Entertainment: Oh no, I've become the sect leader!

The stage setup for the final episode was much more elaborate than the previous five episodes.

The smoke and dry ice, lighting combinations, extended catwalk, and three-dimensional props have all been rearranged.

Even the audience seats have been recolored and printed with the "King of Mask Singer" logo.

The number of judges' seats has even doubled.

"Please enter the venue in an orderly manner under the guidance of our staff..."

Security personnel shouted through a megaphone.

Of the several hundred audience members present tonight, the proportion of professional attendees has decreased significantly.

Because Shen Shu gave away quite a few tickets to the finals as a "favor".

Anyway, there are only a few hundred tickets in total, and the money from selling them will only be around a million or so.

A few hundred thousand is a drop in the ocean compared to the cost of the program.

Moreover, the show's profits come from GG fees and copyright fees. If it relied on ticket sales, it wouldn't break even even if it ran for another hundred episodes.

Xu Kong received five tickets.

However, his family doesn't live in Shanghai and doesn't need it.

Therefore, all five tickets were handed over to Liu Xia for handling.

Xu Kong initially planned to have Liu Xia deliver two tickets to Xu Yejing.

As a result, Xu Yejing sent over an invitation to a VIP box at "The Masked Singer".

Then, with a grin, she said that she bought the ticket specifically to cheer on Xu Kong. If she had known beforehand that Xu Kong would give her a ticket, she wouldn't have wasted her money...

The words were just polite, but Xu Kong felt inexplicably happy.

So after entering the venue, he made a point of exchanging a few pleasantries with Xu Yejing, and finally went to the lounge amidst her cheers of "Go for it!"

For the final match draw, Xu Kong did not let Li Zi handle it on his behalf again.

Instead, they chose to draw lots themselves.

I drew position number four.

He's in the fourth position out of eight players, so his luck is pretty good.

In addition, the number of judges for the final round has increased by two.

However, the additions were not to the well-known veteran singers or divas.

The additions include two gold-medal composers.

The audience didn't quite understand the long list of impressive titles bestowed upon the two men.

The actual value of the gold is unclear.

But it doesn't matter.

Anyway, Shen Shu invited them here to make the program appear more fair and authoritative.

After all, if the judges seem to be highly professional, then the selection results will definitely be authoritative.

Logically speaking, that's correct.

However, opinions vary on the specifics of how to implement it.

This is similar to how many programs and events invite a notary to be present.

The two notaries standing there looked impressive, but everyone knew perfectly well how effective their supervision was; it was just a formality and a compliant procedure.

On the stage.

Host Li Xiang is introducing the program's new scoring rules.

With fewer professional audience members and more real audience members making up the majority, plus the addition of two gold medal composer judges, the scoring system naturally needs to be changed.

Otherwise, how would the production team control the score?

Speaking of which, Xu Kong did not receive a call from the program team telling him to "win the championship".

So it seems unlikely that he will get first place.

At least the production team didn't prepare a plan for him to win "The Masked Singer".

Fortunately, this was within his expectations.

He didn't participate in "The Masked Singer" to become the "Masked Singer".

He initially participated because of the ten million, and then hoped to use the show to turn his reputation around.

As for the "Masked Singer" title, let whoever wants to be it be it.

Even if it's just marketing, many fans will still recognize it when he gets older.

He's still young and not in a hurry to get this title.

Of course, the main reason is that he is not big enough in the Chinese entertainment and music scene at the moment.

If he had a Grammy right now, he would definitely be vying for it.

It can only be said that he is young and has not achieved anything particularly outstanding. If he wins "The Masked Singer", what will the older generation of singers think?

This is, after all, a field that values ​​seniority.

At least Xu Kong doesn't yet have the capital to break free from the constraints of seniority.

Li Xiang's warm-up act has ended.

To be precise, "awkward silence" would be a more accurate description—a tense atmosphere had already permeated the room.

Backstage lounge.

This time, all the contestants waited in the large public lounge.

Judging from their body language, everyone seemed somewhat nervous.

Whether it's real or acted, the tension is undeniable.

The three contestants, Knight, Elf, and Martian, took the stage in turn.

This time, in addition to the six judges, even a few members of the judging panel were called upon by the host, Li Xiang, to comment on the contestants' performances.

It can only be said that the judging panel has some professional competence; they weren't just invited to be figureheads.

Xu Kong felt that some of the suggestions were very appropriate.

For example, one of the judges advised the Martian to pay more attention to his body language while singing, so as not to make it look like he was being electrocuted.

This is the most fitting.

The person who said this was the director of a well-known music company in China.

It's fortunate that he's the director.

Otherwise, once the Martian is unmasked, he will most likely be attacked by the former's fans.

But if it's a music company director, then there's no problem.

Martians will "persuade" their fans.

Unless his fans are the kind who are determined to stand up to the whole world for their idol.

Generally speaking, celebrities do have some degree of control over their fans.

The connection between big fans and celebrity studios is still very close.

"The Martian must be Hana Yu!"

Dr. Crow guessed, "He sang Hua Yu's famous song 'Dust,' which he adapted, and it sounded pretty good."

"I guessed it was Hua Yu the time he came to the show," Pangolin replied with a smile.

"How did you guess?" Silver Sparrow asked curiously. "Your voice doesn't seem to have any particularly distinctive features, does it?"

"I recognized him from the way he held the microphone."

"If you pay attention to this detail, it's really too easy to recognize," said the Sherlock Holmes-like panther.

The group then began a lively discussion about the Martian's detailed movements.

Host Li Xiang took to the stage again to announce the program.

Now it's time for the Pleiades star deity to make his appearance.

"I wonder what kind of new song Pleiades will bring out this time?"

Kaleidoscope suddenly made a remark that stunned the other contestants.

It's common knowledge that Pleiades Star Lord releases a new song every episode.

There's really nothing special about just the new song.

But if they manage to get on the trend every time and the songs are of a very high standard, then that's something to talk about.

At first, the people in the Kaleidoscope group thought that Shen Shu was giving Pleiades special treatment.

As a result, Shen Shu revealed that Pleiades Star Official was the last of the six guests in the first episode to confirm a collaboration.

In terms of preparation time, they actually had more time, so they were the ones who benefited.

It can only be said that there are still too many singer-songwriters.

"I think the song title is called 'The Lone Warrior'."

"Do you think Xu Kong is actually the Pleiades Star Lord?"

"We'll know when the rankings are released."

"..."