Chapter 41: A Cruel Competition
“Welcome back, you are now watching – the live broadcast of the first match of the 2005 Mengniu Yogurt Drink Super Girl Top Ten qualifiers.”
“Next, the remaining 9 contestants will be divided into three groups, and each contestant has the possibility to advance, of course, the decision rests with us judges.”
“You can take this opportunity to send text messages to support your favorite contestants. It might be a difference of one vote that decides whether a contestant stays or goes.”
“Please welcome the first group of contestants to perform.”
…
Li Xiang spoke for half a minute straight.
Wang Han, standing beside her, was like a raw recruit, completely unable to get a word in edgewise.
Where was the commanding presence he had when hosting the Hangzhou Division?
Shen Qing, watching from the audience, was sweating for Wang Han, “So Wang Han’s hosting skills were just average when he was young…”
At the same time.
The first contestant appeared, Li Na, the third place winner from the Guangzhou Division. She performed Penny Tai’s 《Wait for You Come Back》.
This song has a country-rock style, which suits Li Na’s image. She is also a more neutral-style girl.
Short hair + T-shirt + shorts, with a black apron-like decoration tied around her waist, her outfit was very hip-hop and dynamic.
Throughout the entire performance, her stage presence was very good.
Graceful and poised.
Quite cool.
However, her singing voice wasn’t very relaxed; her throat felt a bit tight, as if something was stuck in it.
It lacked a bit of the country-rock flavor.
…
The second performer was Guo Huimin from the Zhengzhou Division. She performed Su Rui’s 《Heartache Feeling》.
This contestant didn’t have much of a distinctive feature.
She wasn’t neutral in style, nor did she go for a sweet route. Her singing skills were also just average.
Two words to describe her: bland.
This type of contestant is easily eliminated.
The third performer was He Jie from the Chengdu Division. As soon as she appeared, the applause from the audience was significantly louder than for the previous two.
This was enough to show her popularity.
He Jie performed A-Mei’s 《Maybe Tomorrow》, and she even made a slight adaptation to the original song.
“Once I indulged and enjoyed, in the end, there was nowhere to escape.”
“The more heartache, the happier I am; the more I want to be happy, the lonelier I am.”
“Maybe tomorrow.”
“There is no one.”
…
Shen Qing listened for a while and nodded silently.
He Jie truly lived up to her reputation as a contestant from the Chengdu Division.
Her skill was not bad.
Her performance was very powerful, with waves of sound crashing over like a tidal wave, leaving a profound impact.
To be honest, purely based on this song, she sang it better than A-Mei.
However, it was still far inferior to Yao Beina’s version, which indicated that Yao Beina’s skill was still stronger than He Jie’s.
He Jie had a very obvious problem: she couldn’t hit the continuous high notes, the reason being her technique was a bit lacking.
She used her throat to produce high notes.
Continuous exhalation + high-frequency vocal cord vibration, she couldn’t sustain it for long, leading to her inability to hit high notes.
Moreover.
Hei Nan pointed out incisively during his critique, “If you continue to use your throat to sing high notes, you might develop vocal cord problems in the future.”
Afterwards.
Ke Yimin provided a correct demonstration for He Jie, teaching her how to overcome high notes by “transitioning from chest voice to head voice.”
Chest voice is sound produced by the vibration of the chest cavity. Its vibration frequency is lower, making it more powerful and resonant. Its pitch is not very high, making it suitable for singing in the mid to low range.
Head voice is formed by the combined effort of head muscles and vocal cords. The vocal cords are almost completely closed, and the vibration frequency is high. The pitch is also higher, and it is easier to control, making it suitable for singing in the high range.
Many accomplished singers, such as Zhang Liangying, Tan Weiwei, Shan Yichun, and Han Hong, are very proficient in singing with head voice.
Some might say, if you can’t hit high notes, you can use falsetto!
But falsetto is actually a type of head voice – when head voice is sung with breathiness （the vocal cords are not completely closed）, airflow passes through the vocal cord gap, causing the vocal cords to vibrate, producing falsetto.
Falsetto is difficult to control for extended periods, as one cannot continuously let air escape.
Therefore, people who sing falsetto often find themselves running out of breath.
After critiquing He Jie, all three contestants in this group had finished performing.
If all three judges vote for the same contestant, that contestant will advance; otherwise, no one will advance.
In the end, Ke Yimin voted for Li Na, while Hei Nan and Xia Qing voted for He Jie, resulting in no direct advancement.
All three contestants were put on standby collectively.
…
The second group.
The performers were Ye Yiqian from the Hangzhou Division, Feng Jiamei from the Chengdu Division, and Huang Yali from the Changsha Division.
If Zhang Liangying had gone to the Chengdu Division, Feng Jiamei wouldn’t have had a chance to compete, as she was fourth place in the Chengdu Division that year.
In that year’s Chengdu competition, there were two contestants with very good looks: Feng Jiamei and Chen Xibei.
Feng Jiamei, in particular, had very good singing skills.
However, in the fiercely competitive Chengdu Division that year, even someone as strong as her couldn’t secure a spot in the National Competition.
After Super Girl, she remained active in the entertainment circle.
In 2011, she married a wealthy young man and had a daughter, but her daughter passed away at the age of two. She divorced shortly after and never remarried.
…
Feng Jiamei was the first to perform, singing A-Mei’s 《Dancing Alone》. Her singing was fine, but her styling was a bit outrageous.
A young girl, sporting a frizzy hairstyle that even grandmothers would find old-fashioned, who was she trying to impress…
Shen Qing shook his head in disbelief.
Even the highest looks couldn’t save her hairstyle. No wonder she couldn’t beat He Jie in the Chengdu Division and ended up in third place.
Afterwards.
Ye Yiqian sang Coco Lee’s 《True Lover》. She really liked Li Wen, having sung several of Coco’s songs already.
But…
Her performance was very ordinary, relying solely on her looks to carry it. It lacked the power and charisma of the contestant from the preliminary selection.
As for Huang Yali from the Changsha Division, the last performer, she sang the theme song 《Wolf of the Moon》 from the 2005 drama “Chinese Paladin.”
This song can be considered Huang Yali’s breakout hit.
Even many years later, videos of her performing 《Wolf of the Moon》 were still being replayed on major video platforms.
Her outfit was quite cool, and for 2005, it was somewhat trendy. Shen Qing also found it quite appealing.
“To be born is to prove.”
“The trace of love’s existence.”
“A greater life after burning.”
“To kill is to sing of.”
“The magnificence before destruction.”
…
In this group of three contestants, no one advanced directly either.
The last group.
Yi Hui from the Guangzhou Division performed Landy Wen’s 《Blue Rain》.
This song was written by Fang Wenshan and arranged by Lin Maike, both long-time collaborators of Jay Chou.
Of course.
It also sounded very much like Jay Chou’s style.
The second performer, She Manna from the Changsha Division, sang the theme song from “The Legend of Mermaid.”
Many people said her skills were not good…
The third performer was Ji Minjia from the Hangzhou Division, who sang Phoenix Legend’s 《Moon Over the Ninth Heaven》, showcasing her expected level of performance.
In this group, no one advanced directly either.
…
Since no one advanced, the judges had to pick the best among the rest.
All nine contestants stood on stage.
Awaiting the final verdict.
Among them.
Three people could advance directly to the next elimination round, three were on standby （temporarily safe）, and three would enter a PK round, with one being eliminated.
Ultimately, the three who advanced directly to the Top 12 were He Jie, Huang Yali, and Ji Minjia.
The skill level of these three was indeed the highest.
At this moment, the judges’ eyes were not blinded by Tianyu’s ‘big dates,’ and they selected the most suitable contestants.
The three temporarily safe contestants were Ye Yiqian, Feng Jiamei, and Li Na.
The three contestants who would PK were She Manna, Guo Huimin, and Yi Hui, one of whom would be eliminated.
After a round of campaigning performances, based on audience votes, Yi Hui received 9896 votes, She Manna received 2906 votes, and Guo Huimin received 2393 votes.
Guo Huimin from the Zhengzhou Division was eliminated.
The two contestants eliminated in the first two rounds were both from the Zhengzhou Division. Could it be that people from Henan couldn’t handle Changsha’s chili peppers?
…
Now there were only five contestants on standby. They would perform a duet with the champion of their respective divisions to make their final appeal for votes.
However, since the second and third place winners from the Zhengzhou Division had already been eliminated, this round featured two contestants from the Guangzhou Division: Yi Hui and Li Na.
One of them would perform a duet with Zhu Yan, the champion of the Zhengzhou Division.
At this moment.
Ye Yiqian looked at Zhang Liangying with expectant eyes.
Whether she sang well or not depended entirely on whether Zhang Liangying would give her face. She muttered to herself, “Liangying, help me out. Don’t sing too fiercely, or it will make me look bad.”
