flute soared into the air, and the xiao (vertical flute) played a mournful tune. Suddenly, the air in the entire studio fell silent, and everyone held their breath in unison.

After a slow and deliberate narration, he suddenly intensified his enunciation, delivering each word a powerful and forceful utterance of the struggle and resentment behind his mask to the audience.

"Calling out to Buddha, there is no turning back. Kneeling before one as a teacher, life and death are irrelevant. In this floating world of good and evil, truth and falsehood, worldly ties are unclear and difficult to sever. What use is this iron rod to me? What good are these transformations? — I am still uneasy, still melancholy. With the golden headband on my head, I want to speak but cannot."

His pronunciation and the way he emphasized the last syllable, which had a Peking Opera flavor, combined traditional culture with popular opera singing style. When the last syllable fell, Liu Huan and Zhou Huajian stood up and applauded at the same time.

The production crew peeked out from behind the curtain to look at the audience.

Several people in the audience were looking down for tissues.

Xu Yao let out a soft breath, unfolded the lyric sheet in his hand that had been folded into a small piece, and then folded it back up.

This is the power of ultimate expression.

In the current environment, every song that goes viral is driven by an extreme emotion.

"Wild Child" is the ultimate stubbornness and unyielding spirit, "Once Upon a Time" is the ultimate gentle waiting, and "Wukong" is the ultimate lonely courage and brokenness.

The melody doesn't need to be fancy, and the chords don't need to be complicated, but the chorus must have a line that people can shout out, that people can remember, and that can suddenly bring tears to their eyes on the street.

This is the secret to its widespread success in early 2015.

Whether a song can become a hit depends on whether it caters to the current audience's tastes, and this popular sentiment is different every year.

The staff member raised his hand and gestured "next" to him.

Xu Yao walked out from behind the curtain and stood in the center of the stage. The lights dimmed.

He took a deep breath, brought the lyrics in his hand to his lips and then put them down, nodding to the band.

The electric guitar intro shattered the silence of the entire recording studio.

It wasn't the kind of ear-piercing explosion, but a low-frequency hum with a distorted effect, like a heartbeat, followed closely by drumbeats, the rhythm so brisk it made you want to sway your body.

Xu Yao's feet unconsciously landed on the rhythmic breathing points, and his body bounced gently with the beats of the drum machine. The director was about to cut to a close-up of the band when he saw the tips of his hair moving in time with the beat, and immediately had the jib arm adjust its position silently.

Xu Yao spoke up.

"I'm sure I said I loved you hundreds of years ago, but you forgot, and I didn't remember either."

That's Accusefive's "Lover Missed".

The lyrics are as simple as someone who can't sleep in the middle of the night gets up and randomly types a few words into their notes, but every word is powerful and resonant.

Xu Yao stood in the light, without making any extra movements, just swaying his body slightly. His voice slowly rose from the low register, like someone talking to themselves in the middle of the night, or like someone suddenly turning around on the street, thinking they had mistaken someone for someone else, but then realizing they hadn't.

"Passed by, went by, never met. Turned back, turned around, still wrong. You and I never felt it, collided at the street corner, collided at the street corner."

Yang Kun's chair turned around.

He was the first to strike with his stick, and he struck it so hard that the chair back bounced back and almost hit his own chin.

Such intense emotions are somewhat tinged with personal grudges.

He turned around and saw Xu Yao on the stage jumping and laughing at the bassist to the beat of the drums, and he swayed his head to the rhythm as well.

As the second chorus begins, the rhythm is suddenly accelerated and intensified by the guitar strumming, and the drumbeats pound more and more fiercely like a heartbeat, instantly pushing the originally light and lively melody into a heavy rock rhythm.

As the electric guitar roared during the interlude, Xu Yao leaned back and then bounced back, jumping around on stage covered in sweat, prompting the entire band's drummer to speed up.

"Didn't your mother tell you that you should apologize if you bump into someone? Everything was fine today, and now you've missed your loved one! You've missed your loved one!"

"Didn't your mother tell you that you should apologize if you bump into someone? Everything was fine today, and now you've missed your loved one! You've missed your loved one!"

"Love is a missed opportunity! Love is a missed opportunity! Love is a missed opportunity! Love is a missed opportunity!"

Starting from the second chorus, Xu Yao sang the entire song while jumping around.

The entire audience erupted in excitement, swaying their heads and waving their arms involuntarily, completely captivated by the young man dancing and singing on stage.

"By the last sentence, you've missed your lover," came his signature angry shout, which echoed throughout the venue.

Xu Yao let the sense of tearing bloom on the edge of the strong reverb, and after one sound, the lights suddenly turned on, and all the rhythms came to an abrupt end at the highest point.

He released the microphone and stood there panting, his chest heaving violently, his whole body drenched in sweat, which dripped down his brow bone and onto the stage floor.

When Liu Huan's chair turned around, Zhou Huajian had already been turning around for a while, and Cai Jianya followed closely behind as the third person to turn around.

The chairs of the four mentors spun around at the same time, and four faces with different expressions all faced him.

Xu Yao was breathing heavily, as if he had just finished a long and exhilarating run.

We're back. The familiar stage, the familiar feeling—it's all back.

Sing your heart out.

This feeling is really, really great.

July 2015th, a fresh start.