After being dropped by my childhood friend, I became a superstar.

Chapter 7 The Competition Begins

In the control room of the studio.

Luo Qianyang glanced around the room and, seeing that all the audience members were seated, picked up the walkie-talkie.

Are all departments in place?

The voice just fell.

A series of responses followed immediately.

"The lighting crew is in place."

"The sound system is ready."

"The camera crew is in position."

"..."

As the responses from various departments rang out, Luo Qianyang nodded slightly and spoke softly into the walkie-talkie.

"Teacher Xu Lei, all departments are ready. You will go on stage three seconds after the lights come on."

"Lighting and sound teams, get ready. Five seconds left to start."

"five."

"Four."

"..."

"One! Start recording!"

I just finished speaking.

"Snap—"

A series of dazzling warm yellow lights illuminated the exquisitely decorated stage, instantly transforming the previously dimly lit studio into a dazzling spectacle.

then.

A tall figure appeared at the far end of the stage. Although his face was not clearly visible, the script and microphone he was holding identified him.

"Splash—"

"It's starting, it's about to begin—"

The hundreds of audience members below had already begun to applaud and cheer, making the entire studio extremely noisy and enthusiastic.

Staff members holding recording equipment recorded these cheers at appropriate times, which could then be used for various editing later.

Three seconds after the lights came on.

The figure standing at the back began to move slowly, with extremely precise steps.

As a spotlight shone down, everyone present could see his face clearly—Xu Lei, the most famous and experienced host on Blue Whale TV.

The fact that Xu Lei is the host is enough to show how much Taili values ​​this masked singer variety show.

With measured steps, Xu Lei, dressed in a black suit, slowly walked to the front of the stage, glanced at the audience below, smiled, and raised the microphone.

Good evening, everyone.

"Welcome to the brand new music variety show, 'The Masked Singer,' produced by Binhai Blue Whale TV. I'm your host, Xu Lei."

Speaking of it.

Xu Lei, who has extensive hosting experience, paused for two seconds at the right moment, and applause immediately erupted from the audience.

As the applause subsided, Xu Lei spoke again.

"The reason why this is called a completely new music variety show is because... this time, no one will know who the singers will be performing, and each singer will cover their face with a mask."

"When I first received the task of hosting this variety show, I asked the director out of curiosity, in this era of pursuing popularity and exposure, what is the appeal of this kind of music variety show where the host does not appear on screen?"

"I remember how our Director Luo Qianyang answered me... This program, you don't need to watch it, just listen to it."

"Back to the essence of music, as long as it sounds good, that's the most important thing."

Xu Lei then gave a timely thumbs-up, pointing to the large screen and directing all the audience and cameras to look in that direction.

"Since it's based on listening, the ranking will be different."

"The rankings for this season of The Masked Singer will be determined by 500 audience judges. If an audience judge feels that a song is sung well, or that a particular part resonates with them, then they can press the vote button."

"The number of votes will be displayed in real time on this big screen, and the rankings of the first competition will be sorted from highest to lowest."

"At the same time, I can give you all a heads-up: this season of The Masked Singer will have a total of thirteen episodes. One singer will be eliminated every two episodes, and the elimination rules are very simple... the singer with the lowest combined score from the two episodes will be eliminated and replaced by another singer."

"We don't rely on watching, we only rely on listening. We return to the essence of singers and create the purest music variety show."

......

Inside the singer's dressing room.

Chen Yuan casually strummed his guitar to maintain his feel for the game, while watching the screen in the room, which was displaying live footage from a camera.

After reading Xu Lei's introduction, Chen Yuan gained a good understanding of most of the rules of the Masked Singer.

In short, it can be summarized in one sentence.

They won by singing, without showing their faces.

Good.

It abandons the popularity of singers and artists and uses masks as a gimmick. Although most of the participating singers will be discovered later, it is still much better than other variety shows.

Based on Chen Yuan's years of experience in the entertainment industry, this variety show is likely to be a hit. If the singers in the first episode are of good quality, they might even become overnight sensations.

After all, Chen Yuan was now curious about who would be participating in this variety show.

To know.

The entertainment industry in this world is even more focused on popularity and exposure than in the last world. Many well-known singers and artists would not participate here if they heard that they could not show their faces.

Of course, they also had their own ulterior motives.

Relying solely on singing, if one doesn't sing well, can have a completely negative impact, which is why Luo Qianyang faced such a difficult task in finding suitable contestants.

Just as Chen Yuan was deep in thought.

Xu Lei, who is in the video, has finished his opening remarks and explained the general rules to the audience.

"Now, let's welcome our first contestant. To be honest, I'm also very curious about who this singer is, but the production team only gave me this brief sentence to introduce her."

"Youth represents vitality, but it is often accompanied by doubts. This time, she decided to use her voice to break down all doubts and let her strength speak for itself."

"It seems this is a singer who is very confident in herself. Now... let's welcome her to the stage!"

Done.

"despair---"

With a crisp closing sound, the entire stage went dark, and Xu Lei quietly made his exit.

A faint figure appeared at the very back of the stage.

She seemed to be gently patting her chest to ease her tension, and her rather large head looked somewhat out of place.

The audience held their breath, their eyes glued to the stage, everyone wondering... who the first contestant would be.

"clatter---"

The lights came on.

The once dimly lit stage now shines brightly again.

The singer standing at the back of the stage slowly walked towards the center of the stage, and when he appeared under the spotlight, all the audience could see him clearly.

Exclamations and gasps of surprise filled the entire studio.

Because the singer was wearing a huge rabbit headgear, which wasn't even a mask, but a whole furry headgear.

Just like those dolls that shops hire to attract customers when they first open, they are completely covered up, and you can't see their faces at all.

It makes one wonder, with everything so tightly covered, how could anyone possibly sing? It seems like there's no way to even fit a microphone inside.

Judging from the singer's other attire alone, she should be a rather young female singer.

Chen Yuan, sitting in the room, shook his head as he looked at the singer's outfit on the screen. He glanced at the large gray wolf mask covering his entire face and muttered to himself.

"That's ruthless. There's actually someone even more ruthless than me."

"It seems she really wants to prove herself on this show. Is she an idol star? Or some online singer?"

Just as Chen Yuan was pondering and guessing...

All I saw was...

The little white rabbit singer on stage nodded to the sound team and then awkwardly stuffed the microphone into the headgear.

This somewhat comical action caused the audience in the studio to burst into laughter.

But next second.

The laughter abruptly stopped as the accompaniment began to play softly, and a light, melodious voice, carrying a storytelling quality, rang out from the little white rabbit headgear.

"Grandpa held the calendar, his eyes misty."

"Tearing away page after page, the pain of longing."

"Watching the geese fly north, I look forward to meeting them."

"I waited and waited, but there was no knocking."

All I have left are hurried footsteps.

"Chasing the rising sun and braving the howling cold wind."

Even a weary traveler must break free from mediocrity.

"Strive towards a brighter future..."