“I’m just taking you out for a drive, to get some fresh air.”
Qiao Sixiao laughed in reply,
“I was passing by your training room today and saw you hadn’t stopped once from start to finish, don’t put too much pressure on yourself, there’s a saying called going too far is as bad as not going far enough... Do you know what that means?”
Qin Wei glared at her:
“I went to elementary school, I know idioms! But you, are you feeling pressured about competing with me on the same stage, worried that I'm practicing too well and will surpass you?”
Her mouth was faster than her brain, and after speaking Qin Wei realized, this girl had dance skills, she had won many national competitions as a student, and was thus discovered by famous directors and started acting in TV dramas.
She probably couldn't surpass her...
Oblivious to Qin Wei's embarrassment, Qiao Sixiao said while driving:
“Class A hasn't fallen so far that we're afraid of being surpassed by Class F, right? Rest assured, no one wants you to win more than me, at least don't get eliminated in the first public performance.”
Qin Wei, looking ahead, mumbled:
“Although my singing and dancing isn't that good, it's not so bad that I'd get eliminated the first time...”
“That's good then, it seems you're quite relaxed, that's all I wanted to say, let's go back!”
...
“Performance costumes, no problem.”
Finally it was the day of the show, after finishing the final rehearsal the day before, now doing the final preparations.
Qin Wei said to the staff behind her:
“Check it again!”
After what happened last time, Qin Wei was really afraid, afraid, afraid.
Seeing that Qin Wei was indeed a little nervous, the staff reassured her:
“Teacher Qin, don't worry, the studio is taking this performance seriously, after all it's live, any accident would be too much for the program team to bear.”
Qin Wei took a deep breath and sat down to let makeup artist Xiao Yan help her with makeup and styling.
She looked at herself in the mirror, thinking about the competition in a while, and felt a little scared.
But also a little expectant.
Qin Wei, what are you afraid of? Isn't today what you've been waiting for all these years?
......
At 6:50 p.m., the audience had entered, and the studio was gradually lively.
The people sitting here were randomly selected online applicants, each with three tickets, and over the next few hours they would vote alongside the online audience and judges for the female artists they thought should advance.
Though the competition hadn't started yet, everyone was already discussing tonight's competition, who they favored, who they dismissed.
A beam of light hit the center of the stage, and the scene gradually quieted down.
Standing in the spotlight in a suit was Yang Xiao.
"Hello everyone! Welcome to 'Sailing Against the Wind'! I'm your host Yang Xiao."
Thunderous applause from below.
"Next I will introduce our panel of judges, they are—
The heavenly-voiced famous singer Chen Chen!"
The light shone on the judges' platform beside the stage, Chen Chen waved to the audience below and the cameras, eliciting cheers from the audience.
"The talented and beautiful Teacher Gu Minghua!"
In the spotlight, Gu Minghua, still wearing a simple white shirt, stood up and bowed slightly.
"Hayden!!! Ah!!!"
"Teacher Gu is so handsome!"
"All-rounder Daniel!"
Under the lights Daniel improvised a short hip-hop dance.
"Ah!!! Baby! Mama loves you!!"
"Egg Nyu most handsome!! So awesome!!!"
"Ahhhhh I'm dead!!!!"
Clearly Daniel had the most female fans in the venue.
...
After introducing the judges one by one, Yang Xiao said:
"Next, let's welcome our 70 sisters with a round of applause, what do you say!?"
Another cheer from below, the atmosphere getting better and better.
The lights dimmed.
Boom boom boom boom—
In the pounding drum beats, the stage lights came on again, and the 70 female artists appeared together in gorgeous costumes!!
Their images appeared on the big screen above the stage all at once.
"Ahhhhh!"
The entire audience turned into groundhogs, screaming when they saw artists they liked.
"Little Qiao!!"
"Si Yu you gotta do your best!!"
"Kong Yiquan the all-rounder ace!!"
"Yu Ru promising future!!!"
With the cheers, the camera finally stopped on the last Qin Wei.
"Ahhhh! Lu E have confidence in yourself!!!"
"Lu E don't be nervous!!"
"Lu E!! The outcome doesn't matter!!! Mom loves you no matter what!!!"
"Lu E just be happy!! Winning and losing isn't important!!!"
Qin Wei's fans were so loud that even the other artists on stage couldn't help laughing.
On the big screen, Qin Wei revealed an awkward yet elegant smile.
Comments:
[You can doubt Sister Qin's intelligence, but you should never doubt Sister Qin's looks!]
[Sister Qin is finally wearing proper stage makeup! Bare-faced Wei is ethereal, but stage makeup is even prettier!!]
[Did Lu E's smile freeze? Why do I feel like the corners of her mouth are twitching...]
[Qin Wei don't be nervous!!! Wei Feng never expected you to place!]
...
After the brief appearance, the lights dimmed across the venue again, with only Yang Xiao's voice audible:
"Let's look forward to the group performances from each of the six classes. Next we'll hand the stage to Class A, sisters set sail against the wind!"
The ten from Class A went onstage, the rest of the artists returned backstage where hair and makeup for the group performances was ready, now they just needed to wait in the meeting room.
The meeting room had a large display screening the live front stage performance, while also showing the comments netizens were posting.
Class A's ten-person group performance song was "Starlight", co-written by Gu Minghua and Chen Chen.
The lights dimmed, but tiny silver specks of light began twinkling on the stage.
Like stars in the clear night sky, blinking into and out of brightness.
The music started, and with the mellow tempo, the starlight began to move.
"Stars are brilliant in the clear night sky."
With Qiao Sixiao's crisp voice, the lights gradually brightened.
The audience finally saw that the starlight from earlier was LED rings on the performers' hands.
"Wow..."
The ten people on stage wore custom silver sequined one-piece dresses, now shimmering under the lights with the performers' movements.
Along with the performers' clean, cool makeup, the opening had an astonishing effect.
"The sky was twinkling with stars."
The tempo gradually quickened from slow, and the steps of the ten sped up as well, their motions complex yet consistently crisp and transitions seamless.
During the interlude the lights dimmed again, a beam falling center stage where Qiao Sixiao performed a short Latin dance, bringing the atmosphere to new heights!
The performers backstage all felt their pressure multiplied, Class A's opening was just too good!
As the music neared the end and gradually softened, the starlight twinkled again as the lights faded...
