Amateur talent show? Top mentors are my students.

The lights in the corridor were a shade dimmer than those in the preparation room.

He Xu glanced at his watch—the preparation had taken fifty minutes, longer than expected.

He quickened his pace toward the studio, and as he passed the corner of the stairs, he could faintly hear music coming from the direction of the studio.

has already started.

When the doors to the showroom were opened, lights and sounds burst out simultaneously.

On stage, a contestant from Class A was showcasing his arrangement—he changed the melody of the chorus into an R&B style, with many vocal transitions, and sang it with some difficulty, his high notes noticeably strained.

He Xu slipped in along the wall and found an empty seat in the last row.

Lu Yiming, who was sitting next to him, saw him arrive and excitedly leaned closer to whisper, "Brother He Xu, you're finally back! Three people have already finished their presentations! Brother Yang Sheng has finished his too!"

"How is he?" He Xu asked.

"That was great! He changed the chorus dance to include a solo, it was amazing!" Lu Yiming's eyes sparkled. "But Liu Yuxuan before him was even more amazing. He raised the key in the chorus, hit the high notes, and the whole audience was applauding."

He Xu nodded, his gaze falling on the Class A contestants in the waiting area on the side of the stage.

There are nine people, and four have already been showcased.

Yang Sheng sat on a chair in the waiting area, his expression calm, showing neither nervousness nor smugness.

Wang Yijun leaned against the wall, eyes closed, as if going over his adaptation one last time.

In the corner, Qi Xunan sat there, completely different from the others, staring intently at the stage, as if preparing for his own performance was far less important than learning from others.

"The next one—Jiang Yang."

Jiang Yang jumped up from his chair, ran onto the stage, and bowed to the mentors' seats before he could even stand properly, almost losing his balance.

He Xu's lips curved slightly.

This child is still so impulsive.

But as soon as the music started, Jiang Yang completely changed.

He was different from Yang Sheng and Song Yingwen; he wasn't the type to take a steady, methodical approach.

His strength lies in his expressiveness—he shines on stage.

For the chorus arrangement, he chose the most risky approach: raising the key.

For male contestants, the new pitch is already the limit.

He sang it.

The boy's uniquely clear voice soared high notes, like a firework being set off on a stage.

Li Bufan jumped up from his seat: "Jiang Yang!!! Are you crazy!!!"

Lu Yiming clapped so hard that his glasses tilted to one side.

After Jiang Yang finished singing the last note, he stood on the stage, panting, with a bright smile on his face like a little sun.

Zhou Wei picked up the microphone, his expression unusually relaxed: "The pitch was a bit off, but the courage is commendable. Have you practiced this key before?"

"I've practiced! I've been practicing for several months!" Jiang Yang said frankly, without any modesty.

Zhou Wei was taken aback by his frankness, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly: "...Okay, go down."

Jiang Yang skipped and hopped off the stage.

"Next up—Song Yingwen."

Song Yingwen and Jiang Yang are two completely opposite extremes.

He walked steadily onto the stage with a calm expression.

His adaptation focused on dance.

The difficulty remains the same, but the aesthetics have been enhanced.

He transformed a section of the chorus into a modern dance style, with highly extended and linear movements, especially the arm wave, which flowed smoothly from the fingertips to the shoulders, like water.

He used falsetto in the vocal part, carrying the high notes in the chorus in a very light way. It wasn't flashy or over-the-top, but it sounded good.

He Xu leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest twice.

He always felt that Song Yingwen was the child who most resembled him.

They may not be the strongest, but they are the most reliable.

Always under control, never out of control.

The applause at the end of the presentation was slightly quieter than at Jiang Yang's, but it lasted longer.

They presented themselves one by one, bowed one by one, and stepped down from the stage one by one.

Of the nine students in Class A, eight have already showcased their talents.

Only one remains.

Only one person remained sitting on the chairs in the waiting area.

Qi Xunan stood up from his chair and calmly walked onto the stage.

He was wearing the most ordinary uniform training clothes. The white clothes made him look very clean and his face stood out.

This face is not the same type as Shen Yiheng's.

Shen Yiheng has a striking, bold look; his features are deep-set and aggressive, captivating at first glance.

Qi Xunan has a delicate, understated beauty that grows on you; the more you look at her, the more attractive and pleasing she becomes.

Even if you put it right in the middle of a hundred people, it wouldn't be inappropriate.

Qi Xunan stood in the center of the stage, made no extra movements, and nodded slightly to the judges' seats, indicating that the music could begin.

The prelude begins.

He didn't start singing immediately, but waited two beats before singing the first line.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was very steady.

Unlike everyone before him, he didn't change the melody, raise or lower the key, or add any fancy vocal runs.

Sing it in the original key.

But if you listen closely, you'll hear that he changed the rhythm.

The original chorus has a regular four-beat rhythm, but he pushed the start of each line back by half a beat, creating a sense of "being late but just in time" that feels out of place.

It sounds like improvisation, but every delay falls precisely on the next heavy beat.

Dance is another example.

He paused for a moment longer at the end of each movement, allowing his body lines to extend a little more.

Just this little bit made a huge difference to my whole feeling.

The originally explosive and full chorus was given a sense of breathiness by his dancing.

The sixty seconds are up.

He stopped moving, stood still, his breathing steady, and his expression unchanged.

The entire room fell silent.

Then came the applause.

Everyone applauded, and it lasted for a long time.

Jung Jae-won picked up the microphone, thought for a long time, and said, "I've never seen this adaptation before."

Zhou Wei added, "The rhythm has been completely changed, but there's no off-beat. You only practiced for that one hour?"

"Yes," Qi Xunan said.

Zhou Wei opened his mouth, but didn't ask any more questions.

Li Bufan sat in Section B, his mouth agape in an "O" shape, his dingy orange hair swaying under the lights: "How come I never noticed this person before?"

Lu Yiming pushed up his glasses and said softly, "He was promoted from Class B, but he wasn't very noticeable back then..."

"You call that not too conspicuous?" Li Bufan's voice rose an octave. "Look at the rhythm he just handled, is that not too conspicuous?!"

Whether it's conspicuous or not, the voting process has already begun.

Staff pushed the ballot box onto the stage, and all the contestants from classes A to F came forward to vote in turn according to their assigned areas.

Each person has one vote; abstention is not allowed, and one cannot vote for oneself.

A voting board stood on the side of the stage, with the names of the nine students from Class A posted on it.

Each person walks over in turn and places the sticker representing the center position below their corresponding name.

Lu Yiming was in the middle of Class C's line. When it was his turn, he stood in front of the voting board for three seconds, hesitated between Yang Sheng and Qi Xunan, and finally put his finger under Qi Xunan's name.

On the way back, I passed by He Xu and whispered, "Brother He Xu, I voted for Qi Xunan."

He Xu hummed in agreement.

Do you think I made the right choice?

"Who you vote for is none of my business."

Lu Yiming paused for a moment, then silently walked back to his seat and sat down.

The voting proceeded quickly.

One hundred people, each only needs to put on one sticker, and it can all be done in less than ten minutes.

The staff moved the voting board to the center of the stage, with his back to the audience. Shen Yiheng walked to the side and picked up the microphone.

"The voting is over." His gaze swept across the room. "Now, let's reveal the results."

The production team clearly understands the ways of variety shows – the vote counting segment was not done by the staff, but by Shen Yiheng himself.

He stood in front of the ballot board and counted the votes.

The trainees, unable to see what was happening upstairs from below the stage, could only guess.

He Xu does not need to count.

From the moment Qi Xunan finished his presentation, he knew the outcome.

It wasn't because Qi Xunan danced the best—although he was indeed very good.

It's not because of the hundred people present, but because some are good at dancing, some are good at singing, some have strong stage presence, and some are good-looking.

But what makes everyone feel, "This person seems to be just a little bit better than me"—

Only Qi Xunan.

That subtle gap—not strong enough to inspire despair, yet just one step ahead of you—can be fatal in the voting process.

Halfway through the vote count, the distribution of votes gradually became clear.

Yang Sheng and Qi Xunan were neck and neck, taking turns leading.

Liu Yuxuan is ranked third, but the gap has widened.

Jiang Yang received a fair number of votes, mainly concentrated in Class C and Class D—his stage presence was indeed captivating, and audiences love that kind of charisma.

He Xu had guessed that Wang Yijun received fewer votes.

His dancing is indeed good, but his vocal weaknesses have also been exposed, and his presence in Class A has always been weak - he doesn't speak, doesn't socialize, doesn't campaign, and is as aloof as an iceberg.

Such people are at a disadvantage in voting.

Someone couldn't hold back any longer: "PD, just say it!"

Shen Yiheng walked to the ballot board.

"Liu Yuxuan, fourteen votes. Wang Yijun, seven votes. Jiang Yang, twelve votes. Song Yingwen, nine votes..."

He read them one by one, at a moderate pace.

The last two names.

"Yang Sheng - 24 votes."

A commotion erupted in the players' stands. Yang Sheng sat in the waiting area, his fingers curling slightly.

"Qi Xunan - 25 votes".

It was a difference of one vote.

The center position has been determined.