Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 103 A Smooth Journey

Two days later, on the national highway to Tianjin.

Guan Hu, sitting in the back seat, kept glancing at Han Hong in the passenger seat. Although singers mainly rely on their voices and looks are secondary, this was just too much...

At this moment, Zhang Yan, who was driving, suddenly said, "If you are tired, close your eyes and rest for a while."

Guan Hu sensed the warning in Zhang Ge's words and quickly lowered his eyes to his nose, no longer daring to steal glances at Han Hong.

Han Hong thought they were talking to her, so she twisted her body and said excitedly, "I'm not tired. I just want to see our record company set up as soon as possible!"

For her, the past three days have been more exciting than the past three years.

On the first day, Teacher Zhang came to my door and said he wanted me to be the first singer in his record company.

The next day, he organized three singer-songwriters to help him improve his original songs—actually four, but Wu Tong was always serving tea and water, so Han Hong thought he was just a handyman.

Today, he personally drove himself to Tianjin, ready to witness the official establishment of the record company with his own eyes.

This is absolutely dreamlike!
After being rejected by the dance troupe several times since entering her senior year, Han Hong never imagined this day would come, not even in her dreams.

So much so that she now dares not close her eyes at all, for fear that if she closes and opens them again, she will find that she was dreaming.

"That works."

Seeing that she said that, Zhang Yan said, "Since you're not sleepy, let's talk about something serious."

Just as he finished speaking, the pager that was placed to the side rang. Zhang Yan picked it up and saw that it was the phone number for the Beijing People's Art Theatre's mailroom.

Without a doubt, it's Jiang Shan again. Lately, she's been making seven or eight phone calls a day.

…………

Speechless all the way.

After arriving at Tianjin TV station, Zhang Yan got out of the car, tossed the car keys to Guan Hu, and said, "Come back as soon as you're done surveying the site. I might have to go to the service center this afternoon."

Yan Xiaoming has already arranged the filming location. Guan Hu came along to confirm if it's suitable. If it is, the crew will officially move to Tianjin.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely be back as soon as possible."

As he spoke, Guan Hu climbed into the driver's seat.

After watching him drive away, Zhang Yan led Han Hong inside.

"Teacher Zhang!"

"Hello, Teacher Zhang."

"Oh, Teacher Zhang."

"Teacher Zhang, is our station planning another big operation?"

Zhang Yan is now thriving at Tianjin TV Station.

"Tianjin Wei" made the entire TV station proud, helped tertiary industry enterprises turn losses into profits, and also increased the family income of TV station employees. I heard that there will be big bonuses to be given out at the end of the year.

If there were a poll on Tianjin TV to determine "who is the most lovable person," he would definitely win by a landslide.

We waited until we reached the third floor.

"Director Xu, Director Zhang."

"Oh, Teacher Zhang is here."

"Minister Sun, Deputy Director Wei."

"Haha, Zhang Yan, seeing you makes me feel at ease."

"Director Ma, are you hosting again today?"

"Well, that's just my life—Zhang, you're here early! How was the journey?"

Han Hong was initially a little apprehensive, but along the way, she saw everyone greeting Zhang Yan warmly, even the directors, ministers, and station chiefs all treated him with the same friendly attitude.

She was then convinced that Zhang Yan wasn't bragging when he said he had connections in Tianjin TV, but was being modest—he didn't just have connections, he had a smooth ride from top to bottom!
Who is this girl?

At this moment, Director Ma looked at Han Hong and asked a question.

"This is Han Hong, the most important guest at our Zhuge Liang meeting today—I'll keep you in suspense for now regarding the details."

The most important guest?
Ma Yuan looked at Han Hong curiously for a second, thinking to himself that this girl did look quite heavy.

9 o'clock in the morning.

The Zhuge Liang meeting at Jinmentai was officially convened.

Although the scale was not as large as when we selected scripts last year, it still covered all the important departments.

However, unlike the previous brainstorming session, this time everyone focused their attention on Zhang Yan as soon as the meeting started.

Seeing this, Ma Yuan simply called out directly, "Xiao Zhang, you've obviously come prepared. Just say what you're thinking."

Zhang Yan did not respond immediately, but turned to look at Han Hong beside him—although he had already asked Han Hong for her opinion on the way, he wanted to confirm it one last time.

This was Han Hong's first time attending such a meeting, and her palms were sweating with nervousness. She didn't even notice Zhang Yan looking at her. Zhang Yan nudged her arm with his elbow and asked, "Han Hong, are you sure you can accept this?"

Han Hong then realized what was happening and quickly nodded vigorously, saying, "I'm willing!"

Suddenly the sound grew louder, drawing everyone's attention and startling her so much that she quickly shrank back.

Actually, she used to be a very easygoing person, but recently she has suffered a lot of setbacks, and her self-confidence has been severely damaged.

Zhang Yan then stood up and turned to Wei Liben, who was diagonally opposite him: "Director Wei, does our station intend to make a move on traditional folk arts and crosstalk?"

If he were to ask Ma Yuan directly, it would be inappropriate for him to refute it later, so he could only target Wei Liben, who was the lowest-ranking and most familiar to him.

Wei Liben glanced at Deputy Director Ma at the head of the table, and seeing him nod slightly, he said, "That's roughly the idea. Of course, we're not trying to go against CCTV, but rather to make the most of Tianjin's unique characteristics."

"If that's the case..."

Zhang Yan shook his head: "Then I suggest we just give up. With CCTV's resources and appeal, we can definitely get the best resources. At first, we might be able to compete a little with our geographical advantage, but in the long run, it will definitely be one-sided."

As soon as these words came out.

The meeting room immediately became noisy, with everyone whispering among themselves. Most of them agreed with Zhang Yan's statement, mainly because the two places were too close. CCTV's siphon effect on Tianjin's folk artists was evident just by watching the Spring Festival Gala.

However, after whispering among themselves, everyone turned their attention to Zhang Yan.

If someone else said this, people would think it was surrender, but Zhang Yan said it...

Putting aside his previous record, just the fact that he brought a 'heavyweight' guest to the meeting tells you that he must have other ideas.

"Xiao Zhang."

Ma Yuan also smiled and urged, "Just tell me if you have any good ideas, no need to keep me in suspense."

"Then I'll just say a few words."

Zhang Yanhuan tried it out and said, "Actually, neither Tianjin TV nor Hebei TV is suitable for long-term variety shows. Because whether it's a variety show or a talk show, as long as it's outstanding enough, there's a high probability that CCTV will copy it, or even take the people and the show away together."

Therefore, if you're going to do something, it's best to do something quick and easy, so you can at least reap the biggest benefits in the first wave.

"When our signal covers the whole country, and when we've truly established a good reputation, then it will be more appropriate to try producing long-term variety shows."

Everyone nodded silently upon hearing this.

It's an honor to have your self-produced TV series broadcast by CCTV, but if your hard-earned variety show is completely taken down by CCTV, then it's too late to cry.

Ma Yuan nodded and said, "Go on."

"And then..."

Zhang Yan paused for a moment, looked around at everyone, and then said, "CCTV is making a program about the folk art and crosstalk that Tianjin is best at. Why can't we fight back and challenge their strength?"

"CCTV's strength?"

Ma Yuan asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"The CCTV Young Singers Competition!"

Zhang Yan said decisively, "Let's also put on a singing competition program, but unlike the 'Young Singers Competition,' our competition will be filmed like a TV series!"

"Film it like a TV series?"

Ma Yuan was even more confused, and everyone else was baffled as well. How could the "Young Singers Competition" be filmed like a TV series? These are completely different things, aren't they?
"Is such that."

Zhang Yan explained his thoughts in detail: "We should set up the script in advance from the beginning, or adopt a strategy of praising before criticizing."

Ideally, a harsh-tongued judge should be assigned to point out flaws on the spot, manipulate the audience's emotions, and then let the underdog singer surprise everyone with their heavenly voice!

Upon hearing this, everyone unconsciously turned to look at Han Hong.

Ma Yuan suddenly realized, "Xiao Han is a singer too?"

"She was from the National Conservatory of Music. A couple of years ago, she suddenly passed away due to the aftereffects of cholecystitis... Her singing ability was among the best in the National Conservatory of Music, but because of her illness, she was never able to get into the song and dance troupe."

As Zhang Yan spoke, he added, "Of course, this is just one of the easiest ways to stir up the audience's emotions; there are many other scripts that can be explored."

He then gave two more examples.

Ma Yuan and Yan Xiaoming exchanged glances and asked, "Could you at least produce a sample version of this variety show first?"

As he spoke, he looked at Han Hong with a scrutinizing gaze.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Zhang Yan; it was mainly because the CCTV Young Singers Competition had been a monopoly since it was first held in 84.

While Tianjin TV might still have a chance to compete with CCTV in traditional folk arts and crosstalk, it is completely outmatched in singing competitions.

Putting aside everything else, the two giants, the Central Conservatory of Music and the National Conservatory of Music, alone can completely crush Tianjin.

If Ma Yuan still harbored doubts about this, others would be even more so.

This is one of the reasons why Zhang Yan brought Han Hong along.

(End of this chapter)