Chapter 292: Wherever There Is Football, There Is Zhou Yi's Song

"Fine, I have no objection."

Having read the entire content, Zhou Yi handed the folder back to Zhou Jianhui, and at the end, he couldn't help but joke with a smile: "President Zhou, your confidence in me is now a bit too high."

Eminem is what kind of person? In the hip-hop field dominated by Black people, he, a white man, broke through the encirclement and reached the top; his strength is unquestionable.

Although there was great controversy, it cannot be denied that his albums indeed sold well.

His previous album's sales directly defeated all opponents of the same period, sweeping to the top of the global male singer sales chart to claim the number one throne.

The new album "The Eminem Show" had been on sale for only three days, yet sales had already broken the million mark, causing countless people to exclaim in disbelief. Fans were celebrating along with the song "Without Me" in the album, shouting that the king has returned.

No matter how you look at it, Eminem this year is unstoppable.

"As long as your album has two more songs as popular as your first single 'The Lazy Song', then throwing money at it won't be a loss."

Zhou Jianhui, whose status within Warner had risen rapidly over the past two years, was also riding high on success; naturally, he chose to believe, believe, and believe again.

As for actually going head-to-head with Eminem, he didn't even dare to think about it.

"If one song could reach the popularity of 'Wavin' Flag'... never mind, let's not force that; the World Cup bonus is too huge."

Feeling somewhat unrealistic, Zhou Jianhui shook his head with a smile, cutting off his own train of thought before he even finished speaking.

As of May 29, backed by the two global promotion channels of Warner and Coca-Cola, the song "Wavin' Flag" directly led a World Cup trend on a worldwide scale.

Except for the Asian regions where people can distinguish who is who, in other continents, people who generally lack relevant geographical knowledge, under the influence of the World Cup atmosphere, almost immediately upon hearing the song, understood "Wavin' Flag" as the official theme song of this World Cup—

The melody is catchy, and the lyrics are sporty and sunny;

The MV is full of Asian city scenery, the singer is an Asian singer, and this World Cup is being held in Asia.

Most crucially, in the two World Cup host countries, Japan and South Korea, the hottest World Cup song right now is also "Wavin' Flag".

Whether strolling through the streets of Tokyo or walking down the alleys of Seoul, people can always hear "Wavin' Flag", a song that is about to make their ears callous.

If this isn't the theme song of this World Cup, which song could be?

"Sorry, this song really isn't."

South Korea, Seoul.

Facing foreigners who came to travel and watch the matches, one after another Korean person helplessly explained again and again.

The South Korean officials, sweating profusely, tried desperately to debunk rumors before the upcoming World Cup opening ceremony, pushing their official theme song hard, but found that no one was listening at all—

Whether it was radio listenership, request rates, KTV song selections, or even paid music video channels for MVs, "Wavin' Flag" was far ahead; the three official theme songs combined couldn't even compare.

Oh, no, it shouldn't be said they couldn't compare; it should be that the fraction of "Wavin' Flag"'s numbers is greater than these three official tracks combined.

There were even many foreign tourists who came to the cities based on the MV shot by Zhou Yi, only to discover after arriving that they had gone to the wrong place; Zhou Yi is Chinese, and he shot advertisements for Chinese cities.

Those with money and leisure would take advantage of the fact that the World Cup opening match hadn't started yet to follow Zhou Yi's song MV and take a tour around China; after all, taking a plane is fast.

Foreigners who didn't have much budget to travel to China could only mutter a few words: "Seoul, this South Korean capital, is just so-so; it's not even as good as the cities that appeared in the 'Wavin' Flag' MV."

These remarks were quite popular on internet websites like Yahoo, causing Koreans to completely lose their cool.

Axi!

"This is the South Korean World Cup! It is our World Cup! What are they trying to do? What is Warner trying to do? What is Coca-Cola trying to do?!"

The more tourists there were, the more such remarks appeared.

Chung Mong-joon, the president of the South Korean Football Association who had fought hard to snatch this co-hosting right, got so angry in his office that he smashed a vase.

Sibal!

Why don't you mention Tokyo?!

Both are the capitals of this World Cup's host countries; is our Seoul really worse than Tokyo?!

Chung Mong-joon had thought of many ways in which Japan might steal the spotlight from South Korea before the opening ceremony and had taken many precautions for this.

But he never expected that, in the end, an uninvited Chinese singer would come with a knife and, without spending a single cent, openly cut away a huge piece of the cake right under the noses of both Japan and South Korea—

And ate it with great relish!

Did China spend any money, so you get to eat?!

This was organized by us, the Republic of Korea, with our money!

The president of the Japanese Football Association was equally losing his cool.

He was already feeling sufficiently aggrieved after being suppressed by South Korea and personally mocked by Chung Mong-joon in a book; now, Chinese cities that didn't spend a dime could also ride the wave of the World Cup to increase their visibility?

Isn't that a bit ridiculous?

Some Chinese associations in Japan had even started printing Chinese city travel guides to distribute to those wealthy foreign tourists, and they were made exactly according to the order in which cities appeared in Zhou Yi's MV, incredibly detailed.

If there wasn't someone behind the scenes pushing this, he would commit seppuku!

Coincidentally, Japan also had quite a few fans of Zhou Yi's songs; this group enthusiastically educated the foreigners about Zhou Yi's past achievements and songs.

Riding this wind, on May 30, more than a month after the song's release, Zhou Yi had almost achieved global domination—

From England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia, down to Iceland, Peru, Portugal, Ecuador, and Gambia.

Even in the United States, where the football atmosphere is generally average, one could hear Zhou Yi's singing, see Zhou Yi's face, and watch his meticulously produced MV.

Although the single sales were only 6.34 million copies, for Zhou Yi, this was a true global explosion—

Wherever there is football, there is Zhou Yi's song!

According to official Warner statistics, as of now, within the global scope, the listening count for Zhou Yi's "Wavin' Flag" is conservatively estimated to have exceeded 2.5 billion times.

The viewing count for the "Wavin' Flag" Chinese city MV promotional video is also conservatively estimated to be around 300 million.

Currently, it ranks only behind the 1994 World Cup theme song "We Will Rock You" and the 1998 World Cup theme song "The Cup of Life".

The Chinese officials were initially confused themselves, but then became ecstatic.

Under the protection of the World Cup, Zhou Yi's song performed so incredibly fiercely that it completely suppressed all other sports-related songs, leading by a massive margin!

Under the fierce shadow brought by Zhou Yi, by May 31, bearing the huge pressure brought by "Wavin' Flag", the Korea-Japan World Cup official theme songs, which had not opened up even a tiny bit of visibility, received only sparse friendly applause at the opening ceremony.

The level of support was even less than the cheers from the on-site audience given to the French team after the opening match began.

"What? 'Wavin' Flag' isn't actually the theme song? Then why is it this song every single day?"

"Didn't you see the news on the Korean TV station? The singer Spike is Chinese; since China didn't host the World Cup, the theme song naturally isn't by him."

"Of course I know he's Chinese; I even know his Chinese name is Zhou Yi. What I mean is, why didn't the Korea-Japan World Cup select this song as the theme? Aren't they all Asians? Besides, the Chinese team also participated in the World Cup."

"Who knows..."

After the World Cup began, Zhou Yi, who had returned to the mainland to start filming the English album's MV, was clearly living a low-key life free from worldly strife, yet he somehow became the center of attention.

Zhou Jianhui, his face flushed with health, walked with purpose and called FIFA President Blatter every few days.

If Zhou Yi's status rises, he'll have plenty of confidence to argue when marketing clashes with Eminem in the future.

However, just as the World Cup was in full swing and the entire nation was immersed in the beautiful dream of "score one goal, win one point, win one match" to qualify for the next round—

the National Team splashed cold water on the whole country with results of 0:2 against Costa Rica, 0:4 against Brazil, and 0:3 against Turkey.

Three matches lost, zero goals scored, nine goals conceded.

Just how fiery the domestic football atmosphere was before the World Cup, so powerful is the anger of domestic fans, even fake fans and passersby, now.

As a famous fan among celebrities, Zhou Yi, who had returned to the bar street to film the "Yeah" MV on location, was caught squarely by reporters, who held long lenses and short barrels, asking for his views on the Chinese team's journey in this World Cup.

"Uh... in other words, the Chinese team is one of the teams that can start preparing for the next World Cup in advance."

Facing the camera, Zhou Yi scratched his temple; considering the National Team's future results, he racked his brains to find a relatively peaceful way to put it.

He couldn't possibly say discouraging words to the camera; the current National Team fans are furious, and if he says anything discouraging, he might get scolded along with them.

(End of this chapter)