Chapter 78: This is What Crazy for Love Truly Is
“Huh? This song?”
“It’s not original?”
“Hahaha, Shen Qing has run out of tricks, he can’t come up with original songs anymore.”
“I said long ago, no one can maintain peak creative state continuously, he will eventually be unable to write new songs.”
“Hilarious! I originally thought Shen Qing would bring out a killer song in the finals, but he only brought out Crazy for Love, as expected, he’s out of inspiration…”
“The championship is definitely Li Yuchun’s.”
“……”
Facing the sarcastic remarks from other fans, the Liangfen fans were powerless to refute.
All along.
Zhang Liangying always dominated with original songs.
Now that it’s suddenly not original, they were a bit unaccustomed to it for a while.
The Liangfen in the studio kept shouting Liangying’s name, cheering her on, but everyone’s heart was uneasy.
Li Lei was the same.
He originally thought Liangying would come up with a killer song and flip the table.
But…
The current situation caught him off guard.
Seeing his wife and sister laughing, he felt uneasy and could only brace himself and say, “Just wait and see, Liangying’s singing skills can definitely handle it, she won’t be worse than Liu Ruoying!”
Sister: “Are you kidding? That’s Liu Ruoying.”
Wife: “Exactly!”
……
Chengdu.
A small bar.
Zhao Lei, 18 years old and having fled Beijing, drifted to Chengdu.
Tonight is the Super Girl finals, and he and a few newly acquainted peers are eating barbecue and drinking beer.
Upon seeing Zhang Liangying appear on television, Lei Zi immediately put down his lamb skewer – as a sign of respect for his goddess!
“Lei Zi, your goddess is here.”
“Why is she singing Liu Ruoying’s Crazy for Love? Did Shen the Talented not write a song for her?”
“This song is difficult to sing. If she can’t sing it with Liu Ruoying’s feel, she might lose a lot of popularity.”
“Choosing this song is too risky, it’s not a good choice.”
“But her outfit tonight is so beautiful, she’s stunning.”
“……”
Zhao Lei nodded and said, “Choosing a song with such a strong personal style is indeed too risky. I don’t think it was Shen Qing’s idea; he wouldn’t make such a mistake, right?”
Another young man said, “I think so too! Shen Qing has always chosen songs very well… This song should have been personally chosen by Zhang Liangying. I feel like she wants to use this song to confess to Shen Qing?”
Zhao Lei laughed and said, “It’s possible! It’s common knowledge that my goddess admires Shen Qing, so confessing on the finals stage is normal.”
After speaking, everyone at the table clinked glasses.
They waited for Zhang Liangying’s performance.
……
A group of judges and directors in the audience, including Hei Nan, He Jiong, Chang Kuan, and Xia Qing, were also discussing amongst themselves.
As musicians, they knew Crazy for Love was popular, but also very difficult to sing.
Hei Nan: “From a technical standpoint, Zhang Liangying should have no problem. The main thing is that feeling; I’m not sure if she can find it.”
Chang Kuan: “Ke Yimin should be able to sing it.”
Ke Yimin: “Oh, forget it. I have no problem with the technique, but I’m really unsure about that feeling of loving someone but not being able to have them.”
He Jiong: “I don’t think choosing this song was a wise decision. I will compare her to Liu Ruoying.”
……
Meanwhile.
The accompaniment music began.
But many people were stunned because this was not the prelude to Crazy for Love they were familiar with; it had a rock feel.
“An arrangement?”
“Yes, it’s an arrangement! I knew Shen Qing still had inspiration, he couldn’t possibly not write new songs.”
“The difficulty of an arrangement is no less than an original song, after all, surpassing Liu Ruoying’s version is too hard.”
“Since Shen Qing is letting Liangying sing this song, he must be confident!”
“Corn and Biqin, speak up!”
“Let us show you what the ceiling of arrangement looks like.”
“……”
Zhao Lei in the small bar was extremely excited.
He clapped vigorously, hoping Zhang Liangying would bring everyone a feast for the ears.
……
In the audience.
Ke Yimin leaned over and said to Hei Nan, “Do you think the arrangement will be successful?”
Hei Nan thought for a moment and nodded, “He changed the lyrical style to rock; it should be a different experience!”
At this moment.
Zhang Liangying raised the microphone, her fair face filled with unwillingness and helplessness, fully entering the performance state.
“I walked in from spring”
“You said we’d part in autumn”
“Said I wouldn’t be sad for you”
“……”
The first few lines were sung similarly to Milk Tea.
Zhang Liangying’s low notes were round and textured; those who liked her vocal would be deeply captivated.
It felt like a rainy morning, with Liangying whispering softly in your ear.
Let alone men, even women couldn’t resist.
It was ticklish and numbing.
Not only that!
Shen Qing had Zhang Liangying incorporate some edge tone techniques, giving it a sense of being close yet far, as if about to depart.
But this was still not enough~
Far from enough!
These few lines still hadn’t surpassed the original singer’s height, merely giving a novel feeling.
To truly compare the strength and weakness of this song, one must wait for the chorus.
Only the chorus~
could truly reveal the charm contained within Crazy for Love.
“Why is it always like this”
“You are deeply hidden in my heart”
“I want to ask you”
“If you want”
“To stay with me until the end of time”
“If love is this sorrowful”
“……”
Singing to this point, Liangying’s voice rose a notch, with a few clever embellishments, and the rhythm also quickened.
It was clearly audible that the emotion had risen a level, like the eve of a storm, finally finding an outlet for emotional release.
Liu Ruoying, in her rendition of this section, evoked a scene of standing by the window with a glass of red wine, slowly reminiscing about the past.
Her emotions were calm, not passionate, giving a sense of having experienced it before.
Including the subsequent chorus, Liu Ruoying conveyed a sense of gentle narration, as if they had been separated for a long time.
No wonder her master Chen Sheng made her record it for three years; perhaps Liu Ruoying lacked the torn emotion of a recent breakup or a struggle that he desired.
It should be known that Chen Sheng was a very infectious singer. For example, in his “Leave the Sadness to Myself,” the emotion was so intense that one could instantly be drawn into the song’s intended mood.
As for Chen Sheng, he would likely prefer Zhang Liangying’s version.
Some might say: I just like Liu Ruoying’s singing!
In reality, they more often liked Liu Ruoying’s voice; Liu Ruoying’s timbre was unique, a mezzo-soprano with a very rich texture.
“Day and night I ask you, but you don’t answer”
“How did you become like this”
“……”
When she reached the two lines before the chorus, Zhang Liangying’s emotions were almost uncontrollable. She stared in Shen Qing’s direction, her gaze fervent, her emotions genuine.
As listeners, everyone could feel Liangying’s emotions.
Not just from her expression and actions.
Even with their eyes closed, they could hear the inner universe about to erupt within Liangying.
“I want to hear the next line!!”
“Here it comes, the climax is here, success or failure depends on this line.”
“God, I’m so nervous.”
“Look at Liangying quickly, she looks like she’s about to cry.”
“Is this genius? She uses emotion so powerfully.”
“I just realized, Liu Ruoying’s emotion during this part was too calm, not at all like the song title ‘Crazy for Love.’ Liangying is truly crazy!”
“……”
A four-second pause, far from being abrupt, instead heightened everyone’s anticipation.
Fans, hosts, contestants, judges, directors, and even Wang Peng, the general manager of Tianyu standing by the director’s window, were all anticipating the upcoming explosion.
Wang Peng: Damn it, I shouldn’t get excited, fuck!
Liu Ruoying’s handling of this part was only a two-second pause before starting the chorus.
If her emotional release value in the verse was 3, then the chorus was probably only 6.
But Zhang Liangying indeed rose from 4 to 8.
In an instant, she stirred up the audience.
This was the advantage of adapting from a lyrical style to rock; rock emphasized the intensity of emotional release more.
“I want to ask if you dare~”
“To love me as you said you would~”
Power vocal!
Screaming vocal!
C5 strong mix, improvised key change in the outro, passionate shouts… perfectly demonstrating the courage to go all out for love!
Just one sentence made one’s scalp tingle. If there were a turning mechanism, the judges should have turned collectively at this moment.
The Liangfen were completely shocked.
Then, immense joy surged into their hearts.
Just now, they were still worried about the arrangement not being successful, but now, that anxiety was completely gone.
What is a benchmark for arrangement?
This is the standard answer!
All the viewers in front of the screen, including Liangfen, Biqin, and Corn, had almost the same expression: amazement!
“How can Liangying’s small body unleash such immense power?”
“Oh my god, did Shen Qing break up with Liangying? Otherwise, why is she so heartbroken…”
“Nonsense, Shen Qing is right there in the audience.”
“Brothers, don’t forget to vote, we must make Liangying the champion.”
“Definitely voting for Liangying!”
“……”
At this very moment.
Li Lei could finally speak loudly. He excitedly ran around the living room.
Because Zhang Liangying’s current performance was enough to crush Zhou Bichang and Li Yuchun, causing his wife and sister to look annoyed: What are you showing off about?!
“Of course, I’m showing off!”
“After Liangying finishes singing, her vote count will definitely skyrocket. I’ll have Xiao Wang keep a close eye on the data!!”
Li Lei said excitedly.
……
“I want to ask if you dare!”
“To be crazy for love like I said!”
“I want to ask if you dare…”
“To love me as you said you would”
“……”
The final embellishment on the words ‘love me’ completely drove the fans wild.
At this point, they were completely certain that Zhang Liangying’s version was in no way inferior to Liu Ruoying’s.
For some people, they already felt that Zhang Liangying’s performance had surpassed Milk Tea.
Zhao Lei was one of them.
Having become a rock fan, he had completely become a fanboy of Zhang Liangying!
No, that’s not right!
Zhao Lei had completely become a fanboy of Shen Qing and Zhang Liangying.
“If only I could write songs like this, Shen Qing is too amazing!”
“I really want to find Shen Qing to be my master!!!”
“……”
Zhao Lei thought excitedly.
He thought Zhang Liangying’s emotion had reached its peak, but in the subsequent performance, the emotion escalated again.
This was the advantage of a high-note singer!
They could pull out emotions through high notes, level by level, that mid-to-low-note singers couldn’t achieve.
“Strong!”
“Too strong.”
“If Liangying isn’t the champion, I’ll eat my shit standing on my head.”
“Xiao Wang, has Liangying’s vote count increased?”
“Hahaha, it’s skyrocketing?”
“Good, good, good, Xiao Wang, thank you for your hard work, I’ll treat you to KFC tomorrow…”
……
On stage.
Zhang Liangying finished the last line, tears blurring her eyes. She covered her eyes, trying hard to calm her emotions.
Li Xiang quickly handed her a tissue.
At this moment, the entire venue was silent.
He Jiong murmured, “Is ‘genius on the Super Girl stage’ just the threshold for seeing her? This gap is despair-inducing. Will the championship still be Li Yuchun’s? Will Wang Peng still interfere forcefully?”
Thinking of this.
He Jiong turned to look in the direction of the director’s room.
Wang Peng was there…
