1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Zhou Yan poured a glass of water for Mariah Carey, then sat down opposite her and asked with a smile, "Are you going to release a new album this year?"

Mariah Carey shook her head, "No new album this year."

"Oh, I met your fans at the celebration party for "The Sixth Sense" before, and I thought you would have a new album coming out."

Maria shrugged her shoulders. "Because I always fail to invite you to sing."

As she said this, she looked at Zhou Yan with a smile.

Zhou Yan knew what she wanted to say, so he smiled and said, "Do you think the song "Someone Like You" is suitable for you?"

Maria pouted, "Are you questioning my singing ability?"

"No, of course there is no problem with your singing skills. I just think the style may not be suitable for you." Zhou Yan smiled and changed the subject, "Last year, although your "Daydream" achieved great commercial success, it did not win any awards. For the next album, don't you want to rely on awards?"

Maria said nonchalantly, "As long as the fans like it, it doesn't matter if I win an award or not."

Zhou Yan smiled, it was hard to say how sincere her words were. No one doesn't want to win an award, and she attended the Grammy Awards this year in a gorgeous dress, so she definitely wanted to win something.

The album "Daydream" received five nominations at this year's Grammy Awards and was originally a strong contender for Best Pop Album and Album of the Year, but in the end it won nothing.

It was impossible to say that she was not angry.

Even if Mariah herself really doesn't care, as the most popular pop queen today, she has been put in this position. Her fans will not agree if she doesn't win the award.

This could also be felt when Zhou Yan chatted with her fans last time. The fans were all standing up for her and accusing the Grammy Awards of being shady.

"Are you here in Los Angeles to work?" Zhou Yan asked.

Maria laughed. "Don't you know? I live in Bel-Air now."

Zhou Yan raised his eyebrows. Bel-Air is a well-known luxury home community in Los Angeles. Like Beverly Hills, everyone who lives there is rich.

Bel-Air is mentioned in the lyrics of "Young and Beautiful".

"You didn't buy the house in Bel-Air because of Young and Beautiful, did you?"

"Not exactly. I had thought about buying a house here, but this song accelerated my thinking. Actually, I have a little hobby, which is buying houses."

Her words reminded Zhou Yan of Joey Wong. It seems that women from all over the world like to buy houses.

Then, without waiting for Zhou Yan to speak, Maria began to tell Zhou Yan about her house in Bel-Air.

She told Zhou Yan about the cinema, the gym, the basketball court, and even the nine bathrooms in her house.

Just now Zhou Yan was thinking that Mariah Carey should not be very busy at work recently. Now it seems that she is not only not busy, but even a little too idle.

If you weren't very free, why would you come and tell him these things?

Although it was a boring topic, Maria herself was quite happy to talk about it.

But as she was talking, she suddenly sighed and became depressed, "Am I very bored?"

Zhou Yan was thinking about the storyboard of "Titanic". When he heard Maria's words, he came back to his senses, smiled and shook his head, "No, your new house is very interesting."

Maria seemed to be unable to hear Zhou Yan's words and murmured, "It's really boring. I wanted to take a break for a while, but I found that once I stopped working, life became meaningless."

Hearing her topics drifting around and her mood changing quickly, Zhou Yan showed a confused expression. Why did this girl look like she had mental problems? She didn't act like a normal person at all.

Is it because the pressure is too great?

It shouldn't be the case. Her career has been developing very well in the past year or so, so she should be in high spirits.

Zhou Yan was a little worried about her mental state, so he said, "Indeed, when you are busy at work, you want to rest, but once you rest, you think about work again. Most people are like this."

"Does it happen to you too?" Maria asked, looking up.

Zhou Yan nodded and smiled, "Of course, many people say that I am a workaholic and I basically have no time to rest. But I am still pretty good. Do you know Zhang Yimou?"

Maria shook her head. "I don't know."

"We have a very famous director in China who usually only sleeps two or three hours and spends the rest of the time working."

"How is this possible? Won't sleeping only two or three hours a day affect my health?" Maria looked surprised and couldn't believe it.

It was okay to sleep two or three hours occasionally, but if she only slept two or three hours every day, it was beyond her imagination.

"Maybe, but I think he's in good health. Everyone's body is different, and so are their lifestyles. I know someone who sleeps at least ten hours a day."

This time Maria showed an envious expression, "I also want to sleep ten hours a day, but I can't sleep. It is not easy to get a good sleep."

Zhou Yan shrugged. "If you can't sleep, find something to do. The key is to have a good attitude."

Many people have fallen into a misunderstanding, always thinking that if they don’t sleep enough, there will be big problems. Especially after the saying “you must sleep eight hours a day” came out, many people think that if they don’t sleep eight hours a day, there will be problems with their health.

But in fact, the most important thing is to keep a calm mind. If you always feel that you don’t get enough sleep and fall into anxiety, you will enter a vicious circle.

It’s better to relax a little. If you can’t sleep, find something serious to do.

Zhou Yan told Maria this because he felt that Maria was a little anxious.

After listening to Zhou Yan's words, Maria nodded thoughtfully, and then sighed, "A good attitude is of course important, but it is not so easy to have a good attitude. Sometimes, the harder you try to have a good attitude, the more likely you are to have a bad attitude."

Zhou Yan frowned. Why did Maria's condition seem a bit like the early symptoms of depression or bipolar disorder?

Although Zhou Yan is not a psychologist, as a teacher, he has been exposed to psychological counseling, because when students have psychological problems, they mainly rely on their teachers to guide and solve them.

If Maria's current condition is not taken seriously, it is very likely that she will eventually develop into severe bipolar disorder or depression.

But the two of them were not very familiar with each other, and Zhou Yan couldn't just tell Maria that she might be sick and ask her to see a doctor. Although the attitude towards mental illness in the United States is relatively open, it would be inappropriate to say this directly.

After thinking about it, Zhou Yan started talking to Maria about music, "Will there be a new album next year?"

Although Zhou Yan changed the topic quickly, Maria didn't react at all. She smiled and said, "Of course, two songs have been confirmed, and there are a few more songs under investigation. But the song I want to sing the most is "Someone Like You"."

Zhou Yan didn't expect that when he talked about music, Maria took advantage of the opportunity and brought up "Someone Like You" again.

This time he didn't avoid the topic, but said seriously, "You can try. If it's suitable, I can sing this song for you."

Maria's eyes lit up. "How do I try? I'll find someone to write the lyrics and sing a demo for you?"

Zhou Yan shook his head. "Don't bother. I'll give you a version of the lyrics."

"You even wrote the lyrics." Maria said in surprise.

She used to think that Zhou Yan had never intended to make "Someone Like You" into a song, but now it seems that this is not the case. Zhou Yan even wrote the lyrics, so he must have been prepared to make it into a song.

"I'll write it to you."

Zhou Yan stood up, walked to the desk and sat down, then began to write the lyrics of "Someone Like You".

Maria also stood up and moved over. Seeing the script and storyboard of "Titanic" on the table, she looked curious, but because Zhou Yan was writing lyrics, she did not disturb him.

When Zhou Yan wrote the lyrics, he also wrote the music score to make it easier for Maria to sight-read.

Maria looked at it for a while, and felt that the posture was too awkward, so she ran to the sofa and sat down to wait.

After more than ten minutes, Zhou Yan handed the music sheet with lyrics to Maria and said, "Take a look."

Maria took the lyrics excitedly and looked at them carefully. While reading the lyrics, she was also silently trying to figure out how to sing it.

This time Zhou Yan did not mark anything about the singing method, and everything depended on her own performance. After reading it several times, she tried to sing it. After singing the first sentence, she felt that it was not good, so she started singing again.

For the same song, the tone and everything else are the same, but it can be very different when sung in different ways. Where to breathe, where to emphasize, where to use real voice and where to use falsetto, different places are handled differently, and the effects produced are very different. This requires testing the singer's singing quotient.

There is certainly no problem with Maria's singing quotient. Although there are problems when she sings each sentence for the first time, the problems are improved a lot after singing it again.

Zhou Yan couldn't help but nodded when he heard her sing the first five or six sentences. Originally, he always felt that the song "Someone Like You" was not very suitable for Maria, but now after listening to Maria singing it, his mind has changed.

Maria's performance was better than he expected. The style of the song she sang was very different from the original by Adele, but it was also very nice. Although there were still many problems, Zhou Yan believed that as long as she was given more time, she would be able to figure out the song.

After all, the song itself is catchy and any excellent female singer can perform it well, the only difference is the style.

Maria has a wide vocal range and can control both high and low notes well. Her vibrato and breathy voice are of high quality, and she can show a rare sphenoid sinus resonance, which is also a characteristic of her singing.

The most important thing is that she has a good sense of music and pitch, which is rare. Many pop singers start late and rely on their talent to make a living, but their sense of music and pitch are poor.

Maria's voice was a little hoarse when she spoke, which was because she had a hoarse voice in the past few years.

Due to various reasons, Maria developed vocal cord nodules, which seriously affected her voice, so many people said that her voice was relatively crisp.

In order to avoid the impact of this situation, she changed her singing style starting from her last album, raising her vocal position and using more balanced mixing.

During this period, her high notes were much brighter than before, and were particularly open and resonant.

It is precisely because of her current state that she can better grasp the song "Someone Like You".

After Maria touched the whole song, she asked Zhou Yan with a smile, "Y, are you satisfied with my singing?"

"I'll give you six points." Zhou Yan gave a score that was neither high nor low.

"That's not bad." Maria was quite satisfied with the rating.

Zhou Yan immediately added, "The full score is 100."

"..."

Seeing the frozen smile on Maria's face, Zhou Yan laughed and said, "Just kidding, you performed well in this song. Although there are still some parts that need to be adjusted, it was already very good for the first time. There are many pronunciations in many places. I think you should think more about it and come up with a better way to deal with it."

Hearing Zhou Yan joking with her, Maria rolled her eyes and then asked, "Can you sing this song for me?"

Zhou Yan thought about it, then nodded and said, "You can go talk to Zhang Youan."

Maria smiled and said, "No problem, I'll make him an offer he can't refuse. The song is mine."

Maria was very happy and treasured "Someone Like You" when she got it. She held the paper with the lyrics in her hand tightly and was reluctant to let go.

In addition to the melody, she was also very satisfied with the lyrics, which have a very strong sense of picture.

Zhou Yan seems to be very good at writing lyrics from a girl's perspective, as is the case with his previous song "young and beautiful".

Holding the lyrics, Maria suddenly asked, "Do you have any new songs recently, especially those that can be made into songs with lyrics?"

Now it was Zhou Yan's turn to roll his eyes. People are really never satisfied. Before they even confirmed they had won the song "Someone Like You", they already started thinking about other songs.

"You are a little too greedy."

Maria laughed, "People always have to be a little greedy."

Zhou Yan curled his lips, "Are you going to put this song in next year's album?"

Maria shook her head repeatedly. "Of course not. I want to release a single, and I can't wait for more than a year. By the way, do you have time? If you do, please help me arrange the music. Since it's a single and there's no producer, you can be responsible for it from beginning to end."

Zhou Yan groaned and said, "That's fine."

It wouldn't take long to arrange the music, and he could help even if he wasn't in the United States. He wasn't too confident in letting someone else arrange the music.

"When will you do it for me?" Maria asked again.

"I'm in Los Angeles these days. If I have time, I'll do it for you. If not, I'll record it later and have someone send it over."

"no problem."

At this time, Zhou Yan looked at his hand and saw that it was almost half past six. He stood up and said, "It's time for dinner. Let's go out to eat."

"Okay, I'll treat you to a meal. There's a delicious steak house nearby."

When Zhou Yan heard her mention the steak restaurant, he thought of the restaurant he had been to twice. However, seeing Maria's enthusiastic recommendation, he didn't say that he might have been there. He just nodded and set off with her.

Zhou Yan guessed correctly. The restaurant Maria recommended was the one he and Chris had visited before.

Maria did come quite often, as the waiters all knew her.

However, the waiter acted quite calm and simply greeted Maria. Come to think of it, there are many big stars around here, so it is not surprising to see Maria.

The third time he came to this steak restaurant, Zhou Yan re-examined the layout of the restaurant. He had really underestimated this restaurant before, but he didn't expect it to be so popular. Everyone recommended this restaurant three times in a row.

This store doesn't look anything special, the environment is relatively quiet, and there are not many customers.

Normally, if a restaurant is popular, it should have a lot of customers.

But now Zhou Yan thinks that it might be because the prices in this restaurant are not cheap. A steak here costs at least more than fifty dollars.

When he saw steaks costing dozens of dollars before, he didn’t think much about it and even thought it was okay. But when he thought about it carefully, it was already very expensive.

At this price, ordinary families simply cannot afford it. A family of three would have to spend at least two hundred dollars for a meal, and even that would not fill them up.

If you want to have a good meal, it will cost more than one or two hundred dollars per person. If you drink some wine, the budget will increase dramatically.

Americans are indeed living a better life now, but most people's salary is only around two thousand dollars, so an ordinary family will not spend so much money on a meal. A few hundred dollars is enough for them to do a lot of things.

Zhou Yan and his friends' meal was naturally not cheap. Including the tip, the total cost was nearly six hundred US dollars.

After eating, Maria asked Zhou Yan with a smile, "Are you satisfied with this restaurant?"

Zhou Yan nodded, "Well, their steak is indeed delicious, thank you for the recommendation."

Maria was very happy that the restaurant she recommended was recognized. "You're welcome. There are many good restaurants in Los Angeles. If there is a chance, I will take you to a few more."

Seeing Maria's beaming face, Zhou Yan nodded secretly. Her current condition is not bad. As long as she can be given some positive emotional value in her daily life, her emotions will be very stable.

……

After dinner, it was getting late, so Zhou Yan did not invite Maria to his room, and the two separated downstairs in the hotel.

At around nine o'clock in the evening, Zhou Yan received a call from Zhang Youan.

"You gave Maria 'Someone Like You'?"

Zhou Yan didn't expect that Maria would contact Zhang Youan so late at night. It seemed that she was really impatient.

"Well, she came to the hotel today and we talked for a while. I also heard her sing, it was pretty good."

Zhang Youan smiled and said, "It seems that she still has to come to you in person to invite you for songs. We have almost finished discussing the song collection. We can arrange to sign the contract in the next two days."

“It’s so efficient.”

"Of course it's high. She offered a very good price right from the start. It was so high that I was embarrassed to bargain."

Zhou Yan didn't ask how high it was, he just nodded and said, "Just agree on it." (End of this chapter)