HDIEUMDBTSB Chapter 28: Airing, Big Changes!
Volume 1: The Road to Fame
Chapter 28: Airing, Big Changes!
Zhang Mingyi is a familiar face often seen on singing shows, with an impressive resume. He has been a guest on Youth Song Concert, a judge on the 34th National Singing Competition, a member of the judges' panel for the final of Happy Boys, and a mentor for newcomers on Super Girls.
He appears to have considerable prestige, but he lacks notable achievements as a music producer or singer himself. What makes Zhang Mingyi sought after by music shows is his creation of the "Yiming Ranking," a subjective evaluation ranking of singing abilities.
Graduating from the Composition Department of the Central Conservatory of Music, he is technically proficient and somewhat specialized. However, Zhang Mingyi placed Wu Tang, representing the top tier in "Wu Head, Chu Tail," at the top of the list, causing quite a stir.
He also coined terms like "natural voice cracking," "intentional off-key singing," and "compensatable breathlessness," earning him the nickname "Wu's Dog," referring to his strong support for Wu Tang.
Naturally, he was invited to be a member of the judging panel. Is Zhang Mingyi naive? Certainly not. Is he a die-hard fan of Wu Tang? Not at all.
Why make such outrageous statements? Because it stirs up attention. Look at how many fans of Wu Tang rallied behind him and how many shows invited him.
"I'm so wise," Zhang Mingyi rejoiced, grateful for supporting Wu Tang instead of Chu Zhi.
"Whether it's cool or not, the key is that I can't bring myself to praise Chu Zhi's singing skills. They're just too damn awful."
"That video cracked me up. An ordinary person with training wouldn't be this bad," Zhang Mingyi said as he opened the latest episode on time.
He watched Mango TV on schedule, enduring numerous ads. He knew the order of appearance would be Heng Kouyi, Zheng Yingying, Gu Nanxi, Lin Xia, Chu Zhi, Hou Yubin, and Yang Guiyun.
"I'm looking forward to Hou Teacher and Old Yang, but they're at the end. What a pity," Zhang Mingyi sighed, considering himself to have a stronger appreciation level than the average viewer, who surely favored niche artists like Sol.
"Old Yang's soul music is the most authentic. 'Deer on the Highway' is a divine album, but unfortunately, too few people listen to it."
Throughout the program, Zhang Mingyi didn't hold back his comments.
"The first R&B trend in Japan emerged at the end of the 1980s, and the rock trend almost started simultaneously with Europe and America. Heng Kouyi's appearance is too ordinary. He can't handle both rock and R&B, and he's not a singer-songwriter. So his future is uncertain. Fortunately, he eventually found his style—depressive vibrato, blending excitement and lyricism into high pitches. 'Mount Everest Is Liquid' is a typical work of Heng Kou's music, nothing extraordinary."
"Zheng Yingying? Her voice feels contrived and artificial. The influence of girl groups is too strong. Why hasn't a singer like this been eliminated? What are the artists in this episode doing?"
After listening to several songs, Zhang Mingyi wasn't satisfied, especially with Lin Xia, who despite scoring the second highest, seemed worthless in his eyes.
"The adaptation is nonsensical. It was a classic old song, and the abrupt high notes startled me. What a mess." At this moment, Zhang Mingyi's mood could be expressed by an animated film, "Inside Out." "Confused" because he couldn't understand, it was obviously a forced high note adaptation of a crappy song. How could it receive such high scores?
Next was Li Xingwei's challenge, and the variety show went to a commercial break. Damn it, in Zhang Mingyi's eyes, both top-tier singers sang mediocrely, and he had to endure ads.
"A five-minute ad break for Li Xingwei's song. From the bunch of dwarves, he's slightly better than Lin Xia," Zhang Mingyi commented.
"I should have waited for the app to catch up before watching. Not being able to fast forward is painful."
Zhang Mingyi felt miserable, having to endure noise he described as requiring a pair of ears that had never heard it before.
Chu Zhi took the stage—
As the performance began, his technique was indeed poor, but Zhang Mingyi immediately sensed a story, no, an accident, unfolding.
If the live audience could be fully infected by the sounds of despair, then the TV audience could only grasp about ninety percent of it.
But there was an advantage too. The video was edited in post-production, and the cameramen knew what they were doing. They focused on Chu Zhi, showcasing his desolation vividly.
Tragic yet beautiful!
A dual immersion of both sight and sound.
Art can encapsulate emotions, much like the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch's "The Dead Mother," where the mother's body is outlined in gray lines, appearing as a ghostly figure, while the child at the center of the painting covers his ears in agony, seemingly unwilling to hear his mother's agonizing cries before her death.
The image conveys a strong sense of unease and despair, even if you don't understand the background behind the painting, you can still sense it.
Chu Zhi's singing voice, like "The Dead Mother," also harbors emotions, conveying a sense of unease and despair. The emotional infection renders lyrics that are not particularly sad to an exceptionally sorrowful stage.
"???"
Whenever a question mark appears in Zhang Mingyi's mind, it's not that he has a problem, but rather that the thing in front of him exceeds his understanding.
After a song finishes, Zhang Mingyi makes no comment. His brain continues to attempt to reboot until Hou Yubin makes the assessment, "It's all emotion," which finally succeeds in restarting it.
"Indeed, off-key, indeed, there's voice cracking, indeed, there's no technique, but the emotional investment is too full. The despair in the singing voice is something even the prince of love songs in the music industry would find hard to achieve," Zhang Mingyi feels like he could switch to licking someone else or lick more of the same.
As the saying goes, licking one person is being a dog, licking two people is being a wolf.
There's nothing more to say; he must write a detailed music review on Weibo, analyzing it seriously.
Being able to conquer even the most critical music reviewers, let alone the audience, coupled with the earlier leaked video, the instant contrast—
How to describe it? It's like 404 torpedoes exploding in a cesspool.
It's thunderous!
The screams were exaggerated to the extreme.
There was no need to wait until later for the Mango TV premiere. The TV station probably ended Chu Zhi's performance at 9:20, and by 9:30, both WeChat Moments and Weibo were exploding.
Moments—
"[I'm guilty. I actually feel sorry for Chu Zhi. What's wrong with him? Has he suffered some emotional trauma? I've been dumped by the same woman seven times, and just halfway through, I'm already emotionally broken.]" Shancheng·Noble Health Center (3 minutes ago)
"[Before watching the show, I was like: watching drama. After the show: shocked. Truly reminded me of breaking up with my first love, waiting foolishly in the rain. So heartbreaking.]" (5 minutes ago)
"[It's all emotion, not a single bit of technique, but emotion is the most lethal. I'm embarrassed to keep bashing Chu Zhi now. I never thought I'd cry listening to Chu Zhi's song. It's truly a miracle.]" Chuannmei (2 minutes ago)
It's like a big emotional sharing event, pouring out many past experiences. The tears on Moments can roughly be divided into three categories: unchangeable frustrations, fading melancholy, and personal grievances.
Of course, there are also unique individuals, like this one:
"[I cried while listening. Why am I crying when I've never been in love?]" (1 minute ago)
Friend's reply: Isn't it precisely because you've never been in love that you're crying...
Dominating Moments is quite an exaggerated thing.
The wave on Weibo reached its peak two hours after the app broadcast, and Chu Zhi started to gain fans.
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