Several of the mentors exchanged looks with one another. They finally met an interesting one.
His appearance was pretty good, and there were a multitude of gimmicks and effects that could be used during the editing process. At this moment, all he had to do was showcase his talent… Hopefully, he was not tone-deaf or had severely uncoordinated limbs. If his performance turned out to be awful, the pleasant atmosphere that had been created earlier would be destroyed in an instant.
Stage presence was equally as important for a talent show.1The actual word was charm, but stage presence made more sense
A good performance can raise a person’s face value from seven to nine points on the spot. This was the so-called “charm factor”.
You can charm your way in the industry through looks. However, if you really want to gain an audience of die-hard fans, you must have a strong stage presence and the ability to perform exceptionally well. There were so many other good-looking people out there otherwise, and their temporary liking for you might end up getting snatched away by them instead.
Producer Cui Zhihao flipped through his form to see what song he would be performing, and he couldn’t help but feel slightly dumbfounded when he saw it. The overall feeling that Qin Lu gave him right now was very good, just that he was a little nervous when going on stage, but that was understandable.
How could he choose such a song?
The song he chose was fast-paced and very challenging to perform. It was actually of the heavy metal genre. Although it enjoyed a high degree of popularity, it was clearly difficult for Qin Lu, who had never received professional training before, to perform.
In the end, Cui Zhihao was not allowed to intervene with the contestants’ choices even if he disagreed with them. Just as he was about to prompt Qin Lu to start, he saw him smile with embarrassment and, at the last minute, ask if he could change the song he was going to perform.
For Cui Zhihao, who had a good impression of Qin Lu, this was good news, and he let out a sigh of relief when he heard his question. He nodded, “Of course, the choice is yours. However, we won’t have a suitable backing track if you change it. Is that alright?”
Qin Lu nodded.
Cui Zhihao smiled, “If that’s the case, please officially start your performance now.”
Qin Lu exhaled softly.
The original owner planned to perform a song that required both singing and dancing. Except after digging through his memories, he simply could not bear the sight of the dance steps that were comparable to something an elementary student would do, along with the childish singing required. Even if Qin Lu was forced to copy it, it would be impossible for him to do so in such a short period of time.
Most importantly, Qin Lu had never heard of the original song.
Rather than continuing on while knowing it was a recipe for disaster, Qin Lu chose to change the song of choice at the last minute.
The songs he knew weren’t much as most of his contacts in his past life were from the film industry. When he was busy, he didn’t have time to listen, and when he was free, he didn’t think of listening to music. He wasn’t very familiar with talent shows.
It was pretty hard for him to think of a song that was both presentable and one that he could sing with confidence.
He decided to sing an old friend’s song. This singer-friend of his, who didn’t make it big, only had one hit song in 10 years. It was sung so often that his ears were almost going to grow blisters from it.
The light fell on him, and Qin Lu relaxed.
He closed his eyes. The scene was very quiet, and only the sound of his breathing could be heard from the microphone, along with a faint humming sound.
A light-hearted melody drifted in the studio.
The summer wind blew past the treetops. In the blink of an eye, winter and spring have passed
Like the unraveling of fireworks in the sky, the withered cherry blossom branches bloom once again
The sun rises and sets as the days go on
On the east side, its presence had long graced the skies
As time comes and goes, the moon still hangs in the heavens amidst the amber hue of dusk
The path that we’ve once walked through together
Beneath the old locust tree’s bark, the cycles of life are hidden
Winter comes and goes again
All changes leave traces in time, yet it seems they never even existed before
In the darkness of shadows, there is light
The memories we’ve made of those days, are both futile and worthwhile. Existing to remind us of a past we can never go back to
Their traces linger and remain unforgotten
Vocal mentor, Lai Yuhan, was a little surprised. Truthfully speaking, Qin Lu’s singing was not that outstanding, and he could even hear some obvious flaws in it. However, his vocal tone was very pleasant to listen to, and he had a good foundation.
The reason why he was a little surprised was because Qin Lu’s song had something many trainees with good vocals lacked in. It was also the thing that was the most important in ensuring a song was sung well.
That thing was emotion.
As far as talent and skills went, they could always be developed over time. But the songs that the people loved had one thing in common — they were stories. Tales of the listeners that resonated with each beat of their heart.
It was difficult for the people present to describe what kind of feeling they were experiencing. It was as though the attention that was placed on finishing their singing and performance had been stripped away, only leaving them completely moved.
Producer Cui Zhihao was the only one who didn’t have any knowledge on vocal techniques among the four mentors. The first thought he had was that it sounded nice.
He was not able to specify which part sounded nice or why it sounded nice, but the viewers may not necessarily all be professionals. Most people would just judge whether something sounded nice based on their own standards.
In this regard, although Qin Lu’s performance wasn’t considered outstanding, it was by no means awful.
But because Qin Lu did not dance at all, his final grade was C after a comprehensive evaluation from the four mentors.
Qin Lu had no objections to this result at all. In fact, he believes that he had only received this grade due to the mentors giving him more ‘impression points’. If not, getting a D or even an F would not be surprising to him.
When he was about to walk off the stage after bowing, mentor Lai Yuhan suddenly stopped him.
This good-natured mentor looked a little curious, “What was the name of the song you sang just now? I don’t think I’ve heard it before.”
Qin Lu was taken aback. After some time, he reacted. This was the first time he had been stuck in his thoughts.
The song he sang was so popular in the country to the extent that merely singing a few lines would trigger an entire crowd to sing along. Yet Lai Yuhan, who was a vocal mentor and professional singer, had never heard of the song before?
His fingers subconsciously clenched as if he had suddenly realized something. Then, he slowly relaxed again.
Qin Lu grew silent for a few seconds before he smiled, his eyes curving, “It’s only normal that you haven’t heard it before. This is a song written by my friend just yesterday called《Orbit》. He wanted to let me sing the song he wrote for my first performance on stage, so I had to change my song of choice just now.”
Lai Yuhan showed a look of realization, “Ah, so it’s like this. It’s no wonder then.”
He had also seemingly wanted to ask about Qin Lu’s songwriter-friend, but Qin Lu had immediately left the stage and returned to his seat after bowing politely. Seeing that he probably didn’t want to reveal anything else, the good-natured Lai Yuhan didn’t insist on it further.
The trainee originally sitting beside Qin Lu had gone backstage to prepare. He needed to quickly make use of this time to sort out his pre-existing memories.
Just like what he had thought, although this world was extremely similar to the one he had lived in previously, it was simply a carbon copy. There were many people and events that didn’t overlap.
The youngest film emperor Qin Lu has never existed in this world. Instead, there was only the high-schooler Qin Lu, who was a completely different person with the same name and surname as him.
He didn’t know the reason why the original owner was replaced, whether he was dead, or if he had also been like him and went to a different place, maybe even replacing the previous him.
Qin Lu’s life in the original world wasn’t smooth sailing. He lost both of his parents to an accident when he was 19 and stopped studying after this big blow. After being dispirited for two years, he wanted to bounce back, but he ran into brick walls everywhere because he only had a high-school education. He could not find a good job and could only do all kinds of odd jobs.
A chance encounter led to him being introduced to the film industry, and he played as an extra. After putting down his pride and working as an extra for a year, the opportunity to change his fate finally came.
A small supporting actor who only had three lines couldn’t make it due to an emergency. He was selected as a stand-in due to his above-average looks. After changing into the costume and getting in front of the camera, he gained the assistant director’s favor. Through their recommendation, he managed to get a supporting role with more lines.
And just like that, he climbed to the top step by step. Despite the countless setbacks he had experienced along the way, the public was only able to see and remember his luxurious celebrity lifestyle.
In comparison, this world’s Qin Lu had it much better from what he had seen in his memories.
He had a happy family with loving parents, and they did not need to worry about their financial situation. Although they weren’t rich, they could at least allow Qin Lu’s sister, Qin Yihan, to comfortably and boldly snatch up concert tickets that cost at least four digits.
It’s just that Qin Yihan was an unlucky person, and she could not get the tickets even if she had the money. Because of her constant bawling in the middle of the night, she would often get chased around with a broom by her mother, who would be sporting panda eyes.
The original owner was someone with both merits and shortcomings. His academic achievements were outstanding, but he was very vain. Despite being friendly and amicable on the surface, he was actually uncompassionate. He had his own purposes for every little thing he did, and if he was being good to someone, he would always ask for something in return.
The original owner displayed a surprising amount of selfishness toward many things for someone his age. He also went behind the backs of his rivals and created many unseen stumbling blocks for them, but because he was good at pretense, he had never been discovered.
Although he could not be considered a bad person, he also was not as perfect as he seemed.
“Sorry, excuse me.” A boy unknowingly appeared in front of Qin Lu just when he was lost in thought. His hair was dyed a light gold color, and the earrings on his side flashed in silver under the bright light.
“Ah, yes.” Qin Lu responded by leaning away slightly. The boy was very skinny and passed by without a problem. He took a seat beside Qin Lu.
The other party seemed to be a person of few words. Qin Lu inadvertently saw that his stage outfit was labeled with a ‘B’ on it. He should be someone pretty talented, but Qin Lu didn’t manage to watch his performance as he was too busy sorting his memories out just now.
He set his eyes on the stage again. The person who was currently doing a self-introduction was a trainee from Starlight Entertainment.
