I’m Really a Superstar

Two days later.

The next morning.

The recording studio was ready for the start of the second episode’s recording of The Voice.

Zhang Ye took some time and gathered all the staff backstage for a short and simple meeting. “Today, we will record two episodes in a row, but if the conditions are good, we might add another episode in for recording to get the fourth episode out as well. The station’s request of our program team has already been made clear to us. They don’t request that our program get another record-breaking viewership rating but just hope for stability. As long as it is not lower than the first episode’s viewership ratings, it is good enough. That is also my basic requirement I’m asking of all of you, so I hope that everyone can raise their spirits. Put your full concentration on working on the show today.”

“Yes!”

“No problem!”

“Don’t worry!”

“For sure!”

Everyone agreed in unison.

Zhang Ye gave the order. “Alright, let’s go!”

Amidst all the hubbub, everyone got into their positions and went on standby.

Today’s workload was very heavy. Zhang Ye had already done the necessary preparations. Not only did he communicate in private with the four coaches for a long time beforehand, he also talked to the contestants who were going to appear today. He had to constantly shape the fundamentals and presentation of the show to get it ever closer to the one he had envisioned in his mind. As the executive director, all these factors needed to be considered and he also had to be in full control of the entire program. Nothing could deviate from the plans.

To be honest, Zhang Ye had rather heavy stress on him too. After getting off to a winning start and creating a viewership ratings legend, their starting point was pushed even higher now. The road from here was indeed going to be much more difficult, and as a result, Zhang Ye needed to spend more energy and effort to ensure that the show would not go downhill from here. As for whether they would still be able to set another record high viewership rating, this was not something Zhang Ye could predict anymore. He would leave this to fate. As long as he did his best to make sure the show was good, then everything else should be decided by the market and the audience.

……

Online.

After the broadcast of The Voice’s premiere episode a few days ago, the talk surrounding The Voice had been discussed less and less. This was a normal trend since no TV show had ever been discussed forever. There was always a peak and a cooling period. Besides, with so many entertainment activities and works in the entire country, such as that newly screened movie that had earned 500 million RMB in the box office, a certain celebrity’s divorce, all of that news was not missing from the entertainment circle. It wasn’t possible that everyone would pay attention to you on a daily basis. In the face of so much entertainment news, the audience would surely be more attracted to something else each time.

As a result, on Monday and Tuesday, any news of The Voice went by quietly and peacefully as many people were discussing a certain celebrity divorcing for the second time.

When Wednesday came, the talk surrounding The Voice once again gathered momentum as everyone gradually picked up the discussions of the program once more!

Why?

Because the second episode of The Voice was going to be broadcast soon!

On Weibo.

“I’m so looking forward to it!”

“It’s almost time for the second episode of The Voice!”

“It’s has been so long! I’ve been waiting for almost a whole week already, thinking about it every day. It’s finally going to be shown again!”

“Me too. In the past, I didn’t usually watch variety shows. Even if I did, I watched those subbed ones from Korea or America online. After all, their standards and quality are truly better, but The Voice has pulled me back to sitting in front of my TV and instilled confidence back in me regarding our domestically produced variety shows. In the future, I would dare to thump my chest with pride and say that we also have good domestic variety shows!”

“I can’t wait either! Come quickly, episode 2!”

“Do you guys think it will create another viewership ratings record?”

“How suspenseful!”

“Yeah, after all, the first episode was totally logic defying, so it’s not going to be easy for the second episode to do it.”

“For some programs that began without getting much attention due to the promotions not reaching the market, they would be able to slowly increase their viewership ratings and do better with each episode as long as they maintain the program’s quality. Do You Remember is an example of such a program, but The Voice has already penetrated too deeply into the market and has 2.01% of the viewership ratings with its premiere episode. Usually, for these kinds of shows, the later episodes don’t usually perform too well. It’s likely to fall below 2%.”

“But no matter how far it falls, The Voice still won’t get too low a viewership rating!”

“That’s for sure. Zhang Ye is already a veteran of program planning in the television industry. With him around, even if the show is dropping, it won’t be that bad.”

“I don’t feel that The Voice’s viewership ratings will necessarily drop.”

“The key now is whether there will still be any exciting contestants for the blind auditions segment. If they can still get contestants like Luo Yu and Qian Pingfan, then the viewership ratings definitely won’t drop!”

“There aren’t many contestants like them out there.”

“Not many? More like they’re totally rare, don’t you think?”

“It all boils down to the quality of the second episode’s contestants now!”

“Yes. For a lot of the talent shows out there, their premiere episodes usually do well in the viewership ratings but will always drop in the later episodes. This sort of show is too commonly seen, so I’m just afraid that The Voice will also follow in their footsteps. I actually do like this show a lot and is the only variety show I’m following right now, so it better stay strong. If the quality of the show drops too much, then I will have no variety shows to watch anymore!”

The netizens were all discussing fervently, talking about all kinds of things.

Similarly, peers from the industry had also turned their focus on this subject.

Central TV Department 1 was the most anxious and pressured party. They had invited Zhang Ye to join them because they wanted to regain their leading status within the variety show industry. Now that Zhang Ye, along with The Voice’s first episode, had blinded the entire country with a glowing reception, it had made many of the leaders at Central TV Department 1 very excited, while simultaneously worried that they would lose what they had gained. They knew that what they had so far was still not enough to cement their return to the top of the variety world as no variety show would be judged on just one of its episodes. What they needed was the average viewership rating to be good, so even if the first episode’s ratings had defied all logic, if the later episodes did not do well, it still wouldn’t mean that Central TV had made a comeback. It all still hinged on the performance of the show’s entire season, so with huge expectations of The Voice, they naturally had more worries as well. Everything depended on if Zhang Ye could keep the viewership ratings stable!

As for the other television stations, they had the same thoughts.

Some of industry insiders were taking a more objective view on The Voice.

“Taking the lead was easy, but holding on to it will prove difficult.”

“Yes, it’s going to be a real test of Zhang Ye’s ability now.”

“The first big problem has arrived for The Voice. Let’s see if Zhang Ye is able to get past this. I don’t have much hope in this case.”

“Let’s see how it goes in the second episode.”

Along with many peers from the television industry, their views were more pessimistic, or rather some of these people were simply waiting for Zhang Ye and The Voice to become the joke. A few of them posted their views on Weibo.

“The first episode’s viewership ratings were too much of a fluke!”

“I think so too. It might have happened for the first episode, but that doesn’t mean the second and third episodes will be the same. The Voice’s first episode has seriously over-penetrated into the market, so what comes after will only weaken for sure.”

“I advise everyone not to have too high an expectation that the second episode of The Voice will be like what you all might think it might be!”

“My prediction for the second episode’s viewership ratings is only 1.3% or so. This figure is much closer to the norm of a popular program in the variety industry, the 2-point rating it received for the first episode was way too out of the norm!”

“When Zhang Ye claimed he wanted ‘to see other summits dwarfed, and savor the scene,’ that was only applicable to the first episode. It’s impossible that every episode will have similar viewership ratings, so don’t enshrine Zhang Ye as legendary. Legends don’t last a lifetime!”

Those who had made these claims were mainly the same industry insiders who had previously boycotted Zhang Ye. After the viewership ratings of the first episode were released, they were all left speechless and dumbfounded. At that point in time, none of them stepped forward to say a word, but now that the attention on the first episode of The Voice had passed and with the second episode coming up soon, they timed the opportunity to make their stand known. All of this was for nothing more than to try to regain their face. After all, they didn’t want to lose too badly. Moreover, they were honestly convinced that Zhang Ye and The Voice would not be able to stay that strong forever!