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

Having finally regained the rhythm, Goro Kimura would naturally not allow the main studio to turn into a chaotic vegetable market, and quickly directed the next process.

"Please ask the two teams performing "Prayer" to return to the stage."

Following the staff's instructions, Xia Fan's team stood on the left side of the stage.

The trainees from Kishiyo's team stood on the right side of the stage.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it..."

"This guy can actually sing such high notes. How could he be better than me who came from the choir..."

At this time, An Ziyao's face was ashen, with a stiff "business smile" on the corner of his mouth. His eyes hidden behind his bangs glanced at Xia Fan angrily.

The trainees beside him were not as high-spirited as they were during their previous bow farewell, and their smiles became forced.

Anyone who plays as an opponent of Xia Fan's team and sees his "high-pitched" quadruple high notes through the backstage TV will inevitably be mentally devastated.

Even Kishi Sho, who calls himself the "No. 1 VOCAL trainee" in S Club, knows that he can't sing the high notes of four people by himself.

"The upper limit of one's vocal range is a talent that God has already determined when each person is born."

At this moment, the words he said to Xia Fan when he was selecting the music echoed in his mind with great harshness.

"Please, mentors and audience members, pick up the scoring devices in your hands and cast your precious votes for the trainees you think performed best in the two teams according to the corresponding numbers."

The two teams of trainees stood still, and Goro Kimura announced the start of the live scoring session. The names of the fourteen trainees from the two teams and their corresponding voting numbers appeared on the big screen on the main stage.

According to previously announced rules, mentors and live audiences can only vote for one trainee, and the total number of votes for each team of trainees is the final score of the team.

The entire studio fell silent, with only the sound of the audience pressing the voting buttons.

"No, we won't lose, absolutely no problem..."

"That's right. These audience members are all from District 11. It's impossible for them to be inclined to vote for those foreigners!"

"God bless you, Buddha bless you, God bless you..."

In this tense atmosphere, all the trainees looked down at the floor and prayed silently.

But there is one exception...

"Xia Fan, look at me, look here!"

"Xia Fan...Xia Fan...We are your fans, the Summer Disease of the Midsummer Shrine!"

Several female audience members wearing masks and with fanatical eyes squeezed to the front row of the audience and called Xia Fan in a low voice.

"Midsummer Shrine? Are these the people who pray for me every week and contribute a fixed amount of faith points?"

"They look like ordinary fans, and have nothing to do with the 'secret cult' in Oracle."

Xia Fan, who was standing at the side of the stage, smiled back politely.

As far as I can remember, these women in their twenties, dressed like office ladies, seemed to have also gone to the campus singing competition to cheer themselves up.

"Come on, wink with one eye and smile..."

"Can I make a heart?"

"So handsome, so cool, I'm dying!"

Finding that Xia Fan was not as aloof as he looked, but rather very friendly, they took out their cell phones and began taking pictures of him enthusiastically.

"Hey, those audience members, we've been told in advance that you can't take pictures of the stage during the recording!"

Until the executive director on the sidelines discovered something...

"The photos have already been sent out. Don't even think about taking away our precious 'spell materials'!"

"Xia Fan, keep going in the game, we will always support you!"

They put away their phones and reluctantly hid back among the audience.

"The voting time is up. Anyone who hasn't voted yet will be deemed to have automatically abstained!"

"Next, please ask the staff at the notary office to confirm and publish the voting data for us..."

Five minutes later, Goro Kimura announced the closing of voting.

In order to ensure fairness and impartiality, the program team hired professionals from a notary agency to verify the voting data in every show.

"Next, let's announce the voting results for the first performance of the song 'Prayer', the competition between the two teams!"

On the big screen, the logos of the international and local teams on the stage appeared, as well as a list of the members’ names…

The numbers in the total vote column began to roll wildly...

“The votes appeared!!!”

The vote count gradually slowed down and then froze.

"'Prayer', local trainee team, total votes, 462 votes..."

"International trainee team, total votes... 938 votes?!"

Kimura Goro sang the votes loudly, his pupils shrinking like needles...

Oda was covering his forehead dejectedly, while Hirai Shota was pretending to be surprised.

"Humph."

Only Yayoi Tsuki calmly crossed her arms across her chest, as if that was the way it should be.

Everyone knew that, except for Yayoi Tsuki, the other three people's votes for mentors were cast for Kishiyo's team in accordance with the "alliance rules" agreed upon in advance.

In other words, after removing the 300 mentor votes, An Ziyao's team only won a pitiful 162 votes from the audience members...

What a tragic number this is.

"Lose, lose."

Staring at the glaring score on the screen, An Ziyao's originally tense body suddenly relaxed.

"The 'talent' that I have always been proud of is simply a fragile thing in the eyes of others..."

"Is this the cruelty of the entertainment industry?"

His eyes were out of focus, with a self-deprecating smile on his lips, he muttered.

"Not only did he lose, but he also got more votes than us...by twice as many?!"

"In other words, we are the only team among the local trainees that lost?"

"This is really embarrassing..."

His teammates also scratched their heads and covered their faces, looking frustrated and unwilling.

"The winner of the song 'Prayer' is the international trainee team!!"

"Congratulations to them for getting 5 million extra popularity votes!!!"

After checking with the headset, Goro Kimura loudly announced the results of the competition.

After the false "business congratulations", Kishiyo's team left the stage in disgrace under the guidance of the staff.

The six-game winning streak of local trainees came to an end, and this team can’t escape the title of “the shame of local trainees”.

"Five million additional popularity votes will be distributed based on the proportion of votes received by the trainees. The number of votes allocated to the winning team members will be no less than 50 and no more than 140 million."

"Next, let's take a look at the winning international trainee team and the detailed data of individual votes..."

The screen changed, and rolling numbers appeared behind the names of the seven trainees in Xia Fan's team.

Chapter 266 Crush

2024-07-13

"what?"

"Although I expected this, the gap is too obvious..."

When the numbers froze, the audience was in an uproar again.

As the captain, Xia Fan, who ranked first, surprisingly took 500 votes...

Among the other members, except Martin who had more than 100 votes, the other five members had less than 100 votes.

Xia Fan's exaggerated number of individual votes, in addition to his soaring high-pitched performance, is also related to his original fan base and a biased mentor's vote.

"That is to say..."

"Xia Fan alone has more votes than the entire opposing team combined?"

This number stunned Goro Kimura, who was also the host, and he forgot his words for a moment.

The program rules of "Idol Birth Festival" are continuously iterated based on the experience of many years of talent shows.

Under such a mature rule framework, no single team or individual will become too strong, ensuring that the confrontation and suspense of the program can continue until the last episode, guaranteeing audience stickiness and completion rate.

In the talent shows in recent years, there has never been a situation like Xia Fan, where an individual's votes crushed the entire opposing team.

"Ahem, according to the rules, the five million reward tickets are distributed as follows..."

After being reminded by the program team through the headphones, Goro Kimura came back to his senses and continued broadcasting.

The vote distribution refreshed on the screen showed that Xia Fan alone took up the upper limit of 1.4 million votes, Martin received more than 700,000 votes, and the other five received about 500,000 to 600,000 votes.

"Xia Fan! Xia Fan! Xia Fan!"

Below the stage, dozens of "Summer Patients" mixed in the audience took every opportunity to shout out Xia Fan's name.

The other audience members who were infected also started to make noise.

"Hey, BRO, your high notes are simply invincible, every word is a miracle on the stage, I thought I heard the sound of nature, it felt like the whole world was resonating..."

Even Martin on the stage started to improvise rap along with the lively atmosphere.

He earned more tickets than others because of the good first impression he made with his opening rap, so of course he wanted to press on with his victory.

Xia Fan’s other teammates were also very satisfied with this “unexpected bonus”.

You know, in the personal straight-shot voting before the first performance, the second-place winner, Yuta Hirano, only received a total of 500,000 to 600,000 votes.

For "bottom-line trainees" like them, this is a number of votes that would be impossible to achieve through natural growth.

……

Amid the cheers from the outside that belonged only to Xia Fan, Kishimoto Yoh and his group returned to the backstage in dejection.

"It's really embarrassing, Yao..."

“I lost to that guy on the high note that I’m most proud of.”

Standing at the entrance waiting for him was Yuta Hirano.

"..."

An Ziyao didn't seem to be interested in talking, so he passed him and sat quietly in the corner.

"You are such a fragile guy, you won't be so depressed, will you? Cheer up..."

"Don't mention that you and I were trained in the Kawagoe Men's Choir..."

But Hirano Yuta did not intend to let him go. He turned around, grabbed his collar and lifted him up.

Although he and Kishihiro Kishi belong to different companies, they trained in the same boy choir for two years and can be considered good friends since childhood.

"Hey, there's a camera on the wall..."

"Besides, quarreling won't solve the problem of that glaring guy who has always been at the top of the list."

Takahashi You walked forward calmly, separated the two, and whispered advice with his back to the camera.

The top six local trainee teams all won, and the five-star trainees who led the teams won about one million individual votes with their outstanding performances.

You know, after the show is broadcast, there will be a few days for the audience in front of the screen to vote and rank, which is the critical period for the first round of eliminations.

At that time, for passers-by who wanted to snatch the newcomers who had not yet decided on their favorite trainees, the "head effect" of the real-time vote ranking list was very important.

If Xia Fan loses the match, they can use this huge vote advantage to counterattack, throw him out of the top nine, and use the advantage of the "head effect" to attract fans crazily and consolidate their position...

"That's right. Given the current situation, that guy must still be at the top of the list when the show airs..."

"There is no other way. Let's join forces."

Five-star trainee Nagase Kaito came over, pretending to pat Kishiyo's back comfortingly.