As the competition drew near, a group of fans had gathered outside the TV station to show their support. Most of them were celebrity guests invited by the program team, while others were fans of the TV Queen supporting her beloved daughter, and... there was also a snack caravan brought by Jiang Cancan's wealthy fans.
On the tacky advertising truck's electronic screen, one side played clips of Jiang Cancan's competition, while the other side was frozen on a vote-getting page with a huge QR code that was clearly visible even from across the street!
The back of the caravan was open and filled with all kinds of snacks, drinks, ice cream, etc. As long as you scan the code to vote for Jiang Cancan, you can redeem a snack or drink on the spot.
This shameless vote-soliciting behavior almost drove the fans of the Best Actress to their wits' end!
They're currently campaigning for their little princess in various fan groups and on Weibo, relying entirely on the power of their own fans. Unexpectedly, their rivals have taken a step further and are directly targeting casual observers!
The key is that this is right in the bustling downtown area, with people coming and going. Passersby are too lazy to look for vending machines, and they just happen to see a caravan where you can redeem drinks and ice cream for free. All you have to do is scan the code and vote. It's that simple. So what are you waiting for?
The caravan quickly became the focus of attention on the street, with many people queuing up to redeem drinks. Jiang Cancan leaned on the balcony, staring longingly, her mouth practically watering.
Those snacks, drinks, and ice cream are all her favorites. Her fans even did an online survey before, and she borrowed Jiang Xia's phone to vote.
Unexpectedly, the survey wasn't for her, but for a fan support event—meaning Jiang Cancan cast her vote with high hopes, thinking all the snacks were for her.
Unexpectedly, the snacks, drinks, and ice cream that the fans bought ended up being given to passersby.
Although it was also to garner votes for her, it almost made Jiang cry. o(╥﹏╥)o
Compared to the other female contestants who have entered puberty and need to strictly control their diet, Jiang Cancan's meals can be described as plentiful.
Aside from unhealthy junk food and fattening chocolate drinks, milk tea, cakes, etc., the newly appointed agent, Uncle Zhou, can basically ensure that the nutritionist will not make her go hungry every day.
Being a celebrity is so pitiful! They can't eat this! They can't eat that!
If it weren't for poverty, Jiang Cancan would have gone on strike long ago.
Chapter 94
On the day of the finals, J Province TV station achieved the rare feat of ranking first in local TV ratings during the same time slot.
Moreover, he was in first place by a wide margin, beating the second place by a full two points!
The station leaders were laughing so hard their eyes almost disappeared. Even Zhou Mingxing, who was usually not very obedient, couldn't help but praise him for his discerning eye.
Absolutely! If Zhou Mingxing hadn't discovered Wei Sheng, this gem, Wei Sheng wouldn't have participated in this show, and Jiang Cancan, this little gem, wouldn't have been discovered as well...
If you do the math, Zhou Mingxing has single-handedly created three money-making machines; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he has a keen eye for talent.
Hearing the deafening cheers from the audience, the contestants backstage couldn't help but feel nervous.
This is the first time that the provincial TV station has rented a large sports venue to host such a large-scale event since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the advertising fees from sponsors alone have brought in hundreds of millions of yuan!
In addition to revenue from on-site ticket sales, there are also mid-stream commercials during the live TV broadcast, sales of live streams and copyrights through partnerships with several video platforms, various merchandise albums, and so on...
This program, which was initially positioned as "promoting positive energy," unexpectedly became a hit due to its down-to-earth style of focusing on the competition and avoiding scandals. It brought the TV station economic benefits that even they dared not imagine, which was something no one expected.
This was something that none of the mentors and guests had expected.
The mentors initially thought it would be a regular singing competition judging session. Their appearance fees are fixed, usually only a few tens of thousands of yuan per session.
However, as the show became a huge hit, countless sponsors flocked to the production team with money to collaborate, and the appearance fees of the (poor) mentors also skyrocketed.
Although they had already signed a contract with the production team that prevented them from raising their prices, their value for other variety shows that they took on afterward increased more than fivefold.
While the mentors may have only had a few sips of broth, the guests actually got to eat meat with the production team.
Besides appearance fees, celebrities can also get endorsement deals!
Moreover, since they are all regular guests on the show, even more sponsors are seeking them out for endorsements.
Especially Wei Sheng, because of his connection with Jiang Cancan, a popular contestant on the show, countless sponsors wanted to talk to him and Jiang Cancan, this "temporary brother and sister," to film commercials for them.
Zhou Mingxing is so shrewd; he didn't refuse any of them, but he also didn't give any definite answers, only telling them to wait a little longer.
The reason given was that Jiang Cancan had not yet officially signed a contract with the company, making it inconvenient to go through the contract process.
Faced with the shrewd and cunning Zhou Mingxing, the major sponsors could only grit their teeth and curse him inwardly:
What? Not signed yet? If not signed, how can you, a top agent, be following that young girl around like a shadow?
Running around doing everything, serving her with even more care than her own daughter?
Isn't it just waiting for the finals to end so that if Jiang Cancan wins the championship, they can negotiate a good price?
No, thinking about it carefully, it would be fine if she really won the championship. But with Jiang Cancan's current popularity, if the little girl really loses the championship because of capital interference or something, wouldn't her group of rich fans be devastated?
If that's the case, Jiang Cancan's endorsement fee will probably be higher than if she won the championship!
After all, the little girl has already lost the crown that should have been hers. She's so pitiful. Are we just going to watch her not be able to sell any endorsements?
When the fans put in their effort, the money will come in.
That must be it!
Zhou Mingxing, that money-grubbing monster, must have calculated that regardless of winning or losing the final, Jiang Cancan's value would rise accordingly after the final, which is why he declined to confirm the endorsement.
With such excitement and trepidation, the sponsors were even more concerned about the finals than the fans themselves.
I don't know what connections the Best Actress winner made, but the scoring rules for the finals were actually changed!
The program claimed it was to "more comprehensively assess the trainees," but in reality, it added a "100-person scoring panel," recruiting a group of music majors from various music academies and then randomly selecting 100 people to participate in online scoring.
As for why no scoring team was arranged to come to the site? Hehe~ only heaven knows.
In short, when Zhou Mingxing saw that Jiang Cancan, who came in second, got a total score of 9.36, he felt a mix of emotions.
He knew that this score was already high, but not by a wide margin. If Jian Ni scored just a little higher, not only would the championship be within his grasp, but because the scores of the champion and runner-up were so close, Jiang Cancan's fans would have no evidence to support their dissatisfaction.
As expected! The third performer, Jian Ni, not only had an old friend of the TV Queen—an internationally renowned violinist—personally accompany her on stage, but even the stage design was visibly much higher-class than Jiang Cancan's.
This is where the inside story of live performances can be revealed. The stage effects rely on both auditory and visual senses, especially since Jian Ni has grown into a beautiful young woman, completely different from Jiang Cancan's simple and innocent stage presence.
Putting aside the biases of the competitors, even Zhou Mingxing had to admit that Jian Ni in the finals radiated the aura of a champion...
"Let's see Jian Ni's final score... Congratulations Jian Ni! 9.39 points! Wow! She's almost 0.03 points behind Can Can! Now let's welcome the last contestant..."
The host was still reading the sponsor's advertising slogans with great enthusiasm on stage, but the audience below was already in an uproar!
It's obvious to anyone with eyes that three of the four teams have already qualified for the finals. Yan Ge, who was the first to perform, was purely there to warm up the crowd. Jiang Cancan, who should have been a strong favorite to win, was the second to perform, which is rather intriguing.
Although the show's producers drew lots on the spot, everyone wasn't stupid.
These days, concerts can be lip-synced live, let alone electronic lotteries?
It's easy to manipulate the player draw results by doing a little tampering with the back-end system, okay?
The third to appear was Jian Ni, who was also the most controversial.
In fact, before the finals, some entertainment accounts in the industry, whether genuine industry insiders or just trying to gain attention, claimed with certainty that the Best Actress award had already been "predetermined" for her daughter to win the championship in the finals.
Someone actually predicted that the show's producers would change the finale rules at the last minute for the sake of the Best Actress's daughter—
According to the original scoring rules, if the mentors' and guests' votes and the audience's votes each account for one-third, then it goes without saying that Jiang Cancan would win easily, right?
Therefore, after the program team announced the change of the scoring rules for the final, both industry insiders and fans of the program team had a vague feeling about whether Jiang Cancan could make a comeback and win the championship.
Only Jiang Cancan's fans still clung to the last shred of hope: what if the production team was just trying to grab attention and generate buzz?
Unexpectedly, in addition to the bizarre move of having a "100-person scoring panel," the finals also turned into a concert!
No matter how talented Jiang Cancan is at singing, she is still a rural girl who has just come from the mountains. Where has she ever seen such a grand scene?
Unlike the daughter of the TV Queen, who is said to have been following her mother to film sets everywhere before she was even weaned, and has seen all kinds of big scenes.
They also invited internationally renowned musicians to provide accompaniment, and the stage design was done by a top-tier domestic team.
To put it simply, they admit that Jian Ni's performance in the finals was indeed amazing, but this amazingness mostly came from the post-production packaging, or in short, the "baby-making" of her mother.
As expected, with Zhuo Siwei's team taking the final shot, they scored a total of 8.9 points, and the champions, runners-up, and third-place winners of the competition were determined...
Even though they knew they couldn't find any evidence, the audience was still outraged and the show's producers were trending on social media.
However, no one expected that just as the audience had lost interest in watching the competition and couldn't help but pick up their phones to criticize the production team online, an unexpected incident occurred at the awards ceremony—
"I'm sorry, Mommy~ I'm so sorry to Teacher Shen who traveled all the way back to China to accompany me! And I'm so sorry to all the team teachers and teammates who have been with us all along..."
"I think this championship truly belongs to Jiang!"
Jian Ni raised the championship trophy, lifted her skirt, and jumped off the podium to everyone's astonishment. She then generously carried Jiang Cancan, who was standing next to her, to the champion's seat, and casually took off the crown that belonged to the champion and put it on Jiang Cancan's head.
Well, luckily Jiang Cancan's nickname on the show is Big Head, because her head is even bigger than hers, so this crown actually fits her perfectly!
"Do you all remember what our program is called? It's called 'Young People Singing for the Motherland'! We compete in singing! Jiang Cancan sings better than me, so I'm going to choose her as the champion. Audience members, what do you say?"
The audience was completely silent, as if sealed by some mysterious force!
The next second, a deafening roar erupted in the arena—
"Okay!! We agree!"
"I second that proposal!"
"We second that!" Jiang Cancan's fans were moved to tears, their shouts almost lifting the roof off the stadium.
"Well done, Jian Ni! We support you!" Jian Ni's fans couldn't help but burst into tears.
In fact, at this stage of the competition, both the contestants and the fans have lost their rationality and even their original intention to participate in the competition and like the show.
Everyone is racking their brains trying to win for themselves and for their favorite contestant. Just like Jian Ni said, they've long forgotten the original purpose of this show...
Looking back now, Jian Ni was right. This competition was all about who could sing the best. All that gimmicky stuff like accompaniment and stage design would have made her a dishonorable champion, even if she had won in the end.
"Sister Nan, this is your daughter! This move is really winning over fans! She lost the competition tonight, but she won over a huge group of die-hard fans in the audience, haha~"
The producer couldn't help but exclaim to the Best Actress sitting in the VIP section.
He didn't know if this move was something Ma Yuenan had planned long ago.
However, it must be said that doing this would win more public favor than having Jian Ni win the championship by changing the final rules.
It is foreseeable that after tonight, a large number of passersby will become Jian Ni's new fans.
"Our Nini isn't doing this to gain fans!" Ma Yuenan seemed to have figured out the benefits, and a smug smile appeared on her face.
As expected of her daughter! Even in victory, she wins with honor and integrity!
In fact, Ma Yuenan was very hardworking when she was young. She went from an ordinary person to a TV Queen. How much hardship did she endure in the process?
Most parents are like this: they don't want their children to suffer the hardships they themselves endured. How much did Ma Yuenan hate those who used connections when she was young? But what about now? The once-proud "dragon-slaying girl" has long since transformed into another dragon in the entertainment industry's corrupting influence, using her seniority and connections to pull strings for her daughter…
The production team didn't expect Jian Ni to pull such a stunt on set; it was practically a broadcasting mishap!