Chapter 57 Part 1
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This chapter is edited by Cthulhu. Thank you for your contribution!
Chapter 57: Don’t Stop Here, Join Carry Center and Become a Star! (1)
This news quickly spread across the country, attracting the attention of many passersby and fans.
It’s important to note that while live broadcasts have the advantage of immediacy, TV shows offer long-lasting exposure.
Especially when it comes to the live broadcasts of “Dazzling Stage”!
Apart from the initial stage evaluations, no sharing or editing of footage is allowed before the show airs, or else you might have to deal with a top-notch legal team and even draw the attention of national authorities.
Given these conditions, “Dazzling Stage” has truly built up anticipation among viewers who missed the premiere. The first episode is sure to generate a lot of excitement.
Despite having two versions of “Dazzling Stage” in the country, the first broadcast ratings alone would be staggering, making the contestants the center of national attention and marking the beginning of their official rise.
At three-thirty in the afternoon, Xu Ling sat in her chair at home, staring at the computer screen, idly refreshing the official website.
As a fan of Kirimi Miyuki and Chu Yuanqing, now also a small blogger carrying their flag, she couldn’t miss the premiere of “Dazzling Stage.”
Although there were still a few hours before the show started, she decided to start refreshing early, hoping to be the first to comment and mention Miyuki and Honey Qing.
After the next refresh, a new video unexpectedly appeared on the official website. However, it wasn’t an early premiere of the first episode, but rather some behind-the-scenes clips edited from the contestants’ audition scenes, serving as a warm-up.
Xu Ling opened it without much hope – how could this short segment of less than ten minutes include all 168 contestants? The ones she supported probably wouldn’t have many scenes.
Surprisingly, the first one to appear in the video was Chu Yuanqing’s audition scene. Then, scenes with memorable quotes followed one after another.
The interviewer had a serious expression: “Contestant number 198, it’s now time for the performance segment. Do you have any dance or song to showcase?”
Chu Yuanqing’s young face looked serious: “I have no experience in dancing or singing, so I didn’t prepare anything.”
The interviewer asked as usual: “Then why did you want to participate in our show?”
Chu Yuanqing hesitated for a moment, then asked uncertainly: “Is it because… the salary here is high?”
The girl, unaware of the interviewer’s shocked expression, explained with a nervous yet honest look on her pretty face: “You see, the promotional flyer for your show said there’s no educational requirement, and it includes meals and accommodation. Most jobs nowadays don’t offer these… so I came.”
Putting herself in the interviewer’s shoes, Xu Ling couldn’t hold back her laughter. Isn’t this just too unfair? How can Honey Qing be so adorable?!
Chu Yuanqing’s audition video was very short, only one and a half minutes long. Apart from a few lines of dialogue, the footage ended with a cluttered and artistically mismatched resume, which was quite amusing.
Laughing, Xu Ling paused the progress bar, rewinding and rewatching several times. Comments on the video were piling up:
“So funny, hahaha.”
“I can’t stand it, darn yo-yo!”
“I can’t stop laughing. I can already imagine Honey Qing working hard on her resume, filling in whatever fits, just to apply for a job.”
“Hey, do you think there’s a possibility that when Honey Qing talks about her dreams on stage, she’s not talking about being on stage, but rather getting a monthly salary of twelve thousand?”
“It’s hard to say. Considering Honey Qing’s situation, the allure of a twelve thousand monthly salary is as strong as Pan Jinlian’s attraction to Ximen Qing. She might be working a summer job and chasing a dream at the same time.”
“This is unbelievable. Is Honey Qing’s dream-chaser image crumbling?”
Because of “Dazzling Stage’s” immense popularity, the most exciting part of this behind-the-scenes footage centered on Chu Yuanqing. Just one hour after the video’s release, “Chu Yuanqing’s image is crumbling” successfully made its way into Weibo’s top ten trending topics.
Xu Ling looked pleased and remarked: “Hehehe, our Honey Qing is destined for stardom. She’s bound to be a hit no matter what!”
After speaking, she refreshed Chu Yuanqing’s Weibo page, where the follower count was steadily increasing. Currently, the account had an impressive 1.39 million active fans. For a newcomer who had only spent a week on “Dazzling Stage” and was still an amateur, this level of attention was quite remarkable.
Unfortunately, being an amateur meant there was no company managing the account, and she couldn’t use her phone on the show. So, the account remained empty, with fans following what seemed like a lifeless shell – quite an eerie situation.
Three hours passed quickly. As expected, following the example of Sea City’s “Dazzling Stage,” within half an hour of the 80-minute first episode being uploaded to major video platforms, contestants with more screen time started gaining followers rapidly, shaking the entertainment industry.
Rain gently tapped against the window, and bubbles popped in the glass of lime cordial on the table. Xu Ling scrolled through both girls’ Weibo accounts on her two phones while watching the show on her computer.
The mascot, Dream Weaver Rabbit, appeared on screen with a polite smile, bowing to the audience. Soon after, the show officially started, showcasing an underground base that had been seen in the teaser, but now with more details and even more impressive visual effects.
The following scenes were very familiar to Xu Ling, who had watched the eight-hour live broadcast. The only difference was that viewers could freely switch channels during the live stream, while the camera angles in the show were all determined by editing and post-production.
In this aspect, “Dazzling Stage” was similar to a regular talent show, focusing on popular contestants like Xie Qingxuan, Ji Shuzhu, Chen Yining, Lin Baor, and Tang Liuli in the early stages. The distribution of camera angles was only adjusted after Dream Weaver Rabbit appeared and announced the rules, based on the contestants’ reactions.
Chu Yuanqing, the first contestant to choose to compete, appeared bathed in ribbon special effects with a smile, successfully capturing the most camera attention at this stage, as speculated online. Following closely behind was Chu Wang Shu, who also gained a large following, breaking free from her initial obscurity.
The classic seating selection segment followed. For people who had never watched a live broadcast before, their main interest was in seeing who would risk their chance at becoming an idol by participating in the competition. For those who had watched live broadcasts, the most interesting part was the introduction video of each contestant, which included behind-the-scenes footage from auditions or scenes from their past experiences.
These were all newly revealed materials. Most introduction videos were average and not very exciting, but the ones that caused a frenzy of comments were from contestants who had some notable works or special qualities. Chu Yuanqing and Kirimi Miyuki, as expected, had no introduction videos.
Xu Ling fast-forwarded through all the familiar parts and switched to the classic dormitory stage. This was a plot that audiences loved to see – the interaction between beautiful contestants always drew attention.
What surprised Xu Ling was that in the dormitory stage, Chu Yuanqing and her roommates had quite a lot of screen time. The style of comments changed accordingly:
“Honey Qing and Xie Qingxuan in the same dorm room? Oh no, I’m starting to worry. Will she be bullied?”
“Can you not be so rude? Just because Great Devil has a strong presence doesn’t mean she isn’t polite.”
“Oh no, why isn’t Little Sakura here?”
“Liuli is in the same dormitory too? That’s why during the previous theme song, she kept looking at Chu Yuanqing.”
“Haha, it’s a secret crush.”
“Oh no, the last one is Liang Xiaoxiao. This dorm now has all four, ABCD, together. What a talent show spectacle!”
This dormitory arrangement was indeed remarkable. Normally, in talent shows, dormitories were assigned based on levels. It was unusual for upper-level and lower-level contestants to live together. This was typically done first to create differences between levels and make the atmosphere tense, and second, to prevent situations where upper-level contestants might unintentionally benefit lower-level ones, which could anger fans of popular contestants.
But it was hard to say if this would work in “Dazzling Stage.” Once the audience knew about the big gap in ratings, they couldn’t help but feel it was unfair. Some even compared it to forcing a commoner to watch the emperor’s lavish lifestyle every day. Mixing kindness with competitive culture aimed to push contestants to work extremely hard.
The dormitory assignment situation didn’t cause much excitement. Xu Ling skipped all the training sessions and focused on editing all the interactive stickers with precision. Her smile grew wider as she couldn’t resist punching her dinosaur plush toy or taking a big gulp of sparkling wine, her face full of joy.
The video comments changed accordingly:
“Great Devil is so polite and well-behaved. Is this her true personality off-camera? The contrast is intriguing – makes me want to pinch her.”
“Honey Qing is so nurturing. She helps Xie Qingxuan with her hair, goes out to eat with Liang Xiaoxiao, reads fairy tales to Tang Liuli… she really gives off a motherly vibe!”
“It’s true. She’s the youngest, right? Yet so mature and caring towards others.”
“The evaluation is like a kindergarten principal.”
The first season of the show was divided into two parts, totaling 200 minutes. Introduction and stage evaluation took up about 90 minutes at the beginning. The following 110 minutes covered dormitory updates, introduction of practice rooms at different levels, editing of training progress in each room, and occasional behind-the-scenes moments to entertain the audience.
Due to mediocre performances, many clips were ruthlessly edited out in post-production, with several contestants having less than 30 seconds of screen time out of the initial 101 participants. Those who remained were basically the highlights. Chu Yuanqing’s stage presence being retained could be attributed to the two consecutive buffs she received.
In such situations, the pace and anticipation fluctuated continuously, and without having watched the live broadcast beforehand, there would be no desire to fast-forward through the entire program.
Video comments, various small groups, forums, and Weibo discussions all keenly detected a fresh CP pairing:
“Have you noticed that the other three contestants besides Chu Yuanqing don’t know each other well? In the edited video, they don’t even look or talk to each other, but the overall atmosphere in the dormitory is very good and harmonious.”
“Oh, I see! So, Chu Yuanqing is like having different chemistry reactions with each of the three people, right?”
