HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 111 [111] Starting with Qi Yuan, the Chinese music scene gained a Chinese style.

The combination of a popular TV series based on a major IP like "The Return of the Condor Heroes" and the simultaneous release of an album is incredibly powerful.

Ren Xianqi was already incredibly popular, and with the addition of the drama "Golden Warrior," his exposure was maximized.

The album "Love Like the Pacific" was a huge hit upon its release, selling hundreds of thousands of copies in Taiwan within a week.

This album is of very high quality, with four songs that can be considered hits: "The Girl Across the Way," "Sad Pacific Ocean," "I Am a Fish," and "Free and Easy."

After the release of this album, Richie Jen reached a new peak, becoming so popular that he could surpass the Four Heavenly Kings, and no one would question his status as the new Asian King anymore.

Ren Xianqi's album also brought Qi Yuan a wave of exposure.

Qi Yuan's performance in the "Girl Across the Street" music video was so eye-catching that when the music video was played on a Taiwanese TV station's music channel, some people thought that Qi Yuan was the main character.

"This is terrifying. Even if Wang Lihong and Zhou Huajian's albums were combined, they wouldn't be enough to compete with Richie Jen alone."

Zhou Jianhui's face showed a complex expression.

Qi Yuan had won three Golden Melody Awards, and her popularity slightly surpassed that of Richie Jen.

With the release of "Love Like the Pacific Ocean," Richie Jen has once again surpassed Chi Yuan in popularity.

In her previous life, she had nine albums that sold over a million copies in Taiwan, and "Love Like the Pacific Ocean" was one of them.

Given Ren Xianqi's looks, it's hard to believe that his records sell so well. No one would think he attracts people to buy records based on his appearance.

It's simply because he's popular enough and the album is of good enough quality.

Both were at their peak, but even at their peak, Jay Chou's popularity couldn't compare to Richie Jen's.

After a moment of reflection, Zhou Jianhui made a decision and gave orders to the publicity department to start promoting Qi Yuan's second album, taking advantage of the momentum from "The Girl Across the Street".

Zhou Jianhui and Qi Yuan had already discussed the publicity strategy.

Richie Jen's hit song "Sad Pacific Ocean" is a cover of the Japanese song "Happiness" composed by Miyuki Nakajima.

Many Hong Kong and Taiwanese superstars have covered Japanese songs these days, and Richie Jen is no exception.

"Sad Pacific" was one of the key selling points that Rolling Stone emphasized.

Warner's advertising emphasizes innovation.

The concept of "Chinese style" had never existed in the Chinese music scene before, and Qi Yuan was the first to bring this concept to everyone.

In its promotional materials, Warner Music stated: "During this not-so-short period, fans who enjoy Qi Yuan's music can only find some solace in the songs from his older albums."

After nearly a year of meticulous preparation, Qi Yuan's second album, "Qi Yuan," which everyone has been eagerly anticipating, will finally be released on September 16th.

"Qi Yuan" showcases Qi Yuan's musical imagination and his desire for breakthroughs.

Besides the familiar R&B, Qi Yuan will bring you a brand new style of music this time.

This new music blends traditional Chinese cultural elements with modern musical elements, and Qi Yuan named it 'Chinese Style'.

Tens of thousands of ordinary fans are eagerly anticipating Qi Yuan's new album, and industry insiders are also paying close attention to it.

Qi Yuan's albums have become a trendsetter for innovation in the Chinese music scene. Last year, Qi Yuan and Tao Ze popularized R&B, and this year many singers are already singing R&B.

Wang Lihong is one of the best among them. He successfully transformed his career with "Revolution and Rotation" and gained widespread recognition.

After Warner Music released some information about Qi Yuan's second album, fans were very happy. The fans didn't understand what "Chinese style" meant; they only knew that Qi Yuan was about to release a new album and that they would have new songs to listen to.

Industry insiders reacted very differently; they were all puzzled. What is "Chinese style"? Has anything like this ever existed before? No.

Everyone thought that Qi Yuan would continue to rely on his old R&B skills. After all, he had already done a great job of popularizing a genre and having many musicians and singers imitate him. Years later, he might even deserve the title of a godfather.

To everyone's surprise, Qi Yuan did not rest on his laurels, but chose to continue innovating, which is truly commendable.

I just don't know how innovative Qi Yuan's Chinese style is.

It has garnered significant attention both within and outside the industry.

In addition to vigorously promoting Qi Yuan's new music, which he calls "Chinese style," across Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, Qi Yuan also brings a new kind of music.

Warner Music also used the music videos for "Dong Feng Po" and "Jiang Nan" as a major selling point in their promotion.

The director of these two music videos is Chen Kaige, the director of "Farewell My Concubine" and a Palme d'Or winner. He is the only one in the entire music industry who can get him to direct music videos.

Rumors circulated that Chen Kaige personally carried a camera to film the scene of Qi Yuan and Chen Hong performing their love story.

This wasn't something Warner Music advertised; some media outlets like to fabricate vulgar articles to attract attention.

These voices will not stop until the two music videos are officially released.

Because there's a market for writing like that, newspaper sales will be better, and if it's profitable, people will do it.

Mainland state media also gave him a lot of face. Media outlets such as China Youth Daily published articles praising Qi Yuan's innovative spirit and his attempt to combine traditional Chinese elements with popular music.

Zhang Da Hu Zi also jumped out at this moment.

Since he mastered the art of staged accidents for publicity last time, he hasn't stopped these days, staged accidents for every popular actress.

This time he said again: "After thinking it over, I still feel that Chen Hong is more suitable for Ren Yingying. We sent Chen Hong a role offer and sincerely hope that she can accept our invitation."

Zhang Da Hu Zi's trick is very effective in mainland China today.

People haven't seen through Zhang Dahuzi's true character yet, but every time he hypes himself up, it sparks discussion.

Over time, most people in China came to know that a TV series called "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" was in the works.

Zhang Dahuzi reaped the high returns from generating buzz.

Local TV stations have already contacted him privately, agreeing to sell them the second and third round broadcast rights after "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" premieres on CCTV.

Well-funded production teams prefer to cast actors with high popularity, and TV stations also prefer to buy popular dramas.

Often, even professionals can't predict which shows will have high ratings, because good shows don't necessarily have high ratings. The later "Ming Dynasty" is a classic example; it was broadcast on Hunan TV's prime time slot, and its ratings were terrible.

To ensure high viewership ratings, TV stations prefer to broadcast dramas featuring popular celebrities.

In the future, Zhang Dahuzi's "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" and "The Return of the Condor Heroes" will be even more exaggerated. As soon as "The Return of the Condor Heroes" was approved, the broadcasting rights for several rounds were sold.

It's not surprising that local TV stations are now eyeing "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" ahead of time.

With Qi Yuan, the most popular actor in mainland China, playing Linghu Chong, and Zhang Dahuzi as producer, along with the production team of "Water Margin," how could this version be of poor quality?

This version of "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" will be a hit, a huge hit; this is a consensus among mainland audiences and various television stations.

(End of this chapter)