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

Chapter 731 Zhou Jianhui's Golden Hoe

In 2004, the ticket selling methods of mainland cinemas were relatively simple, without all the fancy tricks that are used later - although there were still loopholes for fraud, the general direction of the market was still under the control of major companies.

Among the three first-tier cities, Shanghai has obviously increased the screening ratio of "2046", which is not the same as the capital and Guangzhou. The screening ratio of "New Police Story" is directly ahead of "2046".

According to initial market estimates, the ticket sales expectations for the two films on their respective premiere days are such that the overall attendance rate for New Police Story in screening halls in the three major cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou should be at least 60%-75% or above. For 2046, the standard is slightly lowered, and a 50%-55% attendance rate would be enough to open the champagne.

After all, no matter how it is hyped up, "2046" is essentially an art film aiming to win awards.

But now, the bosses of several major cinema chains themselves are finding it a little hard to believe. Warner Cinemas even immediately confirmed whether the numbers reported by its cinemas were wrong - 100%.

If a screening room has 100 seats, it basically means that the tickets for these seats have been sold out in advance.

Neither "Hero", which is known as the first commercial blockbuster in mainland China, nor "House of Flying Daggers", which was Zhang Yimou's follow-up, could achieve such terrifying market data. Not to mention Cheng Long, whose box office appeal in mainland China has never been so strong.

You have to know that this movie hasn't been officially released yet. If you buy a ticket in the cinema now, you can only take the ticket and the stub home and wait until it is officially released on the 24th to watch it.

"I don't know how many people will refund their tickets by then. If no one or very few people refund, then this will be a really bad start..."

Warner's Film Affairs and Administrative Director Zhou Zhicong immediately identified the "culprit" who caused the surge in data expectations - Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi's first big-screen appearance now seems to be much more exciting than those industry insiders had originally expected...

"No one else can bear this skyrocketing expectation. Many reporters privately interviewed passers-by about their expectations for this movie, and basically they all mentioned you." Qian Jiang, who accompanied Zhou Yi to Changsha without stopping, had a somewhat excited look on his face when talking about this.

If Chenglong + Xie Tingfeng are here to protect the lower limit, then there is no doubt that Zhou Yi is here to raise the upper limit.

This is one of the most intuitive ways to reflect commercial value.

"Be cautious and watch out for it. Right now, a large number of ordinary audiences don't know that Cheng Long has abandoned his previous performance style in this movie. Without so much kung fu comedy, the reputation will definitely collapse." Seeing that his agent seemed to be caught up in fantasy time again, Zhou Yi gave him a shot of prevention out of the blue.

"You don't think it's good?" Qian Jiang, who thought Zhou Yi would be optimistic about this project, was stunned.

"The transformation was too drastic, and the past image was too deeply rooted, so most audiences could not accept a Chenglong who would fail, kneel down, cry bitterly, and become decadent."

Zhou Yi gave his own evaluation.

An unbeatable Chenglong will not be accepted by the audience.

What the audience wants to see is the god of war in the furniture city who was omnipotent in the sky and in the sea, always optimistic and positive and able to make people laugh. Who wants to see you play a decadent uncle who plays the emotional card after he can no longer fight in middle age, even if this uncle can still fight a few times.

But it’s ok…

Qian Jiang, who had originally planned to move over here and promote Zhou Yi, immediately began to come up with new ideas in his mind. At the same time, he did not forget to hand him the latest information sent by the "Super Girl" program team.

Zhou Yi took it and looked at it——

The top three changes immediately came into view.

In his memory, after the semi-finals of the 04 "Super Girl" national top five to three, the top three were An Youqi, Wang Ti, and Zhang Hanyun;

Now, with his and Warner's intervention, after the top five were selected, the top three have become Jane Zhang, An Youqi, and Zhang Hanyun.

Wang Ti, whose background was second only to Zhang Jingying, was eliminated in the semi-finals. He unexpectedly lost to the dark horse Zhang Hanyun with the fourth place in the final comprehensive votes and missed the national finals on the evening of the 23rd...

Zhang Hanyun, who was only ranked fourth in the voting before the start of the five-to-three semi-finals, was completely blackened. Although she was still criticized for singing and dancing like a zombie, she still managed to make a comeback with her cute baby face.

Of course, this may also be because she did not sign with Tianyu, and her hidden arrogance led to her overconfidence and she did not ask others to help her to suppress the votes, which led to the failure.

After all, his singing skills are not that outstanding, and in terms of appearance, Wang Tina is really not good enough.

During this period, Zhang Hanyun still had obvious baby fat on her face. Although her makeup was mature, her chubby face was really cute enough to make people vote for her.

"One dollar for one vote, these idiots really know how to make money, it looks like they're going crazy doing it." Qian Jiang, who was helping Zhou Yi introduce the voting mechanism, couldn't help but sigh that this show was really good at making money when talking about the fees.

Not only does voting SMS cost money, but it's not a monthly subscription. It costs one dollar to send a relevant SMS to the program team, and a few more encouraging messages cost several dollars more, which is a wallet killer.

The highest number of votes the program team has received so far is the record of more than 97,000 votes that Zhang Liangying led by a huge margin when the top five were selected into the top three. An Youqi, who ranked second, only received a little over 60,000 votes at most and was beaten up.

The most important thing is that there is more than one round of voting in each issue, so it can be said that it is a great pleasure to reap the fans' wallets along the way.

"During the live broadcast of the finals, Hunan TV was so crazy that it divided the show into four rounds of voting. First, the three performers each performed three times, and then voted. Then, three guests sang together, and then another round of voting was collected.
“The one with the highest number of votes will advance directly to the final championship and runner-up competition;
“The remaining second and third place will compete in another round and harvest another round of votes;
"The next step is the battle for the first and second place, and the winner will be decided by the final round of voting..."

This is the first talent show in the country that started from scratch. Fans who have spent a lot of money to support their idols along the way always have a sense of pleasure in nurturing them personally, so in the end most of them become die-hard fans of the contestants and cheer for them.

"Guest? You're not going to ask me to be on the list? Aren't I going to be a judge?"

Zhou Yi raised his eyebrows.

Although he was not very opposed to the referee stepping down as a player, he still felt that it was a bit of bullying in this situation.

Qian Jiang didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "How is that possible? If you leave, then others won't be able to play. The host will just go on stage to help sing and canvass for votes."

Although the champion has already been decided, the necessary procedures still need to be followed to avoid Zhang Jingying being criticized before she even makes her debut.

"That's okay."

Zhou Yi smiled.

It turns out that the singing duet segment already existed in the 2004 "Super Girl" contest. It turns out that it has become a traditional performance of Hunan TV.

He didn't have a deep impression of this year's contestants. He only remembered that there was a champion named An Youqi, who signed with Tianyu and released a song called "Hello Jay Chou" after winning the championship.

The third place winner Zhang Hanyun was subjected to all kinds of pornographic rumors after her debut. The company she signed with, Tianzhong Culture, did not have the ability to fight against the rumors at all, and she really wasted a lot of her best time.

As for the runner-up Wang Ti, she is bad at singing and dancing, and her appearance is quite ordinary among female idols, which directly led to the fact that she didn't make any splash at all after the end of "Super Girl".

After getting off the plane and arriving at the hotel, Zhou Yi soon saw the program team members headed by the host Wang Han coming to greet him——

"Welcome, Brother Yi. Thank you for your hard work. My name is Wang Han, and I'm the host of this year's Super Girl. You can just call me Xiao Wang..."

In 2004, Wang Han was not yet so bookish. He was still in a period of actively learning and enriching himself, and he still looked like a scholar.

This year's "Super Girl" finals was hosted by him and Li Xiang together.

only……

Zhou Yi didn't know this man named Li Xiang at all and had no impression of him at all. It was conceivable that he would definitely not make any splash in the future.

"Hello……"

After greeting each other for a few words and exchanging contact information for the convenience of work communication, Wang Han, completely ignoring the fact that he was 7 years older than Zhou Yi, kept calling him "Brother Yi".

It is not shameful to have a wise man as a teacher!

After being taken to the scene by the production crew to watch the rehearsal, Zhou Yi also met Zhang Jingying, whom he hadn't seen for a long time - "Brother Yi."

Accompanied by a clear and respectful title, everyone at the scene put down their work and rushed to the rehearsal room as soon as they heard the name and guessed who was coming.

joke!

That’s Zhouyi!
Living Zhouyi!

Live!

Word spread quickly, and the huge building was packed to the brim. Those who didn't know would have thought something serious had happened here, involving lives.

After transforming into the God of Autographs and satisfying his fans, Zhou Yi finally shook his aching wrist and got out of the sea of ​​suffering. He came to the well-behaved Zhang Jingying and encouraged her with a smile, "Good luck in the competition."

"I won't let you down, Brother Yi."

Zhang Jingying was also very excited and was almost about to issue a military order.

After the excitement died down, Zhou Yi also met Li Zongsheng who had arrived in Changsha before him in a low-key manner. It seemed that this leading figure in the Chinese music scene had not had an easy time in recent years, as there was a circle of thinning hair visible on the top of his head.

I don’t know if it’s because of the love that made me like this.

Without hair transplantation, a Mediterranean look will be waiting for him in the near future.

"Brother Sheng, long time no see."

"Long time no see, Ayi. You are so impressive in America."

Lee Jong-seong, who was casually dressed, smiled and hugged Zhou Yi: "I've been listening to your news in China and my ears are almost callused."

"That can't be helped. They just focused their fire on me."

Zhou Yi shrugged innocently: "I have always been a vindictive person."

"Did you find that Zhang Jingying? She has a good vocal talent."

After a brief reunion, the two of them, who had no other topics to talk about, naturally chose to start with the contestants of the show. Lee Jong-seong still had a deep impression of Zhang Liangying.

She can sing with beautiful dolphin voice.

This is one of the labels she left on "Super Girl", so much so that now her fans call her the Dolphin Princess.

"It was a pleasant surprise. I found it during a concert."

Zhou Yi smiled, thinking of the fact that Zhou Jianhui had asked him to dig up some new people before he left: "I heard from Brother Jianhui that Brother Sheng, you seem to be planning to make a comeback recently?"

"Why? Are you still interested in an old man like me?"

Li Zongsheng, who heard the hidden meaning, had a smile on his face and no expression could be seen to change.

"Isn't it Song Ke who is guilty of a heinous crime?" Zhou Yi decisively put the blame on Lao Ke who was enjoying his life.

At first, Song Ke wanted to separate from Warner and start his own business with Taihe Media, and once again founded Maitian Music, and even invited Li Zongsheng to join. However, not long after the two finished their talks, Song Ke was sent back by Zhou Jianhui, and Taihe Media apologized, and the matter came to an end.

New Wheat Field is now nowhere to be found, and Song Ke will have to wait at least another two or three years before he can get out. Naturally, Li Zongsheng’s channel for a comeback in the mainland will also be cut off.

Not to mention the Rolling Stones, which are now in trouble and their distribution channels in the mainland have been torn apart. Not to mention Lee Jong-sheng, even Luo Da-you has to send his albums to the mainland.

Not every company is like Warner, which can make a fortune against the trend.

"Jianhui's move of cutting off the source of the trouble was indeed a powerful one."

It had been so long since the incident happened, and Li Zongsheng naturally noticed that something was wrong. The old man shook his head, raised his hand to push up his glasses, and said jokingly with a cheerful mood: "But I didn't expect that the emperor would actually invite me, Li."

"Brother Sheng, you call me that, right? Then I can only admit it reluctantly. I don't want to, but I have no choice. Brother Jianhui is the CEO after all, and I still trust him."

Zhou Yi started off right away, and for a moment the conversation was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

After conveying the message, he didn't talk about it anymore.

For him, it is enough to give an introduction and release Warner's goodwill, and tell Li Zongsheng that Song Ke is Song Ke, and the door is always open to you if you want to come to Warner.

As for how to negotiate the contract later, that is Zhou Jianhui's business, not his.

The breakdown of the talks has nothing to do with him.

In fact, this is Zhou Yi's secondary purpose for coming here.

Although he knew that Li Zongsheng's creative energy had been almost exhausted, his production skills were still very useful. If he came to Warner to be a music director, it would be more than enough.

Sun Yanzi's mentor, the Li brothers, has a very scattered energy. He is not limited to working for Warner alone. In Warner, he is basically responsible for Sun Yanzi's album alone.

Therefore, Warner does lack a music director to coordinate the entire company, and Li Zongsheng is very suitable for this position.

If Song Ke had not gone in and founded Taihe Maitian as he wished, then Li Zongsheng would have been the music director of Taihe Maitian. He did a very good job and directly brought the new Taihe Maitian to the leading position in the mainland.

Li Zongsheng did not expect that Zhou Yi would extend an olive branch to him on behalf of Warner. He did not refuse it for a moment, but kept the matter in his heart and planned to discuss it with his agency team after returning.

He really wants to develop in the mainland, otherwise he would not have accepted the job of being a judge on "Super Girl".

An extremely shabby hall, extremely simple furnishings, and very poor sound systems.

This was Lee Jong-seong’s first impression of the show.

To be honest, this doesn't look like a serious variety show at all. It's too rough in every aspect and looks like a farce.

Zhou Yi served as a judge and only made a few comments during the final round as usual -

The only thing that surprised him was that the girl named Zhang Jingying was obviously not right tonight.

The first round of votes was over 13, the second round of votes soared to 19, and the third round directly exceeded 23.

80% of the comments in the text messages she sent to me were from people named Zhou Yi...

In other words, Zhou Yi's arrival directly led to more than 200,000 people voting for Zhang Jingying...

It's not like he hasn't been a judge on talent shows in Taiwan, but the number of votes he received back then was far from the number that Zhou Yi had counted on the spot.

This was beyond Lee Jong-seong's understanding.

Out of line.

(End of this chapter)