HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 379 [379] First English album "23" released globally!
Qi Yuan's first English album, "23", was released globally on April 11, 2001.

On March 25, two weeks prior, Qi Yuan collected some interest from Li An and the "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" production team.

This film, made specifically for Western audiences, shone brightly at the 73rd Academy Awards, receiving numerous nominations and winning four awards, including Best Foreign Language Film and Best Cinematography.

As the singer of the theme song, Qi Yuan stood on the Oscar stage with Li Wen on the 25th and sang the English theme song "A Love Before Time" together.

The awards ceremony was broadcast live that day, and was watched by 40 million viewers across North America.

Qi hoped to use the Oscars stage to make more Americans remember his face.

Oscar appearances, media hype surrounding the Destiny's Child contest, Hathaway's scandals, chart-topping hits, and the massive success of "Waving Flag"...

All these factors combined to give Qi Yuan a huge amount of exposure and buzz in North America and even the entire European and American world. People now know that he has an album that will be released globally on April 11.

At 9:30 a.m. that day, the highly anticipated album "23" appeared on the shelves of music stores in many countries around the world.

Music fans from China, Japan, South Korea, North America, Europe and the United States have also started going to record stores.

……

Also in the United States.

Wu Baige returned after filming "Windtalkers" and met with the "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" crew led by Li An.

They also saw Warner's overwhelming marketing campaign.

Wu Baige scoffed: "Ha! The higher you're praised, the harder you fall. He said this album's sales would be higher than my 'Windtalkers' at the box office. This person has no bottom line when it comes to hype; he'll say anything shameless."

Ever since she lost face in front of the reporters, Wu Baige has kept the name Qi Yuan in her heart.

That guy has a sharp tongue. He said he hadn't even read the Records of the Three Kingdoms, which led to a bunch of reporters asking him for the author's name. He was so embarrassed that his research on the Battle of Red Cliffs, which he had done for over a decade, became a joke.

Li An didn't dare to respond. He owed Qi Yuan a favor, and he didn't want to get involved in the conflict between Wu Baige and Qi Yuan.

"He's just a big shot with a little talent who can't tell east from west; he won't last long."

American record companies are very pragmatic; his records are selling well now, and Warner Music is willing to promote him.

If sales ever drop, he'll be back to square one, forced to return to mainland China to sing karaoke.

The person who spoke up was Zhou Ruifa, who had no grudges or conflicts with Qi Yuan.

His words were meant to curry favor with Wu Baige, a renowned international director from Hollywood.

When he came to Hollywood, his starting conditions were far superior to those of Jackie Chan and Li Lianjie, all thanks to his connections there.

His agent, Zhang Jiazhen, and Wu Baige co-founded a company in the United States, with Zhang Jiazhen serving as producer for many of Wu Baige's films.

When these things were mentioned, Zhou Ruifa became somewhat envious of Qi Yuan.

Qi Yuan was popular in China before, and he had heard of the name. He looked down on this mainland guy who went to Hong Kong and Taiwan to make money and thought that this mainland guy would not be popular for many years.

In the blink of an eye, Qi Yuan actually broke into the American market. How did he do it?
He had the best dream start for a Chinese artist in Hollywood, but after several flops, if it weren't for Li An's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" saving him, he would have gone back to his old ways and wouldn't have been offered a movie role even if he pressed the floor button until it was worn out.

He'd already experienced so many setbacks, yet Qi Yuan, this mainland guy, had such a smooth ride? He really didn't think Qi Yuan was that capable.

He's just lucky. He doesn't understand music, but he does understand movies. The brilliance of "The Mission" lies in Du Qifeng and the screenwriter, and the strength of "Infernal Affairs" lies in the script. You could have just found two great actors in Hong Kong and they would have been just as successful. This guy just got lucky and always gets a great deal.

Good luck eventually runs out; no one can have endless good fortune. Zhou Ruifa understands this deeply. He, Cheng Long, Zhou Xingxing, and Liu Dehua all experienced setbacks, but they all climbed back up from the bottom. Those who didn't climb back up have already been eliminated.

This time, Qi Yuan's good luck came to an end, as the American music scene and media launched the very popular Destiny's Child to suppress Qi Yuan.

Do you really think the American music scene isn't xenophobic?

This battle marked the beginning of Qi Yuan's downfall.

After three years of climbing uphill and enjoying the limelight, it's time to start going downhill.

Wu Baige and Zhou Ruifa both thought so.

……

Los Angeles.

Jeremy Gene, a die-hard fan of Qi Yuan, is an ordinary office worker.

In the afternoon, after work, he went to the record store and asked the owner if they had Chris Qi's "23".

"Standard edition $18.99, deluxe edition $22.99, premium edition $29.99, which one do you want, little fatty?"

The bearded white boss was clearly on good terms with the chubby Jeremy, who often patronized his business.

"Fuck! Please don't call me 'Little Fatty' anymore. I've already gone from 100 kg to 95 kg. Give me a deluxe version. You've skimped on the freebies. Be careful, or I'll expose you, you swindler."

Jeremy gave his boss a piece of his mind and ordered a deluxe version without hesitation.

Chris's "Unstoppable" has been his motivation for working out lately. He listens to it several times before each gym session and trains until exhaustion every time.

He lost five kilograms in less than a month. He would buy a deluxe version of the fat he lost to support Chris.

Back at his lodgings, the chubby boy unpacked the deluxe edition, which was beautifully packaged and contained two discs: a CD and a DVD.

The DVD includes the music video, while the CD only contains audio. He can give the CD to friends or classmates later, which is a way of promoting his favorite singer. This is one of the reasons why he bought the deluxe edition.

Hopefully, this album won't disappoint Chris.

After reading the album's description, I learned that this album uses music to construct a complete spectrum from personal emotions to grand narratives, from heartbreak and despair to inspiration and hope, making it a veritable encyclopedia of emotions.

The first song, "Viva La Vida," blends Baroque pop and rock, metaphorically representing the fall of a dynasty through personal emotions. It has a grand scope and the lyrics are full of literary flair.

The very first song on the album was enough to satisfy Jeremy, the chubby guy.

That's so damn good! Chris is a complete genius. Was his brain and voice kissed by God? How can he write such profound songs and sing them so well?

He tried singing Chris's songs, and his friends commented that his voice sounded like it had been chewed by a dog.

The second song, "When I Was Your Man," is one of Bruno Mars's famous songs. With its minimalist arrangement, Qi Yuan's top-notch singing skills and emotions are fully displayed in this song.

Without even reading the introduction, just by listening to the song, the chubby boy knew that it was about the painful realization of remorse and belated understanding.

The chubby boy was sick of the third song, "Unstoppable," so he fast-forwarded to the fourth one, feeling his soul being struck by music once again.

(End of this chapter)