Dressed As a Cannon Fodder For the Rich and Powerful

In the tense preparations of the program group and the noisy atmosphere on the Internet, at 7 p.m. on Friday night, the final night of “Let’s debut, trainees” arrived as scheduled.

The venue for the final was divided into five main blocks, with the stage performance area in the center, the eliminated contestants area in the back, the fan support area right next to the stage, the agents area for each company on the left, and the guests and mentors area directly in front.

A total of five guests came today, including actors, idols, and singers, and the most important one was the musician Kang Qitao.

When the host introduced him, all the fans in the audience cheered and applauded. After all, everyone has heard quite a few songs from this music industry predecessor.

He sat in the middle, facing the stage, while the others sat next to him in order of seniority.

Yuan Yaling sat next to him on his right.

Kang Qitao was in his forties, wearing a black casual suit with a hood, and his hair was dyed flaxen gray. The whole person looked slender and very refined.

He released an album at the age of nineteen and turned behind the scenes at twenty-five, working as a music director and songwriter and later opening his own studio.

The lyrics and music of Yuan Yaling’s popular songs are all written by him.

However, unlike Yuan Yaling, Kang Qitao has been popular for a longer time, and at that time, he was full of creative talent. Until now, he has released three or four popular songs every year.

It was also clear from the program’s ranking and previous promotions that they were very proud to have invited someone of Kang Qitao’s strength and fame on their show.

After the show started, Yuan Yaling kept explaining to Kang Qitao things such as what the contestants’ names were, what specialties they had, and how difficult it was to take care of these young kids.

Kang Qitao kept his mouth shut and listened to Yuan Yaling’s words, nodding his head from time to time to show that he was listening.

It wasn’t until the performance began that Kang Qitao said politely, “Are you the one who directed the next two songs, Yaling?”

Yuan Yaling waved his hand and said, “Not the first one, but the second one.”

He really wanted to show off in front of Kang Qitao so that the other party could write a few more songs for him. Therefore, when he was asked, he always wanted to say a few more words.

He turned off the mic, shook his head, and sighed, “It’s too difficult taking care of young people nowadays. They can’t even practice one song well. If I direct two songs, I’ll have a few more gray hairs.”

Kang Qitao asked a little curiously, “Are young people of this generation that bad? I have come into contact with a few that are not bad.”

Yuan Yaling whispered, “How can people who enter your studio be inferior? In this program, only Gu Lei is quite good, and he has a basic background in the related major. The others, sigh, are barely passable, especially the lead singer, who’s really bad at singing…”

Kang Qitao: “Then how can he become the lead singer?”

Yuan Yaling shook his head again and said with sarcasm, “It’s hard to say. Now, as long as you’re good-looking and not mute, anyone dares to sing and do anything. It’s not like our era, where ordinary school graduates weren’t even good enough.”

After finishing speaking, he pointed to the girls in the crowd holding the “Qi Xiaoyu” support light sign and said, “Look, just like that.”

Kang Qitao immediately understood and comforted Yuan Yaling, saying, “That’s really difficult for you.”

Yuan Yaling was about to make a few modest remarks to show his ability when the performance started.

A few electronic sounds that seemed to be rubbing against the tiles came up, which was the intro to “Love, again”.

“Zi zi zi——” The voice that reached Kang Qitao and Yuan Yaling’s ears was filled with the sound of electric current.

Live performance and rehearsal are different after all. There are many people on the scene and many uncontrollable factors, resulting in poor audio.

But the song was sung and danced, and the stage as a whole was pretty explosive.

Yu Zhou’s performance was also very good, and after it was over, he was the one who had the biggest response among the audience.

After the performance of this song, the rap and dance mentors made a brief comment.

Immediately afterwards, the lights dimmed, and the contestants who sang “Along with You” came to the stage to prepare.

Amidst a large crowd of cheers with different names mixed in, the stage lights slowly turned bright again, with light smoke lingering under the lights, and youths in suits appeared one after another.

Different from the hip-hop style of the previous group, the youths on stage were all wearing dark suits and white shirts, exuding a classical and elegant temperament in their every move.

“After this journey, will we meet again?”

“At the next intersection, will you still applaud me?”

Although there was a whistling electric sound, some people’s tunes were slightly off.

But the victory lies in the soothing and light melody of the whole song, so it’s not bad to listen to.

After everyone sang their individual parts, the harmony sounded, and they were about to enter the highlight part of the whole song.

The scattered lights were all gathered together. Qi Xiaoyu, who was wearing a black suit, a stand-up collar shirt, and permed brown chestnut wavy hair, walked to the center of the stage.

On and off the stage, some people were nervous, while others were secretly happy. Some people looked at him curiously, while others gloated.

Qi Xiaoyu looked at the camera, looked at the audience, and opened his mouth in a relaxed and soothing manner.

“Your love,”

“Your flowers,”

The camera that originally moved towards Qi Xiaoyu’s side immediately moved back to the center.

He walked to his spot, stretched his limbs, and sang with his eyebrows lowered.

“Your applause,”

“The honor you gave me,”

Then he raised his eyes to look at the audience and the camera once again.

“Thank you for walking with me.”

“This memory will always be treasured in my heart.”

The first two notes were sung high and then suddenly lowered in the next sentence, but the singers on the stage didn’t appear jerky between the rise and fall.

These few choruses are not easy, with a wide range of high and low notes, but they are handled so lightly and naturally that they are full of appeal.

His breath is very steady, like steel that has been tempered repeatedly. He can freely retract and release like a boat that isn’t afraid of big waves.

His voice still carries a youthful clarity. Singing such a song seems to be able to reach people’s hearts with just one sentence.

There was also a strong sense of fondness and affection in his voice, as if what he said about forever was really forever.

He was like a little prince coming out of a classical painting, dazzling as if everyone before him was just a pretext and he was the only protagonist.

Although there are only seven or eight short lines of lyrics, all the people and voices in front and behind have been diluted, making people only remember these seven or eight lines.

Even if the “zi zi zi” current is still there, no one will pay attention to it anymore. His voice is sweet and sad, covering everything else.

Kang Qitao waited for Qi Xiaoyu’s part to finish before turning to the left and saying, “Yaling, is this the worst lead singer you said? Isn’t he quite good? I never expected to meet a child here with such excellent singing skills and voice. Such qualifications, alas… are too wasteful.”

Yuan Yaling didn’t know how to answer, and he himself stared at the stage in astonishment. He remembered what he said in front of Kang Qitao just now and felt that his face had been slapped in just ten minutes.

How is it possible? Ten days ago, Qi Xiaoyu couldn’t even sing in tune, and his breathing was a mess. How could he improve by leaps and bounds in just ten days?

Is it talent? That talent is too strong.

Not only Yuan Yaling thought this way, but almost everyone who had heard Qi Xiaoyu sing had the same thought at this moment. Is this really Qi Xiaoyu?

Not lip-syncing? Or were they imagining things?

On the stage, Gu Lei was so surprised that he kept staring at Qi Xiaoyu and forgot to sing when it came to his part.

Offstage, Dong Fan was stunned. Although he had known about Qi Xiaoyu’s changes for a long time, he never expected such a big change.

Ren Fei, who was going to change clothes backstage, also sneaked out, poked half of his head from behind Yu Xiaosheng, pointed to the stage, and asked softly, “Was that sung by Xiao Yu just now?”

Yu Xiaosheng stared blankly at the stage before he could react. “It should be.”

In the auditorium, Qi Xiaoyu’s station sister1If you’re into kpop, you’d see those fans with advanced cameras and equipment that follow idols to their schedules and take pictures. They’re like the top top fans. Usually, they help manage fan groups, do publicity work, etc. They can also get in touch with the idols at close range. forgot to press the shutter of the SLR, and it took a long time before she grabbed the hand of the little sister next to her and shouted, “Xiao Yu sang really well just now!”

“His stage presence has improved a lot. It’s really amazing. I always feel like he was staring at me just now.”

Yes, Qi Xiaoyu not only sings well, but his stage presence is even more invincible.

When performing on stage, a common mistake made by rookies is to only look at the audience and forget to look at the camera position. In this way, there is no sense of interaction with the audience in front of the camera.

But if you only look at the camera, the audience at the scene will find it very strange.

In Qi Xiaoyu’s time, although there was no such thing as a video camera, the most important thing to do when singing on stage was to have expressive, enticing eyes and to convey the subtlest emotions of the characters with every look.

During the rehearsal yesterday, he paid special attention to the direction of the camera positions. Coupled with his many years of stage experience, he can easily balance the two without more practice.

When the second chorus part came, the audience, which had been quiet for dozens of seconds, finally came to their senses, and the audience cheered “Qi Xiaoyu” unanimously.

The song was accompanied by cheers and continued until the end.

Music can empathize, and Qi Xiaoyu has undoubtedly brought this function to the extreme in the shortest possible time.

After the song ended, Kang Qitao was the first to comment, “Everyone performed very well tonight, especially the lead singer of this song. You’re called Qi Xiaoyu, right? You performed very well, like a professional singer. No, a professional singer may not be as good as you are tonight. I can say that you are already a mature and excellent singer, and you have a good grasp of the emotion and tone of the whole song.”

Kang Qitao originally had more to say, such as the stage presence, the state of singing, and Qi Xiaoyu’s composure and dedication, as if he was born on stage and knew how to use his body and eyes to gather people’s hearts.

But considering that Qi Xiaoyu is still a rookie and is on the stage of the final, he can’t talk too much, but in his heart, he is already amazed.

Qi Xiaoyu held the microphone in both hands, and listened to the speeches of the guests. The light fell on his almost flawless skin. He was neither overjoyed nor embarrassed. Just like Kang Qitao commented, he accepted the flowers and applause calmly.

After Kang Qitao finished commenting, he handed over the microphone to Yuan Yaling.

Yuan Yaling originally prepared a lot of things to say, such as the difficulty of rehearsing, the hard work of teaching, and the inability of some students to teach, but now his drafts are obviously not suitable for tonight’s scene.

He licked his lips and said dryly, “Everyone is doing very well. Especially Qi Xiaoyu…he has made great progress.”

****

After the song was performed, the contestants went backstage to change their clothes.

There will be a transition period of 20 minutes where a sensational VCR will be played, and then the ranking will be announced.

Qi Xiaoyu got into the backstage dressing room and just changed his clothes when Yu Xiaosheng ran over and patted him on the shoulder excitedly, “Today wasn’t bad, very good, no, excellent, you really give your brother some faces!”

Pulling Qi Xiaoyu aside again, he said in a low voice, “I just passed by the stage and heard your votes soar. I don’t know if those bastards dare to touch your votes.”

Qi Xiaoyu smiled, but he didn’t dare put much interest into this. He didn’t do all this to make his debut. What he wanted was to open their eyes, teach them a lesson, and then leave this stage.

Looking at the reaction at the scene just now, he knew he had done it.

How he develops in the future is up to him.

Qi Xiaoyu dragged a chair over, sat down, and called Yu Xiaosheng to have a rest together. He was going to sit down and then go on stage to finish the final procedure.

Yu Xiaosheng refused. The excitement of discovering a peerless treasure was mixed with the thrill of almost missing this treasure, which made him feel restless.

Qi Xiaoyu just let him be.

He leaned back on the chair and stretched. The continuous rehearsal and competition were quite exhausting. Now that he was relaxed, his fatigue surged.

In his sleepiness, he suddenly thought of Xun Qian. He wondered how the Xun family was doing these past two days.

Thinking of this, Qi Xiaoyu took out his mobile phone and planned to send a message to Butler Cheng to ask.

As soon as he opened the message app, he saw an unread message, which was sent just now: “Third Master is seriously ill; you’d better come back as soon as possible.”

Qi Xiaoyu’s heart skipped a beat; is he really seriously ill?

1If you’re into kpop, you’d see those fans with advanced cameras and equipment that follow idols to their schedules and take pictures. They’re like the top top fans. Usually, they help manage fan groups, do publicity work, etc. They can also get in touch with the idols at close range.