Chapter 420: Stunning Lead Vocalist & Cool Guy Rapper 05

But soon, his pride and satisfaction were shattered by Chenli's cold snort and a barrage of criticism.

"Do you think you sing well? Picking such a showy song, you're just trying to show off your ability, right?"

Chenli couldn't even be bothered to get up, she just sat there critiquing, "Your vocal teacher just told me you've practiced this song for a week; if this is your practice result, I can only say you should go back to the drawing board."

Cen Wu Bai's smile froze instantly; looking at the two vocal teachers, he realized their expressions were also unusually stern.

The male vocal teacher shook his head and frowned, "You usually stay within your comfort zone; after all, you're at idol level, I don't demand you be amazing, just maintain the highest standard within your comfort zone."

"But why did you today decide to be clever and add the dragging technique? Dragging is meant to make the overall performance rhythm more relaxed and full, but this technique is least suitable for fast songs, especially fast songs you can't fully control."

The female teacher's critique was relatively softer, but her wording remained sharp.

"I told you before, your timbre is very unique; you should bring out that uniqueness, not focus on showy technique."

These critiques felt like a hard slap to Cen Wu Bai's face.

Chenli didn't even want to critique his technique anymore, she directly said, "As an idol, stage rap should follow the team's dance rhythm, but your breath control is too chaotic; once you start dancing, you can't keep up with the beat."

She looked at one of the dance teachers, "I'm curious how you guys solved this problem?"

"Uh..." the dance teacher suddenly called on looked distressed, "When choreographing, we leave him some free rap time; it usually doesn't affect the overall effect."

Cen Wu Bai clenched his fists, feeling unconvinced, but he also knew these were indeed his current problems.

But it would be fine if it didn't affect stage performance; fans wouldn't care that much...

He never ended up saying that, then glanced at Jin Chen, "Next is you."

As long as Jin Chen is worse than him, it won't affect the later victory!

"Oh."

Jin Chen still had one hand in his pocket, head slightly lowered, the brim of his cap shading his eyes, his pale fingers loosely gripping the mic against his lips.

The same intro played again.

After the earlier critique, everyone had a new understanding of the trainers' strictness, and Valuri's members were even more worried for Jin Chen.

They had never heard Jin Chen practicing this song in the dorm, so they had no idea whether he could do it.

Earlier, Cen Wu Bai had been scheming, and he hadn't even asked Jin Chen for his opinion.

Chenli sat up slightly, her gaze toward him carrying a smile.

"ei……desire without bounds collapses, the damaged virtual palace……"

Jin Chen's body swayed slightly with the rhythm, he lowered his vocal position, using all breathiness for the ending, making the overall rhythm more relaxed and laid-back, easily letting people follow his voice into the mood he wanted to convey.

The contrast between him and Cen Wu Bai is obvious even to outsiders.

Yu Jinzhou may not know much about rap, but he can understand the melody, tone, and expressed emotion.

Compared to what we heard during previous training, Jin Chen is no longer dry and bland; he's learned to add his own understanding to the work, then infuse emotion into it.

He was pleasantly surprised by this change, and couldn't help but recall why Jin Chen had improved so quickly.

Let's go back today and ask Jin Chen for some advice.

Yu Jinzhou nodded seriously.

At this point, in the chorus, Jin Chen's emotion rose further, his vocal position shifted accordingly, and the mix paired with an especially low, laid-back voice ignited the whole atmosphere.

Many trainees even stood up directly, waving to cheer for Jin Chen.

Cen Wu Bai's expression also turned fierce and ugly.

A prolonged trailing note ended the song's rhythm; Jin Chen put down the mic and bowed to the five teachers.

Applause erupted instantly in the training room, even more enthusiastic than before.

Chenli smiled and nodded, feeling a sense of gratification at seeing the juniors mature.

She noticed Cen Wu Bai's expression, but paid it no mind, her critique reduced to just one sentence.

"The outcome is clear."

The two vocal teachers were also very surprised.

A year ago, when they taught Jin Chen, they found he had many problems, never expecting him to improve this much in a year!

The male teacher who had just given sharp critique also clapped, his expression softened considerably, "You're one of the few rappers I've seen with clear diction, not losing speed or atmospheric emotion; compared to a year ago, your progress is leaps and bounds!"

Jin Chen bowed again slightly, "Thank you, teacher."

Cen Wu Bai, however, seemed to suddenly latch onto that remark, bluntly saying, "Teacher, this isn't fair."

"Everyone knows Light has a lot of activities and stages this year, basically no time to practice."

"Valuri has no stages this year, they definitely have more practice time than us!"

Jin Chen turned, took off his cap, his voice like icy spring water, "This song, you just sang it, I only learned it now."

"What, what?"

Cen Wu Bai stared in disbelief, took a step back, "Impossible! How could you not have heard it!"

The vocal teacher was also excited, hurriedly asking, "Jin Chen, this isn't something you can just say; you really haven't heard it before?"

Jin Chen nodded, put the mic aside, and stuck his hands in his pockets coolly.

"Purely showy song, not pleasant to listen to."

"That's true."

Behind him, Yu Jinzhou nodded in agreement.

I didn't expect his and Yaoer's music tastes to be so similar.

Chenli: "No doubt Jin Chen won, next."

Jin Chen returned to the line, beginning to accept praise from the older brothers one by one.

Wen Yu reached out to touch his soft brown curls, but Jin Chen dodged; he wasn't annoyed, praising, "Chen'er has improved a lot! Awesome!"

Song Xing patted Jin Chen's shoulder, "Nice, Yaoer, you're pulling off that act well!"

He was stunned when he just heard it was learned on the spot!

Damn it, Light, you bunch of white-eyed wolves!

Ren Pingsheng also praised him a couple of times, Jin Chen took it all in, and when he finally returned to Yu Jinzhou's side, he lowered his gaze and stared intently at him, as if he had been waiting specifically for his praise.

Yu Jinzhou certainly wouldn't be stingy with praise; he originally wanted to reach out and ruffle Jin Chen's hair, but recalling how Wen Yu had wanted to touch it earlier and been refused, he lifted his arm then lowered it, only pursing his lips and smiling lightly, lively as spring wind melting snow.

"Very impressive, really."

Jin Chen also curled his lips in a faint smile and extended his palm toward him.