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

Chapter 98 Xu Yao's Third Single "Heaven and Earth Dragon Scales"

Soon after, with the airing of the sixth episode of "The Voice of China," the new episode became another concentrated showcase of original music.

Su Yunying's "Wild Child" continues to dominate the charts, with comment sections on major music platforms filled with the same sentiment: "Blow, blow, my pride and indulgence."

Nawukere's "Floating" caused a stir in the rap scene and was hailed by music critics as "XJ's new benchmark in rap".

Luo'er's fantastical voice in "The Flying Wild Horse" has gone viral, with some people on Douban even starting a thread to analyze the different styles of her and Qi Zitan's switching between true and false voices.

Liu even praised Hanggai Band's song "Hanggai" as "world-class music" on the spot.

Xu Yao's "Lover Missed" further propelled the accumulated likes on "The Voice of China" to break the historical record of one million.

Over the course of several episodes, viewers' appetites were whetted higher and higher, and the ratings climbed steadily, breaking 2 for the first time.

The seventh episode that Xu Yao participated in was the "Battle of the Main Themes" for Yang Kun's team.

This round adopted the "24-Hour Extreme Creation" competition format, a unique feature of the second season of "The Voice of China." Each singer-songwriter paired up and shared a single creation studio. Within a completely enclosed space, they had 24 hours to complete a new song on a given theme. Ultimately, 51 singers were selected.

The music critics voted on-site, and the other three mentors each had five bonus points to determine the "first hit".

In the backstage dressing room, Xu Yao leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

In the final minutes before going on stage, he went over the melody he had been refining over the past few days in his mind one last time.

Yang Kun's creative theme for this group of works is "integrity," which is not about romantic love, personal grievances or resentment, but rather the backbone, backbone, and unyielding spirit that has been accumulated over five thousand years of Chinese civilization.

He recalled many scenes: tearing off his muscle suit on the night of the finals, revealing the bottom line of an honest man weighing 250 pounds at the press conference...

"Missed Lover" shouts out, "If you bump into someone, you should say sorry." From The Voice of China to The Voice of China, every song of his does the same thing: stuffing extreme emotions into the melody, letting the melody give voice to those who can't say it.

This time, however, he is not writing about the emotions of one person, but about the backbone of an entire nation.

He picked up his pen and wrote two words on the paper: Heaven and Earth Dragon Scales.

The host has already read his name on stage.

Xu Yao stood up, took a deep breath, and walked towards the stage.

The moment the lights went out, the entire studio fell silent.

There was no intro, and no musical instruments.

Xu Yao stood in the center of the stage, raised one hand, and made a gesture similar to the opening gesture of a traditional Chinese opera.

The palm slowly chops down from top to bottom, like spreading a sheet of Xuan paper in the void, or like painting a landscape between heaven and earth.

Then he began to sing a cappella, without accompaniment, his voice like an echo coming from a very, very distant valley.

"I begin to paint this landscape, and the bloodline of the nation stretches for tens of thousands of miles—"

The orchestral prelude burst in the instant his last note faded.

The string ensemble spread out a wide sound field, the pipa's tremolo fingers weaved through the gaps between the strings, and the drumhead was struck heavily, one sound after another like a heartbeat, a pulse, or the thunderous roar of a dragon's claw shattering ice.

Xu Yao raised the microphone to his lips, his chest resonating fully: "For six hundred years, the descendants of the dragon have weathered storms. This central axis of the capital region remains as steadfast as the integrity of a virtuous person—"

His voice was as rich and full as a drum in the mid-range, with each word landing steadily on the beat.

The self-deprecating tenderness in "Loneliness Is Not Good" and the carefree joy in "Missed Lover" are all put away at this moment.

Instead, he displayed a kind of powerful and exhilarating energy that he had never shown in public before, a power that came from the relief of immense pressure.

A person who has experienced injustice and endured online abuse has not been broken.

When he sang the word "rain" in "having experienced wind and rain," the last note rose half an octave. It wasn't a deliberate vocal transition, but a natural emotional release, like a dragon raising its head from the abyss, its scales shimmering in the sunlight.

The camera pans down from above the stage, showing him standing in the center of a circular light, as if he were standing on the white marble steps in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City, with the 600-year-old Forbidden City behind him.

"These dragon scales once fell to the ground with a clang like shattered ice—"

He used an angry tone to pronounce the word "铿锵" (kēngqiāng), the sound exploding from the depths of his throat like a hammer striking an anvil and sparks flying.

Then the phrase "like shattered ice" suddenly stopped, and the voice retreated from a strong mixed voice to a weak mixed voice that was almost a whisper, like the crisp, lingering sound of shattered ice after it hit the ground.

Like souls scattered throughout the long river of history that have never perished, they lie in the cracks of the blue bricks, waiting to be picked up by those who come after.

"A single scale, an inch of heart; the story is so turbulent I cannot bear to hear it. People uphold propriety, hearts remain tranquil; the melodious ancient zither plays the heart of a gentleman. I await the echo, lingering on the vast and magnificent civilization of China."

When the song reached the line "The guqin plays the heart of a gentleman," the pipa music stopped just then, leaving only the overtones of the guqin trembling gently in the air, like someone plucking a string in an empty hall of the Forbidden City.

He and all the musicians paused for two beats before raising the microphone back to their lips with another drumbeat.

"I pay homage to the past as I put pen to paper, to the vast yellow earth of the East. Ink splashes across the landscape, revealing only the rugged spirit of China. The Shenwu Gate of the Forbidden City, how many vicissitudes have forged the Chinese soul! I inherit and cultivate this culture, breaking through changes to turn the tide—"

He changed the phrasing of Wang Lihong's original song for this part.

The original "Break through the changes to turn the tide" is a long sentence written in one breath. He deliberately paused after "Break through the changes," like a person standing on the edge of a cliff taking a deep breath and then using all his strength to push out the last four words: "Turn the tide."

He pronounced each word clearly and distinctly, his voice carrying a resolute determination reminiscent of Xi Jinping's "do or die" spirit.

Someone in the audience stood up; it wasn't a pre-arranged cheer, but a physical reaction that outpaced their brain.

In the second chorus, the full orchestral arrangement unfolds.

The orchestral ensemble reached its loudest note, the pipa's tremolo became increasingly dense, and the drummer's mallets almost pierced through the drumhead.

Xu Yao tilted his head back, facing the lights of the dome, and pushed the last chorus out from the deepest part of his chest.

"These dragon scales once fell to the ground with a clang, like shattered ice. Each scale represents a piece of heart; from the small to the great, I firmly believe—to raise the nation's head high and revive it once more—"

He dragged out the "兴" in "再复兴" for a full eight beats.

Starting with a strong mixed voice, the notes rise one section at a time, propelled by the strings, until they reach the very edge of the high register.

The voice carried the power of mutual destruction, yet it remained firmly at its highest point, unbroken, unyielding, and uncollapsed.

That wasn't just a simple emotional outburst; it was a collection of all the suppressed and depleted dignity that had never truly been broken.

The dignity of all talent show contestants being labeled as consumables is the dignity of a nation that has been shattered and risen again countless times throughout history.

With the last sentence, he slowly retreated from that roaring, high-pitched voice.

The accompaniment was stripped of all orchestral instruments and pipa, leaving only a piano playing the simplest block chords.

He slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, his left hand fell to his sides, and his right hand rose again, carrying the last syllable of his voice in an almost breathless manner into every corner of the studio.

"Wandering the heavens and earth in search of dragon scales, the dragon's bloodline flourishes into a forest—"

The final sound falls on the word "林" in "成林", the mixed sound closes in, and the soft sound is extinguished.

He slowly lowered his hand, the microphone hanging at his side.

His forehead was covered in sweat, and his chest was still heaving violently, but he stood up straight.

He knew he had sung everything he wanted to say.

The last note dissipated into the quiet air, like a dragon scale gently falling onto the water's surface, creating ripples that could never be recovered.

Moments later, thunderous applause erupted.

Cai Jianya was the first to speak.

Her applause hadn't completely subsided; her hands were still clasped in front of her chest, and her expression looked as if she had just experienced a tsunami.

She gestured with her hands in the air as if something was flying rapidly: "Wait a minute, let me catch my breath. I need to get my thoughts back together. In the last performance of 'Lover Missed,' you were like someone with inexhaustible energy, getting everyone jumping up and down. How come this time you suddenly went sluggish and gave each of us a punch in the chest?"

She spread her hands on the back of the chair, making a gesture of surrender.

"And that powerful, resonant voice!" Wow, I jumped up from my chair. How did you manage to capture such a powerful timbre in a pop song? It's a blessing for us mentors to have you in the Chinese music scene.

Liu took off his black-rimmed glasses, folded them neatly at the corner of the mentor's desk, and then picked up the microphone.

"When 'Lover Missed' came out, I told Wakin that Xu Yao is not a young man who can be confined by any particular style."

That song was very well-designed, but "Heaven and Earth Dragon Scales" is on a completely different level. It goes a long way above the theme of "Lover Missed." You've captured the songwriter's craftsmanship to the core, releasing the soul of the nation for everyone to hear. This is a song paying tribute to five thousand years of Chinese civilization, and it deserves to be heard by more people.

After saying that, Liu added something else: "This song is worthy of being performed on the Spring Festival Gala."

Teacher Liu was finally satisfied; this evaluation was top-notch.

When Wakin Chau spoke, he still had the lingering breath from singing along.

"Brother Huan has already praised all the technical skills that needed to be praised, so I'll just say two things. First, the pronunciation of 'deeply cultivating' in 'you and me inheriting and deeply cultivating culture'—I practiced that word four times while listening, but my tongue couldn't keep up with the vibration of my vocal cords. Second, the broken beat of 'breaking through the changes to turn the tide' allowed the entire audience to see the most authentic state of the descendants of the dragon during a historical upheaval, giving all the previous build-up a culmination and making the whole song feel like a dragon finally taking flight."

97

He paused, then suddenly changed his usual friendly smile to a joking tone.

"By the way, how popular is 'Missed Lover' right now? One netizen's comment was particularly funny. He said that now when he walks down the street and sees a dog on the side of the road, he's worried it might say, 'Didn't your mom tell you that if you bump into someone, you have to apologize?'"

The entire audience burst into laughter.

Xu Yao couldn't help but laugh out loud, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

Yang Kun was the last to speak. He didn't speak immediately; he was silent for a few seconds, then raised his hand and gently pounded his chest. His eyes were red-rimmed, and his smile was choked with emotion.

"When I saw Xu Yao recording my show on the internet, I thought to myself, the third season of The Voice of China was worth it. I taught him vocal placement and how to chord progressions. But now I want to say, Xu Yao, in terms of this song, you are better than me. I have never felt ashamed to have trained a student who is better than me. I can tell everyone in the future that Xu Yao was the champion of The Voice of China, and he chose me. No matter how good he is, he was trained by me, Yang Kun."

He raised his hand from his chest and pointed at Xu Yao on the stage, his voice still a little hoarse.

"Xu Yao, it's not just this one song; I wish you would always be better than me. Go, let more people know how high our Yang family generals can fly."

"Thank you for the high praise from the four mentors."

The host returned to the stage, holding the microphone to his mouth: "Xu Yao, are you ready? Are you confident you can break the record for the highest score?"

Xu Yao nodded, his chest still heaving, and took half a step forward: "Absolutely."

"Okay." The host turned to face the camera, raising his voice by half an octave, "Finally, is there anything you'd like to say to the 51 seasoned music critics who are about to vote?"

Xu Yao paused, then raised his head, scanning from the far left to the far right of the music critics' panel: "Thank you, everyone. I stand here today, carrying the voices of myself and all my fellow artists who love original music. We've been on this path for a long time: talent show contestants performing original songs on 'The Voice of China.' But we've walked this path with great dedication, with firm roots and a guiding light."

He took half a step back and bowed towards the music critics' section.

"I hope this song will be well received by all the teachers."