After taking advice, I became a top male idol.

One week later, on Monday.

Beijing Broadcasting and Television Station, Conference Room 1.

At the large, long conference table, the director, Xia Xue, sat in the main seat, with the four mentors seated on either side.

Xia Xue looked at the proposal in her hand and then looked up at the four mentors.

"Dear teachers, the data from the blind audition stage is excellent. The viewership rating is close to the station's record for the first season, and the online viewership is currently the highest in the world."

She paused, then added, "But this is just the beginning. For the second stage, we need to play it bigger and be more ruthless to keep the audience engaged."

"More brutal?" Brother Li raised an eyebrow. "How brutal?"

Xia Xue gestured to the staff to turn on the projector.

Several large characters appeared on the screen: [5V5 Team Finals].

"The second stage will no longer be a simple assessment within the mentor group, but rather—a mentor-versus-mentor battle!"

Xia Xue continued, "The four mentors will draw lots to determine who will face off in pairs, and each mentor will send out five of their students for a one-on-one PK."

"However, the criteria for determining victory or defeat are not simply best of three or best of five games."

She pointed to the rules on the screen, "Instead, look at—the sum of the total votes for both teams across all five games!"

"What?"

Shen Ming was taken aback. "The sum of all votes?"

"That's right!" Xia Xue explained, "Each round is judged by 500 audience judges and 50 media judges, with a maximum score of 550 points. After five rounds, the team with the highest cumulative score wins and all its members advance."

"And what about the losing side?" Han Xuening asked, getting to the crucial point.

Xia Xue said, "As punishment, the losing team... must have their mentors personally eliminate two people!"

The meeting room fell silent.

This competition format is too harsh!

If it's a best-of-five series, each player might only need to focus on their own game, and could even use a "Tian Ji horse racing" strategy, sacrificing the weaker players.

But if we're calculating the total score, it means that no one can afford to lose!

Even if you win against your opponent, if the score difference is too small, or your teammates lose too badly and fall behind by hundreds of votes, the entire team will still face elimination!

This is a classic example of the "barrel effect," where no weak link is allowed.

Moreover, the rule of eliminating mentors personally is like putting them on the hot seat; it's incredibly stressful.

"This competition format..." Brother Li stroked his beard, "is interesting, quite exciting."

Ye Lan remained silent, simply listening attentively.

Only then did she speak calmly: "The competition format is fine. But what about the theme?"

Xia Xue smiled, "That depends on everyone's luck."

The staff pushed up four sealed boxes.

"There are two red balls and two blue balls here. Mentors who draw the same color become opponents. And hidden inside the balls is the limited theme for this round of the competition."

The four mentors stood up and walked to the box.

"Ladies first," Shen Ming said, extending his hand politely.

Han Xuening didn't stand on ceremony and reached out to take out a ball.

"Red." She smiled and showed the ball in her hand.

Ye Lan followed closely behind, pinching out a ball with her slender fingers.

"red."

"Whoa!"

Brother Li chimed in from the side, "They've bumped into each other! A duel between two goddesses!"

Han Xuening turned to look at Ye Lan and smiled, "Sister Lan, we're old rivals, so I won't hold back this time."

Ye Lan smiled faintly: "Likewise."

The remaining two blue balls naturally belonged to Shen Ming and Brother Li.

"Alright, Lao Shen, looks like we need to practice a bit." Brother Li patted Shen Ming on the shoulder.

The matchup is set:

[Ye Lan's Team] VS [Han Xuening's Team]

[Li Ge's Team] VS [Shen Ming's Team]

"Next, let's reveal the theme," Xia Xue said.

Shen Ming first twisted open the basketball in his hand, and inside was a note.

"【Era/Golden Hits】".

Shen Ming breathed a sigh of relief; the topic was standard and suitable for him to showcase his talents. Brother Li also nodded; he was good at giving new interpretations of old songs.

All eyes were on Ye Lan and Han Xuening.

Ye Lan twisted open the red ball in her hand without expression, took out the slip of paper, and unfolded it.

After reading the words above, he frowned slightly.

Han Xuening leaned closer to take a look and was also stunned.

The note reads:

[Traditional Chinese Style]

This is a well-known "death theme"!

Although traditional Chinese style songs have been very popular in recent years, they are difficult to stand out on the competitive stage.

Singing well is amazing, but singing poorly is a train wreck, easily turning into ancient-style shouting or a hodgepodge.

Moreover, this theme demands a high level of cultural knowledge and musical literacy from the contestants.

"This is getting interesting," Brother Li said gloatingly. "Xue Ning, I remember you have a treasure in your team, right?"

Han Xuening waved her hand modestly, "Not at all, I'm just a kid who likes to sing in the traditional Chinese style."

"Stop pretending," Shen Mingning exposed her. "That student named Li Ziming is a fairly famous Chinese-style internet celebrity with a large number of fans. Moreover, she grew up in the opera world and is a disciple of a master opera enthusiast, so her basic skills are very solid. I heard that you even specially invited the Beijing Folk Music Orchestra to perform for this competition?"

Han Xuening smiled and did not deny it, "In order to present the best stage effect, we did invite a few folk music teachers to help."

Li Ziming also participated in this season of The Voice of China. As a well-known figure in the Chinese style music circle, coupled with the accompaniment of a professional folk music ensemble, this lineup is simply tailor-made for the theme of Chinese style music!

This is what happens when a given essay topic encounters a standard answer.

On the other hand, Ye Lan's team.

Gu Qingzhou sings pop songs, Song Zixuan sings folk songs, and Chen Xi and Li Bowen are singing and dancing idols.

As for Lin Zhixing...

Everyone thought of the song "The Lone Warrior".

Rock and roll? Nursery rhymes?

It has absolutely nothing to do with traditional Chinese style!

"Sister Lan, your team is in a bit of trouble this time."

Although Brother Li said that, his tone carried a hint of schadenfreude.

Ye Lan didn't speak, but just stared quietly at the note.

Whether it's a close call or not, you'll only know after you've tried it.

She casually placed the note on the table, stood up, and said, "Now that the theme has been decided, I'll go back and prepare."

After saying that, she walked away gracefully in her high heels.

Watching Ye Lan's departing figure, a hint of doubt flashed in Han Xuening's eyes.

"Why isn't she flustered at all?"

"She's faking it, isn't she?" Brother Li shrugged. "Her team, apart from Gu Qingzhou who can hold her own, the rest of them singing traditional Chinese style songs? The way I look at it, it's a complete disaster."

Xia Xue watched her mentors scatter and leave, picked up the walkie-talkie, and spoke with a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Attention all departments, the theme for the second phase has been confirmed: A Showdown of Traditional Chinese Style! Begin promotional activities immediately!"

"Focus on promoting Li Ziming and the folk music ensemble from Han Xuening's team; raise expectations to the max!"

"besides......"

She paused, recalling Lin Zhixing, who had surprised everyone in the first episode.

"Make a separate teaser poster for Lin Zhixing, with the tagline: 'Can this lone rocker overcome the elegance of traditional Chinese style?'"

......

at the same time.

In the old rental house.

This week, Lin Zhixing went to Ye Lan's studio for "special training" every afternoon. Although he was tortured to the point of death every time, he gained a lot.

"I feel like I'm several levels better than before. Especially my breath control, it's incredibly stable now."

On the system panel, the experience bar for [Singing Mastery] has reached [Mastery (43/100)].

His control over his voice is now vastly different from what it used to be.

"Achoo—" Lin Zhixing, who was cooking, rubbed his nose. "Who's insulting me?"

Just then, the cell phone on the table rang.

Lin Zhixing picked it up and saw that it was a message Ye Lan had sent in a WeChat group.

We will meet at 10:00 AM tomorrow.