I’m Really a Superstar

Luo Yu was screaming.

The coaches were laughing good-naturedly.

Luo Yu’s voice was loud and she had a strong lung capacity that allowed her to scream for 5 or 6 seconds.

……

In the second recording studio.

Although Zhang Ye was stationed over here, he could still fully control the entire situation at the stage and venue with a walkie-talkie.

He pressed the microphone attached to his shirt collar and said, “Coaches, please control the time a little and don’t let it drag on for too long.”

……

Over at the stage.

Zhang Yuanqi took control of the situation and asked, “What’s your name?”

Luo Yu stopped screaming and then while panting said, “I’m Luo Yu. Luo Yu!”

Zhang Yuanqi smiled and said, “You have an extremely unique voice. The roughness of your vocals can be heard in every syllable when singing and it has a very magnetic charm. What made you want to perform this song here today? ‘Who Told You I Don’t Understand’ is a very popular and well-known rock song that many people have sung before. But this is the first time I’ve heard a woman sing it in such a way, that power and screaming, I believe everyone who is here in the studio today could totally feel that.”

Zhang Xia looked at her. “The line ‘who told you I can’t sing’ made me shudder. Do your family members not support your singing?”

Luo Yu confirmed, “My parents don’t support it while all my relatives, friends, and the people around me don’t think that I can sing well. They believe I have a lousy voice. The first person to support me was The Voice’s Executive Director Zhang Ye. I still remember very clearly that day when Teacher Zhang personally came to the school to look for me and told me that I must definitely audition for The Voice. At that time, I did not agree as I felt that my lousy voice was not fit for television, but in the end, I somehow ended up here! I chose this song because this was always what I wanted to sing to others! I think the lyrics of this song are the words that I’ve always wanted to say!”

Zhang Xia laughed. “We should all thank Zhang Ye then. If not for him, we still wouldn’t have known that there was such an powerful female rock singer in the country.”

Luo Yu quickly said, “Thank you, thank you, coaches, I was simply too excited just now. I had not expected that people would actually like to listen to my singing! I…I…this is too unbelievable!”

Chen Guang commented, “Be more confident, you were great. Those who did not appreciate your singing are people who don’t understand music. You were saying that Teacher Zhang went to your school to look for you? What do you do?”

Luo Yu repeatedly answered, “I’m a teacher, a teacher!”

The coaches were suddenly enlightened!

The audience also finally realized that it was no wonder she could sing so well. It was because she’s a musician!

Fan Wenli did not feel as surprised anymore. She asked, “You’re a music teacher at which school?”

What? Why did they think I’m a music teacher again? This was not the first time that Luo Yu was facing this question, so she tersely said, “That’s not it. I, I teach P.E.!”

What?

What did you say!?

Fan Wenli was stunned.

You’re a P.E. teacher!?

A majority of the audience nearly fainted at once. Did it need to be so dramatic? A physical education teacher? As a P.E. teacher, you could even sing the song in this way? You are defying all logic! However, Zhang Ye was actually brave enough to allow a fat lady who taught P.E. to appear on stage and even trusted her to be the opening act? From this alone, the audience realized the audacity of Zhang Ye once again!

All of a sudden, Zhang Xia became more interested. Her curiosity was piqued. “Who did you learn to sing from?”

Luo Yu blinked. “I didn’t learn from anyone, I just blindly learned by myself.”

At this moment, Chen Guang lightly slapped the armrest. “Whether you teach P.E. or shot put, I want you. Don’t hesitate anymore and just join my team. Among the teachers here, only I sing rock songs, so I can give you more guidance than any of them.”

Zhang Xia exclaimed, “You’re already starting to grab people?”

Chen Guang laughed heartily. “Little Luo, don’t forget that I was the first to press the button.”

Zhang Yuanqi spoke, “Heh, I seem to have heard someone saying something just now? Saying something about how only one of the coaches sing rock songs?” She gently rubbed her ears as if she had not heard clearly.

The audience was tickled.

Chen Guang had no response. F**k, he had forgotten about Sister Zhang.

Zhang Yuanqi looked askance. “Old Chen, why do I remember that, when I was singing rock, it seemed you hadn’t debuted yet?”

This truly was the case. Although Zhang Yuanqi was similar in age to Chen Guang, she had debuted much earlier than him.

Chen Guang said helplessly, “But Sister Zhang, you have already turned to performing love songs and folk songs.”

Zhang Yuanqi smiled and replied, “But my foundation as a rock singer is still there.” She looked at Luo Yu and added, “Besides, both of us are women so you should come and join my team, Little Luo.”

Chen Guang immediately said, “Little Luo, come to my team, I can give you my guidance in all aspects!”

Luo Yu was hesitating.

Fan Wenli pointed at her husband and abruptly said, “I know all the people he knows and I can also give you whatever guidance that he can give to you!”

Chen Guang stared at her. “I can give her my advice on how to sing rock, but it’s not like you can sing rock yourself!”

Fan Wenli said confidently, “Little Luo, come to my team. I will get Old Chen to teach you if it’s something that I can’t teach you!”

Chen Guang nearly fainted from anger. “I’m actually speechless!”

Fan Wenli firmly said, “I want this person!”

“Impossible! Don’t even think about it!” Chen Guang grunted.

Fan Wenli stared at him and actually got up from her chair and walked over to him. “Say that again.”

Zhang Yuanqi turned sideways and said, “Good god, they’ve started to fight. I’d better hurry and get far away from the two of you!”

The audience burst out into laughter!

Zhang Xia smiled at Zhang Yuanqi and said, “Weren’t the two of them proclaimed as a ideal couple of the entertainment industry?”

“They were before they came here.” Then Zhang Yuanqi laughed and added, “But after recording this episode, that might not be the case anymore!”

“Hahaha!” The audience roared with laughter again!

Exciting!

What a funny scene this was!

This segment with the coaches fighting for the contestants to join them was as awesome to watch as the contestant’s performance! They started fighting over the contestant! They’ve really started to fight over her!

For the other talent shows, the coaches always maintained a cordial relationship with one another. In some talent shows, if a coach signaled their intent and interest in a contestant, then the other coaches would not attempt to take them. At most, they would banter for a bit. Meanwhile, there were even some talent shows that skipped this segment altogether and segregated by gender or age groups for the coaches to manage. There was no such thing as a selection segment! The Voice of China had clearly subverted the traditional approach singing talent shows had. They actually dared to add in a selection segment for the coaches to “battle it out,” something no one else would even risk thinking about. This made the audience become very excited quickly!

Zhang Xia—a veteran songstress!

Zhang Yuanqi—a very popular Heavenly Queen!

Chen Guang and Fan Wenli—an ideal couple!

The songstress raising eyebrows at the Heavenly Queen? A great battle between the ideal couple? Did it need to be so stimulating? Did it need to be so…exciting! But that’s exactly what we like to see!

Shocked, Ha Qiqi said, “Why are the coaches…”

Wu Yi wiped away his perspiration and remarked, “So that’s how the taking of contestants work!”

Zhang Zuo, Little Wang and the others were also stunned while looking at the coaches!

Zhang Ye did write out the segment of the coaches competing for contestants on the program proposal but he did not mention it in detail or how it would be done. No one could have expected that this segment’s effect would turn out to be like this! They were really arguing! They were really fighting!

Jiang Yuan watched with extreme surprise!

Some of the leaders from Central TV and many of the staff from the other program teams were also stunned in amazement. They were completely convinced by Zhang Ye’s program planning ability! Even without asking, they knew that such a scene was definitely not due to the coaches’ sudden inspiration. That was because no other talent shows had such a segment of picking contestants like this. It was absolutely Executive Director Zhang Ye’s pre-planned idea. He probably had more than one private meeting with each of the coaches separately on how to fight or compete for the contestants to join them. That was the reason for such an unexpected effect on the set!

It could even be done like this?

They really did it like this!

Everyone was convinced!

Chen Guang said, “Little Luo! I can’t wait anymore!”

Fan Wenli smiled and said, “Little Luo, you better think carefully. I believe that you can see who the decision maker is between the two of us.”

Chen Guang: “…”

The audience began to cheer them on.

“Oh!”

“Haha!”

Zhang Yuanqi tried to stir things up even more. “Old Chen, if I were you, I wouldn’t take that lying down!”

Chen Guang slapped the chair. “I will not take that lying down for sure. My wife is normally very reserved at home. Why did she totally change after coming here!?”

Fan Wenli said, “That’s because Little Luo has the voice that I’ve been waiting for! I can give way for anyone but Little Luo!”

When they were almost done fighting, Zhang Xia looked at Zhang Yuanqi. “Fine, I think we should not get involved in this anymore.”

Zhang Yuanqi saw that the couple was tearing into each other, so she did not get involved with them anymore. Noticing the time was almost up, she controlled the tempo and said, “Little Luo, please make your decision now.”

Luo Yu was in a dilemma.

5…

4…

3…

Luo Yu grit her teeth. “I will choose…Teacher Chen Guang!”

Dong dong dong dong, the sound effects immediately sounded!

The moment Chen Guang heard that, he immediately laughed hysterically!

Fan Wenli gave a bitter smile, then glowered at Chen Guang. “Fine, I’ll show you when we get home!”

Zhang Yuanqi was delighted and said, “Old Chen is in danger.” Then she looked at Luo Yu and advised, “You must learn diligently from Teacher Chen Guang since he has risked his life to exchange for you!”

Zhang Xia also laughed, “Hur hur hur hur.”

Luo Yu immediately ran toward the coaches with excitement and hugged them. “Thank you, thank you!”

The audience was not surprised Luo Yu chose to join Chen Guang’s team. This was an understandable decision. But regarding the “great battle” on the set, it was very unexpected and too funny!

At this moment, the first contestant to qualify on The Voice was born!

Luo Yu left through the backstage entrance. The coaches’ chairs also turned back around to their original positions.

It was as though the audience was pumped full of adrenaline and already extremely looking forward to the next contestant to appear on stage.

……

From the third camera’s view.

The four coaches were having a discussion.

Zhang Xia sincerely commented, “That Little Luo was really awesome.”

Fan Wenli agreed, “That’s right.”

Chen Guang cupped his hands. “I’m sorry, I got the first move, haha.”

As they chatted idly, the four coaches were already forming their judgment of The Voice. Before today, they had not had any contact with the contestants at all, and it was also their first time experiencing the segments such as competing for people and the turning around of their chairs, so they were unfamiliar with it. After going through the entire process once, they had a deeper understanding of this program. This was a good show that was different from other singing talent shows with its huge stage, high-end equipment, great audio quality, professional host, and high standard in the contestants. From the start until now, it was almost perfect and it was something that the coaches had not expected!

Honestly, if she were standing on any other stage, Luo Yu’s voice would likely get drowned out, just like how none of her friends and relatives had thought that her singing was good. During the preliminary audition, Ha Qiqi and the rest of the program team, too, did not think highly of Luo Yu. However, upon further analysis, this was actually not Luo Yu’s fault or that the audience didn’t know music. This was entirely because of the stage they were on!

In daily life, everyone would think that Luo Yu had a lousy voice.

If she was on the stage of other programs, Luo Yu would probably be judged more on her looks and bloated figure than her voice.

Even if the four coaches here listened to Luo Yu’s singing on the streets, she would probably be overlooked as well. After all, everyone’s definition of what a singer should be would always more conservative in this world. The common values they looked for would be: singing well, having a mellow voice, and looking good.

However, The Voice of China’s stage was different. The most unique feature on this program was that the back of the four coaches’ chairs would always face the stage, thus not letting the coaches see the contestants. Hence, the coaches could only judge from the voice alone and if the contestants all had mellow voices? And they were all trained in music with slick singing? Then how would they be able to differentiate who was good or bad? How would they be able to differentiate each contestant’s uniqueness? There was no way to do that! As a result, it would naturally all come down to the the uniqueness of the contestant’s voice. If they couldn’t see the face, then the voice would become the “face” of the contestant!

In that way, the audience watching the program would also unconsciously be brought into this mindset. Even though they could see the contestants, they know the coaches were unable to see them. That would subconsciously increase their anticipation of the outcome of the coaches’ decisions. Sometimes, when the voice and the looks of a contestant differed greatly, the audience would become even more excited and feel that it was a novelty!

It was this stage of The Voice that had made everyone’s focus be on the contestant’s voice. This was a great, pioneering move. Together with a stage that cost over 10 million, audio equipment worth over 20 million, in a quiet environment everyone could listen with concentration, Luo Yu’s unique voice and charm was suddenly amplified for everyone to hear, thus leading to this amazing effect and impact of the stage!

Not a single one of those factors could be omitted!

And Zhang Ye had miraculously achieved all of it. He had even visualized and planned out this scene from the moment when he started making the program proposal!

Was it due to the success of the stage?

Was it due to the effects of the equipment?

Was it due to the coaches’ knowledge and experience?

Was it due to the strength of the contestants?

No.

Everything was down to Zhang Ye’s planning and direction. He had calculated everything to make this work!

The appearance of the first contestant on stage had left everyone in shock and awe of the power of a voice. Who would have thought that such an overdone genre of singing talent show could even be made into something like this!