sovbooks Chapter 6: Off to another competition
Chapter 6: Off to another competition
The preliminary rounds in the University Town region did not end until ten days later.
At the end of June, Jiuquan University was completely closed for summer vacation.
If Tian Mingze wanted to find Chen Fan again, he could only try his luck at the place where Chen Fan used to work part-time.
However, Chen Fan was working hard to build a good relationship with the teacher in the school's music room, hoping to use the instruments in the music room to play the accompaniment for his competition piece himself, and he didn't take a part-time job at all.
Tian Mingze led his men there several times but came up empty-handed, so you can imagine how furious he was.
As the auditions continued, Tian Mingze, who should have gradually faded from people's sight, became even more famous.
It's simply because none of those oddballs caused as much trouble as Tian Mingze.
So after each competition, netizens would bring up Tian Mingze for a spin, and after three spins, they would start to conclude: This year's Taiping has no controversial points, bad review!
On the last day of June, Chen Fan faced his second qualifying match.
This time, all the contestants from the entire Zhonghai competition area have gathered together for another round of competition.
The competition venue was arranged directly at Chengnan Gymnasium.
The number of on-site judges increased to 20, the number of public judges increased to 2000, and the audience numbered 30,000.
What's even more amazing is that ever since the shocking revelation of the last audition, the show has somehow become popular among overseas Chinese communities.
This live stream was rebroadcast by people on several platforms.
Chen Fan, dressed in a dinosaur costume, tapped his phone: "They've turned this into an international competition..."
"Ordinary people who are extraordinary? Have these extraordinary ordinary people arrived yet?!"
The staff member stood in front of Chen Fan, but bypassed him and called out to someone.
In just over ten days, Chen Fan lost nearly 70 pounds!
He had visibly lost a lot of weight, and in order to ensure the fairness of the competition, each contestant wore a mask before changing costumes, so the staff mistook him for another contestant.
"I'm here, miss!"
Chen Fan stood in front of her and spoke, and she instinctively replied, "How could you possibly be 'extraordinary despite being ordinary'? He's much bigger than you!"
After saying that, she looked him up and down several times.
Chen Fan not only didn't feel offended, but also took out the text messages on his phone to prove that he really was "an ordinary person who was extraordinary".
And after receiving her competition outfit, she added in a Versailles-like manner, "Sigh, I've been staying up late a lot lately, and my weight loss efforts have all failed!"
The female staff member rolled her eyes in exasperation.
The competition was still divided into groups of 20 people each night, with the top ten advancing.
When the first contestant took the stage, Chen Fan was surprised to find that Wang Junhai, that old man, had actually become a judge for the Zhonghai division again!
"That old bastard has some connections!"
The first group tonight is clearly much stronger than the University City division.
Some classic songs have been adapted and sung with personal flair, and the key is that they are quite fitting.
The judges nodded repeatedly, and the audience listened with great interest.
For a moment, the scene was so harmonious that it gave the illusion of a loving couple.
Until the second group.
The second group, from the University City division, consisted of only three people, but all three of them performed their own original songs.
The jazz musician continued his consistent performance, while the rock musician switched to a dance track, which still had a strong rhythm that made people want to sway along.
Three of the remaining contestants also performed original songs, and the second group saw a significant increase in both skill and prestige.
Everything was fine until Wang Junhai, the creator of original content, started causing trouble—he lowered the scores.
It is euphemistically said that when the composition of the musical score is not mature enough, it often becomes a point deduction.
This drew boos from the audience.
Wang Junhai, however, was extremely arrogant, looking down on everyone the whole time.
When it was Chen Fan's turn to go on stage, the host announced the program, and Wang Junhai revealed a confident smile.
"Alright, next up is our contestant, Fanren Bufan, who came in first place in his group during the auditions, to perform his original song, 'An, He, Qiao'!"
A cheer erupted from the audience, and everyone pulled out their camera equipment, not daring to utter a sound.
Who knows if this original piece will be another explosive start!
Before this, no one expected that the guitar and hand drum could create such a desolate spark.
Let me see you one more time.
From South to North
"Like being blindfolded by the Fifth Ring Road."
Please say it again.
"About that day"
"The girl holding the box"
"And the man wiping his sweat?"
It still has a voice that tells a story, but it is deep and ethereal, vague and unreal.
I know, those summers.
"Just like youth, it can never come back."
"In place of dreams"
"It can only be done reluctantly."
"I know, it was all just bragging."
"I'll just laugh it off as I get older."
"Let me remain trapped in the city, in memory of you."
The lyrics still resonate with many people.
Everyone has a youth; each person is the protagonist of their own story and a passerby in someone else's.
Life is a grand farewell, a constant cycle of welcoming and sending off, of gaining and losing.
The moment the morin khuur melody began, a wave of sorrow welled up in my heart and rushed to my eyes, making it impossible not to shed tears.
I know, those summers.
"Just like you, you can't come back."
"I will no longer have high expectations of anyone."
"I know this world."
"There are too many regrets every day."
"So hello, goodbye."
The longing in the song almost overwhelms everyone, especially the line: I know that those summers, like you, will never come back, and I will never have expectations for anyone again.
In addition, there is the morin khuur (horsehead fiddle).
This instrument, which is highly distinctive to ethnic groups, used to only appear in songs by ethnic minorities. Now it's in popular music, and people are finding it surprisingly pleasant to listen to.
It was both surprising and shocking.
The emotions expressed in that interlude, in particular, moved everyone present.
After Chen Fan finished his performance, the audience fell silent.
Stunning!
Still stunning!
Everyone was immersed in the lingering charm of the song, unable to extricate themselves from the resonance between themselves and the song.
In recent years, international singing techniques have become increasingly sophisticated, making domestic songs seem like low-quality, unrefined local products.
Some young people, influenced by this, even feel that only foreign jazz, blues, rock, country, etc. are high-class, and that domestic songs are inherently inferior.
It's not just music; the trend of worshipping foreign things and fawning over foreigners has risen and gained momentum from nowhere.
Our ancestors' saying, "Take the essence and discard the dross," never imagined that one day we ourselves would become the "dross."
But Chen Fan's two consecutive songs made everyone ponder: Can Chinese songs be sung like this?
"My God! Can anyone tell me what that instrument in the middle that looks like an erhu but isn't is?!"
"That morin khuur! A distinctive musical instrument from our Inner Mongolia region!"
"My goodness! I knew this guy was a master of traditional Chinese music! Most people don't even know about this obscure instrument, let alone write songs with it!"
"Why did he decide to pair a hand drum with a guitar?"
"The amazing thing is that they actually match quite well!"
"Vote! Vote for him now!"
While everyone was expressing their feelings and voting, Tian Mingze, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly posted a status update on his Weibo.
Tian Mingze V: I didn't want to say this, but I really can't bear to see so many netizens being deceived. You, surnamed Chen, you were living in the dorm next to mine just a couple of days ago, skipping classes every day, failing exams, and so slovenly that nobody dared to approach you. How did you suddenly become so proficient in so many musical instruments and able to write songs? Pictures don't lie! [pictures][pictures][pictures] #ExtraordinaryPeopleFake#
Tian Mingze directly exposed Chen Fan's unflattering photos, along with Chen Fan's attendance sheet for his major courses this semester and his records of returning to the dormitory late, all of which were posted online.
With comments disabled, he felt confident he had the game in the bag.
Netizens are brainless; they love to join in the fun, so I'll just create more fun for them!
He was going to do the same thing to Chen Fan, using even more ruthless methods to destroy Chen Fan.
After sending the message, Tian Mingze felt incredibly relieved.
They're just waiting for unsuspecting netizens to fire the first shot in opening Chen Fan's box.
Meanwhile, Chen Fan was being bombarded with notification sounds.
[Congratulations on receiving +99 emotion points from Wang Ning!]
[Congratulations on receiving +66 Emotional Points from Li Jingya!]
[Congratulations on receiving +333 emotion points from an unknown user!]
[Congratulations on receiving +555 emotion points from an unknown user!]
[Congratulations on receiving +666 emotion points from an unknown user!]
[Congratulations on receiving +888 emotion points from Tian Mengmeng!]
[Congratulations on receiving +777 emotion points from Xu Yue!]
[Congratulations on receiving +999 Emotional Points from Zhang Fang!]
......
On stage, just as the tense moment of scoring Chen Fan was about to arrive, the director's voice suddenly came through the host's earpiece:
"Youyou, Tian Mingze, who was recently criticized, posted an article attacking 'Extraordinary People,' ask him the following questions..."