Chapter 450

Because everyone's enthusiasm for the work was quite high, the filming for this all-star chorus went very smoothly.

More than seventy people were divided into over a dozen small groups to film their respective parts across China, and then they returned to the capital to record the chorus.

Because it was an MV, it wasn't handed over to Miss Luo Quan for production after filming was completed; three days later, the Chinese Football Association released "China Welcomes You" online.

This chorus, which gathered the top celebrities of most of the Chinese entertainment industry, naturally sparked heated discussions among the public, and the catchy song was indeed very easy to spread. Although the lyrics were a bit simple, one could still find moving elements within the ordinary.

After the song was released, it immediately began to play on a loop in the streets and alleys, and it also became a popular background music on major short-video apps.

The theme song was done, and in China, this song was certainly quite good. The gimmick of having Chinese stars alone brought in countless traffic, but internationally, most of the celebrities involved didn't actually have much presence; at most, they had some fame in East Asia, but globally, they appeared a bit ordinary.

After all, the World Cup is a world-class tournament, and if only Chinese songs were sung, it would seem a bit limited. To make up for the theme song's reach, Miss Luo Quan put a lot of effort into the promotional songs.

The day after "China Welcomes You" was released, the World Cup promotional song "Wavin' Flag" was released.

A fast-paced cheering song with a catchy melody, majestic accompaniment, and a brainwashing chorus—as a World Cup promotional song, it had almost no flaws.

As expected, after the song was released, its popularity quickly surpassed that of the theme song and even parachuted into the top ten of the B-chart. If the momentum didn't fade, taking the weekly championship was not out of the question.

However, this was just the beginning of her god-tier operations. For a grand event held every four years, how could two songs possibly be enough?

With so many regions and countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe, and a world-class tournament watched by billions of people, having only two languages would be too shabby.

On the night "Wavin' Flag" was released, Miss Luo Quan immediately followed up with the second promotional song, "Waka Waka" (Time for Africa), and added a caption:

"My earliest memory of the World Cup was actually the 2010 South Africa World Cup. That summer, I didn't actually know much about football, but seeing the players on that vast green field on TV, struggling and fighting for a small football, I was immediately captivated.

Back then, I, who only liked watching cartoons, actually watched two hours of a football match. Although I didn't even understand the rules, I still watched with great interest; perhaps this is the charm of football.

I dedicate this song to the 2010 South Africa World Cup."

Among so many World Cups, the South Africa World Cup wasn't ordinary, but it wasn't that legendary either.

But for many born in the 90s and 00s, this was likely their enlightenment regarding football, holding an extraordinary significance.

Although eight years had passed, Miss Luo Quan still wanted to bring out this song she fell in love with after hearing it once, to reminisce about the past youth and that summer that could never be returned to.

Although "Waka Waka" was a song she had heard long ago, for others, it was a brand-new, excellent song!

For any song to become a hit, a melody that can capture the ears in an instant is absolutely essential, and "Waka Waka" was excellent in this regard; just the main verse was enough to make people unable to stop listening.

And unlike typical Western pop music, this song also incorporated quite a lot of local African characteristics, including African instruments and languages. Once these elements appeared, it immediately gave people a refreshing feeling.

It is worth mentioning that the production credit for this song only showed Miss Luo Quan, which meant that whether it was the African instruments or the South African dialect vocals, everything was independently completed by Miss Luo Quan alone.

Everyone knew Miss Luo Quan was multilingual, but no one expected her to know such obscure languages as well. It really made one wonder how she used her limited energy to learn and even master so many things.

Perhaps a true genius is ninety-nine percent inspiration and one percent perspiration. Some people can't finish memorizing Bai Bai Juyi's "Pipa Xing" even after a day, while others, humming a melody, know how to sing it after hearing it once.

With the popularity of "Wavin' Flag" as a foundation, "Waka Waka" took the baton and caused the popularity of the China World Cup to explode again. The two promotional songs truly achieved their promotional effect, and now the whole world began to focus its gaze on the East, on the upcoming 2018 World Cup.

Miss Luo Quan knew the principle of striking while the iron is hot. The next morning, she released the third promotional song, "The Cup of Life."

This was a true "king bomb." In all lists of World Cup songs from her previous life, it was the undisputed number one; no theme song or promotional song could surpass its status.

Miss Luo Quan's intention in bringing it out was also very simple: she wanted to make this World Cup an indelible memory for everyone.

Not every one of the 21 World Cups can be remembered vividly. Aside from those incomparably classic match moments, only incomparably classic songs can firmly engrave the memories belonging to that World Cup.

"The Cup of Life" was absolutely the best choice, bar none. This song had a chorus that carried the word "brainwashing" to perfection. Even if one didn't know English, it didn't matter at all, because the only thing one needed to sing along was one line: "Go, go, go, Ole, Ole, Ole."

After "The Cup of Life" was released, it immediately hit the Twitter trending list. This time, football fans from all over the world joined the discussion. Besides them, there were also some well-known music producers.

They had all come because of the astonishing popularity of the World Cup promotional songs, wanting to listen to Miss Luo Quan's new songs to learn a thing or two.

But after listening, while they were shocked, they still felt that this was completely Miss Luo Quan's willful expression of talent and spirit, something others simply couldn't learn.

However, it wasn't without any inspiration. One well-known music producer said this:

"Enduring classics often only require simple lyrics and melodies. Miss Luo Quan never spends too much effort elsewhere. Flashy things cannot make a song excellent. Miss Luo Quan knows this well, so she never makes songs sound flashy; they only give people one feeling, and that is that they sound good.

It's not that Miss Luo Quan lacks the ability to show off her production techniques, but if music relies too much on modern technology, it loses its essence."

This comment could be said to have exhausted the reasons for the gradual decline of pop music over these years. Fortunately, Miss Luo Quan proved to everyone through her own actions what kind of songs the public truly likes.

"The Cup of Life" was a microcosm of Miss Luo Quan's creative career, merely a small display of her astonishing talent.

But even just this was already far beyond others.

Three promotional songs, and every single one brought out could be called a classic. People also began to worry about what kind of songs the next World Cup would have to bring out so as not to be crushed too badly by comparison.

However, this was not the end of Miss Luo Quan's god-tier operations. Two days later, the new song she released made people unable to forget this World Cup even before it had been held.

"Besides the Hercules Cup, the champions should of course also have their own anthem. I hope this 'We Are the Champions' (originally by Queen) can bring the greatest joy to the winners at the final."

This was a tweet Miss Luo Quan posted before releasing the song, sharing her creative journey.

However, she didn't sing this song alone; it was completed together with the Lovemusic band. The main part of the song was completed by Yun Yun Jingxiao, as Miss Luo Quan's voice wasn't suited for singing rock.

Although the glory belonging to rock had already passed, it was still one of the most heart-touching types of music.

Once the song was out, those who knew their stuff could tell how high its level was. Even compared to any song in the album "Long Live Rock," which was called the greatest rock album of the 21st century, "We Are the Champions" absolutely did not fall behind in the slightest.

But this was also normal, because its author was the same person.

In fact, the realm of this song had already transcended football. "Champion" could be extended to every competitive sport; winning a match meant being a champion, and this song could be brought out to celebrate.

If nothing unexpected happened, this song would likely become the fixed track for after matches ended in the future.

The continuous bombardment of songs over these past few days had truly left fans a bit overwhelmed. By this time, the fan comments on Twitter had long since been in awe of her:

"Others release songs one by one, but Miss Luo Quan's output can almost be said to be album by album. She simply doesn't leave a way for her peers to survive."

"I will never urge you to release new songs again. With this frequency, this output, and this quality, I ask, who in today's music scene can compare?"

"Everyone complains that Miss Luo Quan is lazy, but in fact, she is really diligent, giving us a surprise every few days."

"Don't compromise so quickly! You still have to urge her; otherwise, with Miss Luo Quan's temper, she really might go half a year without releasing a new song!"

"Haha, if Miss Luo Quan saw this, she would probably be so depressed."

………………

Seeing these fan comments, Miss Luo Quan was indeed depressed.

Originally, after these songs were released, she really had planned to take a break from live streaming and rest properly for a few days.

During this period, her various schedules had been back-to-back, and a considerable portion of her time had been spent on airplanes and in cars.

Although compared to most artists, she really wasn't that tired, but as Wen Xia said, Miss Luo Quan was not born with a life of toil.

The current work intensity was already an overload compared to her previous situation.

Although it was unlikely that continuing to push herself would lead to health problems, she was afraid that if she stayed busy for too long, her mindset might undergo some changes.

Simply put, she had been working for too long, her "laziness cancer" had flared up, and she didn't want to do anything anymore—the kind where no amount of persuasion would work.

"I'll rest after finishing this one last task!" Miss Luo Quan made a decision in her heart.

The last task referred to the World Cup group draw. This time, FIFA invited a Brazilian football legend, Roberto, and Miss Luo Quan to conduct the group draw ceremony together.

Miss Luo Quan was responsible for drawing the lots from the box, and the legend was responsible for displaying them.

As the artist with the highest popularity internationally, coupled with Miss Luo Quan's identity as a Chinese person, this drawing task could be said to have no controversy at all.

And domestic fans were actually quite happy after learning that Miss Luo Quan would be conducting the draw.

Liking her was one reason; another reason was the rumors about her good luck.

Being so fair-skinned and having a family that was a collateral branch of the British royal family—this was a genuine "European Emperor" bloodline. Having her conduct the draw could be said to be the most appropriate choice.

The draw ceremony was held in the CCTV studio. Miss Luo Quan stood together with the Brazilian football legend Roberto. This eighty-something-year-old man looked quite spirited; although he had needed someone to support him while walking earlier, once the group draw began, he immediately straightened up, and his hands and legs stopped trembling.

Prior to this, he had already served as a draw guest for four consecutive World Cups. In the 2014 Brazil World Cup, thanks to his hands, Brazil was placed in a very good group, and the powerful Brazilian team made it all the way to the finals.

Just when the gamblers had bet everything they had on Brazil winning, the German team took the Hercules Cup of that year with a lopsided score of 7:1.

That night, I don't know how many rooftops of high-rise buildings were crowded with people, and the noisy wind carried away I don't know how many wandering souls.

Compared to the previous one, this World Cup appeared to have much more balanced strength; at least for now, it wasn't obvious which team was particularly strong.

But it was clear which teams were particularly weak, though one couldn't say it out loud.

Anyway, as the guest from China, Miss Luo Quan's only task was to ensure that her own team wouldn't lose too miserably.

After waiting for so many years, China had finally entered the World Cup group stage again. For the players currently on the national team, this was likely the only opportunity of their lives. No matter what kind of opponent they encountered, they had to give it their all. Rebuilding the glory of the national football team was a duty we could not shirk.

But on the other hand, if they could avoid the strong teams, that would be even better.

Having fighting spirit is a good thing, but one must also face the gap with other countries squarely. The national football team still had a long way to go, and this time would just be treated as training.

With this mindset, fans began to pray in the live stream of the draw ceremony.

Miss Luo Quan also reached her hand into the box and grabbed a small football.

After opening it, it was China!

"Holy crap!"

"She drew it on the first try."

"Does she have to be this lucky?"

What was even more surprising was yet to come. After Miss Luo Quan drew China, she drew France, Argentina, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, and Poland one after another.

They were all famous strong teams in football, and these strong teams were not in the same group as China.

"This draw—her hands are just too lucky! She truly lives up to her 'European Emperor' bloodline!"

I don't know how many fans cheered in their hearts.

And as Miss Luo Quan drew one football after another from the box, the group stage situation was completely revealed.

In Group A, where China was located, the other three opponents were Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea—completely the weakest teams in this World Cup. In order for the national football team to advance, Miss Luo Quan had already done everything she could.