Chapter 11: 011: I’ll Comment First
The scene fell silent.
For about three seconds, no one spoke.
However, soon, warm applause erupted from the audience, and a few loud-voiced spectators directly shouted.
“Beautiful!”
“Zhang Liangying, you’re amazing.”
“Release a ringtone!”
“…”
At this moment, Wang Han, holding the microphone, stood in a corner of the stage, his mouth agape the entire time, as if he had forgotten what he was supposed to do.
Astonishment!
Surprise!
Amazing!
The director below the stage reacted the fastest. He frantically reminded Wang Han through his earpiece, “Wang Han, speak quickly, speak quickly…”
Wang Han then snapped back to reality.
He quickly walked to Zhang Liangying’s side and put on an even more surprised and expressive face.
“Wow…”
“Beautiful, spectacular.”
“Super Girl has been on air for three months, and you’re the first contestant to make me forget my hosting duties, haha…”
“No, I can’t evaluate your song. Come… let’s leave it to our five professional judges here to see what they have to say.”
Wang Han’s performance was enough to explain everything.
Zhang Liangying’s performance tonight completely outshone the 18 people who had already sung. With her near-perfect vocals, emotion, and expression, she presented the best effect of the thing.
In those few short minutes, everyone seemed to have experienced a love so sweet it could make you wake up smiling in your dreams.
“I’ll comment first!”
Hei Nan stood up directly.
“I originally thought you were just a contestant with a decent voice. In the first two rounds, I didn’t notice any other special qualities about you.”
“But today, you’ve made me see you in a new light.”
“Your attire, your state of emotion, your lyrics and song, every aspect was refreshing.”
“It’s not that your singing skills are flawless, but rather that your performance today gave a very comfortable feeling.”
“Let me think how to describe it…”
“Right, when I listened to you sing, I felt like you were a very sweet, very cute, and very well-bred young lady from a wealthy family. You weren’t singing; you were acting spoiled towards me, as if to say, ‘If you don’t apologize, this young lady will kick you away…'”
Yes! That’s the feeling!
Listening to this song is like being in love with a young lady.
Shen Qing, who wrote this song, is amazing.
Hei Nan voiced the thoughts of many people.
This was the first time he had given such high praise.
Anyone who watched the 2005 competition knows that Hei Nan was the most professionally capable and strictest judge among them all.
In his previous life, he chose to withdraw voluntarily due to some ‘behind-the-scenes’ selections—because he couldn’t control the fate of the contestants.
At that time, many contestants who shouldn’t have been eliminated, or who shouldn’t have advanced, were eliminated or managed to scrape by due to the competition system and interference from certain companies.
His admiration now made the other contestants feel immense apprehension!
Those waiting backstage, especially those with some skill like Ji Minjia, Ye Yiqian, and Lin Shuang, were all overcome with a sense of powerlessness.
For example, Ji Minjia originally wanted to win the Hangzhou Division championship and directly advance to the Top Ten in the national finals, but now she had changed her strategy.
“Contest for champion, secure runner-up!”
“Zhang Liangying’s strength is far greater than mine…”
…
At this moment.
After Hei Nan’s critique, Zhang Liangying’s anxious emotions finally stabilized.
She took a deep look at the young boy standing in the last row of the auditorium; it seemed that as long as that person was there, she had courage.
Shen Qing also looked at her and nodded slightly.
Zhang Liangying smiled happily.
Then, she took a deep breath and bowed to Hei Nan, “Thank you, Teacher.”
Cheers erupted from the audience again.
And in countless homes invisible to Zhang Liangying, similar scenes that made her happy were unfolding; many people had directly become fans.
As for her original fans, they were even more excited!
They were all exclaiming:
The Liangying I support is actually this strong? No, her friend Shen Qing is the real god; the songs he writes are too amazing. Keep up the good work writing!
…
Sichuan.
Her mother, Zhang Guiying, and relatives raised their glasses in celebration.
Although they knew Zhang Liangying had been a good singer since childhood, her performance today still made them see her in a new light.
“Liangying sang so well.”
“Sister is amazing, she can definitely win the championship.”
“Haha, I knew that kid Shen Qing was capable, very talented. With his help, Xiao Ying might even win a championship.”
“Guiying, when Liangying wins the championship again, she’ll also bring you back a son-in-law. You’ll have to prepare for the wedding banquet in advance.”
“Hahaha…”
…
The next judge’s critique.
Ke Yimin and Zhang Lu spoke at the same time.
But Ke Yimin’s voice was louder.
Zhang Lu looked slightly surprised. He saw that Ke Yimin’s expression wasn’t very good and gave an awkward smile, “Ladies first.”
Ke Yimin smiled slightly and said indifferently, “You sang okay, but I think it was a bit awkward, you…”
As soon as she uttered her first two sentences, Zhang Lu and Hei Nan both turned their heads, their faces filled with disbelief.
What the—
Awkward? What are you talking about?
She sang quite well, didn’t she?
Zhang Lu cursed inwardly and directly interrupted Ke Yimin.
Moreover, he said loudly, without any pretense, “You sang well! Zhang Liangying, you are the contestant I admire most tonight, absolutely fantastic, you could release an album…”
Ke Yimin’s expression showed anger, but she didn’t dare to confront Zhang Lu. She smiled faintly and leaned back in her chair, saying no more.
Later, Hei Nan offered some more comments.
The other two judges, Zhang Yang and Wu Huiwen, also expressed their opinions, all praising Zhang Liangying.
Ke Yimin became the clown.
Meanwhile.
Shen Qing stood with his arms crossed, his expression displeased.
A scene flashed in his mind:
In the previous life, Ke Yimin said similarly harsh words to Zhang Liangying during the Top Ten qualifying round of the national finals. Furthermore, throughout the several rounds of the finals, Ke Yimin never cast a single vote for Zhang Liangying.
This woman was clearly targeting Zhang Liangying.
In the first round of the Top Ten competition, she voted for Huang Yali, a contestant of mediocre ability, and not for Zhang Liangying, who was a ‘dimensional strike’.
At that time, only Hei Nan voted for Zhang Liangying.
All of Zhang Liangying’s fans knew about this incident.
The fans speculated: Ke Yimin graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in the UK, but her singing was not as good as Zhang Liangying’s, so she was very jealous.
It was highly likely.
This woman’s jealousy was quite strong.
Tonight, Zhang Liangying’s song received thunderous applause from the entire venue, and she must have been unhappy—’Why is a small contestant like you singing better than me?’
Some people are just like that.
—When she is a judge, you can sing poorly, or be very eccentric, or even talk back to her, and she will still generously offer guidance.
—However, when you sing better than her, she finds it hard to accept. It’s more unbearable than killing her to lose face.
Ke Yimin was likely this type of person.
Zhang Liangying felt very wronged, but with the constant comfort and praise from Hei Nan, Zhang Lu, and the other two, her mood improved slightly.
Zhang Liangying waved her hand and stepped off the stage.
Shen Qing immediately called out to five fans and four male university students, shouting loudly, “Liangying, Liangying, beautiful voice Liangying, go!”
Seeing Shen Qing jumping around, Zhang Liangying chuckled and waved at him before standing aside to wait for the last contestant to appear.
