Chapter 200 The Spirit of Self-Sacrifice

After Zhang Liyuan finished competing against another pair of singers, the next match was between the Blue Shark Band and Liu Shijiu.

Liu Shijiu's ability to have nineteen songs requested in one night clearly demonstrates his talent.

In addition, he had spent many years in nightclubs and had a wealth of stage experience.

Therefore, dealing with him will require some real skill.

According to the draw, the Blue Shark band will perform first this time.

In this kind of competition, the singer who goes first is at a disadvantage.

They suffered from the lack of time.

When a singer performs later, the audience temporarily forgets what the previous singers sang and how well they sang. If the singer who performs later performs well, the audience and judges will focus their impression on the singer who performed later and forget the strengths of the singers who performed earlier.

This is also why the success rate of singers who appeared later in the competition was higher than that of singers who appeared earlier.

The Blue Shark band took the stage.

Liang Liang paused for a moment as he passed Liu Shijiu, and gave Liu Shijiu a meaningful smirk.

The host began the introduction: "Next up is contestant number fifteen, the Blue Shark Band. Today they will be performing a brand new song, 'Hometown.' Please give them a round of applause."

The National Chung Chung Dance Hall is the home ground of the Blue Shark Band, and many of the audience members here are fans of the band. Upon hearing that the Blue Shark Band was going to sing a brand new song today, the applause became even more enthusiastic.

After the band members took their positions, Liang Liang stood in front of the microphone.

"Before I perform on the show, I want to make a statement. This song, 'Hometown,' is from an album that will be released at the end of this month. It's definitely a song that not many people in mainland China have heard! I hope everyone likes and supports it!"

Applause erupted from the audience.

"One more thing, starting from this round of the competition, we will be performing brand new songs, hoping to bring you new excitement!"

A TV station is recording tonight. It would be an idiot not to advertise. Whether they broadcast it or not is the TV station's business, but they still have to say it, since it doesn't cost them any money anyway.

Even if the TV station doesn't broadcast it, the fact that the 500 audience members at the scene knew about it is an intangible benefit. Who knows how many more people will spread the word when they get back?

Even selling just one more album will be profitable.

After saying that, Liang Liang nodded to Liu Yuyong.

Liu Yuyong's guitar began to play, starting with a solo performance.

After an eight-bar solo, other instruments join in.

The setting sun once again illuminated my face.

It reflected my uneasy heart once again.

What place is this?

It remains so desolate.

…

The audience was completely silent, without a single sound.

The judges listened intently to Liang Liang's performance, some with serious expressions and others with faint smiles.

This song may not resonate deeply with young people.

However, it can touch some hidden secrets and memories in the hearts of older people, making it easy for them to find resonance in this group.

The ten judges make up only one-fiftieth of all judges, but they have one-sixth of the votes.

It can be said that this song was specially prepared by Liang Liang for these judges.

However, Liang Liang failed to notice the element of pandering to the judges present.

If he had realized this, he might not have chosen this song.

Trying to please the judges is itself a sign of a lack of confidence.

At Zhang Liyuan's age, she couldn't yet understand some of the meanings the author wanted to convey in the lyrics, but the melody of the song was simply too beautiful.

This is the kind of music that you'll become more and more obsessed with the more you listen to it.

Zhang Liyuan closed her eyes, and to her surprise, she found herself once again entering that state of self-forgetfulness.

It was as if everything around her had disappeared—the hall, the stage, the sky, the sea—had vanished, and the only sound in her ears was Liang Liang's singing…

However, a scene that did not appear in the previous instance of this state appeared.

She "saw" a person, a towering figure, though the "person" was so blurry that her features were indistinct, it still inspired a sense of awe in her.

Zhang Liyuan is not the only one in this room who listens to music with her eyes closed like this.

Zheng Guanglan was one of them.

At this moment, however, he was in a different state of mind. He thought of himself when he was young, and the beautiful figure that was still buried deep in his heart, standing under the setting sun with a radiant face.

That was her dress fluttering in the wind.

That was her gentle, tender nature…

The originally cheerful and carefree Broken Dream and Yi Dian Band began to show less of their laughter when Liu Yuyong started playing his guitar solo.

When Liang Liang sang the first line, "The setting sun shines on my face again," the group fell completely silent, and their expressions became increasingly serious.

These guys from Beijing's elite circles may not do much productive work all day, but they're still quite capable.

They can still tell whether a song is good or bad.

They never expected to hear such an excellent original song here.

The lead singer of the Broken Dreams band was also drawn to this song.

Just as Liang Liang didn't take the Broken Dreams band seriously, Broken Dreams didn't really take Blue Shark seriously either.

After seeing the Blue Shark band perform once at the junior high shopping mall, they thought the Blue Shark band was nothing special and never paid attention to them again.

Including their participation in this competition, they barely watched any of the three performances by the Blue Shark band.

This was the first time they had seen the Blue Shark band perform at their true level.

They were amazed by the musicians' skills and teamwork, the lead singer's voice, and the style of the song.

A light shone in Cai Wanlin's eyes.

Although the style of this song about hometown has many similarities with the style that the Beijing circle is currently playing, the artistic conception seems to be different.

While both are characterized by decadence and debauchery, the songs in this style from the Beijing music circle are shrouded in darkness, empty cries of despair.

Although the song also depicts such an environment, it allows listeners to see sunshine and hear hope, which is the biggest difference between this song and the current popular styles in Beijing's rock scene.

Li Meng, the lead guitarist of the Broken Dreams band, looked at Cai Wanlin with disdain.

"Harvester! You're not actually interested in this kid who hasn't even grown his hair yet, are you? That would be utterly monstrous! You're planning to lay a hand on a teenager?"

"You don't know anything! Don't let his youthful appearance fool you, he has the air of a mature man."

"Nonsense! I didn't see that at all!"

"You're a man, you only know how to look at women, how could you possibly look at men?"

"She's our rival now. If you sleep with her, you'll be the laughingstock of the world."

"Who said I was going to sleep with him? Hey, who do you think you are to make decisions for me? Stay away from me!"

"Damn it, keep your voice down, or you're worried others won't hear you."

"I'm prepared to sacrifice myself to get to know him, to gather information about them, and to prepare for our band to defeat them."

Li Meng's mouth was practically turned to the back of her head.

"Stop with the fancy stuff. Just say you want to sleep with someone. What's the point of all that other stuff? I'm not a kid."

Cai Wanlin chuckled.