HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 79 [079] Ren Xianqi: We agreed to end the Four Heavenly Kings together, but you ended me too?

The era of the Four Heavenly Kings, which dominated the Hong Kong music scene for five years starting in 1992, is coming to an end.

Qi Yuan, the rising star of the music scene, and a killer of veteran superstars.

[Qi Yuan's first Cantonese EP is a perfect score, putting pressure on Richie Jen]

Some of these press releases were purchased by WarnerMedia, while others were spontaneously generated by the media.

Whether it was purchased or done spontaneously, Qi Yuan has already proven with his achievements that he can truly shake the status of the Four Heavenly Kings.

A purely Cantonese EP that sold over 160,000 copies in a single day—besides Jacky Cheung, none of the other three Heavenly Kings could claim to have achieved that.

Last year, Cheung Suet-yu's "The Legend of Immortality" sold five platinum copies in Hong Kong.

Aaron Kwok, ranked second among the Four Heavenly Kings, has sold over 140,000 copies of "Sing This Song" in Hong Kong, just shy of triple platinum status.

In Hong Kong, apart from Jacky Cheung, the other three Heavenly Kings have gradually fallen behind.

Last year on the Hong Kong IFPI record sales chart, Cheung Suet-yu ranked first, and Cheng Yat-kin ranked second.

That's right, it's Zheng Yijian, the one who became famous for his role in the "Young and Dangerous" movies and who likes to stay at home playing video games.

He came in second place, followed by Chen Huilin and Xu Zhian, and then Guo Fucheng, Wang Fei, and Li Ming.

……

News of Qi Yuan's phenomenal success in the Hong Kong music scene reached Taiwan.

Ren Xianqi's manager brought a newspaper with the headline, "Qi Yuan Becomes a King Killer, Putting Pressure on Ren Xianqi."

The article details the phenomenal success of Qi Yuan's EP in Hong Kong, Macau, and the Guangdong and Guangxi regions.

"Damn, a Cantonese EP selling 160,000 copies in one day, that's incredible!" Richie Jen exclaimed in amazement.

They agreed to take down the Four Heavenly Kings together, so is Qi Yuan not going to take him down as well?
He only became popular again last year. Does Qi Yuan want him to be a short-lived superstar?
Having teammates who are too strong can sometimes be a source of frustration.

"Ah Yuan's rise has been incredibly rapid; those Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs awards have greatly boosted his career," Richie Jen said, shaking his head slightly and letting out a sigh.

The Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards is one of the most prestigious awards in the Hong Kong music scene. Qi Yuan won both the Best Newcomer Award and the Top Ten Gold Songs and Top Ten Popular Singers Awards, which are usually reserved for superstars.

After winning those three trophies, Qi Yuan's name was already well-known in Hong Kong and Guangdong.

In addition, the Qi-Xie rivalry generated an extremely high level of public interest.

The combination of various factors led to the sales success of this EP.

"I bought you a copy. You can listen to it when you have time. Although this EP didn't sell very well in Taiwan, the quality is really high."

In Hong Kong and Guangdong, many middle-aged and elderly people started listening to his songs because of this EP.

Especially the title track, "Loving Too Late," uses simple language to express the themes of friendship, family, and love, resonating with many middle-aged listeners.

The agent told Richie Jen.

……

Hong Kong.

Li Wen just got back.

In the past few days, she has been running around Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and other regions to promote her work.

The results are very impressive. Her album "DiDaDi Hints," released in January, has sold over a million copies across Asia in just over three months.

With Li Wen's achievements, Sony Music, the company behind her, began to bestow upon her the title of "marketing queen."

While Li Wen was out promoting her work, she heard that Qi Yuan had stolen her house in Hong Kong with a song called "Rogue".

She was quite unconvinced and, holding her breath, prepared to return to Hong Kong to settle things with Qi Yuan.

Then, she discovered that Qi Yuan had released an EP, which topped the weekly chart of Hong Kong IFPI Records and became the weekly sales champion in Hong Kong.

The solo and duet versions of "Loving Too Late," along with "Fuji Mountain" and "Good Hearted Breakup," have dominated radio stations and music charts in Hong Kong. These songs have also quickly climbed to the top of Hong Kong's karaoke charts.

The agent advised Li Wen, "CoCo, the hype surrounding our 'DiDaDi Hint' has died down. Now it's Qi Yuan's peak, so let's not compete with him. Let's hurry up and prepare the new album; the company has already stored all the songs."

To persuade Li Wen to give up, her agent presented her with a ranking from an authoritative music chart in Hong Kong.

The first place song was changed from "Rogue" to the solo version of "Too Late to Love", the sixth place song was "Good Hearted Breakup", the eighth place song was "Under Mount Fuji", and the tenth place song was the duet version of "Too Late to Love".

Li Wen's "DiDaDi" was sandwiched between two others and stuck in third place, unable to move.

The agent showed Li Wen this list to remind her.

CoCo, stop now, there are only Qi Yuans outside.

Let's attack from the rear first, and then come back with a new album in a few months.

After seeing the list, Li Wen finally gave up and obediently went back to record songs to prepare for her new album.

In Hong Kong and Taiwan, it's common for popular singers like her to release two or three albums a year.

As long as the album sells well, the company will keep the songs from the new album while the singer is promoting it.

Once the singers have finished their promotional tour and returned, they seamlessly transition to recording and album production. If the album sells well, they continue to acquire new songs, creating a closed loop.

……

Qi Yuan spent a week promoting his work in Hong Kong, averaging no less than ten events a day.

The current sales volume in Hong Kong has exceeded 150,000, earning it a triple platinum record.

However, the momentum has slowed down significantly, as the Hong Kong market is only so big.

After completing his run through Hong Kong, Qi Yuan flew back to Guangzhou.

Nicholas Tse, you loser, come out and take this!

In fact, Nicholas Tse didn't dare to accept the challenge. Almost at the same time that Qi Yuan arrived in Guangzhou, Nicholas Tse ran away back to Hong Kong with Mani Fok.

First, Nicholas Tse's album was released more than 20 days earlier than Qi Yuan's, and he had already done most of his promotional work in Guangdong Province.

Secondly, Qi Yuan's EP sales were incredibly strong, and Qi Yuan is from Guangdong Province, giving him a home advantage there.

When Nicholas Tse and Qi Yuan are both promoting their projects in Guangdong Province, the media will definitely compare the two of them, and Nicholas Tse will be thoroughly criticized again.

After much deliberation, they decided to give up and hurry up and run back to Hong Kong. It would be better for them to maintain their dignity than for Qi Yuan to help them.

Qi Yuan was somewhat disappointed upon learning that Xie Tingfeng had run away.

Seeing Qi Yuan's disappointed expression, Zhang Hao couldn't help but say, "If I were in your shoes, I would have run away too. Mainland celebrities are regional. Guangdong Province is an economically strong province, and it's also your base."

Many uncles and aunts in Guangzhou and Shenzhen have bought your EP, and your EP has sold nearly 500,000 copies here.

"Nicholas Tse's sales in Hong Kong and Guangdong combined don't even equal half of your sales in Guangdong. How can he compete with you?"

It's not that Xie Tingfeng can't fight, it's that Qi Yuan is too good at fighting.

In Hong Kong, Nicholas Tse wouldn't be much worse than Qi Yuan.

On the mainland, in Qi Yuan's home turf, Qi Yuan could make Xie Tingfeng question his existence.

The day after Qi Yuan arrived in Guangzhou, which was also the day after Nicholas Tse returned to Hong Kong, the Hong Kong media began to exert their influence.

Xie Tingfeng ran, Qi Yuan chased, but Xie Tingfeng didn't dare to fight.

[Qi Yuan: Xie Tingfeng, you're not in Guangzhou at all! Where are you hiding?]

To avoid the wrath of Qi Yuan, Nicholas Tse carried his plane back to Hong Kong overnight.

(End of this chapter)