The outside world.
The word of fortune continued to envelop the entire country.
And on this day, the Spring Festival Gala welcomed its first approval session.
…
Central TV.
Morning.
At the scene of the first trial.
In the huge recording studio, there were only a few dozen people seated in the first two rows of the audience. Zhang Ye was sitting right in the middle, with a group of leaders from the Spring Festival Gala's organizing committee next to him. Behind them were a few assistant directors and a series of staff members who were participating in the review. The remaining seats were all empty. Meanwhile, backstage, the backstage area was packed to the brim with the celebrity artists and performance teams recommended by the various departments, as well as Central TV's Spring Festival Gala staff.
First, it was the censorship of the singing programs.
Zhang Ye flipped through the program list and ordered, "Let's begin."
Ha Qiqi read out the names loudly. "The first group of performers, please get ready."
The leaders and staff who participated in the review also picked up their pens and prepared to give marks.
The program list for today's first approval session had not actually changed. It was still the same list and acts that Li Ke had invited when he took over. Of course, a large portion of the acts were "recommended" by the various departments and cultural troupes. Zhang Ye did not change any of them and went through the program list according to the current one. The main reason was that there was not enough time. Zhang Ye had taken over the Spring Festival Gala in a rush, and it was almost time for the first approval session. So he could only go with this list for now and see how things turned out. As for the acts, he could slowly sift through them later on. Zhang Ye needed to understand the standards of the acts and performers first.
Chen Guang.
Fan Wenli.
Zhang Xia.
Spring Garden.
The VAA team.
A singer from the Song and Dance Troupe.
The actors appeared on stage one by one.
"This is not bad."
"This is good."
"Isn't this song a little old?"
"Isn't the VAA team a little too simple?"
"Spring Garden won't do."
The people from the first review team commented in a low voice. The actors were singing on the stage, and they were communicating below.
Then came the dance program.
Teacher of the Song and Dance Troupe.
She was a student of the dance school.
There were a total of eight art groups.
"It's a little boring."
"Who recommended him?"
"Navy Art Troupe."
"It doesn't look good."
"Yeah, it's a bit similar to a dance from the Spring Festival Gala two years ago."
"Sigh, this definitely won't do."
"That student group is quite interesting."
There were three acrobatic shows.
There were three magic programs.
Then came the language programs: a total of ten.
Crosstalk.
Skits.
There's also a talk show with three people.
And so on.
"This skit is pretty good!"
"Teacher Ci, you're still strong despite your age."
"This book still needs to be revised. There are still areas that need improvement."
"This talk show won't do."
"Yes, I agree. Let's do it."
"Director Zhang is the founder of talk shows. Performing a talk show in front of him is indeed a little like teaching one's slight skill before an expert."
"A talk show with three people. It's fresh, but it's a little nondescript."
"Eh, where's Director Zhang, Yao Jiancai, and Dong Shanshan's skit?"
"Director Zhang is the chief judge of the Spring Festival Gala's first approval session, so how could he possibly have the time to perform onstage? So I'll have to cancel it for now. He should be able to perform during the second approval session."
One hour.
Five hours.
Ten hours.
From morning till night.
From dawn to dusk.
After a busy day, the Spring Festival Gala approval session finally came to an end.
The actors had already left and many of the staff had also gone to rest. However, Zhang Ye and the other review leaders did not leave. They were still sitting in the first row of the recording studio.
Zhang Ye fell silent.
Ha Qiqi looked at him.
Zhang Zuo blinked. He had no idea what Director Zhang was thinking.
From the start of the first show during the first approval session, Zhang Ye did not say a single word. He did not express any attitude at all. Was he happy? Was he satisfied? No one knew. The group of them were all commenting and pointing as they wrote down their scores. Only Zhang Ye did not move at all from beginning to end.
A leader of the Spring Festival Gala's organizing committee glanced at him. "Boss Zhang?"
Strictly speaking, Zhang Ye was not a boss of any sort. Based on the rank and status of these executives, there was nothing wrong with them addressing him as Little Zhang. However, not just anyone could address him as Little Zhang. This was because Zhang Ye's wife was Wu Zeqing. In terms of rank, the two highest-ranking executives on the Spring Festival Gala's organizing committee were only on par with Wu Zeqing. The rest of them were all ranked lower than Wu Zeqing. As the bureaucracy was a place of seniority, they couldn't address Wu Zeqing's lover as Little Zhang. It would be more appropriate to address him as Boss Zhang or Director Zhang.
"Director Zhang, what do you think?"
"The acts for the first approval session are all done. What do you think?"
The leaders of the organizing committee asked him.
In the end, Zhang Ye said something shocking.
Zhang Ye said, "I only have one thought right now. Is it too late for me to quit now? Then, I still have some matters to attend to at home. Why don't you all ask someone else for the executive director job? "
Everyone was floored!
"Ah?"
"Director Zhang, don't joke around."
"You can't say such things, you can't say such things!"
"Aiyo, what's going on?"
"Boss Zhang, calm down, calm down!"
The leaders were all shocked!
The production team staff were also dumbfounded!
Holy shit!
Zhang Ye was also going to quit?
However, Zhang Ye was even more shocked than them. He pointed to the stage and said, "Are these the best acts that have been 'carefully selected' from all over the country? Everyone saw it just now, right? Not a single one of the acts were bad, right? If you want to comment that these acts are especially exciting, brilliant, or even applaud them, then I think that's an insult to my intelligence as an artist. If that's the case, then I have nothing to say! "
Some people laughed mockingly.
Some people were a little embarrassed.
A leader said, "Boss Zhang, don't be angry. I also admit that this year's acts are indeed a little worse than the previous years, but isn't this only the first approval session? There's still room for improvement. Didn't the higher-ups invite you over to oversee the acts so that you can keep a lookout for them? I know that you're complaining that there are too many acts recommended by the various departments and troupes that you can't do your best. But this can all be discussed. If you watch any of the acts and feel that it's not good enough, and we also feel that it's just so-so, then we can just cut it. This can all be discussed. "
"Right, it can be discussed."
"The acts from this year's troupes are indeed a little lacking."
The leaders of the Spring Festival Gala's organizing committee heaved a sigh of relief.
Why did Li Ke resign?
Firstly, it was because the funding could not be negotiated!
Secondly, it was because of the program list!
What funding?
What stage?
What promotions?
These were all supplementary!
Only the acts were real. In the end, the Spring Festival Gala still had to rely on the content to attract people. If the acts were not good, then everything would be for naught. Zhang Ye finally understood why Old Li quit. If he knew that the program list was like this, he wouldn't have agreed to be the executive director of the Spring Festival Gala!
What kind of acts were these!
Zhang Ye had reviewed all the past Spring Festival Galas of this world.
Last year's.
The year before last.
Even those from ten years ago, even those from twenty years ago, he had seen them all!
Sometimes, Zhang Ye wondered why the Spring Festival Gala was getting worse with each passing year. Was it because our acts had really gotten worse? He didn't think so. Looking at the past years' program list, to be honest, the Spring Festival Gala had been improving every year, from the stage to the performers to the technical standards. The reason why the Spring Festival Gala's reputation had gotten worse was because the audience had become more picky and had higher standards. If you stood on the Spring Festival Gala's stage, everyone would already know how good you were. Subjectively, their expectations of you would immediately increase. Even if you disappeared from the stage, people wouldn't be surprised and would even think that it was expected. But if you didn't disappear and your act fell below the audience's extremely high expectations, then the audience would think that you weren't good enough and that the acts were not good enough.
How were they supposed to deal with that?
This was asking too much of their acts!
And this sort of pickiness could even be said to be harsh!
To be fair, those acts that had just been reviewed would have won a lot of applause if they were put on any other gala or competition, except for the Spring Festival Gala. They would have been performed beautifully, but the Spring Festival Gala was not good enough. It was only on the Spring Festival Gala that they would look too ordinary! There would be no surprises!
This wouldn't do!
It definitely wouldn't do!
If that were the case, then this year's Spring Festival Gala would be a disaster just like the previous years!
Everyone was getting very anxious and were trying to come up with a plan.
"If it doesn't work, then add in a few more acts."
"What about the backup acts? Should we bring them up? "
"Invite a few more big names?"
"There's not much time left until the second approval session. Can we make it in time?"
"We have to do it even if we can't make it. I agree with Director Zhang that the acts that passed the first approval session should at most have a 30% pass rate. The remaining 70% are not suitable!"
"But the crux of the matter is that there aren't any good acts!"
"What about the scriptwriters? Invite a few more? "
"The scriptwriters' lineup is already very strong."
"Get them to write a few more good acts. The performers are actually very skilled. As long as they can write it, there will surely be someone who can act it. The problem right now is that there aren't any good scripts. Besides, some of the scripts that we might think are good, but the people might not!"
"Yeah, that's the most difficult part."
The meeting went on until past 10 PM.
Everyone was under a lot of pressure and was very tired.
Finally, Zhang Ye spoke up. "Let's call it a day. I'll come up with a list of acts tomorrow!"
"You'll do it personally?"
"Yes."
"Which part?"
"All of them!"
"All of them!"
Everyone was stunned!
At this moment, no one realized the weight of Zhang Ye's words. No one knew how much determination he had put into his words. Originally, Zhang Ye had pinned his hopes on this world. He thought that with China being so big, wouldn't it be easy to find a few good acts? At first, Zhang Ye did not want to touch the works of his previous world. Those things would be gone the more he used them. Those who knew Zhang Ye well knew that he was a very "stingy" person. These works were reserved for himself and he rarely took them out to share with others. Even when Zhang Yuanqi came to him to ask for a song sung by a woman that Zhang Ye would never use, Zhang Ye had never been happy with it. He would always drag his feet every time.
But he couldn't do it this time!
Zhang Ye was forced to resort to using his biggest trick!
The acts were not good enough, right?
You really couldn't find any good acts?
Alright, then I'll do it!
Dance?
I'll write it!
Songs?
I'll write it!
Crosstalk?
I'll do it!
Skits?
I'll write it!
Magic?
I'll do it!
Acrobatics?
I'll direct it!
As for those acts that I can't use or that don't suit me, I'll write them one by one. I'll choreograph them and teach them to you step by step. I'll bring out the most talked-about acts from my previous world's Spring Festival Gala, the most talked-about acts that have been tested by the market, and I'll make it into a gala from start to finish!
Fuck!
I don't fucking believe it!
Is this year's Spring Festival Gala going to fail?!
Zhang Ye, who had been forced into a corner, was going to use his hacks!
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