If I Can’t Be a Fanboy, I Can Only Debut

As the competition entered the second half, with a noticeable decrease in the number of participants, even someone who is face-blind and timid could recognize everyone now.

The consequence of being extremely familiar with each other is that any slight change is noticed by everyone.

Luo Xin's bad mood couldn't go unnoticed by others.

In many people's eyes, it was normal for Luo Xin to cry for his friends who had left; after all, they cried yesterday too.

But in some people's eyes, it was something else altogether.

Shang Lin looked at Luo Xin with a complex expression, a mix of relief and a hint of guilt.

In the end, as if he had made up his mind, Shang Lin avoided the camera and walked over to Étienne, patting his shoulder. He wanted to apologize, but found it hard to put into words.

Although he wouldn't have the audacity to think that Luo Xin's current haggard appearance was all because of him, he knew he was also partly to blame.

Yesterday, Shang Lin dropped three places in the rankings. It was a significant setback.

Although he still had a stable position to make it to the finals, he needed to move forward to ensure the final formation. Shang Lin really wanted to make it to the formation, so he felt a bit upset about the result. But he also knew that his fans were probably more upset than he was.

Actually, his fans had already worked hard enough, but the final result wasn't ideal, so it could only be his own fault.

So, in his inner turmoil, Shang Lin simply assured Luo Xin, "I will work hard."

Luo Xin was still angry with Wen Tongbai when he suddenly heard Shang Lin say this to him. It felt so random, without any context.

But when he looked over, he saw Shang Lin's face with a pitiful expression, like a golden retriever who had done something wrong. He had originally wanted to ask something or say something, but at this moment, he couldn't find the words.

What's more, he seemed to sense that Shang Lin wasn't talking to him directly, but rather looking through him, as if looking at someone else.

Distracted by this, Luo Xin suddenly forgot about his plan to mentally oppress Wen Tongbai. It wasn't until everyone gathered together that he realized he had forgotten to execute his plan and give Wen Tongbai a disdainful look, secretly wishing for him to embarrass himself on the next stage, maybe even fall flat on his face!

For someone like Wen Tongbai, this would be such a humiliating experience comparable to a social death.

Luo Xin is a fan who is mild and doesn't act like a poisonous fan.

Speaking of which, according to the schedule, the next competition should be the cooperative stage.

This stage has no pressure, it's just a way to relax, and there's no live scoring. If you're lucky, you might not even have to see the mentors during practice.

You don't have to hear Lin Jiawen's sarcasm disguised as praise, Cheng Er's joking version of "a little higher," Rainbow Bei's straightforward "Your lyrics are just so-so, are you really a rapper?" and everyone working hard to perfect the dance, only to be told by Xiang Li to "add another move"...

Just thinking about it makes people tearfully happy.

Of course, in recent years, in order to improve ratings and at the same time promote collaborations with other artists, the cooperative stage only invites stars who seem to have no relation to the idols, stages, or even singers.

But "Super Idol" aims to restore the most basic elements of a talent show, so it's not ruled out that there may be a possibility of working with mentors.

However, no matter which one it was, everyone felt it was acceptable.

Being oppressed by one mentor or by a group of mentors, which one is more acceptable? The answer is very clear.

-----

As everyone anticipated, the program group announced the final list of guest performers.

Lin Jiawen, Cheng Er, and Rainbow Bei each brought a team of players to perform, and they were joined by the pioneer of the singing and dancing world, ancient idol Wanbei, the actor who recently made a big splash, Feng Hui, and Xiang Li's junior sister Zhou Beibei.

What?

You're wondering why Xiang Li isn't here?

It's simple, Xiang Li had a very important (lucrative) engagement that couldn't be postponed, so he had his junior sister take his place.

Of course, the selection of this junior sister was definitely also done by the production team.

Sometimes Luo Xin has to admire this production team, they really have an eye for talent.

They thought that getting four mentors with good humor together was something rare, but they didn't expect that they could also invite an even more amazing lineup of guest performers.

Each one of them is a legend in their own right, capable of carrying a show on their shoulders.

Wanbei, a senior idol who has long been famous across the country, has withstood the test of time and still stands tall in the entertainment industry. There is hardly any higher position in the singing and dancing world than him.

However, recently he has been involved in scandals, such as having multiple affairs, pressuring his lover to have an abortion without providing support, and more, which have attracted public criticism. Of course, it's difficult to carry out a formal boycott due to these moral flaws, so he still receives various job offers. However, he hasn't agreed to any of them.

I wonder how much the program group paid to invite him.

As for Feng Hui, although he is a newly popular actor who may not seem very high-profile, he has one characteristic - his fans are crazy about him.

During Luo Xin's time in the industry, the only two setbacks he has encountered are the fans of Feng Hui and Xiang Li. But what sets Feng Hui's fans apart is that they can even be described as lunatics. When they get worked up, they even insult Feng Hui himself, right to his face.

At the same time, they don't hesitate to spend money. On his birthday, they broke the record by successfully competing against the national idol group and securing advertising on the NY Times Square for a whopping 36 hours at an unbelievable price. They also set a new record for the amount of support money contributed by a single person, representing a company all by themselves.

When Feng Hui was unknown, they still stuck with him. Now that he has become popular, their attitude towards him hasn't changed. In a way, it's quite admirable.

The last guest is Zhou Beibei, who is known as Xiang Li's junior sister.

Zhou Beibei has a sweet and friendly personality, is easy to get along with, has a good reputation in many programs, and is friends with many difficult artists. However, she has a fatal title: "the famous beautiful waste in the entertainment industry."

Since her debut in a girl group, her singing has been off-key and her dancing has been awkward. After leaving the group, she has tried acting, modeling, variety shows, and even food-related programs. Unfortunately, nothing has worked out, and in the ten years since her debut, she hasn't found her niche or representative works.

However, fate smiled on her by giving her a gorgeous face that dominates the entertainment industry. Now, she survives by acting as a vase or decoration in various programs and TV dramas.

Her fans are very loyal and she frequently places first in fan-edited videos on Station B.

The guests are ready and the program's camera is focused on the contestants. The producers are anticipating the material they will get.

The contestants live up to expectations, taking a look at the mentors who watch them with malicious intent and the uncooperative guests. They all seem overwhelmed by the situation. Upon closer inspection, the black aura visible on each person's face appears to form two words - "retire from the competition."

Of course, retiring is impossible, it will never happen in this lifetime.

It's just a performance competition, what are they afraid of?

Afterwards, they took a look at the backup song list, and everyone started sharing their thoughts and song preferences as if nothing had happened. This contrast makes the show look great, after all, the contestants are all experienced.

In the backup song list, there are two songs for singing and dancing, two love songs, one rap, and one popular song.

Perhaps to avoid revealing anything, the mentors and guests' works are not included. But this behavior is no different from turning a blind eye. It's easy for everyone to guess, after all, the mentors have their own style, and so do the guests.

Although Zhou Beibei doesn't know anything, she's definitely qualified as a "vase." She's either singing a love song or a popular song, just like Feng Hui.

No need to guess, Rainbow Bei will definitely perform the rap.

One singing and dancing song is Lin Jiawen's, and the other is Wanbei's.

As for Cheng Er, do I even need to say it? What else can he do if not sing a love song?

So, the contestants who have their own strong points have started to struggle with which song to choose.

Most of the top players are good at both singing and dancing, and they are struggling to choose their songs as if they were excellent students deciding whether to attend Tsinghua or Peking University. On the other hand, the contestants who ranked lower are all choosing songs they do not want to perform, as if they were students who failed to enroll in their desired courses, praying not to choose the most difficult course to pass, which is too realistic.

Luo Xin is currently very busy in the crowd. On one hand, he has to check which song will be chosen later so as not to choose a problematic one, and on the other hand, he has to keep a close eye on Wen Tongbai, making sure he does not touch Shao Xiangchen casually, like a hardworking farmer guarding his own vegetables. 

At the same time, he has to guard against his own facial expressions; he cannot give the production team, who is madly seeking material, a chance to catch him off guard. He is as busy as a top, never stopping for a moment.

Shang Lin has been standing next to him all along, saying nothing, just calmly thinking. This is consistent with his usual style: practice solidly and do not fake it or deliberately seek the spotlight to create an effect.

After thinking about it for a while, he is still indecisive. So he asked, "Luo Xin, do you have any favorite songs?"

Meanwhile, Wen Tongbai and Shao Xiangchen are whispering to each other, seeming to be discussing something. This scene makes Luo Xin furious, and his gaze continues to stare at them without pause. When he heard the question, Luo Xin responded without raising his head, "éphémère."

Shang Lin thought that when Luo Xin pronounced the name of this song, his tone was different from everyone else's, and it sounded pretty good. However, he did not recognize that this was an authentic French pronunciation, which can only be learned in a one-on-one setting with a French person.

Lu Xin said that he chose the song subconsciously. There are two songs for singing and dancing, and "éphémère" is just one of them. The other song is this year's hit single, with a cool and stylish original choreography and still popular. This song is obviously more attractive.

His mention of liking the song was just subconsciously talking about the song that Shao Xiangchen would choose.

Yes, Shao Xiangchen will definitely choose "éphémère," even if the other song may be more effective. This is because "éphémère" was performed by one of Shao Xiangchen's favorite singers. He will never give up this opportunity to pay tribute. Moreover, the attraction of the other song is far less than that of this song with a French title.

"éphémère" means mayfly in French, which looks very fragile. However, this song is completely opposite to the title, with a fast rhythm, many drum beats, and an explosive visual effect. It is also difficult.

Considering Shao Xiangchen's strength and popularity, choosing an ordinary song with a high hit potential poses no challenge. Only the difficult songs like this provide room for him to show his years of training.

Thinking of this, Luo Xin's face did not show any expression, but his heart had sunk.

All the previous advantages were based on the premise that the original singer or other guests would perform the song. If Wan Bei were present, this song would not be such a good choice.

The lyrics and music of "éphémère" were created by a songwriter named Shou Beiren. Yes, that's Wan Bei.

This song was sold by him when he was young and was later made famous by the person who bought it. When he wrote this song, Wan Bei was still poor, so he didn't dare to set the price too high. Later, when he became famous himself, he didn't want to give others a free ride. Therefore, except for some early news, few people know that he is Shou Beiren.

Now that Wan Bei is constantly being criticized, it is hard to know what his mentality is when he participates in a program and performs this song. After thinking briefly, the program producers urged everyone to select their songs according to their ranking. Shao Xiangchen was the first to leave the studio and go to the room that represented each song. Then it was Wen Tongbai...

-----

When it was Luo Xin's turn, many people had already gone, and one of the songs had actually been selected in full, and the song title posted outside was directly taken down.

What was most shocking was that the song that was already full was not a singing and dancing song, but that divine song???

Don't you top performers have any aspirations?

Quietly criticizing in his heart, Luo Xin pushed open the door to the "éphémère" group without hesitation.

A son who travels a thousand miles causes his mother to worry, and here comes Shao Xiangchen's mother!

It's strange to say that Luo Xin didn't know whether it was luck or what, but he never had the opportunity to be in the same group as Shao Xiangchen.

Now that he finally had the chance to be in the same group, he suddenly became shy and hesitated to start a conversation. He just held onto his arm and treated everyone with indifference, with a very arrogant expression on his face. What a contrast!

Unfortunately, no one appreciated it.

This group had a total of five spots, and Luo Xin was the last one.

As expected, Shao Xiangchen was here.

Wen Tongbai was also here. Luo Xin mocked him in his heart dozens of times saying "trying to be clever".

Shang Lin was here too. Luo Xin's eyelid twitched. Could it be that he was the one affecting others?

There was also Wei Shu, who was a bit older than the others, but had an experience that was a bit excessively rich. He had won over ten dance awards in China and was also a champion of various local stations with a bunch of certificates. He smiled kindly at Luo Xin when he saw him and was clearly an easy-going person.

After examining this circle of people, Luo Xin still appeared noble and elegant, but his heart was already lamenting. He had subconsciously chosen this song because he was worried about Shao Xiangchen, completely forgetting that he was an unskilled person who would become a drag on the group. He prayed, somewhat desperately, that "the bronze cap doesn't spoil the kingship" and that everything would be okay.

It wasn't too long before Wan Bei walked in. Although he was getting up there in years, because he was a singing and dancing idol, his figure was still maintained quite well, and his spirit was good. Even though he had recently been caught up in some scandal, he didn't show it at all. Instead, he greeted everyone cheerfully: "Hey, all young people, it's great!"

He appeared to be easy to get along with. Except for Luo Xin, everyone else breathed a sigh of relief and laughed, "No, no, Teacher Wan, you seem to be in good spirits too."

Wan Bei laughed heartily, "Oh, you are eloquent. I like that."

In the practice room, the atmosphere was very harmonious for a while.

However, just when the mentors, guests, and contestants were in high spirits, director Zhuang Jian, who everyone thought was crazily hoarding materials, was on the phone like a madman, "Is this the surprise you gave me? Damn it, I only went out for half a day, and you put Wan Bei in the program for me?"

"I can't believe it! Who doesn't know what kind of person he is? Let me tell you, if anything goes wrong with the show, I won't let you off the hook! Also, tell Ma Yuan - that dog thing - with me here, he should never think about coming back! Taking credit for me, making a mess of my show and letting me clean it up. Now that it's finally cleaned up, he wants to come back?"

With a sullen face, he derisively remarked, "Even in times of personal calamity, the mourning process is not usually expedited to such an extent, is it?"