Chapter 1026: The Clown vs. Sunflower!
Chapter 1026: The Clown vs. Sunflower!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
Onstage.
The man with a sunflower mask took to the stage slowly.
There were screams and shouts coming from the audience, each one louder than the last!
Zhang Ye's mother said, "I rather like this guy."
His father nodded. "Mhm."
His second sister said in anticipation, "His Cantonese songs have always been great!"
"It's starting, it's starting!" His third sister held her breath.
The music played and the studio turned quiet. The audience was very cooperative and accommodating toward Sunflower. Those girls who had been making a racket during Petal Shower's performance were now covering their mouths, afraid that they would cause a disturbance and affect their idol.
Cello strings.
Piano keys.
A familiar melody floated on the stage.
Many in the audience were so familiar with this song that they started humming along to it in their heads.
Sunflower raised his head and gripped the microphone.
"I really hate you.
"Those memories…
"I really hate you.
"Have forgotten me."
A female fan looked enchanted!
A lot of people had closed their eyes to listen to the song. They were enjoying it to the utmost!
It was wonderful!
This was what a Cantonese song should be!
Previously on this stage, only The Clown had performed a Cantonese song. It was done informally as he sang something about a "hamlet" or something, talking about the "villagers" and "goats and cows." At that time, his singing pronunciation was rather inaccurate and had badly shocked many people. Thus, the Cantonese song Sunflower was presently performing would be considered the first true Cantonese song to be sung on King of Masked Singers. Compared to Zhang Ye's previous world, Cantonese songs occupied half of the industry's market share here and wasn't considered a niche market. The reason that no one had yet to sing a Cantonese song on this stage was not that Petal Shower and the others thought Cantonese songs niche, but that they couldn't sing them. Performance of these songs largely depended on the singer's hometown. If there were any signs of bad pronunciation during the song, it could easily cause the listeners to lose interest in the entire performance.
But as Li Yu was a born and bred Hong Konger, there was no need to talk about his pronunciation. Moreover, he had started out singing Cantonese songs, and more than 80% of his released albums were in Cantonese. Since this was his livelihood, it would be a wonder if he couldn't sing it well. The audience was very receptive to his performance!
At the judging panel.
Chen Yidong praised, "Great singing."
Amy agreed, "It is pretty good."
Li Yu was considered a veteran in the entertainment industry. When everyone learned he was going to perform a Cantonese song, they all knew that it wouldn't be bad even without listening. He had the ability to sing well, and the song was good too.
Zhang Xia commented, "There's no surprise here."
Chen Guang stated objectively, "It's good, but I've heard him sing this song too many times and it's always much the same. It's not a song that can really raise our spirits."
Wang Zhuishu said, "Sunflower today seems?"
Zhang Xia replied, "Yeah, he's fairly average."
Yao Jiancai turned around to look at the audience's warm reception and said, "But the audience seems to be buying it."
Yes, a lot of the audience members were convinced by the performance. As long as it was Li Yu singing, they'd think it was good. They did not care about whether the tenor of this song was appropriate or if the particulars of the singing were handled well.
On the stage.
Sunflower knew it himself. He had been affected by the previous round, thinking that he should be fighting for the throne of the Masked King today. But with Petal Shower stopping him, he was in an awful mood and rather upset as well. He regretted not singing the Cantonese song he was best at in his first appearance, which would have ensured his victory. He had underestimated his opponents. These thoughts kept running through his head even while he was performing, and it definitely affected how well he was doing. But fortunately for Sunflower, he was very experienced and had a good singing technique. That was enough for him to handle today's situation. As he got to the latter half of his performance, he actually sang better!
"I hate you, hate you, I hate you.
"Why can't I forget the past.
"When you said you loved me,
"It was so beautiful.
"Why did you leave me in the end?
"I really hate you.
"Those memories…
"I really hate you.
"Have forgotten me."
Some of the female audience members were screaming at this point!
They stood up and clapped, thrashing their fluorescent glow sticks!
Several of the judges on the guessing panel were stunned by this. They hadn't expected that Sunflower could readjust his emotions and handle the latter half of the song so exquisitely. If they had to give him a score, they would give him 85 points out of a 100 for this performance. This was a very good performance, much better than the Mandarin song he had performed!
Zhang Xia, Chen Guang, and the others looked at one another.
This was the end for The Clown!
He didn't stand a chance!
Sunflower was relying on his popularity with the audience. Even the Mandarin song he sung averagely almost evened out with Petal Shower's amazing performance, although he narrowly lost at the end. With this "I Really Hate You," The Clown's chances of winning had nearly fallen to nil. No one was optimistic about his chances.
...
Backstage.
In the waiting room.
Zhang Ye was listening to Sunflower's performance, not speaking.
"I Really Hate You"? He didn't like this song either. Perhaps his values were far too different than Li Yu's, and they were two people who didn't go well together. So Zhang Ye stopped focusing on listening.
Now that he was by himself in the waiting room, he found his bag and took out his cell phone which he kept on silent mode. He had wanted to check the netizen's comments about the contestants but saw some unread text messages that his mother had sent to him instead.
His mother: "Son?"
His mother: "Where are you? Why don't I see you anywhere?"
His mother: "Didn't you get here really early today?"
Zhang Ye immediately replied: "Yeah, but I'm busy right now."
Very quickly, his mother texted back: "Did you get the money?"
Zhang Ye smiled. "Yes. Thanks, Mom. It was quite an achievement to get 10,000 yuan out of you."
His mother: "You rascal, don't spend it recklessly now. When you find a job, you must pay me back. It'll be a loan to you for now. By the way, Mother's Day is coming soon, but you don't have to worry about buying me anything. I don't need anything, and I don't like anything either. Consider that as a heads up in case you're thinking of planning something, got it? Also, if you have the time to do that, quickly find a job. Go out and network some more, ask around too. If there's still nobody who wants to hire you, then screw those idiots and come back and rest at home. You won't have to do anything anymore! You can even save yourself their incompetence!"
Zhang Ye felt his heart warm. "I understand."
His mother: "OK, I'm gonna stop talking now. Your dad and I are listening to Sunflower sing and I think it's pretty good."
Behind him, the door opened.
Han Qi came into the room. "Teacher, you're almost up."
"Alright." Zhang Ye placed his cell phone back into his bag and exhaled. Then he turned around and walked out.
Sunflower had finished singing, but the thunderous applause in the studio could still be heard backstage.
Han Qi was very nervous. "You can do it, Teacher!"
Hu Fei saw The Clown approach. "The Clown, break a leg."
Dafei cheered, "Teacher, go get him!"
Xiao Lu added, "You'll definitely do well!"
Petal Shower looked at him.
Sunset Glow nodded at him.
Spinach raised her hand and gave him a thumbs up from not too far away to cheer him on!
However, in comparison to that overwhelming applause in the studio for Li Yu, everyone's cheers for him felt underwhelming.
Could he win?
A lot of the program team staff sighed.
Today's Li Yu had turned completely shameless!
Paying for PR campaigns in the media!
Exposing himself!
Asking for votes!
Causing trouble!
And he even performed his breakout song!
Unless The Clown had an even more astonishing song, he wouldn't stand the ghost of a chance of competing against Li Yu. What could he possibly do?
So did Zhang Ye have such a song?
The answer was a resounding yes!
He definitely had one! In fact, he had many!
The other times he was onstage, Zhang Ye had performed some of the less mainstream songs in the competition. But this did not mean that he didn't know how to sing mainstream songs. He just didn't bring them for the audience to hear because he thought it wasn't time for that yet. But today, Zhang Ye did not plan to hold back anymore. He was ready to bring one of them out to compete against Li Yu!
Which song should he choose?
He considered the song that Li Yu performed.
Cantonese?
"I Really Hate You"?
Instantly, Zhang Ye made a decision!
That one!