The opening of China Entertainment Group gave Jay Chou a head-on confrontation

Chapter 724 Welcome To Bei Jing (Happy New Year~)

"I have a question……"

As a musician, Sun Yanzi's instinct made him look a little embarrassed for a moment: "This shouldn't be done by Zhou Yi, right? I haven't even heard him say it, it shouldn't be..."

It’s not that she wants to deny the song Jasmine Flower, but she thinks this adaptation is such a failure.

As a classic in the field of Chinese music, the popularity of "Jasmine Flower" is unquestionable. Even she is very familiar with this song in Singapore.

But at the moment, this adaptation on stage undoubtedly destroyed the original artistic conception of the song. The melody was cut into pieces and sounded extremely noisy.

It was as if all the traditional musical instruments in the performance were fighting with each other and no one was willing to give in.

There is no doubt that from the perspective of song adaptation, this is a textbook failure.

Not to mention that the colors of the cheongsams worn by the performers on the stage are too eye-catching, and it is hard not to focus on them. And this attention makes it even harder to ignore the failure of the song adaptation.

"No, he doesn't have time, and it's not convenient for him to intervene."

Cheng Hao, chewing an orange, shook his head: "After all, Zhang Yimou is the chief director. Even if he has no credit, he has worked hard. Zhou Yi will not do such a thing to snatch his power. Moreover, if Zhou Yi is in charge, he will definitely be the first to reject a cheongsam of this style and color, and will not even wear it."

She knows Zhou Yi's aesthetic very well.

It's not about whether the cheongsam is too short or not. Since people have to walk around on the stage, it's understandable that the cheongsam is shortened. But the key to the problem lies in the color combination. When the two are matched, it looks too bright.

Gorgeousness is indeed eye-catching - but that's where the problem lies.

As a former entertainer, Cheng Hao grasped the core point of this adaptation almost immediately: he wanted to attract the attention of foreign friends at a glance, so he highlighted the cheongsam element.

After all, on a global scale, the cheongsam style of clothing has indeed been associated with China, and is one of the most iconic representative elements, just like Kung Fu.

But now, the original purpose has indeed been achieved, and everyone's attention will indeed be attracted by this gorgeous cheongsam, but the problem is that its design is too gorgeous -

Combined with the failed adaptation of "Jasmine Flower" and the actors' twisting bodies on the stage, foreigners who don't understand Chinese culture might think it's good and just watch it as a simple art performance.

But local Chinese people don't buy it.

The cheongsam should not be so colorful - or rather, it should not be so colorful and yet be so short.

Either one of them would be fine, but Zhang Yimou has both drawbacks this time.

In order to highlight the cheongsam elements, the color rendering was too strong, resulting in the shortened cheongsam looking very worldly. Coupled with the failed adaptation of "Jasmine Flower", most Chinese people who are familiar with this song have completely lost the desire to appreciate it, which makes the shortcomings even more prominent.

There's nothing to watch, so your shortcomings will naturally be magnified infinitely, and you will be criticized severely.

"Zhang Yimou failed. He will definitely be scolded to death after tomorrow." Cheng Hao sighed halfway through reading and did not see any signs of change. He made a professional judgment.

Color pictures are Zhang Yimou's forte, but I didn't expect him to fail so badly.

She doesn't understand.

It can only be understood that it might be the first time for Zhang Yimou to direct such an unprecedented large-scale event as the Olympic Games. The excessive pressure caused Zhang Yimou's psychological pressure to become unbalanced, causing him to lose his proper color judgment.

"Then the next Zhou Yi will be difficult."

Sun Yanzi stopped eating potato chips and crossed his legs with a serious look on his face.

With Zhang Yimou's opening performance crashing the market, even a routine performance by Zhou Yi would not be able to satisfy the appetite of the disappointed Chinese audience, and he would most likely be scolded as well.

Those media outlets that are already unhappy with him will certainly seize on this point and launch a saturation attack in order to use this failure to pull Zhou Yi off the altar.

A Chinese singer who has become a god both at home and abroad is not what they want to see.

In fact, it was just as Sun Yanzi thought.

When Zhang Yimou was halfway through his first live show, all the major domestic media outlets that had conflicts with Zhou Yi and were eager to gain fame or revenue from Zhou Yi all thought of this and had even begun planning how to scold Zhou Yi.

After scolding Zhang Yimou, he scolded Zhou Yi again, taking up two portions of traffic, one higher than the other.

Thanks to the Olympics, this year's performance has been great!

Even the elders who were following the Olympics were furious.

"It's difficult."

At the closing ceremony in Athens, Zhou Yi looked at the effects on the stage and on the big screen and muttered unconsciously.

The larger the stage, the more obvious the shortcomings of Zhang Yimou's team's adaptation were. Although it was clear that he had tried to remedy the situation, the foundation was still too poor, and the tight schedule and heavy workload prevented him from completely reversing the situation.

"Why do those foreigners seem to be okay with what they are doing?" Qian Jiang, who was helping Zhou Yi prepare for the waiting arrangements, asked puzzledly after returning.

“Foreigners don’t understand Jasmine Flower, let alone cheongsam. They only know that it’s Chinese stuff, so they’ll definitely have fun watching it.” Zhou Yi shook his head.

In fact, if it weren't for his good reputation abroad, Zhang Yimou would not even have the chance to continue to run for the chief director of the 08 Olympic Games after returning to China, because those eight minutes in Athens really pissed off some of the elders above.

Zhang Yimou later said in a CCTV documentary that after the eight minutes were over, not only was he scolded by his leaders, but he was even criticized by people above him.

Fortunately, Zhang Yimou had a strong ability to withstand psychological pressure. Encouraged by his leader who continued to have high hopes for him, he decided to avenge his previous defeat. With the mentality of betting his lifelong reputation on it, he continued to compete for the position of chief director of the 08 Olympic Games, which allowed him to complete an epic reversal of public opinion.

"It's okay, just sing your songs. Everyone in the audience is familiar with your songs, so they won't just watch for fun."

Although he was somewhat worried that Zhou Yi, the main performer, would be affected by the poor arrangement made by Zhang Yimou's team, Qian Jiang couldn't say it out loud at this time, as that would only make him feel upset.

It is true that the song "Welcome To Bei Jing" is not as popular as those singles in Zhou Yi's three English albums, but its popularity is still guaranteed to be more or less. At the very least, many people should have heard it live.

"I'm not worried about mine."

Zhou Yi took a deep breath, but he didn't seem as relaxed as he said.

To be fair, he knew too well what his appearance at this stage meant, which was completely different from the World Cup finals, China-Korea Song Festival, China-Japan Song Festival, etc. Even though he was a big-hearted person, he still had some ripples in his heart before he went on stage.

This is his first truly national-level stage performance since his debut nearly five years ago.

At least that's what he thought in his heart.

This was an occasion that did not allow him to show off. The moment he stepped onto the stage, he was no longer just representing himself.

"The first group of cheongsam dancers have left the stage and the kung fu performance group is coming on. The CCTV camera should capture the people waiting in the wings. You should pay attention to managing your facial expressions." Qian Jiang reminded them when he saw the first group of cheongsam dancers leaving the stage after their performance and rushing to the backstage dressing room to change clothes.

When Zhou Yi went on stage to start the show, they still had to go on stage, but they were no longer wearing the cheongsams designed by Ye Jintian, but the casual clothes prepared for them by Zhou Yi's team.

They are all a group of young people. Wearing simple white T-shirts and jeans can better reflect their youthful vitality than cheongsam.

"Brother Yi."

Tang Yan, who saw Zhou Yi in the waiting room, came over and greeted him politely - compared to when she was wearing a cheongsam, she was more pleasing to Zhou Yi's eye in her current outfit of denim hot pants and a white T-shirt.

Of course, the main reason is that her hairstyle has changed. She left a part of her bangs in front of her head to cover her wide forehead to a certain extent, and tied her long hair into a bun, making her look like a normal female college student.

As one of the top stars in the domestic entertainment industry, Tang Yan’s biggest flaw in appearance is her forehead.

"Nice performance."

After all, she had filmed the MV for "Blue and White Porcelain", so Zhou Yi gave her a thumbs up to show his encouragement.

......................................................

"The performance was just so-so, nothing particularly shocking, it felt like a year-end summary performance. I don't know if Zhang Yimou can direct it, damn it."

Guangzhou, Yuexiu District.

As one of the editors of Yangcheng Evening News, 35-year-old Su Zhixuan considers himself to be one of the more objective and neutral media people in China. When Zhang Yimou was ridiculed by the public, he wrote an article analyzing why he was chosen as the director of Eight Minutes.

As a newspaper that is truly rooted in Guangzhou and spreads its influence outward, Yangcheng Evening News still has considerable strength in Guangdong, so his article has also been recognized by many people.

Now it was okay, he felt his face being hit.

"Although the kung fu performance was normal, the color of the costumes is not much different from the previous segment. What's wrong with Zhang Yimou?" A colleague chewed a piece of mutton skewer, his tone was obviously dissatisfied.

"It's ruined, it's ruined. Could it be that Zhou Yi also uses this method?"

"It's hard to say. Maybe he'll wear a Tang suit of various colors like Cheng Long does when attending various important occasions? Or maybe he'll wear a more serious Zhongshan suit?"

"That shouldn't be the case. Zhang Yimou probably can't control him."

"It's hard to say. In this kind of occasion, we must play it safe. After all, we are inviting the whole world."

"..."

Colleagues were talking about it, and Su Zhixuan looked a little strange.

It was hard for him to imagine Zhou Yi performing on stage in such a situation wearing such overly bright and saturated colored clothing.

It’s not that it’s impossible, it’s just a little hard to imagine.

After all, Zhou Yi has always given people the impression of being a cutting-edge trend pioneer in the fashion industry. When Zhang Yimou's team put on this set of clothes with an extremely high saturation of a single color, it somewhat broke the filter. I'm afraid his group of black fans will have a party.

"Lao Su, take a look at the real-time reviews on Tianya and other websites, and then take a look at the reviews in the chat rooms and QQ groups."

"Row."

Su Zhixuan nodded, and then skillfully entered various online forums.

As expected, those who are still following this post are all night owls. As long as they have an account, some people will not be able to control their inner desire to talk and post it online to seek recognition.

"Zhang Yimou, get out!"

"I give up, visiting a brothel? Visiting a brothel at the Olympic Games?!"

"Who is responsible for the music arrangement? Zhou Yi? Get the hell out of here!"

《The fucking ancestral tomb exploded!》

"Why am I sleeping so late at night and watching the closing ceremony to disgust myself?"

"..."

It is obvious that online forums such as Tianya and Maopu have now been occupied by the anti-Zhang faction. All kinds of insults are emerging one after another, and some even harm the family members. It is disgusting.

These were just the first group of netizens who followed the live broadcast. By the time everyone who watched the replay had finished watching, one could imagine how much criticism Zhang Yimou would receive.

Cheongsam Jasmine, Kung Fu, and Peking Opera.

After three consecutive performances, although the criticism of Peking Opera has decreased, the expectations of Chinese audiences have reached a freezing point.

Tired, destroy it.

"Go to sleep. Zhou Yi will probably just come out to do the lion dance, clasp his fists, and sing a song."

"It's just a few combinations of elements. I can memorize them all."

"That's right - what the hell is wrong! Why did the whole place suddenly go dark?!"

Just as Su Zhixuan was communicating with his colleagues, the stage where the Peking Opera performance was being performed on TV suddenly went dark.

The Athens Olympic Stadium, which could accommodate 55,000 spectators, was suddenly plunged into darkness!
"what?"

"Who?"

"???"

The athletes and spectators, who had just gotten used to Zhang Yimou's high-color saturation bombardment, were a little uncomfortable for a moment and thought something big had happened.

The next second, accompanied by a powerful musical melody, a line of buildings flashing with silver-white light appeared on the big screen. The light of the building lines flickered with the sound of the music, like a dazzling and brilliant Milky Way in the starry night, which attracted people's attention.

Silver-gray lights gradually enveloped the stage. Led by Tang Yan, handsome men and beautiful women holding newspapers stepped onto the stage one after another to the brisk rhythm. The large words "2008 Beijing Summer Olympics" written on the newspaper were clearly reflected on the big screen.

There is no stereotyped impression of China, but the seemingly casual steps that follow the rhythm of the music can make people feel a vigorous vitality.

All the actors holding newspapers filed out from all directions of the stage and gathered in the center. The last to appear was Zhou Yi, who aroused applause from all the athletes and the audience the moment he appeared.

She wore sunglasses and a silver woven diamond jacket on her upper body. It looked ordinary, but the collar was trimmed with white, which made her look very layered. She also wore a pair of light blue jeans on her lower body, which were specially inlaid with sequins to match the upper body, and they sparkled under the light.

“Welcome To Bei Jing~”

As soon as Zhou Yi raised his hand and spoke the first sentence, the song title suddenly flashed on the big screen behind him.

Zhou Yi stood still after singing this line. He was standing in the backlight and there were more shadows on his body, which added a sense of mystery to him.

Many people who thought Zhou Yi was going to do something stereotypical suddenly had their eyes light up.

"Zhou Yi is great, he didn't wear Zhang Yimou's clothes?!"

“Is this a new song from his English album?”

"Wait a minute, why are there so many dancers behind Zhou Yi? Did they pull up all the performers in front of him? The cheongsam group actually changed their disgusting cheongsams?!"

The person who was planning to turn off the TV, shut down the computer and go to sleep was attracted by the scrolling chat room messages. He turned on the TV again, and what appeared before his eyes was Zhou Yi's completely different impression from Zhang Yimou's previous three rounds!

The lighting stage looks extremely trendy, the rhythm and melody are very on point, and it is no longer the Jasmine Flower that was adapted to an unpleasant tone;
Everyone's face was filled with happy smiles, and Zhou Yi, who was in the lead, was extremely handsome.

"Welcome To Beijing!"

As Zhou Yi sang the opening song again in a gradually rising key, the lights on the scene were no longer concentrated in a corner, but gradually began to flicker - under the silver-white light, accompanied by the accompaniment of the song that officially began to be broadcast, the huge stage was suddenly filled with all the people who had performed for the previous eight minutes.

The performers who were wearing Kung Fu costumes, Peking Opera costumes and other Chinese-style costumes did not change their clothes. Instead, they twisted their bodies to the rhythm of the music, and together with Tang Yan and others who had changed their clothes, they expressed their own enthusiasm on the stage.

“It’s been waiting for you. Welcome to Beijing!”

Accompanied by the rhythmic drum beats, Zhou Yi, who started singing, slid to the center of the stage step by step, and sang the brainwashing Welcome To Bei Jing repeatedly, which made people nod their heads. His silky figure instantly set off the entire Olympic Stadium!
"Spike!!!"

"I LOVE YOU SPIKE!!!"

"Spike!"

Unlike the applause from the audience in the previous events, when Zhou Yi opened his voice, the cheers he received were much more genuine. The camera swept over and the officials remained indifferent, but the audience and some athletes at the scene swayed their bodies to the rhythm and even sang along.

“Walking through a crowd, The village is aglow

"Kaleidoscope of loud heartbeats under coats"

"Everybody here wanted something more~"

The completely changed lights flickered along with the changes in Zhou Yi's singing style, and every time the heavy drum beats, it leads to a small peak in the emotions of the audience -

Zhou Yi, who has only performed live performances of songs from his three albums in the United States and the United Kingdom so far, sang his new songs in public for the first time. The audience and athletes who were his fans were naturally very happy.

Since the stress of "New York" and "bei jing" in the original song is different, Zhou Yi will deliberately change his pronunciation when singing this song to fit the song.

When singing the repetitive and brainwashing phrase Welcome To Beijing, he would even habitually point to the place where the loudest cheers came from the audience and hook his finger to interact with them.

Many people were stunned——

"What the hell! What is Zhou Yi doing?! Does he still remember that he is not holding a concert?!"

"But you have to say, the stage is pretty good. This song encompasses everything that came before."

"Rituals and music are ruined! Rituals and music are ruined! Why are those people in Peking Opera costumes on the Zhouyi stage still dancing to the rhythm?!"

"Nonsense, I am here to express my welcome. The people before me have performed Peking Opera, so now it is natural for me to welcome everyone as Peking Opera performers and young people."

In China, after Zhou Yi appeared on the scene, several chat rooms that were originally complaining and insulting Zhang Yimou instantly began to communicate very quickly.

It looks like the dance is performed randomly, but actually it is not. The movements and steps of each person are obviously strictly arranged, and when viewed together, it does not look messy, but rather has a sense of beauty of orderly display.

If Zhang Yimou's previous performance arrangements still represented traditional China, then the performance led by Zhou Yi was modern China.

The previous era has passed, and the new China is no longer the shabby country of the last century.

Even for our traditional national treasures such as Kung Fu and Peking Opera, we have the younger generation to continue to innovate.

We are not blindly conservative, we also embrace technology and the future——

"It's a new soundtrack I could dance to this beat, beat, Forevermore

“The lights are so bright, But they never blind me”

On the stage, when Zhou Yigao sang this line, he not only pointed at himself, but also started the catwalk mode of leading the team -

"Welcome To Beijing!"

“It’s been waiting for you. Welcome to Beijing!”

Behind him, all 150 actors who had performed in the previous three sessions stepped on fixed steps.

Some were dancing behind Zhou Yi, some were bending over to interact with the audience, some were laughing and waving at both sides, and some were even holding lanterns and dancing and playing in joy. It was a happy and harmonious scene.

Every time they walked a certain distance, the people in the team behind Zhou Yi holding small bamboo baskets would even manually sprinkle fireworks in sync with the lyrics Zhou Yi sang, perfectly embodying the enthusiasm of the next host.

Just as the song goes, China is no longer what it used to be, and the cities in your impressions have also changed a long time ago. Welcome everyone to come and see the world in 08.

"Everybody here was someone else before"

“And you can want who you want
"Boys and girls and Boys and girls~"

When singing "Boys", Zhou Yi took off his sunglasses and pointed at himself. When singing "Girls", he slid to Tang Yan, whom he knew, and pointed at her.

The latter covered her mouth in surprise, and her "besties" and "friends" immediately gathered around her, talking about it, as if giving her advice. Tang Yan herself was embarrassed to look up at Zhou Yi, and when their eyes met, she was too shy to lower her head -

Green, but beautiful.

Zhou Yi's smile in the freeze-frame shot is particularly unrestrained, and the silver-white diamond-woven jacket adds a bit of unruly temperament to him——

It was like immersing oneself in the rainy season of summer, with puffs of sparkling diamonds like misty raindrops falling on his shoulders, expressing the timeless beauty of the rainy season in the crystal clear air.

The original sentence was Boys and boys and girls and girls. In theory, it was a statement by Taylor that he supported homosexuality, but Zhou Yi did not support it, so he changed it and simply swapped the order to boys and girls.

When Zhou Yi led the team to the end of the stage, the music just came to the interlude. Zhou Yi, who no longer had lyrics to sing, stood at the front and did not put down the microphone. Instead, he said the welcome speech: "Hello and Welcome To 2004 Athens Olympic Games."

He gave the organizer some face at the beginning and explained the location. Zhou Yi deliberately paused for two seconds, waiting for the cheers to gradually fade away.

"The beauty of the city of Athens at night is fascinating, but then, I think you should know what I am going to say."

Raising his hand to adjust the earphones, Zhou Yi pointed his left index finger at the light ball at the front of the stage and said loudly: "Ladies and gentlemen, let's start the story of Bei Jing together!"

The old Olympics has ended, and the new Olympics has arrived——

After Athens, it’s us!
"So handsome! I want to collect his costume! I want to reserve his costume for collection!"

Sun Yanzi, who had just taken off her facial mask, took a bite of the papaya, which she didn't like, and stared at the man on TV who made her heart beat fast with shining eyes, and slapped her thigh anxiously.

The look was like a child seeing a favorite toy.

Cheng Hao's mood was relatively stable, but the speed at which he chewed the fruit gradually slowed down. He stared at the energetic man on the TV screen for a long time without taking his eyes away.

Stars such as Elva Hsiao, Xiaopang Fan, Jay Chou, Lu Yi, Xie Tingfeng, Choi Choi, Zhe Tao, Wang Lihong and many more are all paying attention to this unique show in the entire Chinese music circle!

All emotions reached their peak after Zhou Yi expressed his true feelings, and the chat room where Su Zhixuan was located began to scroll through the screen at a speed so fast that it was difficult to see clearly -

"Fuck! Zhou Yi is awesome!"

"Emperor Yi is invincible!!!"

"The King of France is awesome!!"

"China welcomes you!"

"!!!"

The athletes and audience members who were swept by the live camera were all singing along with Zhou Yi's extremely brainwashing rhythm. The voices were getting louder and louder, and more and more uniform, especially when Zhou Yi sang the extremely repetitive and brainwashing song title again -

The Athens Olympic Stadium with a capacity of 55,000 people was eventually turned into a stage for what appeared to be Zhou Yi's concert, and stayed awake all night!
"Welcome To Beijing!"

(End of this chapter)