America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 303, Question 301: Why does everyone have to thank him?

At the Temple Theatre, as the award presenter spoke, the camera focused on the five nominees.

Each person's profile picture occupied a corner of the screen, with Liu Yifei standing out particularly, after all, she was the only woman with yellow skin.

This is one of the few opportunities for Chinese people to be nominated for a major American award, and the announcement of the shortlist has attracted attention in mainland China.

Cultural exchanges between the two sides have been deepening recently. Last year, CCTV broadcast the Oscars live, and this year it even broadcast the Emmys live.

Sohu and Sina had already made their moves, inviting Zeng Zihang and other industry insiders to discuss the possibility of winning an award. The general consensus was that it was unlikely they would win.

"I think getting a nomination is already a form of mainstream recognition, but the chances of winning the award directly are not very high. It's not that it's impossible, but it's not very high."

"Zihang is right. We can't just focus on Liu Yifei's popularity in China. Supernatural did achieve very good ratings in China, but the situation is different in the United States. She is still a newcomer there."

"That's right. Whether you win an award or not depends on your opponent's performance. 'The West Wing' has always been a popular show, Tyne Daly is a veteran actress, and Liu Yifei's advantage is that she is popular among young people."

"I remember that after Supernatural finished airing a while ago, MGM released a survey and her popularity was second only to the two male leads. She has great potential, but her journey has only just begun."

Host Dou Wentao suddenly asked, "I saw a news report a few days ago that Liu Yifei has terminated her contract with her company. Did you know that?"

"I know. She's been appearing less frequently in the country since last year, and she's shifted her focus to Hollywood. MGM is very willing to promote her. There's a big-budget film called 'The Hunger Games' going to be released next month, and judging from the trailer, she's playing an important supporting role."

"Now Liu Yifei only has 'Chinese Paladin' left in China. I heard that she even turned down Zhang Jizhong's 'The Return of the Condor Heroes'."

"It seems she's giving up on the mainland market. Do you think this is the right thing to do?"

"It's not like she's giving up. If she really gave up, she wouldn't even have made 'Chinese Paladin.' It's just a shift in focus, which I think is great. Hollywood has always had a gang tradition."

"Australia has its Australian clique, Britain has its British clique, and Canada has its own. These are all circles formed by experienced members mentoring newcomers and helping each other."

"If actors like Liu Yifei and Daniel Wu can establish themselves there, it will be helpful for domestic actors who want to develop in Hollywood."

"We're in a honeymoon period with MGM, and now is a good time to leverage the power of this lion to grow. I think it's a good time."

"It's a pity about Daniel Wu. If it weren't for the Barrefaeli incident, the second season of The Walking Dead would have been filmed and released long ago, and he wouldn't be missing out on this year's Emmy Awards. Otherwise, he might have gotten a supporting actor nomination."

The camera panned across Xiao Liu's face; she was biting her lip nervously. The nomination was definitely something Eric had paid for.

If an Oscar-winning actress can handle public relations, then an Emmy-winning supporting actress is naturally no problem. I just wonder if her strength is as fierce as his in bed; she's really worn herself out these past few days.

Despise Weinstein, understand Weinstein, become Weinstein.

"The Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series award goes to Crystal Liu for her role in Supernatural."

OH

Upon hearing the results, the three people in the Sina live broadcast room fell silent instantly. They had just said that the chances of winning were slim, but they were proven wrong in the blink of an eye.

Nicole, Theron, Gadot, and Olsen all turned their attention to Eric.

"Why...why are you all looking at me like that?"

Chicken soup is here... Pshaw!

"Hmph...that depends on what good things you've done," Nico said with a smile, though her smile was a little creepy, as her facial skin didn't move at all.

"I can at least understand a nomination, but winning is going too far, Eric. What are you up to now?" Theron asked coldly.

"What kind of crazy ideas could I possibly have! Everything is for the company's strategic purposes, and you all know about MGM's investments in China."

"Crystal Liu is my key asset. Investing in her now will bring me returns many times over later."

"Daniel Oh would have been a better choice, but The Walking Dead didn't air, so she was lucky."

"Really?" Gadot asked suspiciously.

"That's right. I don't have time to think about messy things right now. I just attended Nicky Hilton's wedding, and all her promiscuous friends were trying to seduce me."

"But I remain steadfast, more so than the most devout pastors. If I wanted to, you would have seen it in the newspapers long ago."

"Hmph! Suspicious!"

"Shadow Anchor!"

"There's a ghost!"

"Hey... I have a clear conscience!"

At the awards ceremony, the moment the results were announced, Liu Yifei stood up excitedly, covering her mouth in disbelief.

Yes, the movements are skillful; I've practiced many times in private.

In contrast, the other four nominees looked somewhat uneasy, but fortunately they were not naive and managed to smile politely and offer applause.

After hugging the Wen family duo, Xiao Liu hurriedly went up on stage.

"Congratulations, young man! Say a few words."

"Thanks!"

As she accepted the trophy and looked down at the thousands of celebrities, big and small, her vision suddenly went black, and she felt like she was about to faint.

If you're Chinese, you probably won't have any special feelings about it, because you'll likely only know about the Oscars.

But don't forget that Liu Yifei is an American who grew up watching the Emmy Awards and knows how important this award is. Winning the award already puts her ahead of 99% of actors.

"Calm down! Calm down! This is the Emmy Awards, not the Oscars. You're the woman who's going to be an Oscar winner."

Taking a deep breath and patting her heaving chest, Liu Yifei shook her head slightly: "Oh my god! This scene is like a dream. I almost fainted just now, fainted from happiness."

Hehehe.

A chuckle rippled through the room.

"Receiving this award is very important for an Asian girl like me, and I want to thank many people."

"First of all, there is my mother. She has sacrificed a lot for me. When I was very young, she brought me to the United States alone, and life was very hard for her."

"I want to thank the academy and all the judges for choosing me. My opponents were all very good actors who delivered excellent performances. I was just a little lucky."

"I also want to thank everyone on the crew. They helped me a lot and taught me the rules of Hollywood."

"Finally, I'd like to thank Mr. Eric Cooper for investing in this film and for casting me in the role. Thank you, thank you so much!"

Bang bang bang bang

Liu Yifei delivered her acceptance speech, and the background music from "Supernatural" played again, but unfortunately, Eric was still nowhere to be seen.

Inside the hotel, watching her daughter standing under a sea of ​​stars, Liu Xiaoli didn't blink an eye, though tears had already started to stain her clothes.

Eric watched the scene unfold expressionlessly; today was also a big day for her.

However, I definitely can't be near her anymore; there are wicked women all around, be careful!

Following that, Sarah Jessica Parker won Best Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in "Sex and the City," while Jennifer Aniston suffered another defeat.

Kelsey Grammer won Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his role in "Frasier," while Joey Matt LeBlanc lost out.

This result has broken the hearts of countless Friends fans, especially since this is the final season and they will never see the six of them together at an awards ceremony again.

Let alone an awards ceremony, we probably won't even have the chance to attend an event together.

"Damn the college, why didn't they choose Friends?" Ashley slapped the sofa in annoyance.

"Exactly! Those judges seem to have a grudge against Friends. Even though the quality of the tenth season did decline, they didn't give it an Emmy last year. That's outrageous!"

Eric was also indignant about this, but unfortunately he was powerless to change it. He thought that he would just wait until he acquired NBC one day and then own the rights to Friends.

In terms of commercial value, Sex and the City, The Sopranos, and The Family all combined don't even come close to Friends.

Netflix once released statistics showing that viewers worldwide watched 5430 million hours of Friends on its platform over three years, equivalent to 62000 years.

The rights to "Friends" were sold for a record $1 million in 2019, and have continued to fetch over $8000 million annually since then. Keep in mind that this is an old show that ended more than a decade ago. How many shows can remain so popular for so long?

This $10 million is just the US copyright fee. NBC can also sell it all over the world, earning nearly $1 billion a year from copyrights, and it's almost a risk-free business.

The six-man group also received 2% of the royalties each year, so even though Ross and Chandler didn't take on many roles later on, they still earned millions of dollars a year.

More than an hour later, House of Cards won Best Set Design again, while American Horror Story won Best Makeup.

At this moment, the golden retriever appeared as an award presenter.

As a successful businessman, Big Golden Retriever's business scope is very wide, including entertainment, real estate, hotels, casinos, and many other things.

Starting last year, he produced the variety show "The Apprentice" and it achieved quite good ratings.

Originally aiming for this year's Emmy Awards, Lionheart Network unexpectedly emerged as a dark horse, with several hit variety shows dominating the competition.

Forget about winning an award, he was even squeezed out of the nominations.

But the golden retriever had no complaints whatsoever. The reason was simple: everyone in the world knew that he and Mike were very good friends.

"I know, I know you all want me to say something, just like I said to the reporters."

"What? I'm sure I'll win the award? I'll beat everyone else to a pulp? But... not tonight!"

Hahahaha

"Because my good friend is on the nomination list. You know who he is, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson."

"Yes, I will always use this prefix, and I will never change it."

"I would be happier than anyone if he won the award, even though he can't be here because of his tour, and Eric Cooper isn't in attendance either."

"But Michael asked me to accept the award on behalf of Michael if The Voice wins."

"Now, let's reveal the answer together."

"The nominees for Best Competitive Reality Show are The Amazing Race, The Voice, Survivor, Ninja Challenge, and The Last Comedian."

As he spoke, he opened the envelope, glanced at it, and immediately burst into laughter, announcing loudly, "The winner is 'The Voice'!"

OH!

Woohoo!

The audience erupted in enthusiastic applause, and even the competitors cheered and clapped.

It was the popular choice, and there was no controversy.

The golden retriever pulled a piece of paper from his pocket: "Now, I will give the acceptance speech on behalf of Michael and Eric Cooper."

"If you're hearing this, it means we really did win an award, but it's a pity we can't be there in person, otherwise we could really dance a little something right here."

"But don't be disappointed, because Jenny and Jayz will be performing for us too."

"Thank you to the academy for this award. The Voice of China has been in preparation for a long time, and thousands of people have put in countless hours of hard work."

"Thank you to everyone who supported us: Cindy Loopa, Bob Dylan, Dionne Warwick, Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears, and Beyoncé."

"Another piece of good news to announce is that solo albums by Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, and Cyrin Trudeau will be released soon, including the single from the night of the championship. We will continue to bring great works to our audience. Thank you."

Taking advantage of the opportunity, he made a small mistake and the golden retriever happily walked off the stage with the trophy.

Seeing his genuine smile, Eric couldn't help but sigh.

You can criticize him for countless things, but you absolutely cannot criticize the friendship between him and Michael.

Even during the presidential campaign, although Michael Jordan had passed away, his influence was still significant, but the Golden Retriever did not use him for political purposes.

Doesn't he know he can use this to garner millions of votes?

It is said that businessmen seek profit and avoid harm, let alone a shrewd businessman like Big Golden Retriever.

There's only one reason: he doesn't want to do that. Perhaps Michael is the untainted white moonlight in his heart.

Immediately following the halftime show, the appearance of Jenny and Jayz instantly brought the atmosphere in the stadium to a climax.

The awards presented later in the miniseries and comedy categories were overshadowed by the performances.

Robin Wright won the Best Actress in a Drama Series award for her outstanding performance in "House of Cards," and once again thanked Eric.

Kevin Spacey won Best Actor in a Drama, beating out another frontrunner, James Gandolfini from "The Sopranos." The phrase "thank you Eric" has been mentioned countless times.

At this point, the awards ceremony had reached its final stage, with only a few major awards remaining, including Best Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Series, all of which Eric was nominated for.

Winning the title would make them the undisputed biggest winner of the night, and would also symbolize the suppression of their strongest competitor, HBO.

Keep in mind that Lionheart is only in its first year, and there are countless seasons to come. How can you possibly compete with them?

The answer is about to be revealed.

(End of this chapter)