HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 68 [068] Congratulations to Qi Yuan, the winner of the tenth Golden Melody Award!

A smartly dressed and good-looking woman led a young man into the inner area.

This pair is Mani Fok and Nicholas Tse.

Perhaps because he was sold into prostitution at Yinghuang when he was fifteen or sixteen to pay off his father's debts, Tse Ting-Fung's melancholy is tinged with rebellion and stubbornness.

His persona as a rebellious rock 'n' roll youth wasn't something that was packaged or marketed.

His unique charisma quickly made him a popular idol among young people in Hong Kong.

"That's Qi Yuan in the white shirt. He's truly a handsome man." Huo Wenxi couldn't help but exclaim in admiration upon seeing Qi Yuan in person.

Xie Tingfeng glanced at Huo Wenxi, then turned his head to look in the direction Huo Wenxi was looking.

It was just a classic white suit, but it looked incredibly charming on Qi Yuan.

Fresh, youthful, and energetic, this perfectly matches Qi Yuan's identity as a leading figure among the younger generation in the music scene.

Xie Tingfeng couldn't muster any confidence in front of Qi Yuan.

“Fengzai, you’re no worse than him. You’re pursuing a dual career in film and music.” Huo Wenxi was observant and could sense the lack of confidence in Xie Tingfeng’s eyes.

Faced with a musical genius like Qi Yuan, who excels in every aspect—talent, appearance, ability, and height—how many challengers could be confident?

People like Nicholas Tse are already rare.

He's not an expert in anything, but he can do a little bit of everything, and with his good looks, he's more than enough to outshine a whole host of male celebrities.

When F4 reached their peak popularity, it was terrifying; no one could rival them that year.

Even if they had half the professional skills of Nicholas Tse, they wouldn't have reached their peak right from their debut.

After the singers and stars entered the venue, the 20th Hong Kong Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards Ceremony officially began.

The host was very funny as soon as he came on stage.

The loyal and courageous Duolong, the famous Bu Leyun, yes, the host is Chen Baixiang.

Chan Pak-cheung was quite popular in Hong Kong in his early years. He formed a band with Tam Wing-lam and starred in blockbuster movies.

However, most mainlanders probably remember him as a supporting actor in Hong Kong films, but he actually started out as a lead actor.

He discovered that the pay for both lead and supporting roles was the same, and he realized that he should only take on supporting roles with less workload.

Chan Pak-cheung has worked as a host and has a good sense of humor, so it's not surprising that he's the host for this year's Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards.

Before the awards ceremony began, the organizers invited popular Hong Kong singers such as Karen Mok, Andy Lau, Alec Suet, Princess Connie, Aaron Kwok, and Sammi Cheng to the stage to sing the theme song of this year's Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs, "The Best Voice".

Now we move on to the awards ceremony.

The first award presented was the prestigious Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award, a standard honor for Hong Kong's top stars.

Only by winning this award can one's abilities be truly recognized.

The first song to win an award was Zheng Xiuwen's "Our Theme Song".

When Zheng Xiuwen, who has short hair, heard the award presenter call her name, she smiled, stood up, hugged Qi Yuan and Guo Fucheng next to her, and then went on stage to accept the award and sing this song.

It's worth mentioning that when Zheng Xiuwen went on stage to accept her award, the composer and lyricist of the song also came on stage, and they received trophies as well.

That makes sense. One of the ten best songs deserves half the credit for the singer and half for the musicians behind the scenes.

After Zheng Xiuwen stepped down from the stage, nine other hit songs were performed one by one.

Qi Yuan finally witnessed just how dominant the Four Heavenly Kings were in the Hong Kong music scene during the 1990s. Andy Lau's "Chinese," Jacky Cheung's "The Legend That Never Grows Old," Li Ming's "As Long As You Love Me for One Day," and Aaron Kwok's "Call of Love"—all four songs by the Four Heavenly Kings won the Golden Melody Award.

Chen Huilin's "Starry Dream" is also one of the top ten hit songs.

Xu Meijing won the Top Ten Gold Songs Award with "Knowing It's Wrong", making her the only non-Hong Kong singer to win the award so far.

After the first nine songs have been revealed, Chan Pak-cheung said, "Finally, we will reveal the last song among the ten. Please welcome Ms. Wang Fei to the stage as our award presenter to reveal the answer to us."

The princess's "You're Happy So I'm Happy" was also one of the ten golden songs. She handed the trophy to the custodian next to her and went on stage.

The princess made her postpartum comeback last year and has recovered her figure quite well.

Princess took the cue card and microphone from Chan Pak-cheung and revealed the answer in Cantonese: "The tenth song of the 20th Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards is 'Small Town Girl' by Qi Yuan. Composer Qi Yuan, lyricist Qi Yuan, please welcome Qi Yuan with applause."

Zhou Jianhui, the general manager of Warner Music, was ecstatic.

This is what a lucky charm is. His first album earned him a place among the top ten hits, a standard for superstars.

Furthermore, Zhou Jianhui's criticism of all the award winners—Liu Dehua, Li Ming, Zhang Xueyou, and Gu Juji—was not directed at any one of them, but at all of them.

Do you have the same prestige as Qi Yuan? When you go on stage to accept awards, you have to bring your composers and lyricists with you. Look at Qi Yuan, he writes, composes, and sings all by himself.

Congratulations on winning the award!

Wherever Qi Yuan went, celebrities and singers would take the initiative to shake his hand, even though he didn't recognize many of them.

When Qi Yuan stepped onto the stage, everyone who saw her for the first time was amazed.

Li Ming, who had just dyed his hair blonde, went on stage to accept the award in a black suit. His looks and charisma overshadowed all the other male singers in the audience, and he seemed to shine on stage.

Qi Yuan, dressed in a white suit, is the only male singer whose looks, temperament, and presence are no less than Li Ming's.

The princess handed the trophy to Qi Yuan: "Congratulations, A Yuan."

This time, the princess spoke in very standard Mandarin.

"Yuanzai, you won the Top Ten Golden Songs award, a standard for superstars, right after your debut. What would you like to say to everyone?" Chan Pak-cheung gave the middle seat to Qi Yuan.

Qi Yuan held the trophy in his hands and said in a low voice, "First of all, I must thank Director Song of Warner Music. If it weren't for his shamelessness in coming to the Beijing Film Academy every day to fool me, I probably wouldn't have released an album so quickly."

I also want to thank Mr. Zhou Jianhui. Without his acquisition of Wheatfield, my album might not have sold in Hong Kong, and I wouldn't be here today to receive this award..."

After delivering his acceptance speech, the host and the presenter, Princess, left, giving the stage to Qi Yuan.

The familiar sound of trains could be heard again.

Songs like "Small Town Girl," "Everyday," and "Love at the Corner" are very popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and people there really like this new style of music.

After the intro started, Qi Yuan used the ancestral scream of an R&B singer to begin: "Friends from Hong Kong, wow wow yeah yeah~~ Little little town girl..."

"I still remember holding your hand years ago, you were so shy you didn't dare look up, you just stared blankly at the stars. You were so pure. Until you received the acceptance letter, my heart was in turmoil... I don't understand, I don't understand, why can't I let go, why can't I give up this love... I heard you're a big manager now~ your future is as bright as a shining star..."

It's not that no one in the Hong Kong music scene has tried R&B before, but so far only Qi Yuan and Tao Ze can sing it so smoothly.

This is the power of innovation.

Sitting in the audience, Xie Tingfeng watched Qi Yuan play all sorts of vibrato with incredible flair. It was the first time he realized that singing without fake chains or rebellious clothing could be so dashing and cool.

Especially that highest note, "Big Manager," he admitted, he was thrilled by Qi Yuan.

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(End of this chapter)