The doors closed.
The venue was cleared.
The Clown began rehearsing.
"Teacher, are you still not going to sing?"
"Mhm."
"Alright then, let's begin."
"Thank you for your hard work."
The reason why Zhang Ye insisted on not singing during rehearsals was because he did not want to expend too much of his emotions and passion. He was a classic live performer and needed to be in the right state of mind. Sometimes, the more he sang a song, the more focused he became, the more he would expend his initial emotions. Then, when it came time for a live performance, he might not perform as well as he did during rehearsals. No singer could sing only one song in their entire life and still be full of emotions every time they sang it. If he sang too much, he would also get annoyed. That was why Zhang Ye needed to suppress his emotions and save them for the stage.
Music Director Bai Yuanfei and the Miracle Wheels band members were already used to it. But when they received the score and saw the title of the song, they subconsciously glanced at The Clown.
Eh, this song?
They were looking forward to it!
Half an hour later, the song had been rehearsed three or four times and was done. Zhang Ye did not waste any time as the next singer was still waiting for the rehearsal. After thanking the band for their hard work, he went out. When the door opened, an unfamiliar masked man appeared outside. He was resting on the sofa. This man's mask was the same as Zhang Ye's, silvery-white in color. It was very artistic and even had some ethnic cultural elements to it. It was obvious that it had been carefully prepared by the designer. His clothes were also very eye-catching and colorful.
Who was it?
Was it Flowing Time?
When Zhang Ye looked at him again, he was also looking at him.
That person stood up and looked into The Clown's eyes. "You should have seen what I said on Weibo. Even if you admit defeat, you still want to eliminate Old Li. Is there a need for that?"
It was indeed Flowing Time.
Zhang Ye smiled.
Then he heard Flowing Time say, "I don't like you."
Zhang Ye acknowledged with an "oh".
Flowing Time said, "You're a Chinese, right?"
Zhang Ye still did not say anything.
Flowing Time said, "Since when did singing Cantonese songs become popular among Chinese singers? Are you deliberately targeting Old Li? We're all in the same industry, so there's no need to be so ruthless, right? You're not giving anyone any face at all? You're not even giving yourself a way out? I'm also a minor language singer. If you're so capable, you can sing another Cantonese song. "
Zhang Ye looked at him. "That's all?"
Shi Guang replied, "I'm done for now."
Zhang Ye put up two fingers and said, "First, whether I sing a Cantonese song or not, and what songs I want to sing, I will decide for myself. There's no need for you to tell me. Second, if you're here to help Li Yu, feel free to do so, but don't waste your breath. Let's meet on stage." He turned around and walked away.
Shi Guang's voice came from behind, "Alright, let's see what you've got on stage!"
After they walked away, Han Qi, who had been standing beside Zhang Ye all this while, said angrily, "Is that guy crazy?"
Zhang Ye said, "Who knows?"
Han Qi said, "The matter with Li Yu has already been decided. He was the one who did not follow the rules and disrupted the program. Does he think he's in the right?"
Zhang Ye threw up his hands.
Han Qi asked, "Is he really Teacher Zhao Qiquan?"
"I don't know."
Han Qi: "He said that he sings a minor language genre, so it's very likely that he really is Zhao Qiquan. A lot of people on the Internet are guessing the same thing. Teacher, you can do it! Beat him!"
Zhang Ye nodded. "Yes."
…
Online.
A piece of news came out, and there were photos on it.
"Zhang Ye's mysterious female bodyguard!"
"Wow!"
"What a beauty!"
"Yeah, although I can't see her clearly with her sunglasses on, judging from her silhouette and figure, she's definitely a beauty. Did Teacher Zhang hire a bodyguard?"
"A female bodyguard? Is she just for show? "
"Who knows? I heard that Teacher Zhang's newly hired agent is also a great beauty!"
"Teacher Zhang has offended too many people. It's time for him to hire a bodyguard."
"I'm only concerned about the outcome of the fourth episode of King of Masked Singers!"
"Just who is The Clown?"
"The industry is also guessing, but no one knows!"
"Flowing Time has already issued a challenge. If it's really Teacher Zhao Qiquan who sings Hokkien, then there's going to be a good show to watch. The fight will definitely be exciting!"
"I wonder what song The Clown will sing today."
"I'm looking forward to Flowing Time's performance!"
"I still prefer Petal Shower!"
"Haha, I'm going to the recording studio soon."
"Ah, previous poster, you have tickets?"
"Yeah, I got them from the company."
"I'm so envious!"
"They can broadcast it anytime."
Even before the recording of the show, it was already the center of attention!
Right now, as long as it was a topic related to King of Masked Singers, it would be brought up and discussed!
…
In the afternoon.
At Beijing Television, the drawing of lots began.
Very quickly, the matchups and order for today were released.
The order of appearance was as follows:
1: Spinach
2: Flowing Time (Replacement)
3: Marshal Masquerade (Replacement)
4: The Clown
5: Petal Shower
6: Sunset Glow
The audience had not entered the venue yet, so there was still plenty of time.
As such, Executive Director Hu Fei made the decision to hold a simple tea party in a small dining area backstage. He invited all of the contestants and prepared afternoon tea, snacks, and red wine for them. "This is the first time we've gathered all the contestants together. Let me briefly introduce the two new replacement singers. This is Teacher Flowing Time, and this is Teacher Marshal Persona. After that, everyone can have some tea and have a chat. Hur hur, it won't be broadcasted anyway."
Marshal Persona was the first to greet them. "Hello, everyone. I'm a newcomer. Please take care of me."
From his voice, he shouldn't be young. In his thirties or forties?
Flowing Time smiled and said, "You don't sound like a newcomer at all."
Marshal Persona smiled but did not say anything.
Petal Shower looked at Sunset Glow. "We sisters will be paired together today."
"Please go easy on me." Sunset Glow smiled shyly.
Petal Shower laughed and said, "I was hoping that you would go easy on me. I'm not in a good state today."
Sunset Glow looked to the side. "Then today's main competition will be The Clown and Flowing Time."
The Clown shrugged.
Flowing Time smiled but did not say anything.
When the others heard that, they also looked at the two of them. Everyone knew about Flowing Time's provocation on Weibo and wanted to know who would come out on top today. However, they were not in the same group, so they did not meet in the first round. So the prerequisite was that both of them had to pass the first round before they could meet in the second round.
Outside.
In the recording studio.
The audience was already lining up to enter the venue.
"Wow, the venue is so big!"
"The set is so beautiful."
"It's Zhang Ye's handiwork. I heard that Teacher Zhang personally set it up."
"If Zhang Ye does it, it'll definitely be different. After all, he's the number one television program director and planner in the country."
"Ah, is that Dong Shanshan?"
"It's her, it's her. Is she testing the microphone?"
"Where's Petal Shower?"
"Where's The Clown?"
"Don't bother looking. She must be backstage."
Suddenly, another large group of people came in from the outside line. This group of people seemed to know each other as they were all wearing the same clothes. There was even a company's name printed on their clothes. With a rough count, there were at least 70 to 80 people in the group. Furthermore, when these people opened their mouths, they all spoke in Hokkien!
The surrounding audience members looked over.
Many of the program team staff were also taken aback.
As The Clown had gone to the tea party, Han Qi did not have much to do, so she went to the studio to help out. When she saw this scene, Han Qi got a little anxious and quickly went to look for Dafei.
Han Qi tugged at him. "Brother Fei!"
Dafei turned around. "What's the matter, Little Han?"
Han Qi pointed at the audience. "Wh-Why are there so many Hokkien people here?"
When Dafei saw this, he also found it a little strange. He went over and asked around before understanding what was going on. He said to Han Qi, "It's a company from Xiamen. They're the secondary advertising sponsor of our show. When they asked for tickets from us, Brother Hu only left 70 to 80 tickets for them. We thought that they were going to hold a lucky draw to give away the tickets to people, and that was what they said earlier. But who could have expected that their company's employees and their family members would come to Beijing for a meeting and also organize a trip. But in the end, all of them ended up here.
Han Qi said, "Then can they vote as well?"
"Of course they can," Dafei said.
Han Qi was so anxious that she quickly went to look for The Clown. By the time she got there, the tea party had just ended. "Teacher Clown, hurry up and come with me. There's something urgent!"
In the waiting room.
The Clown asked, "What's the matter?"
Han Qi said, "There are at least a hundred people in the live audience who speak Hokkien!" She explained the situation and said, "What do we do now? If Flowing Time is really Teacher Zhao Qiquan, then he's the best Hokkien singer. Wouldn't those hundred votes belong to him? Then how are the others supposed to vote? Just think about it, if the two of them are of equal strength, and there are five hundred spectators, each of them will get two hundred and fifty votes. If there is a slight deviation, even ten votes will be a huge difference, not to mention a hundred votes. The good thing is that Hokkien songs have a smaller audience. Other than the hundred people from the Xiamen sponsoring company, not everyone in the audience will be able to — "
Just as he said this, there was a knock on the door.
Han Qi went to open the door.
Xiao Lu was standing outside. She quickly said, "I won't be going in. Can you inform Teacher Clown that another Chaoshan company has arrived? They have about 40 to 50 people. There was a meeting in Beijing a few days ago, but the program team did not expect that they would all be here at the same time. I'll be leaving first. I'll also inform the other singers that it was a mistake on our side this time. We did not manage to arrange the audience properly."
Han Qi still did not understand. "What's wrong with the Chaoshan company?"
The Clown in the room said, "The Chaozhou dialect is a branch of Hokkien. It's 60-70% the same."
Han Qi said in surprise, "What?"
Xiao Lu sighed. "That's how it is."
The Clown said calmly, "I understand."
"I'm sorry." Xiao Lu apologized and quickly left.
"How can we do that!" Han Qi said, "Seventy to 80 people are already enough. Now there's another 40 to 50 people? There's a total of over a hundred people? Wouldn't that be Flowing Time's home turf? "
In the past, the program team had paid a lot of attention to the audience arrangements. For example, they would not only invite youngsters. They would invite people in their teens, in their twenties, in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and so on. They would also invite people of both genders, with a difference of at most 10%. As for the language, they did not consider it at all. After all, this was the mainland, so it was impossible for them to invite half of the singers from Hong Kong and half from the mainland to be fair to the Cantonese singers. Actually, Cantonese songs were also a major genre that the mainlanders also recognized, so there was no need to do this. As such, what happened today was indeed an unexpected surprise. No one had expected that it would be such a coincidence that so many people who could speak Hokkien would show up! Furthermore, from Xiao Lu's apologetic attitude, Flowing Time's identity was almost obvious. He was definitely a Hokkien singer!
The other contestants also gradually found out about it.
Petal Shower did not say anything.
Sunset Glow also gave an "oh" to indicate that she understood.
Spinach had the greatest reaction. She felt that she did not need to go onstage anymore!
A lot of people were wondering if this was Flowing Time's doing. Did he just happen to know the bosses of those two companies? So he got them to request for more tickets to cheer for him? Was that why he dared to openly challenge The Clown on Weibo when he was the Masked King for two episodes?
Was that so?
No one knew!
In any case, other than Flowing Time, the contestants could only confirm one thing: In today's competition, it was too difficult for anyone to beat Flowing Time!
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
