Chapter 265: Introduction Goes Live

It must be said that, against the backdrop of Zhou Yi himself already making a name for himself overseas, the Golden Melody Awards still announcing this list of nominees despite the potential for massive public opinion pressure was somewhat surprising to many.

In their impression, since Zhou Yi was so popular and his fame so high, shouldn't they have just awarded the prize directly to him?

By doing this, are you trying to learn from Hong Kong's Xie Tingfeng and create a singer in Taiwan who can barely compete with Zhou Yi?

Of course, this is the view of "pure bystanders" who support Zhou Yi.

The Taiwanese audience and the Mandarin music scene audience, who have been proud of the awards' fairness since the Golden Melody Awards began, have taken a new look at this year's organizing committee and even offered high praise.

After all, judging purely by quality, Fan Texi is indeed very strong and deserves these ten nominations.

"If it weren't for Zhou Yi, Zhou Jielun would be the biggest winner on this year's Golden Melody Awards nomination list."

"Results abroad are for abroad; speaking purely of the domestic scene, Zhou Dong's selection is flawless."

Since transferring to Heluo Di, because he habitually managed staff work issues in the company office like a chairman, a small number of fans gave him the nickname "Zhou Dong," which gradually spread within Zhou Jielun's own fan base.

Although not recognized by the public, it counts as a nickname from fans to their idol, just as Zhou Yi's fans call Zhou Yi "Yi Di."

At the same time, this list also made the fans of the "Two Zhus" recall the scene when the two first met at the Golden Melody Awards last year; even Zhou Jielun himself could not avoid this issue—

"Honestly, so many nominations are indeed quite surprising."

On March 29, Zhou Jielun, who had been pushed to the forefront by the Golden Melody Awards, saw his heat rival that of Xie Tingfeng, who was currently staging a true-or-false Roshomon.

When interviewed by reporters, this young man, who was working hard to shed his past shy image, made a joke: "Last year after I lost to A-Yi, he treated me to a few cups of milk tea; this year I hope to have the chance to treat him to a few cups of milk tea."

"Then Jielun, how many trophies do you predict you can win at this year's Golden Melody Awards?"

"I don't know; that still depends on the judges. But no matter who wins in the end, it's fine, because making the nomination list itself signifies a kind of honor."

While speaking, Zhou Jielun rubbed his nose and smiled at the camera: "Besides, the nomination list doesn't just have me and A-Yi; there are many other excellent musicians in the music scene."

However, despite the flowery words, largely because the dramatic confrontation between Zhou Yi and Zhou Jielun was particularly eye-catching on the list, major media outlets selectively ignored many other nominees in their reports.

Veteran singers like Yu Chengqing, who exploded in popularity again with "Qing Fei De Yi," and Wang Lihong, who was nominated again for the King of Songs list with "Wei Yi," were basically ignored by the media.

The only singer left to show a face in the recent Golden Melody Awards music storm was Sun Yanzi, who was also nominated for multiple awards with "Feng Zheng."

"How do you view your Golden Melody Awards nomination? I think it's okay."

Caught by reporters while running a Sprite event in Taiwan, Sun Yanzi held a huge pile of microphones and playfully stuck out her tongue: "Like A-Mei Jie and others are my seniors; I still have many places to learn. Being nominated counts as success."

Opening her mouth, she habitually dropped a catchy phrase she had learned from Zhou Yi.

"Then how many Golden Melody Awards trophies do you think Zhou Yi can take this time?"

"I don't know; you guys can go ask him yourselves about this matter."

Smiling, Sun Yanzi cunningly shifted the pressure onto the level that simply wouldn't let Zhou Yi come over except for the Golden Melody Awards ceremony, which also served as expressing dissatisfaction on Zhou Yi's behalf: "He is also doing World Cup advertising promotion recently, running around everywhere to promote; it's easy to find him. I even fell for it and bought a case of Coke to draw cards."

"..."

Because she hadn't registered for the Golden Melody Awards at all, Xiao Yaxuan, who was holed up in Virgin working on her new album "4U," stood firmly on Zhou Yi's side—

"If I were a guest presenter, then all the nominated awards would absolutely belong to Zhou Yi."

The girl group SHE, nominated for Best Newcomer this year after exploding in popularity last year with their debut album "Girls' Dormitory," chose to keep the water level even and offend no one because they belonged to Huayan;

Zhang Shaohan, who exploded in popularity last year with "Yu Yan" and is now competing with SHE for Best Newcomer, also chose to stand on Zhou Yi's side: "Jielun is indeed very excellent, but Yi Ge is my idol. Many people know that without Yi Ge, there would be no me."

"..."

Even Rock's Fish Leong, when asked about this matter during an interview, spoke words that leaned toward Zhou Yi, with whom she had once interacted; only then did people remember that Fish Leong had previously spread rumors of a romance with Zhou Yi when she went to the mainland for promotion.

This left the local Taiwanese media speechless—

Oh no, why do the female singers popular in Taiwan seem to lean more toward Zhou Yi?

Oh, no, some do lean toward Zhou Jielun.

For example, Xu Ruoxuan, who is rumored to have fallen out with Zhou Jielun, and Cai Yilin, who is currently rumored to be dating Zhou Jielun, and so on.

But their fame, compared to the currently popular Sun Yanzi and others, is undoubtedly like an ant trying to shake a tree.

Especially Cai Yilin; after switching to Sony, she is still fighting a lawsuit with her former company, and various black materials are being poured out by the former company non-stop. If it weren't for relying on the rumors with Zhou Jielun, it's uncertain whether she would even be able to make a sound during this period after her song copyrights were blocked.

Precisely because of this, on April 4, as time fermented, when some media outlets proposed the concept of "Two Zhus and One Sun in the Mandarin Music Scene" based on this Golden Melody list storm, they were immediately met with strong criticism from the Twin Star fans.

This is riding on coattails!

This is forcing a ride on coattails!

Heluo Di, you have no shame!

When the news reached the mainland, even Zhou Yi, who was currently running "Qi Kai De Sheng" promotions in various cities, began to be relentlessly questioned about this matter—

Asked in the Imperial Capital, asked in Tianjin; asked in Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

"My manager has already mentioned it to me; eleven nominations, feels pretty good."

Wearing a sports jersey with the Coca-Cola logo and stepping in Anta shoes, after accepting a tissue from his assistant and wiping his sweat, Zhou Yi smiled and accepted an interview at the Nanchang Honggutan Activity Center: "However, it is still a month away from the start of the Golden Melody Awards; guessing this is too early."

"Then, what is your opinion on Zhou Jielun facing you again at the Taiwan Golden Melody Awards after last year?"

"It's very good; same old rules as last year: whoever wins more treats the other to milk tea."

"Then what is your opinion on the Xie Tingfeng incident? Is there any connection between you? Outsiders are all spreading that although you two have a competitive relationship, overall it is okay; may I ask if you have sought him out to understand the relevant situation?"

Winding around, compared to the Golden Melody Awards issues that the Taiwanese media cared more about, the mainland media obviously still cared more about Hong Kong's Xie Tingfeng.

After all, they were once two popular kings ranked together.

"I did go to Hong Kong, but that was all to discuss events with Coca-Cola; I haven't contacted Tingfeng yet because we are both quite busy, so I am not clear on the specific situation."

On this matter, Zhou Yi directly chose to know nothing about any of it.

"Then may I ask, Zhou Yi, are you familiar with the recently popular singer A-Du?"

"It is said that like Sun Yanzi, he also comes from Singapore; after more than ten days of chart promotion, his single "He Must Love You Very Much" has climbed to the front of various charts."

"Of course I have heard of him, but I haven't had the chance to meet him yet; after all, I have been quite busy recently."

When the reporter mentioned A-Du, Zhou Yi, who never forgot his identity as a spokesperson, unscrewed the cap, took a sip of Coke, and nodded with a smile.

On March 21, the Car Under-Seat God A-Du was the first to launch the single "He Must Love You Very Much" for chart promotion and ran promotions continuously through various channels provided by Hai Die.

Because of his unique voice and lyrics with extremely tragic sentiment, this song immediately captured the hearts of many audiences.

Although the album containing the single "He Must Love You Very Much" has not been officially released, no one knows how many copies Du's album will sell upon its official launch.

But thanks to the "common singer" and "construction foreman singer" down-to-earth identities packaged by Sea Butterfly, up to now, the weathered-faced man known as Du has won considerable attention.

"If reporters ask you about Xie Tingfeng again in the future, you'd better ignore them; the situation has been getting tense lately."

After finishing the live recording and promotion in Nanchang, Qian Jiang, who had come to pick up Zhou Yi for the next city, warned him with an extremely solemn face: "The Hong Kong police seem to have found evidence of his obstruction of justice and intend to make an example of him."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

With no surprises, Zhou Yi closed his eyes to rest and seize the time: "Where is the next stop?"

"Macau, then Hong Kong."

…………………………………………

April 12, at Zhang Baizhi's home.

Seeing her boyfriend still in a gloomy mood, Zhang Baizhi, wearing a nightgown, got up to comfort him.

For Xie Tingfeng, entering the year 2002 had been nothing but bad luck.

First, his old rival Zhou Yi had performed brilliantly on the international stage, causing his reputation to plummet to rock bottom;

then, his relationship with Wang Fei had been on-and-off, leaving his mood particularly terrible. Recently, after dating Zhang Baizhi, he was targeted by the police for speeding and crashing into a flower bed while driving in the early morning; the company spent a huge amount of manpower and money on public relations, but it was all useless.

It was just frustrating.

"Don't worry, it will be fine; just wait until the storm passes."

"Let's hope so."

Xie Tingfeng, feeling an unease in his heart, slowly exhaled. He was about to say something when he suddenly heard the doorbell ring—

Hmm?

The two, feeling puzzled, exchanged a glance, and then, upon opening the door, both froze in shock!

In the early hours of April 12, 2002, the Hong Kong police, who had been investigating secretly for a long time, took Xie Tingfeng away from Zhang Baizhi's home, along with Zhang Baizhi, who had been invited to assist with the investigation.

Once this news broke, the entire Hong Kong was shaken!

It almost instantly dominated the front pages and headlines of all entertainment newspapers across the country that day; its momentum was so strong that even Zhou Yi's Golden Melody Awards could not compare!

The headlines from mainland media and Hong Kong media were relatively normal, mostly focusing on reporting the incident—

"Affected by the hit-and-run cover-up case, Hong Kong's Little Heavenly King fades from the scene!"

"The leader of the new era of the Chinese music scene: the talented Zhou Yi from the mainland!"

News reports of this kind emerged endlessly after Xie Tingfeng's incident officially broke.

As for the Taiwan media...

Under the condition that Hello Kitty secretly slipped in money, some Taiwan media quietly began to replace Xie Tingfeng's position with Zhou Jielun—

"Two Zhous and one Sun, dividing the world into three; the new forces of the Chinese music scene!"

"South Zhou and North Zhou, the battle for the Little Heavenly King intensifies!"

"North and South, the two Zhous; who is the king of the new era?!"

"Limitless charm; most female stars across the two sides of the strait and Hong Kong are inclined toward Zhou Yi; the North and South Zhous may have already decided the winner!"

Too dark...

(End of this chapter)