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

A good "personality label" can often have an effect for more than ten years, which is crucial to the development path after debut.

What made An Ziyao feel even luckier was that Xia Fan, who had been the hottest topic in the early stages of the show and ranked first in popularity, actually automatically got the turn to sing the same song as him!

In the past two days, he had confirmed repeatedly that whether it was the first stage performance or the campus singing competition video on the Internet, Xia Fan's singing voice might have magical emotional appeal, but his pitch was very ordinary, and his range was at most G6...

There is no way I can compete with him on a song like "Prayer" that requires high-pitched talent.

After all, if you can't even hit the basic pitch, how can you express your emotions?

“Hey… hey hey hey…”

Thinking of his stunning debut and monopolizing the hot searches after his first stage performance, Kishiyo couldn't help but cover his face and laugh.

What could be a more perfect script than to accomplish all this by stepping on the head of the most popular Tianlongren trainee?

"I will be your man, I will never let you go, I will never leave you again..."

"Please call my name. I can't live without you. Let me hold you in my arms once again. I won't leave you alone again..."

"Honey, I'm just praying."

But the next second, Xia Fan's singing voice rang out from behind the door, interrupting An Ziyao's laughter and making his face stiffen...

The strong love, reluctance, longing and regret in that song were like bullets that silently pierced through his heart.

He couldn't help but recall the summer of his senior year in high school when a senior schoolmate left him and went to live across the ocean...

"This part... this voice... is Xia Fan..."

"Impossible...Impossible...I must have heard it wrong..."

"That guy...actually...sang on stage?!"

Breaking free from the forbidden emotions, An Ziyao's beautiful face was twisted into a ball with a haze of disbelief.

The part that Xia Fan just sang was exactly the part he was responsible for in the song.

Even though it's just a small climax and not the line with the highest pitch in the entire song, the original version also reached the pitch of C2. Even trainees who focus on VOCAL have low, middle and high notes, and not everyone can sing it.

Even Kishi Kiyoshi, who has always been proud of his high notes, practiced repeatedly many times before he could sing this passage "flawlessly".

But just now, when his teammates were dragging down the entire song, Xia Fan's singing was not only high-pitched but his breath was also as steady as an old dog. Although the emotions were not perfect, it was enough to be called "turning the tide."

"Huh? Why don't you sing anymore?"

Just when An Ziyao's thoughts were in confusion, the singing in the practice room also stopped.

"Sing, sing it..."

"So, Xia Jun is also good at high notes?"

He quietly peeked in and found that several trainees in the room also had surprised looks on their faces, obviously shocked by Xia Fan's amazing high notes.

"By the way, who should say the next sentence? Why didn't you catch up?"

"It's me, sorry, sorry, I forgot the words."

After a moment of silence, Ken raised his hand apologetically like a primary school student who had made a mistake.

He was originally responsible for singing the next chorus from the beginning, but he didn't expect Xia Jun to sing the original key, and was so surprised that he forgot to follow.

"No, I didn't sing the part I just sang well, so I was going to start over."

But Xia Fan blamed himself with an unhappy look on his face.

"Didn't...didn't sing well?"

“Is this not singing well?”

When these words were spoken, not only did the six people in the room look confused, but even An Ziyao outside the door clenched his teeth.

"Yes, I was out of tune just now. Look, it's all recorded on the software..."

Xia Fan showed his cell phone to everyone.

"It was my first time singing, so I wasn't very skilled and I didn't pay attention and started too high."

Even though there was no limit to his high notes, his pitch was still at the average level as always. It was easy for him to go out of tune when singing unfamiliar songs, so he kept cultivating the habit of testing his pitch scale.

According to the scale test app, the highest level of the song just now reached was E3...

In other words, Xia Fan was out of tune and went two steps higher than the restored version.

If you start too high at the beginning, the teammates behind you will collapse like a snowball.

"It doesn't matter. We didn't get together twice anyway. It's best to expose all the problems..."

"That's it, start over again!"

No longer worrying about the details, everyone started rehearsing from the beginning.

"Humph, this is always a collaborative stage..."

"Even if you can sing it, can these ugly teammates of yours sing it?"

Listening to the "Chorus of the Underworld" sounding again in the house, An Ziyao's face gradually returned to normal.

The competition on the performance stage is about the overall effect.

Judging from the current quality of the personnel on both teams, even if Xia Fan can perform at the same level as him, there will still be a huge gap between teammates.

As long as his group wins, Kishiwara Kishi, as the captain, center and lead singer, will definitely win the highest score from the live audience and get the lion's share of the 5 million popularity votes.

As for Xia Fan, who is in the loser group, no matter how well he performs, he is destined to be a loser with nothing.

"Call everyone over and continue training."

After sorting out his thoughts, Kishiyo confidently walked back to his practice room and signaled his teammates to restart rehearsal.

"Ah? Isn't there still five minutes of break time?"

"After the first performance, those who were eliminated will have plenty of time to rest."

"Okay, okay..."

……

Chapter 256 Rehearsal

2024-07-13

The first performance of "Idol Birth Festival" was 24 hours ago.

"Dear trainees, hurry up and prepare your costumes and makeup. Each team will only have two chances to rehearse with makeup on..."

"After the executive director calls your name, anyone who doesn't take their place on stage within three minutes will automatically be passed to the next team!"

In the Edo-style main studio, the staff were busy around the huge wooden stage...

The wide open space below the stage has been divided into areas for mentors and live audiences.

"The first team is... when you are called, hurry up and don't just stand there..."

"Accompaniment teacher, the song is wrong, this team is singing the previous song!"

After the sound, lighting, and stage atmosphere were adjusted, the trainees in various styles began to rush onto the stage...

"Ah... I'm so nervous..."

"Someone got into a 'fight' while we were moving. I hope we don't have to encounter that during the official performance!"

Although they know it's just a rehearsal, most of the trainees will be so nervous that their adrenaline rushes as they step onto the grand stage, stand under the spotlight, and gaze at the densely packed empty seats below the stage, thinking that tomorrow the seats will be packed with live audiences selected through open registration and lottery.

"Hey, the first few groups, it seems like they haven't gotten into shape in the first round of rehearsals..."

Goro Kimura, dressed casually, was sitting in the audience, watching the rehearsal performance with a frown on his face.

The rehearsal instructors did not need to record the show during these days, but as the "producer representative", his personal IP has been tied to the show to a certain extent. Out of concern for the stage effect, he took time to come and watch.

"I'm just a trainee after all... I remember the first time I went on stage, I peed my pants when I sang the high notes..."

"Teacher Oda, you actually came to watch the rehearsal?"

"There are a few juniors from my own company, and some acquaintances asked me to help them, so I came to take a look."

Oda Masaru came over at some point and sat down leisurely beside him.

"I heard that Hirai stays in nightclubs when he has nothing to do. I don't think he will come today."

"After Ms. Yayoi returned to Tokyo, I heard that she was followed closely by paparazzi and would not go out easily."

The two chatted idly and continued watching the rehearsal.

The performance venue was decorated in the Edo style, with a festival-like stage, no more than ten meters away from the audience seats, giving it a more "LIVEHOUS" feel...

There are no operations such as "backing music" or "half-open microphone". Every move under the spotlight is in the eyes of the instructors and the audience. This kind of pressure is far beyond the reach of the school's "cultural performance".

When these two mentors appeared in the originally empty auditorium, the trainees rehearsing on the stage felt tremendous pressure.

Various "stage accidents" such as broken voices, positioning errors, messy dance moves, etc. occurred one after another. There was even a trainee who broke down in the middle of rehearsal and burst into tears, and the whole team "comforted" him...

"If the official performance has the same stage effect, the production team will be busy in the later stages."

"It's okay. In this regard, Director Akimoto's team is top-notch in the industry."

Although the two mentors felt that the rehearsal results were somewhat unsightly, they did not have any special reaction and continued to chat calmly.

Anyway, the program will be broadcast after being recorded. No matter how bad the rehearsal is or how messy the performance is, it can be fixed through post-production methods such as sound adjustment and editing to ensure a "bright and beautiful" effect when the program is broadcast.

"It seems that the performance of local trainees is much better than that of international trainees."

"That's right, especially those five-star trainees from District 11..."

In this makeshift rehearsal, the performances of Yuta Hirano, Yu Takahashi, Kaito Nagase and others who had already performed on stage were relatively stable and eye-catching, which made people feel at ease.

In contrast, the rehearsal results of the team led by Jack and Basong were disappointing because of the diverse nationalities of the team members and too many conflicts in language, culture, belief, and aesthetics.

"Speaking of international trainees, that person, hasn't he gone on stage for rehearsal yet?"

Thinking of someone, Oda Masa's expression became a little complicated.

"Looking at the order of the performance stages, I should be the last one..."

After flipping through the information in his hand, Goro Kimura shook his head.

The "person" that these two people care about is naturally the "Seven Star International Trainee", Xia Fan.

Because they were the last to select songs and form teams, his team was the last to perform and they are still waiting backstage.

At this moment, a tall woman wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses and a mask stood gracefully at the edge of the stage.

"Eh? That person is..."

"Ms. Yayoi, are you actually free to come and watch the rehearsal today?"

Goro Kimura and Masaru Oda recognized the woman as Yayoi Tsuki and stood up and greeted her from a distance.

"As a mentor, I should at least care about the rehearsal results. Girls tend to take their time when going out, and they can't compare to the two of you who are dedicated and came here so early."

Taking off his sunglasses and hat, Yayoi Tsuki nodded to the two of them, then turned his attention back to the stage.

With her "coldly watching" in the first row of the audience, the trainees in rehearsal were afraid that the performance would be criticized harshly. The pressure suddenly increased a lot, and the stage effects became more chaotic.

Fortunately, Yayoi Tsuki only looked at it intently for a while, then sat down and played with her mobile phone. When a new team came on stage, she looked up expectantly, then lowered her head with lack of interest, as if she was waiting for a specific team.

Soon, in the first round of rehearsals, it was the turn of the last piece, "Prayer".

The trainees, led by Kishi Sho, came on stage in black suits and began singing and dancing to the rhythm.

Goro Kimura and Oda were standing up straight, watching the team's rehearsal attentively.

In terms of singing difficulty, among the seven competing songs, the one that requires the highest singing skills and vocal range of team members is naturally "Prayer", so the two will pay special attention to the stage effect.

"Well, this team has many trainees who specialize in vocals. No wonder they chose 'Prayer'."

"Compared with the original version, there is still a big gap in performance details, emotional involvement and stage effects, but at least the pitch has not dropped."

The seven-member team of Kishiyo Kishi divided the lyrics of the original four vocalists among five of them for rotation, and the remaining two were responsible for the rap part.

Through this inconspicuous but clever arrangement, the singing pressure of the members was further reduced, ensuring that the song could be performed according to the original key and stably presenting the original version's "auditory feast" stage effect.

"Although this effect is a bit tricky, it is still quite powerful..."

"It seems that the pervert has met a strong enemy."

It was so close to the original that even Yayoi Tsuki, who was sitting in the first row, was a little surprised.