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

Chapter 989 Our music scene... what will it become...?

"What did you say? You need reference material for 'One Man's Olympics'?"

"Yes, the music video for the Olympic English promotional song will need material about Mr. Liu Changchun. Could you get a copy from Han Sanping for me?"

After the meeting, Zhou Yi didn't rush to leave. Instead, he called Cheng Hao and asked her to help him retrieve some precious photos and video recordings.

There was no internet in the Republic of China era of 1932. The fact that Liu Changchun departed from Shanghai by ship on the morning of July 8, 1932, and arrived in Los Angeles to participate in the Olympics after three weeks at sea is only documented in some contemporary IOC records.

For example, old photos and videos, these rare pieces of evidence have now been properly restored and preserved by the authorities.

The most familiar photo to the public is probably that of the Chinese delegation, led by Liu Changchun, entering the opening ceremony of the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics with a pitifully small number of attendees.

The Chinese delegation consisted of Shen Siliang, coach Song Junfu, and athlete Liu Changchun—only three Chinese people had traveled from afar.

In order to make themselves worthy of the title of "delegation" when they entered the venue, they temporarily found three more overseas Chinese youths after arriving in Los Angeles, making a total of six people, and then walked through the entire opening ceremony under the gaze of the entire audience.

As an athlete of that era, Liu Changchun was prone to seasickness. After drifting on the ship for three weeks, he landed in Los Angeles and was immediately forced to compete in the Olympic Games without any rest. As expected, he was eliminated.

That was an era that, even just looking at photographs, could evoke feelings of despair and desolation in later generations.

What's even more disheartening is that a year after Liu Changchun's death, the Chinese delegation won its first-ever Olympic gold medal, achieving a breakthrough.

This elderly man, who dedicated his life to Chinese sports, was only one year away from seeing the Chinese flag flying high and winning a gold medal at the Olympic Games.

"Okay, I know."

After Cheng Hao hung up the phone, Zhou Yi left the venue and drove to Zhang Yimou's director team office, bringing with him the first batch of music demos that had been approved after he returned to China.

It's been a long time since we last saw Zhang Yimou; his eye sockets have gotten much deeper, which means he's been staying up late a lot.

This is unusual for him.

After all, Zhang Yimou has always been known for his boundless energy. Even at seventy years old, many young people couldn't keep up with him when he was making movies.

This is true, pure talent.

Of course, how well the movie was made is another matter. If it weren't for the golden statue from the 08 Olympic opening ceremony, its reputation would have been completely ruined long ago with the advent of the mobile internet era.

This is a typical example of someone who rests on their laurels and lives off their achievements for life, a lifelong get-out-of-jail-free card.

"Come on, Zhou Yi, let me introduce you..." Zhang Yimou, who personally came out to greet Zhou Yi and led him into the office, took the initiative to act as the middleman and introduced him one by one.

This was also the first time Zhou Yi met with the entire directing team that had finally been assembled. Apart from Chen Qigang, whose position as music director had been taken over by him, the others were exactly as Zhou Yi remembered them.

Of course, Zhou Yi's involvement was also deeper than Chen Qigang's.

As the music director, Chen Qigang simply focused on the music aspect, while Zhou Yi, as a participant, offered many constructive suggestions based on the details of the 08 Olympic Games opening ceremony in his mind.

After all, he was the only one on set who came with the answers to the open-book exam, and his opinions on even the smallest details could instantly clear up the director team's long-standing problems.

So much so that after a two-and-a-half-hour closed-door meeting, Zhou Yi's eloquent and insightful remarks left the entire production team completely stunned, and everyone looked at him with astonishment.

Dude, how are you so awesome?
Are you a genius at directing galas?
Zhang Yimou, who had been struggling with his ideas for a long time, had his eyes shining brightly. He insisted on dragging Zhou Yi to his house for dinner that night, and also to discuss the opening ceremony.

It was clear that the pressure of the Olympics was really overwhelming him, and hearing Zhou Yi's ingenious idea was like a wake-up call, making him incredibly eager to try it.

There was no other way. This was the first time since the founding of the People's Republic of China. There was no precedent to follow, and contacting foreign teams wouldn't be of much help either. Everything still had to be done perfectly.

To achieve this, Zhang Yimou pushed his team members, including himself, to their limits. How could he possibly let Zhou Yi, who had such ideas, go?

"Zhou Yi, what do you think about using a scroll-like unfolding method..."

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

"So, he kept you talking about the opening ceremony of the gala all night?"

night.

When Zhou Yi, slightly tipsy, returned home, Cheng Hao, who had already copied the data for him, had placed the memory card and tape on the coffee table in the living room. After briefly complaining about Zhang Yimou, she became curious.

"Otherwise, he's almost driven crazy by the pressure. Once he starts drinking, he just keeps talking nonstop."

"It's not that it's incomprehensible; after all, it's been a century of anticipation, and the responsibility is simply too great."

In 1910, the Shanghai newspaper *Shen Bao* published three questions specifically related to the Olympics, posed to all of China—

When will China be able to send representatives to the Olympics?

When will the Chinese people win their own Olympic gold medal?

When will China be able to host its own Olympic Games?

The first two questions have been answered:
At the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, Liu Changchun became the first Chinese person to compete on the Olympic track.

At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, shooter Xu Haifeng won the first Olympic gold medal.

Only the last question remained unanswered until China won the bid to host the Olympics.

A century of expectations converged in 2008.

The added significance of announcing China's return to the center stage of the world and showcasing itself to the world makes the pressure immense.

Thinking about this, Cheng Hao couldn't help but feel a little worried—

Because Zhou Yi only complained about Zhang Yimou and didn't mention his difficulties at all.

She strongly suspects that Zhou Yi adopted a strategy of only reporting good news and concealing bad news regarding the Olympic music. As for the pressure, it was his first time in charge; how little pressure could he possibly be under?
But she didn't ask, because that was the kind of concern that was correct but ultimately useless.

From the moment Zhou Yi took on the position of music director, he was destined to walk down this path, with no turning back.

Therefore, in the end, Cheng Hao could only remind him to rest early: "It's so late, you should take a shower and go to bed first, get some rest. After filming Lang Lang and the others' MV, you still have the Spring Festival Gala waiting for you."

"Yeah, I know." Zhou Yi stretched and moved his shoulder blades as he walked towards the bathroom.

2007年央视猪年春晚，在2月17日晚直播。因此，第一轮彩排的时间定在了2月4日。

Now, the celebrities and actors who have been confirmed to participate in the rehearsals have all received official notifications, and Zhou Yi is naturally among them.

Of course, as always, he didn't have to participate in the first round of rehearsals.

However, this year there are a few more people who don't need to participate in the first round of rehearsals—in Zhou Yi's memory, the 07 Spring Festival Gala should be the first time that a large number of celebrities were absent from the first round of rehearsals.

Whether from Hong Kong, Taiwan, or mainland China, some singers, even those from the national team, were absent from the first round of rehearsals. Even Zhao Benshan, the king of comedy sketches, was absent from the first round of rehearsals for his new program this year.

The signs of chaos are beginning to emerge in the Spring Festival Gala.

And if I remember correctly, this year's Spring Festival Gala also featured a rare "black three minutes"—

This can be considered one of the most notable live broadcast mishaps in the history of the Spring Festival Gala. Several seasoned hosts all wanted to use their experience to save the day, after all, it was the Spring Festival Gala, but the result was a famous scene where no one gave way to the other.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yi realized that he didn't know the list of performers for this year's Spring Festival Gala.

For example, he remembers that the 07 Spring Festival Gala featured Tao Zhe and Cai Yilin singing "Today You're Going to Marry Me," but the problem now is that this song has long become his signature piece...

"How do you know about Tao Zhe? He and Hsiao Ya-hsuan are considered representatives of Taiwanese pop singers this year."

The next day, Zhou Yi, who had woken up early and gone to the Warner Building, also saw the list of performers for the Spring Festival Gala that had not been publicly announced, through Qian Jiang.

Tao Zhe's name was prominently listed, except that he was singing "Small Town Girl," preparing to go all out against the big manager on the Spring Festival Gala stage.

Next up is Hsiao Ya-Hsuan, and the song she will be singing is none other than "Confession," the hit single from her new album "Love Is Here" from last year—the same song from the original "1087" album.

Since Hsiao Ya-Hsuan did not switch to Warner and has remained with Virgin Records, she did not experience the turmoil at Warner and was not sidelined, which resulted in her re-releasing an album after 1087 days. Therefore, the album title is "Love Is Here".

"Confession," one of the candidates for the best dance track of the new century in Chinese music, became an instant hit upon its release. Without inviting Zhou Yi to write the song, this album, produced by Hsiao Ya-hsuan herself, has once again achieved success.

Of course, due to time constraints, these two were bundled into the "Pop Medley" segment this year and will not be performing a full song. Cai Yilin will once again miss the Spring Festival Gala.

"Chen Zeshan is furious. Neither Wang Lihong nor Cai Yilin from Sony made it, haha." Although there had been a deal, Qian Jiang, who was generally happy to see the other party suffer a setback, laughed gleefully when talking about it.

Because songs like "Dancing Diva" were removed from the album, Cai Yilin's album last year, despite having access to Sony's sound assets and still achieving considerable sales, didn't significantly boost her popularity; it merely solidified her status as a top influencer.

She is also the only one who debuted very early, yet shares the title of "leader" with Zhang Shaohan, Yang Chenlin, and Wang Xinling, who debuted later.

Cai Yilin, the pop icon; Yang Chenlin, the cute icon;

Zhang Shaohan, the "Electric Eyes Queen"; Wang Xinling, the "Sweetheart Queen".

Sun Yanzi, Xiao Yaxuan, and Liang Jingru are in another category of top female stars—

Among them, Fish Leong's achievements are limited to Mandarin songs, putting her at a significant disadvantage compared to the other two. Many media outlets ranked her at the bottom because, firstly, Rolling Stone Records, though weakened, still retains considerable influence, and secondly, her Mandarin pop songs are indeed very popular.

Last year's new album "Kiss" released two highly popular singles, "Warm" and "Holding Hands".

Putting aside her English proficiency, the gap between Liang Jingru's number of hit singles and the top two is not so large as to be impossible to catch up with.

"I was quite surprised that Jay Chou didn't participate in the Spring Festival Gala. His song 'Still Fantasy' was very popular last year. 'Listen to Mom,' 'Chrysanthemum Terrace,' and 'Retreat' were all hits." Qian Jiang said, expressing his surprise as he watched Zhou Yi still looking at the list.

"Still Fantasy" released in 2006 can be considered the king of the Chinese album market in 2006.

The Chinese-style song "Chrysanthemum Terrace" went viral, and the phrase "Chrysanthemums wither, wounds cover the ground" became a popular internet meme.

Despite not releasing a Chinese album in 2006, Jay Chou finally secured the title of the best-selling Chinese album of 06 with this album.

Of course, there is also a song on this album that is not popular now but became popular after being unearthed: "The Seventh Chapter of the Night".

The original version of this song was "Two Lonely People," which Jay Chou wrote for Tao Jingying in 2003, but it didn't become popular. Feeling dissatisfied, Jay Chou revised it himself, turning it into "The Seventh Chapter of the Night," which was later included in the album "Still Fantasy."

As a result... it still didn't become popular.

It will only become popular again after the mobile internet era arrives, along with songs like "In the Name of the Father" and "Stop the War".

Wang Lihong's "Heroes of the World" was delayed until 06, but it still failed to surpass Jay Chou's work.

However, Lin Junjie, a junior of the group, caught up last year with "Cao Cao". The title track of the album, "Cao Cao", became a huge hit, and he officially established himself as a rising star, unlike his senior, A-Du, who became a shooting star.

At this point, Qian Jiang sighed for no apparent reason: "The record market has collapsed, but the competition for good songs is still fierce. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

In any market, someone is bound to make money, but in this environment, only Zhou Yi can guarantee that his albums will always be profitable.

Everyone else has to compete.

Last year, S.H.E. delivered "A Glance of Ten Thousand Years," Fahrenheit delivered "Only Have Feelings for You," and even the time management master became popular again with "Love Corner," all of which boosted their status as top idol drama stars.

Veteran singers like Mandy Mok also have a song called "If You Still Exist," which is also very popular.

Of course, the most formidable is Zhang Shaohan—

Or perhaps it's because the song "Invisible Wings" that Zhou Yi wrote for Zhang Shaohan was just too powerful, remaining popular for a whole year, from the beginning to the end. Currently, she seems to be breaking through the limitations of her established circle and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Liang Jingru, no longer wanting to be the "Queen of Electric Eyes."

Because of the popularity and auspicious meaning of "Invisible Wings", Zhang Shaohan's name also appeared on the list of performers for this year's Spring Festival Gala.

"It's better than no market at all. If the album doesn't sell well, we can make up for it with commercials, right?" Hearing this string of familiar song titles, Zhou Yi smiled and put down the list.

"That's true. There was a new singer in mainland China last year named Xue Zhiqian. His album sales weren't good, but 'Serious Snow' was quite popular. He's someone who can write his own songs, it's a pity."

Perhaps it's because of Warner's current policies that Qian Jiang feels compelled to slap his thigh when he sees a songwriter who can write and sing his own songs not working for Warner: "Hey A Yi, do you remember 'Super Girl'?"

"Huh? What's wrong? Is Liangying going to be harassed by them?" Upon hearing about the program, Zhou Yi frowned, his first thought being whether Tianyu Entertainment was up to something.

"No, that's not it. The main thing is that I've taken a liking to a lyricist under EE-Media. She wrote a few songs for me, and I think she's quite skilled at writing lyrics. Although she's a newcomer, the lyric she wrote for Super Girl Zhou Bichang last year, 'Notes,' was a huge hit..."

Because of Tianyu Media's notorious inhumane treatment and poor management, Qian Jiang immediately had the idea of ​​poaching talent when he returned and checked the market situation.

If it's an elderly person, then they'll definitely be too lazy to move.

But this woman was a complete newcomer. A newcomer means endless possibilities.

"What is your name?"

"Tang Tian".

?

Zhou Yi couldn't hold back after reviewing the materials—

Many people may not know who she is, but a few of her songs will make it clear. She wrote the lyrics for songs like "Chasing the Light," "The Lone Warrior," "As You Wish," and "The World."

If I remember correctly, her composer Qian Lei, who is considered her perfect partner, also seems to be from Tianyu Media... Oh, I don't know if he's joined Tianyu Media now. If he is, we can be packaged together.

"Go ahead and poach if you want. Business is business. It's perfectly normal for people to want to move up in the ranks. Anyway, the company has plenty of money."

In any case, Tianyu Entertainment hasn't really cared about the treatment of these creators, and Tang Tian was clearly leveling up and accumulating experience in the early stages, with very few hit works.

"The company has plenty of money, but I have to consider your reputation."

Qian Jiang pulled a document from his desk and handed it to him: "Do you know what some media outlets are saying about you right now?"

"To win glory for the country?"

"That's wrong. Some of them are now accusing you of ruining the music scene, starting the ringtone trend, and squeezing out the already crumbling traditional record market."

Zhouyi: "..."

Upon opening it, good heavens! Immortals were lined up like hemp!

Zhang Zhenyu's "Don't Hurt Me Anymore".

"I'm so sad, this isn't the result I wanted~" is the opening line of this song. Zheng Zhihua composed the music and rewrote the lyrics. The line in the chorus, "Don't hurt me anymore, being free is so much fun," made it a catchy and popular internet song.

Pang Long's latest single: "You Are My Rose".

"You are my rose, you are my flower. You are my lover, you are my longing..." Zhou Yi could hum the chorus as soon as he saw the song title.

The remaining four songs are even more heavyweights—"Poisonous Perfume" and "QQ Love".

as well as……

Seeking Buddha;
Autumn Never Returns.

Two absolutely heavyweight songs caught Zhou Yi's eye—

I'm back. It feels like everything is back.

All of these singles were released through China Mobile Wireless Music, commonly known as ringback tones. These songs were all incredibly popular singles in 2006.

In particular, the songs "Seeking Buddha" and "Autumn Never Returns" directly defeated Jay Chou and other traditional record artists on the ringtone chart, with the two taking turns to reach the top spot.

The more music critics and traditional record industry professionals criticized them, the more popular these two songs became.

These two songs were the most popular and representative songs of the ringtone era, and can be called the two heroes of ringtones.

"Invisible Wings" couldn't beat these two songs in the online music market in 2006, after all, its real peak was in 2008.

"Some media outlets are now criticizing you, saying that you opened Pandora's box of ringtone music, which led to so many poorly made songs that are forcing the traditional record industry to its death..."

In short, it's a question about defining the body—

An unknown musician choked up and shed tears during an interview: "Look at the chaotic state of this music market. If this continues, what will become of our music scene in the future?"

(End of this chapter)