Chapter 29: The Discrimination of the Golden Melody Awards

"From childhood to adulthood, I have never had a moment of insecurity."

Zhou Yi, with the woman's slender fingers pressing against his jaw, was "forced" to lift his head and meet her gaze, raising an eyebrow playfully at her: "You won't be the exception either."

"A goad?" Watching Xiao Yaxuan, bending down close to the man's face, was still catching her breath after dancing.

As their eyes met, Zhou Yi could even feel the woman's hot breath fanning against his face as she breathed.

"No, I'm just stating a fact."

Zhou Yi shrugged, noncommittally: "If you want a love affair with no results, I can accompany you."

Love and romance are not the same.

Love is a state, while romance is a relationship.

In terms of wording for relationships between men and women, Zhou Yi was clearly very clear.

"Is that so."

Gazing into the man's deep eyes full of sincerity, the smile on Watching Xiao Yaxuan's lips grew wider: "Won't you regret it, Zhou Yi?"

"I never have such an emotion as regret, because it is too negative for me."

The man raised his hand to brush away the woman's fingers pressing on his jaw, chuckled lightly, and asked: "So, do you still want to act in my MV?"

"Of course, why not."

Unexpectedly to Zhou Yi, after he had made clear his attitude that a one-night stand was fine but a relationship was not, Watching Xiao Yaxuan did not back down; instead, she continued to advance boldly, stating that she was a person of her word and would never go back on it.

At only 21 years old this year, she had absolute confidence in herself.

In terms of age, the boost from fame and status, and figure, she was not inferior; she could not think of any competitors.

Born into a wealthy family, living a life of silk and jade since childhood where she got whatever she wanted, she did not believe Zhou Yi would be her obstacle.

Unless he liked those old women in Hong Kong Island.

"Then, wish you success?"

Zhou Yi, who laughed out loud, earned an eye roll from Watching Xiao Yaxuan, but her heart felt much lighter as a result.

Imitating Zhou Yi, she sat down on the spot, took off her sweat-stained jacket, lay straight on the floor, gazed at the ceiling above, and enjoyed a moment of peace.

Since releasing her first album at the end of last year, she had not been this relaxed in conversation for a very long time.

This man named Zhou Yi gave her a very strange feeling.

Chatting with him felt like being able to put down all the burdens on her shoulders—he would not talk endlessly about sales and style, nor worry about this and that, nor face her with utmost respect, nor harbor some unspeakable utilitarian motive.

"What type of song is the MV you want me to act in? A ballad?"

Considering her positioning given by Virgin Records, Watching Xiao Yaxuan, with her hands behind her head, turned her head slightly to look at the man leaning against the wall.

"No, a pop dance track, just the type you are good at."

Rubbing his knuckles, Zhou Yi shook his head: "You know Warner has Guo Tianwang, who is good at dancing. To facilitate drawing popularity, my album will include two pop dance tracks."

Watching Xiao Yaxuan, who had already debuted, was not unfamiliar with this old-mentoring-new debut model: "So, are you Little Guo Fucheng?"

"No, the company will not promote me as 'Little Guo Fucheng'; they just want to use pop dance tracks to drive traffic. After all, it's a new album for a new artist, and I'm coming from the mainland; without creating a gimmick in advance, I'm afraid few people outside the mainland will even notice."

At this point, Zhou Yi's lips unconsciously curved with a bit of mockery: "Although I think it's not needed."

"Your company is right; the record market is so fierce now, it's better to be safe when debuting. Once you make a name, everything is easy to discuss."

"Of course, using dance tracks has certain drawbacks, such as the Golden Melody Awards."

Watching Xiao Yaxuan, using herself as an example, was clearly somewhat emotional: "This award is currently considered the music award with the highest prestige in the country, but the judging panels change from term to term, yet pop dance tracks have never been able to gain their recognition."

"If you confirm at the time of your album release that dance tracks are included, you must be prepared to receive nothing at the Golden Melody Awards, not even a single nomination."

This was not her exaggerating; it was solid fact.

The Golden Melody Awards' default discrimination against dance tracks has existed for a long time; even a powerhouse like Song Qingge, the Queen, Li Wen, has little connection with the Golden Melody Awards. This is also one of the reasons why the current general manager of Virgin Records, Yao Qian, has a feud with the Golden Melody Awards.

Back then, Yao Qian, as Li Wen's producer, created an album tailored for her that exploded in popularity, single-handedly lifting her to the Queen's throne, but the Golden Melody Awards didn't even pay attention, angering Yao Qian so much that he simply stopped submitting entries for the Golden Melody Awards afterward.

This is also the reason why, although Watching Xiao Yaxuan's debut album released at the end of last year has now nearly reached the 500,000 sales mark, there has been no word of any Golden Melody Award nominations.

Because Yao Qian simply did not submit Watching Xiao Yaxuan's album for entry in the company's name.

In today's world where the Golden Melody Awards' reputation is growing, there are not many big shots who can afford to ignore the Golden Melody Awards; Yao Qian is one of them.

People have the capital to be willful.

"If I don't get it, I don't get it. For my first album, I want fame, sales, and a broad fan base, not those stubborn old fossils."

Zhou Yi, who had been mentally prepared for this, didn't care at all: "Even if I don't get the Golden Melody Awards, I can go for the Hong Kong Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards; I will definitely have a share there. At the very least, the people there are much more generous than those exclusionary old fossils at the Taiwan Golden Melody Awards."

As one of the two awards with the highest prestige in Hong Kong's music awards, the Hong Kong Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards, although increasingly watered down in recent years, still holds some status; holding it up wouldn't be embarrassing.

As for the Taiwan Golden Melody Awards, Warner will definitely help him register; there is no doubt about that.

Whether he can win in the end is hard to judge; even Zhou Yi cannot accurately predict this. After all, an album with dance tracks is inherently disadvantaged in the Golden Melody Awards selection, born with a limp.

Moreover, his identity as someone from the mainland is another debuff.

His advantage is that he pioneered a completely new Hiphop element song, opening up a young new track visible to the naked eye.

But considering that even Zhou Dong, who will be at his peak in the future, could be tormented enough by the Golden Melody Awards...

Better to think more about sales; making money is most important.

"Slandering those Golden Melody Award judges like that, aren't you afraid I'll leak it?" Hearing Zhou Yi's evaluation of the Golden Melody Award judging panel, Watching Xiao Yaxuan, smiling with delight, said teasingly.

"Come on, given the terrible relationship between your teacher and the Golden Melody Awards, I'm afraid no one would believe you."

Zhou Yi, completely unconcerned, sneered: "If it really gets out, people might even say you are using me to deliberately slander the Golden Melody Awards."

"After all, as long as you are at Virgin for a day, the Golden Melody Awards have nothing to do with you. Even if they register you, a nomination is doubtful. Even if your songs are so popular that they are everywhere in the streets and alleys, it won't work."

"..."

Watching Xiao Yaxuan, struck at a sore spot, raised her hand and reached for the man's neck, using this opportunity to break the safe distance between them, bringing skin into intimate contact—

"You came with a contract signed, right? Get ready to change clothes; we'll shoot two simple sets of shots and wrap up. Later, I'll go to your place to act in your MV."

"My screen time is so little?"

"Nonsense. The audience is here to watch me, not you."

"That's not certain either. I'm this handsome — what if I steal the scene?"

"..."

Although she couldn't out-talk Zhou Yi's sharp tongue, Watching Xiao Yaxuan, who was both terrible at it and loved doing it, tossed him an umbrella: "For clothes, just wear the white T-shirt and jeans you have on. Film a few shots of you walking down the street in the rain, then brushing past me.

"Finally, record a voice message on your phone for me, and your part is done."

"That's all your MV has for me?"

Looking at the script that couldn't even fill half a page of paper that had been shoved into his hands, Zhou Yi raised an eyebrow with a strange expression—

Then, he flubbed the take.

"Cut.

"Zhou Yi, after you finish your expression and action, don't look at the camera, and don't look at the director either. It'll pull the audience out of the scene. Fix that habit."

Once she got into work mode, Watching Xiao Yaxuan showed Zhou Yi, who was new to MV filming, her serious side, and he also picked up a smattering of basic knowledge about being an MV actor.

The most basic: your eyes can't look at the camera, but you have to make sure every move you make is finding the camera.