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

"Dear trainees, please find a TV nearby and watch the program announcement in three minutes..."

"Dear trainees, please find a TV nearby and watch the program announcement in three minutes..."

Assistant Director Souta's voice came from the loudspeaker in the corner.

……

"Hello, fellow trainees. I am your producer representative, Kimura Goro..."

Three minutes later, Goro Kimura's figure appeared simultaneously on every television in the trainee accommodation area.

"Your unremitting efforts during this period have been seen by me and the producers in front of the TV..."

"Next, let me announce the final popularity ranking of the theme song's personal straight shots. This also represents the degree of recognition of you by the producers in front of the screen."

Following Kimura Goro's announcement, a popularity ranking list of trainees appeared on the screen, just like the college entrance examination results.

Ranked first is naturally the name "Xia Fan", followed by the despairing popularity value of 1.35 million.

The second place, Yuta Hirano, only got 600,000, not even half of Xia Fan's.

After that, from the third to the ninth place, they are all local trainees from District 11, and their popularity values ​​are very close to each other.

The real-time ranking results can also be viewed through the official website of the program, so the trainees were not too surprised.

"Based on the popularity statistics above, we divided the trainees into the "local group" and the "international group". The group popularity ranking results are as follows..."

But the next second, the ranking list changed slightly and turned into two lists: "local" and "international".

"Group? Reorder?"

"What's going on? Aren't the groups divided into groups only after the first performance? Why are they divided into groups in advance?"

"Could it be that……"

Looking at the two newly arranged tables, some trainees seemed to realize something, with a gleam of surprise in their eyes.

In the "local group" table, in addition to Yuta Hirano who took the first place, subsequent "five-star trainees" such as Yu Takahashi, Kaito Nagase, etc. are still among the top, with not much difference from before.

Because the original overall ranking of international trainees was much lower than that of local trainees, the ranking of the "International Group" table has undergone a drastic change...

The first place is naturally Xia Fan who is "far ahead", the second place is Basong who was originally ranked tenth, and even Jack rushed to fourth place.

"That's right. From this moment on, the trainees will be officially divided into the 'local group' and the 'international group', recording the 'international version' and 'local version' of the theme song MVs for the show respectively!"

"The top nine trainees in each group will stand on the main stage in the corresponding version of the MV."

"The official recording time is this afternoon. Please prepare yourself and face the camera in your best condition."

Goro Kimura announced the recording schedule of the theme song in a loud voice, then bowed and disappeared.

"what?!"

"Record two versions?"

As soon as this news came out, it immediately caused an uproar among the trainees.

Of course, the original nine main stage positions suddenly became eighteen, and most of the trainees were naturally happy.

In particular, many international trainees who thought they had no chance were ecstatic when they suddenly got the opportunity to stand on the main stage.

"This... is what... pity me?"

Because Xia Fan went to the "International Group" and it was the turn of C position Hirano Yuta, he didn't look happy at all, and his face became even darker.

Although the program team previously announced that there would be a division into "local group" and "international group" in the rules, that was during the first performance stage elimination phase of the next episode...

Now that they have been divided into groups in advance and the theme song has been recorded in different versions according to nationality, it is obvious that this is a "temporary arrangement" made by the program team for the appearance position of the company's "seed players" and for "Xia Fan" who is leading by a large margin.

"The theme song of the international version... Xia Jun, it's not fair to divide the groups now."

Martin slammed the table indignantly.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the secret behind this "temporary rule" of the program team was a little too obvious in its targeting of Xia Fan.

"I think this is great. This way, Basong and Jack can also stand on the main stage, right?"

“With half the number of people recording, even if we are not on the main stage, we can be filmed more clearly and get more shots.”

"Besides, the ultimate result of the show still depends on winning popularity through strength. Isn't it for this reason that you compete for the C role in the theme song and appear in the show?"

Xia Fan didn't care and ate rice with relish.

Originally, he just wanted to get some popularity, but he didn't expect that with the "god's blessing" his popularity would soar...

In this situation, it is normal for the program team whose plans have been disrupted not to make some "rules" against themselves.

However, since so many people supported him with actual actions, Xia Fan didn't dare to continue to play badly with the attitude of "just trying to get by for a while". He decided to try his best and go as far as he could.

"It seems that this is indeed the truth?"

"Mr. Xia really sees things clearly..."

The three roommates savored it for a while, and suddenly felt that Xia Fan's figure, who was concentrating on eating, became unfathomable...

This should be the person in the history of District 11's talent show who forced the program team to fine-tune the rules and created eight "jobs" for international trainees.

……

Chapter 236 Breaking the Circle and Attracting Traffic

2024-07-13

……

three days later.

"Chief Director, the theme music videos for the 'International Version' and 'Local Version' have been recorded and are now officially online on the program website and being released on various promotional channels."

Inside the recording room, Assistant Director Souta humbly and respectfully reported to Manjiro Akimoto.

A few days ago, Manjiro Akimoto divided the original theme song MVs and rankings into two groups according to nationality.

Doing so not only preserves the "seed trainee's" stage position, naturally eliminates the influence of Xia Fan's popularity, but also does not require additional "data falsification."

In his opinion, this move could be described as "S-level otherworldly spiritualism: Impure World Reincarnation", and his respect for the chief director reached a new level.

"understood."

Akimoto Manjiro calmly clicked on the homepage of the "Idol Birth Festival" website and played two versions of the "You Are My God" MV...

"Well, it's worthy of the result after recording it dozens of times. It's barely above the standard."

After watching the "local version" of the MV, he nodded in approval.

In the "local version" of the MV, Yuta Hirano, who is good at singing and dancing, is the center of the main stage. Nine "seed trainees" take turns to compete with each other on the main stage. The dance of dozens of people in the distance also looks magnificent. It can be said to be well-made and excellently performed, and the effect presented is in no way inferior to the MVs of those boy groups that have already debuted.

Then, the "international version" of the MV played on the screen again...

"Wait, this... this effect... what's going on?"

Watching the performances of the international trainees, Akimoto Manjiro's face gradually darkened...

"Director, the production quality of the 'international version' is indeed not comparable to that of the 'local version', but this is according to your arrangement."

Seeing that the chief director had a strange expression on his face, assistant director Cao Tai hurried to explain.

According to the director's arrangement, there is a huge gap in production level between the international and local versions of the MV in terms of makeup, styling, camera editing, and sound editing...

Even the later promotion and distribution channels used the reason that "the local version is for domestic use, and the international version is for foreign use" to further differentiate treatment.

In other words, only the "local version" is the "real theme song MV", and the "international version" can only be regarded as a "trash can" for Xia Fan and other international trainees.

"No, that doesn't matter. What I want to ask is... why is Xia Fan so eye-catching in there?!"

Akimoto Manjiro poked the screen with his shaking fingers...

In the "International Version" MV, a group of trainees with different skin colors and three-dimensional facial features, with full and greasy smiles on their faces, sang and danced in unison to "I Am Your God"...

Although the dance is neat and the rhythm is powerful, the exotic appearance and the foreign flavor in the singing make people feel like they are watching a Bollywood musical...

But among this group of trainees with too much exotic style, Xia Fan, who stood in the center position, seemed even more cool and unworldly, and extremely bright...

In particular, whenever a close-up shot was focused on Xia Fan, his eyes, as bright as stars in the sky, seemed to be able to penetrate the soul, giving the person looking into the eyes the illusion of having their heart struck hard.

Even standing aside, Jack, the handsome European and American guy with fair skin and blue eyes, could hardly conceal his brilliance.

This feeling is like a group of demons and ghosts dancing around the Jade-faced Young Master...

It can be said that wherever Xia Fan goes, he becomes a background board.

"Well, maybe it's because Xia Fan is the only one who meets the racial characteristics and aesthetic standards of District 11. His skin color is also relatively white, and his appearance is several levels higher, right?"

"Moreover, from a performance perspective, he does have the most standard dance moves, the most accurate expressions, and the most emotional singing..."

Reviewing the content of the MV, Assistant Director Souta analyzed it seriously, and he himself was somewhat confused.

Obviously the overall production effect has been "downgraded", so why is Xia Fan's personal painting style still so "textured"? Not only is it not affected at all, but it is made to stand out even more?

“Forget it, both MVs are already online, there’s no point worrying about this now…”

“Related topic popularity, program secondary creation editing, trainee personal highlights, etc. are all released simultaneously, and we always pay attention to the effect of the MV breaking the circle and attracting traffic!”

Akimoto Kanjiro sighed.

This time, he had explained the matter of the MV main stage to the bigwigs in the company, avoiding the crisis of "resigning" and had no intention of worrying about these details.

"receive."

The staff responsible for publicity and promotion were busy creating topics and increasing traffic, while keeping a close eye on the background data fed back by major media and video platforms...

……

Five hours later.

"Director, the topic 'Idol Festival Theme Song MV Release' has successfully topped the trending search list!"

Assistant Director Souta brought a box of high-quality Wagyu beef bento to Manjiro Akimoto and reported at the same time.

"Yes. What about the backend feedback data? How is the reputation?"

Akimoto Manjiro, who was carefully reviewing the script for the next episode, asked calmly.

Because before the release of the theme song MV, various companies were notified in advance to let topics such as album sales, scandals and movies "give way", so it was expected that the theme song would top the hot search list.

On the contrary, the recording content of the next episode is the "first performance stage", and it is expected that about half of the trainees will be eliminated, so he can't help but take it seriously.

“The theme song has been very popular. Although the reviews have been mixed, the effect of breaking through the circle and attracting traffic has far exceeded our expectations. Even the keyword search data volume on social platforms has far exceeded that of other programs in the same period!”

“Oh, the effect is so good? Which keywords are the most discussed?”

Manjiro Akimoto took off his glasses slowly, opened his lunch box, took out his chopsticks, and prepared to eat...

Being black or red is also being red, and having good or bad reputation doesn’t matter. The most terrifying thing is that the show has not received any discussion at all.

"The key word... that is..."

Cao Tai looked through the background data and his tone suddenly became nervous.

"Speak tremblingly, show it to me..."

The next second, his cell phone was taken away by Manjiro Akimoto.

"Search rankings for the word "idol birth festival"..."

"Xia Fan... the international version of the MV "Demon Dance"... Mr. Fengjian's singing and dancing are so handsome... Xia Fan is really delicious..."

"What kind of messed up words are at the top..."

Looking at the most frequently discussed and searched keywords, Akimoto Manjiro's expression gradually became petrified...

"Wait, why are all the audience discussing Xia Fan and the international version of the MV?"

"What about the discussion topics for local trainees? Why are there so few and they are ranked so far back?!"

"In other words, it is mainly the international version of the MV that is now driving the program out of the circle and attracting traffic?"

"What kind of audience is attracted by this kind of filth?"

Looking at the real-time discussion content of netizens, he couldn't help but rant and curse.

Chapter 237 The ingredients are too complicated

2024-07-13