Tokyo: The evil god doesn't want to be the top star

While rubbing his sore cheek, he suddenly saw Akimoto Manjiro, with a face full of flesh, secretly waving at him in the shadow of the background wall.

Chapter 210 Five-Star Trainee

2024-07-13

"Director Akimoto, what's going on?"

"This is the duration of each trainee's first stage performance, calculated based on the number of views of the personal introduction interview videos as of yesterday..."

As soon as Goro Kimura walked over, Manjiro Akimoto handed him a form.

"Isn't this length revealed to the instructors at the program recording site when the trainees appear on stage? If you show it to me in advance, it will affect my emotional reaction during the recording..."

Having said this, Kimura Goro still took a quick glance.

“The duration is not the point…”

"In this table, the names with dotted lines in pencil will be rated one star lower if you find fault with them during the first stage evaluation..."

"For the others with solid lines, I'll praise them from different angles and rate them out of five stars."

Akimoto Manjiro's thick fingers moved back and forth on the list a few times.

"But... this one..."

Goro Kimura was a little surprised when he noticed that the trainee with the longest performance time was circled by a dotted line.

That person was none other than "Yayoi Tsuki's trainee", Xia Fan.

"This trainee has brought a lot of attention to our show, right? There's no need to suppress him on the first stage, right?"

As a former top male idol who has been working in the entertainment industry for many years, how could Goro Kimura not see that what Xia Fan was holding in his hand was the script of "International Trainee Devil King".

People who get this kind of script are at the peak of their careers and are invincible in the early stage of the show, but then they are counterattacked by the "seed players" in the later stage of the show and leave with hatred.

"Although hype, botching, and fake votes are unspoken rules in the industry, the Burning Group went too far right from the start this time, with no moral principles at all. Even if they want to use him as a 'background board', they should be evenly matched, right?"

At this point, Akimoto Manjiro glanced in the direction of the red torii gate...

The three mentors, Yayoi Tsuki, Oda Masaru, and Hirai Shota, have entered the studio one after another.

"That's it. Just do as you wish."

After giving these instructions, Akimoto Manjiro disappeared into the shadows of the backcourt passage like a ninja.

"Teachers, please take your seats. All irrelevant people, please leave. The live recording of the first stage will begin soon..."

"Backstage, get the trainees lined up and ready to go on stage!"

The scene was ready, the mentors took their seats, the lights and cameras were started simultaneously, and the recording of the second episode of "Idol Birth Festival" began in a hurry.

"Hello, everyone in front of the screen. Today's segment is the first stage performance of each trainee."

"As the saying goes, 'Three minutes on stage requires ten years of hard work off stage'. To be a qualified idol, whether it is a one-second street photo shoot or a marathon concert that lasts for several hours, you must use the basic skills you have practiced for many years to support it."

"In order to make the first stage closer to the 'drama' and 'randomness' of the industry, each trainee will be given a stage performance opportunity ranging from 20 seconds to 3 minutes based on the number of views of the previous personal interview video."

"The mentors will give star ratings based on the trainees' on-the-spot performances, with five stars being the highest and one star being the lowest. The trainees will receive additional 'popularity tickets' corresponding to their star ratings, which will help them in the subsequent elimination competitions on the public stage."

"Next, let us invite the first trainee to come on stage..."

Because the opening remarks and advertising slogans had already been recorded, Goro Kimura quickly read out the rules and went straight into the initial stage presentation.

"Hello, mentors and producers in front of the screen."

Then, the first trainee, Yuta Hirano, who had been waiting outside, made a stunning appearance in a black leather jacket.

"I'm Yuta Hirano, you can call me Atai."

Yuta Hirano not only has good looks, but also obviously has rich stage experience. Not only was he not nervous at all, he even made eyes at the camera and flirted with the camera when he introduced himself.

"I have studied and lived abroad for many years, just for this moment, to return to the stage of my hometown and debut as a person from District 11."

His introduction was also very clever. Not only did he point out the glamorous background of the "sea turtle", he also constantly emphasized his attributes as an "Eleventh District trainee", paving the way for his sense of immersion in the subsequent confrontation with international trainees.

Except for Yayoi Tsuki who habitually had no expression on her face, the other three teachers all nodded in admiration and wrote down something with their pens in a serious manner.

"My first stage performance was a tribute to our idol PAMS' classic song, SWING!"

Yuta Hirano, who ranked second in personal video views, had two minutes and fifty seconds of initial stage time, so after introducing himself, he calmly began his personal performance.

The song selection of "SWING" is obviously very deliberate.

This singing and dancing song is not only very suitable for Yuta Hirano's personal style, but also one of the famous works of PAMS, the group to which Goro Kimura belonged.

It can not only please the producer representative by "paying tribute to the classics", but also show the audience the courage of the new generation to challenge traditions.

It was obvious that Yuta Hirano had put a lot of effort into practicing the song for the first stage. He finished the performance accurately with a stable and highly authentic performance before the program group finished counting down.

"Thank you everyone, please pay attention to me, I am A Tai..."

Hirano Yuta did not waste the remaining five seconds and made a heart shape with his hands on his chest with a smile on his face.

"Is the first trainee so strong? There are several dance moves in this song, and my old waist can't even dance them out now."

"Next, please show your scores, instructors."

Goro Kimura made a joke and signaled the other three to start scoring.

There are four mentors, each with 75 star badges in their hands. They will put them into a covered box based on each contestant's performance, and then show them one by one. The accumulated number of stars is the trainee's rating.

"The singing and dancing were all done with the microphone on. The breath was very steady, but the emotions were not delicate enough. I give it one."

Faced with Hirano Yuta's high level of performance, Oda Masaru opened his own box.

"Yo, the dance moves are good, but the balance can still be improved."

There is also a star in Shota Hirai's box.

Then, the three people's silent gazes fell on Yayoi Tsuki.

"Although I seem to have heard a few broken voices, I won't comment on the singing skills. The dance moves, expressions and stage presence are a bit too greasy, so I won't give any stars for now."

Yayoi Tsukki spread her hands.

"..."

Looking at the empty box in front of Yayoi Tsuki, Yuta Hirano on the stage's smile froze instantly.

"As expected of the national idol, Ms. Yayoi, she has been quite strict from the beginning..."

As the "object of tribute", Goro Kimura smiled and tried to smooth things over, secretly touching somewhere on his box.

"I give it a rating of three."

Inside the opened box were three bright metal stars.

"Well, congratulations to the first contestant to appear, Yuta Hirano, for becoming the first five-star trainee of the day!"

As a result, Yuta Hirano safely obtained a five-star rating, put on the five-star badges, and bowed before leaving.

Chapter 211 The Fox Transforms into a Young Master

2024-07-13

According to the definition of the program team, a four-star trainee means that on average, four mentors each give one star, which means that he or she is recognized by most of the mentors at the same time and is considered "excellent".

For five-star trainees, on this basis, they must obtain special recognition from at least one mentor and be given a two-star rating to be considered "particularly outstanding."

"Kimura-senpai's rating is so accurate, it's like he predicted my prediction."

After Hirano Yuta left the scene, Yayoi Tsuki looked at Kimura Goro meaningfully.

"It was just a coincidence... I was a little excited when my junior paid tribute to my own song. I'm glad I didn't waste the star."

Kimura Goro turned his head and avoided her sight.

The four mentors put the stars into the box in advance, and then displayed and commented on them one by one. This seems to be a very fair "blind evaluation" method.

But Goro Kimura, as the "producer representative" who showed the stars last, actually had a specially made box, just like the dice box used for cheating in ancient times, with a mechanism that could secretly adjust the number of star badges.

Therefore, according to the list drawn up by Manjiro Akimoto, Yuta Hirano, who appeared first, was destined to get five stars.

This is not only the program team's deliberate care for the "seed players", but also a consideration to improve the content of the program.

Although the order in which the contestants appear can be adjusted through post-production editing, Hirano Yuta, as a contestant with experience in forming a group overseas, can bring an excellent performance when he is the first to appear on stage, which will bring an impact that will make the audience "brighten their eyes".

At the same time, his performance and score will leave an initial impression on the mentor, which will invisibly raise the scoring standards for the entire initial stage, widen the star gap between trainees from the very beginning, and intensify the tension in the show.

"Then, what kind of surprises will the trainees who will appear later bring us? Let us wait and see..."

After Hirano Yuta, the rest of the trainees, both local and foreign, took the stage one by one to perform in an orderly manner from behind the vermilion torii gate.

The first stage performance only had an old stage and the most basic accompaniment, without any exaggerated lighting and stage effects, and even the sound equipment did not have any "background sound" processing.

This can be called a "simple" stage. Not only does it not have any "additional effect" on the performance, the trainees have to rely on their personal abilities to make up for the shortcomings of the stage. It can be said that if they are not careful, the performance will become "awkward".

Therefore, in addition to their hard-working stage performances, the contestants rely on their looks, weird costumes, funny styles, or greasy and exaggerated facial expressions, trying desperately to make the audience remember them.

Only with traffic can one survive. This is the awareness that idols must have in the era of streaming media, and this is even more true for trainees participating in talent shows.

They are well aware that the performance time that seems to be tens of seconds to one or two minutes may only be shown on camera for one or two seconds during the official broadcast.

The contestants racked their brains to design the "highlights" of the program, and the program team was happy to present them all, resulting in the trainees' first stage performances where, in addition to the performance content itself, even expressions and movements such as "winking", "making a heart shape", "smiling" and "licking lips" were all out of the ordinary.

But with the "standard template" of Yuta Hirano as a precedent, except for a few contestants with solid basic skills and outstanding personal characteristics, the first stages of most of the subsequent trainees were more like "poor imitations."

"The rivets on the shoulders are so long, it must have hurt me. No wonder my voice was cracked the whole time. I suggest you choose your clothes carefully when singing and dancing later..."

"Hey, eel, Watt cuts the shorty? With your stiff balance, are you dancing or doing calisthenics?"

"This contestant has solid rap skills, but please pay attention to 'saliva management', it's spraying all over the mentor seat."

As for the mentors, facing the first stage filled with "facial tics", "greasy expressions" and "exaggerated costumes", their patience began to wear thin.

Masaru Oda, Shota Hirai and Goro Kimura are okay. Although they are not very nice in their words, they will still give at least one star to programs that are not too bad.

"The expression is too oily and sporadic."

"Eyes evasive, sporadic."

"The movements are not in place and are sporadic."

“I couldn’t find a rhythm at all. It was sporadic.”

"Poor taste in clothes, sporadic."

“Sporadic.”

But for Yayoi Tsuki, the performance has gone from "bad reviews" to "lack of good reviews". More than 50 trainees have performed their first stages, but she only has more than 20 stars in her hand.

However, thanks to the "efforts" of several other mentors, especially Goro Kimura, most of the trainees selected by the three JAS companies were rated three or four stars.

The "seed players" with outstanding temperament and excellent strength, such as Kishi Shiyao, Takahashi Yu, and Nagase Kaito, successfully won the five-star rating.

By the way, S-company's replacement trainee and Xia Fan's schoolmate Makoto Shibata, won the mentors' evaluation of "fake ROCK" with a guitar-playing song and received a two-star rating.

Of course, because they want to protect their reputation and do not want to be scolded by the audience when the show is broadcast, the mentors are also very careful not to do things like calling a horse a zebra or telling lies with their eyes open.

Among the international trainees who competed for the star award based on their actual abilities, Jack, an American trainee with blonde hair, blue eyes and three-dimensional facial features, was promoted to a five-star trainee with his appearance and pure European and American pop music singing skills.

The androgynous Thai trainee Basong also won a five-star rating with his unique neutral appearance, amazing body flexibility and sweet singing voice.

The "fake non-Chinese" trainee Martin Luther Silver who talked to Xia Fan sang a very authentic "Kansai dialect rap" and shocked several judges with his strong stage contrast, earning him a four-star rating.

As for the rest of the foreign trainees, many of them couldn't even sing the lyrics in District 11's language correctly, and some of their performances were so exotic that it was difficult to understand, resulting in an overall stage performance style that was incompatible with District 11's conservative aesthetics, and the average score was only two to three stars.

Just as one foreign trainee after another failed and left the stage, wailing everywhere, Xia Fan, wearing a black T-shirt, pushed open the vermilion torii gate and walked in...

"Humph……"

Yayoi Tsuki, who was a little distracted, sat up straight with a beautiful smile on her lips.

"this person……"

"It's him."

The other three instructors took a closer look and their expressions became serious.

This international trainee, whose "personal interview video" has the most views and whose stage performance lasts a full three minutes, is naturally known to everyone in advance.

Compared to when he was queuing outside, Xia Fan's hairstyle, eyebrows and sideburns were carefully groomed, and his facial features looked more refined and three-dimensional because of the foundation and shadows...

If Xia Fan is a natural handsome guy on weekdays, he looks even more dazzling like a flawless work of art after putting on makeup.