Chapter 151: Bo Ge Is Here

After entering April, the entire production team accelerated its pace.

Cheng Chen's scenes as the lead actor were almost entirely filmed.

Only a few dialogue-heavy shots remained to be reshot.

At the same time, he received the official notification for the Tai Sheng Golden Melody Awards.

The 15th Tai Sheng Golden Melody Awards will be held on May 8 in Wan Bei.

The nomination list had already been announced on March 30; the May 8 ceremony would reveal the winners.

The Golden Melody Awards have a long history and are highly authoritative and prestigious, being a major music award in the Chinese-language music industry.

First held in 1990, the annual ceremony typically takes place in May or June.

Here, it must be mentioned that in 1980, Cai Qin wrote an eight-page letter to the News Bureau.

He urged the government to establish a dedicated music award to encourage the music industry.

Under the promotion of the News Bureau at the time, the precursor to the Golden Melody Awards—the Jin Ding Award—was created.

It added a record category to the existing book publishing awards.

This official endorsement served as a powerful stimulant for the rising local record industry.

After a decade of persistent effort, the Golden Melody Awards were finally established.

In 1990, the first Golden Melody Awards were the only edition in history to determine the Song King and Song Queen through live performances.

Artists who did not perform live at the ceremony were disqualified from consideration.

Wu Si Kai became the first recipient of the Best Newcomer Award in Golden Melody Awards history.

This Mr. Wu is the one who sang "Special Love for a Special You."

Unlike the exclusionary nature of the Ten Greatest Songs Awards, the Golden Melody Awards were established to promote Chinese-language music.

It is a competitive award designed to recognize outstanding Chinese-language singers and music professionals.

It has rewarded many excellent Chinese-language singers and music professionals.

It has become the most prestigious honor in the Chinese-language music industry.

Thus, although it still exhibits regional protectionism and exclusivity, it is far superior to the Ten Greatest Songs Awards.

For example, in 1998, Xueyou Ge won the Best Mandarin Male Vocalist award at the 9th Golden Melody Awards.

This was the first time in Golden Melody Awards history that a personal award was given to a singer from outside Tai Sheng.

In 1999, Wang Li Hong, aged just 23, won both the Best Male Vocalist and Best Album Producer awards.

Bai Meng Shu

Became the youngest Song King in Golden Melody Awards history.

In 2000, Jie Lun debuted and won the Best Album Award at the 12th Golden Melody Awards with his album "JAY."

At the same time, after a 14-year absence,

The small-eyed sentimental singer was nominated for Best Mandarin Male Vocalist at the 25th Golden Melody Awards for his album "Model."

He received five major nominations: Best Newcomer, Best Album Producer, Best Mandarin Album, Best Lyricist, and more.

In June of the same year, he swept the Best Newcomer Award at the 25th Tai Sheng Golden Melody Awards.

He was also the first Mainland singer to win the Best Newcomer Award at the Tai Sheng Golden Melody Awards.

A review of the Golden Melody Awards' development reveals its increasingly inclusive and open attitude.

Now it is 2004; for this year's Golden Melody Awards, Cheng Chen is the only music professional nominated as a Mainland artist.

Major Mainland entertainment media had wildly reported this event.

"The Mainland Heavenly King, who missed the Ten Greatest Songs, used his talent to make the haughty Golden Melody Awards bow."

This was the headline the Mainland media had prepared in advance, waiting for Cheng Chen to win.

So, for this Golden Melody Awards, Cheng Chen was carrying the hopes of the Mainland music industry…

Of course, Cheng Chen did not harbor high hopes for this trip; he expected to win an award, but doubted it would carry much weight.

At this moment, all his focus was on Xinghuo Entertainment's first film, "Crazy Stone."

Correct, since their last meeting, Cheng Chen had not seen Ning Hao for a long time.

This guy, armed with Cheng Chen's 5 million investment, was joyfully traveling the world searching for actors.

This was 2 million more than Hua Zai's 3 million investment in the "Asia New Star Director Project."

Perhaps out of gratitude for the boss's strong support, or to find better actors,

Ning Hao carried the money around the globe, determined to find his ideal actor.

Finally, on this day, he contacted Cheng Chen, claiming he had nearly finished casting and wanted to meet him to discuss.

After wrapping up his drama production, Cheng Chen returned to Jingcheng and agreed to meet him.

Xinghuo Entertainment, office.

Cheng Chen stared in surprise at the man before him, with long hair and a hesitant gaze,

Yet whose face made him want to laugh at first sight.

Correct, this man was none other than the one nicknamed "Daoshi's Lady" — Bo Ge~

"Boss Cheng, this is Huang Bo, a recent graduate from the Dubbing Department of Beijing Film Academy, and also a singer."

But Boss Cheng, don't think Bo Ge's background has nothing to do with acting.

Bo Ge is an excellent actor with unique insight into character portrayal.

He just finished filming Guan Hu's drama, titled "Survival and Migrant Workers," where he played the male lead."

Ning Hao introduced Huang Bo to Cheng Chen.

He feared Cheng Chen might reject this actor he had searched for so long and who was perfectly suited for the role.

So he couldn't help but speak up on his behalf.

Cheng Chen nodded, naturally understanding Huang Bo well in this era.

He could be called a classic example of late-blooming fame in the entertainment circle.

As a child, Huang Bo loved playing pranks, and teachers often called his parents in for "talks."

Though he struggled academically, he had a good voice and danced with decent form.

At the time, Huang Bo was in the second year of junior high.

He successfully became a "campus celebrity" with his performance of "Looking Back Again."

Perhaps because his childhood fame let him taste the sweetness of fame, or perhaps it sparked his love for music.

After that, he wandered around Guang Sheng's various song halls and dance halls, performing as a resident singer.

At age twenty, Huang Bo got a new opportunity: he came to Guang Sheng, then a hub of the entertainment industry, and signed with an audio-visual company.

At the time, Mao Ning and Yang Yu Ying, who were popular nationwide, were also rising stars under the same company.

That year, they formed the "Jin Tong Yu Nu" duo, holding concerts across the country and winning award after award.

But as a "junior," Huang Bo was ignored by the company and never got a chance to perform on big stages.

Later, disillusioned and down on his luck, Huang Bo moved to Jingcheng.

By day, he rode his bicycle door-to-door, pitching his demo tapes to record companies.

By night, he sang at nightclubs to earn money for food.

You could say Huang Bo endured every hardship of life during this time, and he made many friends because of it.

Like Young Master Zhou, Man Wen Jun, Sha Bao Liang, and others…

After years of wandering, he finally met director Guan Hu through his good friend Gao Hu, and starred in his first film.

"Get in the Car, Let's Go!"

The next year, this film won the 2001 Golden Rooster Award for "Best TV Movie."

This experience stirred and encouraged Huang Bo to apply to Beijing Film Academy.

Of course, he failed repeatedly; during this period, he never gave up his film dream and appeared in many films and TV dramas.

But they were all minor roles, with little weight.

Later, at the "advanced" age of twenty-eight, Huang Bo took the Beijing Film Academy entrance exam for the third time.

One of Beijing Film Academy's teachers couldn't bear to watch anymore, so he found Huang Bo and said, "The academy has just added a voice acting major—why don't you give it a try?"

Until this year, after finishing his role in "Survival: Migrant Workers," he was singing as a resident at a bar when Ning Hao, who was searching everywhere for actors, spotted him.

That's how he brought him before Cheng Chen.

"Y-You, hello, Boss Cheng, you're my idol… no, you're the one who's my idol!"

I really love your songs—your "Blue Lotus" truly reached deep into my heart.

And the song you sang at your concert, "The Brightest Star in the Night Sky," I thought was divine when I first heard it.

To be honest, during the time I heard that song, I was in a period of confusion.

Your song gave me great courage and encouraged me!"

Bo Ge was excited—after all, his idol stood right before him, and he spoke with passionate, plastic Lu Sheng accent.

He wasn't lying; at that time, he was about to graduate from Beijing Film Academy.

And Guan Hu, directing the TV drama "Survival: Migrant Workers," wanted him to play the lead role of the migrant worker.

At the time, he had just received a position to stay on as a faculty member, and he was torn.

During that period, he listened repeatedly to Cheng Chen's "Blue Lotus."

At year's end, he heard Cheng Chen's "The Brightest Star in the Night Sky," and that finally pushed him to make his decision.

He could not suppress the passion for acting burning inside him.

So he gave up the enviable job of university teacher and took the role of the migrant worker.

Cheng Chen's expression turned slightly odd—Bo Ge was his fan? This was truly unexpected.

Actually, Bo Ge sang quite well—yeah, he just wasn't very good-looking…

"Don't get too excited—have you read the script?"

Cheng Chen asked with a smile.

Though he had already decided to hire him, Cheng Chen still wanted to test Bo Ge's acting.

"Yeah, yeah, I've read it—all of it. Director Ning already explained it to me."

"You want me to play Hei Pi—do you want to test me? Which scene?"

In "Crazy Stone," Hei Pi is a foolish thief.

This petty thief has a dumb, simple-minded streak, but is also impulsive and reckless.

He's a comic character, yet oddly charming and likable—the kind you can't truly hate.

He evokes pity, and Huang Bo fits him perfectly, both in appearance and demeanor.

Of course, whether he truly fits depends on Cheng Chen's audition.

After all, this version of "Crazy Stone" is being filmed a year earlier than the previous one.

Cheng Chen wanted to assess the actors' states to feel confident.

But before the audition, Cheng Chen suddenly asked:

"How do you understand the character of Hei Pi?"

This tactic came from when Cheng Chen filmed "The Great Dyeing Workshop," and director Wang Wenjie asked him the same question.

Asking an actor about their understanding of the role was meant to see if they had genuine commitment.

After all, if you haven't even prepared a character profile or backstory, your attitude is already wrong.

Then what's the point of acting? Don't waste each other's time—just leave.

Cheng Chen remembered that in the future, a director had used this tactic to reject an actor arranged by a financier.

The actor stammered and barely managed to speak, only to be prompted that he was describing another character's insight.

The actor naturally did not appear in that drama, and netizens later dug up the incident and repeatedly tore it apart.

Of course, rejecting a financier's chosen actor was never simple; the so-called character insight was merely the spark.

In truth, character understanding emphasizes more the actor's compatibility with the role, or rather, theoretical cognition.

This reflects whether an actor can interpret their own thoughts and feelings from the character's perspective.

Don't underestimate this step—most actors fail at this during auditions…

Huang Bo looked at Cheng Chen and knew this was the decisive first step toward landing the role; he nervously said:

"Alright, but my understanding of the character might differ from yours, Boss Cheng, and Director Ning's."

"If anything's wrong, just point it out directly."

Cheng Chen nodded; beside him, Ning Hao also turned his gaze over.

Under their watchful eyes, Huang Bo spoke haltingly:

"Compared to Dao Ge and Xiao Jun, Hei Pi knows nothing about theft."

The dense jokes in the script show he was never meant to be a thief.

This is also evident from his catchphrase: 'Why bother? Just rob them outright!'

His original profession was likely robbery; Hei Pi's iron hammer is always carried close, never out of reach.

Clearly, he is very familiar with the hammer—he used it constantly during past robberies.

This is the external portrayal and action chain, indirectly revealing his identity as a robber.

The script originally stated he had an accent from another region, but didn't specify which.

But from this, why would a man with an outsider's accent travel thousands of miles to Shancheng?

The most likely reason is he's wanted—he's a fugitive…"

Hearing this, Cheng Chen nodded, thinking: Brother Huang really is Brother Huang.

Though now obscure, his insight had long been there.

When he helped Ning Hao adapt the script for 'Stone,' he had imagined Hei Pi as Huang Bo's performance.

Back then, he was certain Hei Pi was Huang Bo, but later considered unforeseen circumstances might prevent Huang Bo from joining.

So he changed Hei Pi's dialect from Lu Sheng to an outsider's accent, waiting to decide once the actor was found.

In the end, after all the twists, it still came back to Huang Bo—coincidence, yet fate.

And meticulous Huang Bo had spotted this immediately.

Huang Bo looked up at Cheng Chen; Cheng Chen nodded and asked:

"Hmm—what do you think of the film's ending?"

Hearing Cheng Chen's clearly evaluative question, Huang Bo swallowed hard.

He didn't know if his previous remarks were right.

After hearing Cheng Chen's question, he thought for a moment, gritted his teeth, and continued:

"In the film's final ending, Boss Feng and Manager Qin die one after another in their mutual manipulation and exploitation."

Mike is captured by Bao Shihong, who is then commended for it.

Dao Ge and his brothers live as fugitives on the run.

They're like rats crossing the street—any sound makes them flee in panic.

I saw the final scene: Hei Pi running on the highway, muttering nonsense.

It actually conveys the value that good deeds bring good results, evil deeds bring evil consequences.

Thieves like Hei Pi and Dao Ge end up suffering physical punishment.

While big villains like Boss Feng and Manager Qin meet violent deaths.

The protagonist, Bao Shihong, finally urinates smoothly again, and his marriage is harmonious.

Though he gains a jade worth a million, neither he nor his wife know about it—they continue living ordinary lives.

It's a complete, happy resolution: good and evil always get their due; true peace lies in simplicity."

Hearing Huang Bo's words, Cheng Chen nodded in satisfaction.

He then picked several more scenes for Huang Bo to try…

Cheng Chen was very satisfied with Huang Bo's audition; he said to Ning Hao beside him:

"Huang Bo gets the role of Hei Pi. Keep searching for the other roles."

"I'm going to Tai Sheng for the Golden Melody Awards—call me if anything comes up."

"You can also contact Su Qingya directly; once the actors are finalized, we can start shooting."

Ning Hao nodded happily.

Beside him, Huang Bo was also excited, gazing at Cheng Chen with envy.

That was the Golden Melody Awards…

…