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

"Wait a moment, let me confirm..."

"The assistant coach said that Hirai Shouta and the trainees have been living and eating together in the practice room these days and have been practicing very hard. Hirai himself was very satisfied with the final result and said that he would like to invite the trainees to be guests on stage at future concerts."

Cao Tai called to inquire, then reported seriously.

"That's fine. When comparing two rap songs of the same genre, it's not surprising that the audience voted for the one with the better live performance."

Hearing this, Akimoto Manjiro breathed a sigh of relief, but he could not hide the fatigue in his eyes.

"Hmph, Xia Fan, let's see how you can turn things around this time."

Since the official recording of "Idol Birth Festival" began, the name "Xia Fan" has gradually become his lingering shadow.

Even if the reason of "software tickets" was used this time to forcibly cancel the tickets generated by Xia Fan's free support activities, the tickets generated by the real money support consumption all had value-added tax records, and they could not be moved at all...

Therefore, even after deducting the "software tickets", Xia Fan still has nearly 14 million votes, occupying the fourth position for debut.

As a result, the companies behind the show put so much pressure on him that he had to take sleeping pills to fall asleep.

"After the performance, the huge difference in reward tickets will be enough for other trainees to push Xia Fan out of the top nine debut positions."

In this last round of performances, there was no ticket for Yayoi Tsuki's mentor, and all the 1,000 audience members were his people...

When he thought of Xia Fan's wonderful expression when he got a single-digit live vote, Akimoto Manjiro felt extremely happy.

"But, Director... although the performance bonus tickets are very generous, Xia Fan's fans' voting power is a bit exaggerated recently. Even the audience in Longguo is paying more and more attention to the show, and overseas tickets are also soaring..."

Assistant Director Kusata, who was monitoring the vote count backstage at all times, still looked anxious.

In the past two days, because of the "software voting incident", Xia Fan's fans have become more aggressive in "manual voting", and his popularity ranking has even climbed back to third place at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Although Xia Fan was unable to obtain bonus tickets for the performance due to the almost brutal on-site vote control, with his growing popularity, there is still a possibility that he can make a comeback and get into the top nine during the "voting window period" after the show is broadcast.

After all, the opponent of the program team is the "Great Demon King of the Celestial Dragons" Xia Fan, who is very popular and has overturned his wishes time and time again.

"The voting window period... is indeed the last destabilizing factor... Maybe the Burning Sect will take advantage of the opportunity to launch a sneak attack..."

Having said that, Akimoto Manjiro lowered his head, as if thinking about something.

As if they were in sync, his cell phone started vibrating.

"Yes... I understand... Please express your gratitude to President Matsudaira for me."

After a few words, Akimoto Manjiro ended the call.

"Souta, the last source of instability has been eliminated."

"President Matsudaira has agreed to have J Company allocate a huge amount of special funds to stop Xia Fan and keep him out of the ninth place."

"It seems that Mr. Zhou's refusal has also made President Matsudaira very sad."

"With such treatment, it wouldn't be unfair for Xia Fan to fail to make his debut..."

His facial muscles twitched and he couldn't suppress a hideous smile.

A few days ago, he submitted this "special fund blocking plan" to J Company, and finally received a positive response today.

You know, in the history of idol talent shows, there has never been a situation where investors specifically match funds to snipe a certain contestant...

It is not a problem of capital cost, but that doing so is too deliberate. Data changes can easily be exposed, leading to various legal issues such as making fake invoices, fabricating income, and issuing false VAT invoices.

"Everything is under control. This draft is finally back on track and will soon have a perfect ending..."

The problem that had been a thorn in his side for many days was finally solved, and Akimoto Manjiro relaxed completely.

The hype of Yayoi Tsuki in the early stage and Xia Fan's unexpected breakthroughs in the circle have pushed the ratings and performance of the program to a height that similar programs in previous years could not reach...

If Xia Fan is forced to make his debut successfully, it will be a Waterloo for J Club's idol career.

But now, under the premise that the results of the draft meet the capital requirements, all these popularity and performance have become the "performance wedding dress" of Manjiro Akimoto's first boy group draft, which is the peak.

Thinking that after this show, the entire District 11 boy and girl group idol auditions would be under his control, the world before his eyes became extremely pleasing to the eye, and even the carbon dioxide released by the dry ice machine being tested next to him became sweet and delicious.

"Director Akimoto, it's finally time to record the last episode..."

After a while, Goro Kimura, who was dressed particularly exquisitely today and exuded the charm of a middle-aged handsome man, also entered the studio.

"You've got to be both a mentor and a host, it's really hard work, Kimura-kun. Compared to your idol days, you've really improved a lot in all aspects."

"No, no, if there are good program resources in the future, I will ask Director Akimoto for your support..."

Akimoto Manjiro was in a good mood and praised Kimura Goro politely, which made him feel flattered.

Chapter 331 Professional Audience

2024-07-13

"Dear audience, please cooperate with the staff for security checks. Do not bring any suspicious items into the venue. Please be sure to take your seats according to the seats specified on your tickets..."

While the two were exchanging greetings, the "lucky audience" at the scene began to enter the venue one after another under the guidance of the staff.

"Come to think of it, the audience this time seems to be much more well-behaved than the first two rounds?"

Looking back at the audience seats at the entrance, Goro Kimura couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

In the first two rounds, the audience, led by Xia Fan's fanatical fans, fought wits and courage with the security personnel, either secretly taking photos or raiding to cheer, causing chaos...

In contrast, the audience at this show did not make any noise at all, and the security check was also very cooperative. After entering the venue, they sat down quietly, with a respectful smile on their faces at all times...

The presence is so low that if you don't go to see it, you won't even notice that there are so many people sitting in the audience.

"Hey, uncles and aunts of that age also watch male idol auditions and spend a lot of money to support them?"

What made Goro Kimura even more curious was that among the audience this time, there were fewer young women, who were the main consumer group, and mixed in were some middle-aged men and women who looked completely incompatible with "idol boy bands".

You should know that according to incomplete statistics, the average real-name consumption for the third round of on-site tickets is over 200,000 yen.

"Ha, haha, there's nothing strange about it. The audience members are randomly selected. It's all a matter of luck who comes... Maybe some people accidentally bought the support products and voted with the intention of giving it a try, and ended up being selected to come to the event."

"Is that so? Director Akimoto is a man who has hosted countless talent shows and is very knowledgeable."

Manjiro Akimoto fooled Goro Kimura by laughing it off, but in his heart he was sighing that the cooperation of these "professional audiences" was indeed very high, but next time he would remind them to pay attention to the rationality of the personnel composition.

Fortunately, the program is a recorded broadcast, and the shots of the audience seats can be edited in post-production to reduce the appearance rate of these "uncles and aunts".

"Mr. Kimura, please come over here and record the commercial..."

"Director, the other mentors have finished their styling and are about to enter the venue..."

"What about the trainees? Their hair and makeup are not ready yet. Please hurry up backstage!"

As the audience quietly entered the venue one after another, the program team was also preparing for the various tasks in a tense and orderly manner.

Yayoi Tsuki, who was dressed in a black business suit and was so beautiful that people could not look directly at her, slowly sat down in the mentor seat.

"Ms. Yayoi, thank you very much for joining us and making this program a success today."

Akimoto Manjiro, in a good mood, walked up to her politely and thanked her.

"Cooperation is a win-win situation. I became a mentor to maintain my personal exposure. The show has such ratings, thanks to Director Akimoto."

Yayoi Tsuki said politely without any sincerity.

"Director, it seems like you have a 'win in your grasp' today..."

"Let me make it clear in advance that our team has no intention of admitting defeat."

After taking a look at the man who had created countless idols, she spoke in a calm tone without disguising anything.

"The audition hasn't ended yet, and the results are still unknown. Whether it's you or the trainees, you must do your best."

"As a director, I just want to select idol groups that the audience likes. It doesn't matter to me who wins or loses when they debut..."

Perhaps he didn't expect Yayoi Tsuki to speak so directly. Akimoto Manjiro was stunned for a moment before responding politely as if he didn't understand.

"Hey, Director Akimoto, please give me your guidance today as well!"

"I heard you were rehearsing so hard these past two days that you didn't even go to the nightclub, Hirai-kun!"

"No, no, when it comes to things related to rap and hip-hop, my desire to win will skyrocket and I will get carried away easily..."

Just then he saw Shota Hirai walking up to the mentor's seat, so he quickly went up to greet him, avoiding the sharp conversation with Yayoi Tsuki.

"Humph, what you want to select is never the boy band that the audience likes, but the puppets that the capital has set up, right?"

"I hope the performance later won't make your jaw drop..."

With her chin on one hand, Yayoi Tsukki gazed at the brightly lit stage and sighed.

……

"Dear audience, welcome to the final performance of this program, the night of the birth of an idol!"

On the brightly lit stage, Goro Kimura made a grand appearance and announced the official start of the final performance in front of countless cameras and gazes.

"..."

But after his opening remarks, the audience did not cheer or applaud as expected. Instead, they just stared at the stage with a forced smile. It was eerily quiet.

"Pah...pah..."

This made the sparse applause from the mentors' seats seem a little awkward.

"Clap clap clap clap!"

It was not until the staff on the sidelines made the guiding gesture of "applause" that the audience cooperated and gave thunderous applause.

“I feel your enthusiasm…”

"Today, with the help of the four mentors, the trainees came to us to give us their all-out performances, just to win the popularity votes held tightly in the hands of the producers on site and in front of the screen!"

Assuming that the audience was just too nervous, the battle-hardened Goro Kimura still maintained his elegant smile and continued to host in a slightly exaggerated manner.

"Once again, this performance will also be voted on by four mentors and one thousand audience members. The top three groups will receive 30 million, 20 million, and 10 million popularity points respectively..."

"Three days after the performance, the top nine trainees in terms of total popularity will officially debut as members of the limited group!"

"I hope everyone will not be stingy with their popularity votes during this period, and give their full support to your favorite trainees! For more detailed rules and information, please check the program's official website..."

After diligently outputting the program rules, Kimura Goro smiled and unbuttoned his suit...

"Next, let me and the trainees bring you the first performance song..."

He threw his coat into the air handsomely, revealing a navy blue shirt studded with rhinestones underneath...

“…Across the ocean!”

The stage lights flickered, and the background of the big screen changed to a coastline with crashing waves...

Yuta Hirano, Jack, Yu Takahashi and others who were in the same group with Goro Kimura have also quietly come on stage.

Unfortunately, the audience in the audience still had that soulless smile on their faces, and this carefully designed and unexpected program transition did not elicit any cheers.

"After that day, I forgot about swimming."

"Only when faith is ignited can we see the sunshine."

Under the lights, standing in the center, Kimura Goro picked up the microphone and sang the first line with deep eyes...

Chapter 332 A sudden one-night stand across the ocean

2024-07-13

The song "Across the Ocean" is a representative work of the golden age of Goro Kimura's former group "PAMS". It has been more than ten years since then and it can be said to be a popular classic love song that embodies the memories of the times and cannot be replicated.

At the recent PAMS 20th anniversary concert, he was the center of the concert. With just the first line of his voice, he awakened the memories of the era of tens of thousands of people in the audience and ignited the hustle and bustle of the Budokan...

But at this moment, the audience in the audience was not moved at all, maintaining their poker-face smiles and listening silently.

"..."

This overly cold reaction made Kimura Goro's eyes twitch slightly...

There are clearly so many middle-aged men and women in the audience, who are definitely his "fans of the right age". It is impossible that they have not heard his songs, so why don't they have the expected empathetic reaction?

"The waves are dotted, and the horizon on the other side. The brilliant tomorrow will be brighter than today."

Yuta Hirano walked forward and continued singing with just the right voice.

"The quiet sea, flowing, the light of the night."

"I have collected it, a little panic..."

The other trainees also walked into the lights one by one and sang the song "The Other Side of the Ocean" affectionately...