Chapter 379: Isn't That Very Bold?

"Ah Yi, next time you come to the US, if anything happens, you can call me directly."

After a few rounds of drinks, Li Lianjie affectionately patted Zhou Yi's shoulder: "I may not be able to summon wind and rain in the US, but I do have some clout. We're all Chinese; when we're out making our way in the world, we should look out for each other."

"Brother, since you've said it like that, I'll take you at your word."

Zhou Yi, a smile spreading across his lips, gently clinked glasses with him, his words no longer carrying the awkwardness of his arrival: "I will definitely be going to the US after the New Year."

"To cause trouble for that guy named Eminem?"

Li Lianjie wasn't someone who kept his ears closed to the outside world; the moment Zhou Yi mentioned it, he immediately thought of that currently very popular hip-hop Guo Tianwang in the US: "He's not easy to deal with right now; his movie was a huge smash hit."

November 8th, Friday, the movie '8 Mile' starring Eminem officially premiered in North America; the result was that in just three days it raked in 73.84 million USD in box office, directly seizing the top spot on the North American box office chart for that week, stunning everyone's eyes.

Now the global total box office expectation is heading straight for over 300 million USD, a number that makes countless people envious.

Having tasted the sweetness, Eminem became increasingly arrogant on his personal blog and in interviews.

And according to industry insiders' analysis, the reason Eminem's movie could achieve such an explosive opening performance, besides his own fame and attention, was that the media and online flame war he ignited by personally releasing a song to diss Zhou Yi was undoubtedly the primary factor.

"Doesn't matter."

Zhou Yi, having refused the cigarette, smiled: "If I'm going to scold someone, I never care whether they're a smash hit or not."

In his memory, the three-day box office for '8 Mile' should have been only around 54 million, with a global total box office nearing 250 million USD. Now it has skyrocketed to over 70 million in three days, and the total box office estimate has jumped to 300 million USD. Undoubtedly, the hype tactics were responsible for the lion's share.

But that's fine too; the more of a smash hit Eminem becomes next, the more explosive the promotional push will be when he takes his new English album over there after the New Year to step on people.

Why are there so many diss tracks among singers in the Euro-American circle? Apart from a few who truly have hatred and wish you dead, most of it is hype and opportunistic clout-chasing. A typical example is Eminem opening fire on Mariah Carey and even putting the song into his album.

You say this isn't for sales and to boost his own status? That statement, I'm afraid, would only be believed by crystal fans.

After eating and drinking their fill, Zhou Yi finally loosened his stance a tiny bit; Zhang Yimou, surprised and delighted, was just about to press his advantage, but unfortunately Zhou Yi directly made an excuse that he was drunk and slipped away, forcing him to swallow his words back into his stomach again—

Stopped just short, it's very uncomfortable.

"Looking for Li Lianjie in the US? Will that work?"

After driving Zhou Yi to the car and getting it moving, the pretending-to-be-drunk Zhou Yi suddenly sobered up, explained the situation to him, and instructed him to ask for as high a price as possible. The latter agreed, while also being extremely curious about Li Lianjie's act of giving such a guarantee.

"Work my ass off? It's purely sticking gold leaf on his own face; he's not even as good as Chen Long. If I really ran into trouble, would I look for Chen Long or him?"

Chewing on the grapes Qian Jiang had prepared long ago, Zhou Yi, feeling a bit more comfortable, stretched his neck a couple of times, regarding this with great disregard.

At least Chen Long had a slightly deeper friendship with him.

"Oh right, there are two more things."

Qian Jiang, noncommittal, turned the steering wheel: "One is about your concert. The next stop is Shanghai's 80,000-Person Stadium; currently, expansion has reached the limit of a three-sided stage. Considering your current popularity, the company's opinion is: do you want to challenge a four-sided stage?"

"A four-sided stage?" Zhou Yi, spitting out the grape skin, raised his eyebrows in surprise.

The so-called four-sided stage is actually a type of concert stage layout.

Many common concerts are two-sided or three-sided stages; there is always a certain area blocked by the stage, unable to be developed into seating for use. For example, his first concert at the Workers' Stadium before was a three-sided stage.

But a four-sided stage is different; all four directions have no obstacles blocking the view, with audience seating around the entire stage. The audience can watch the performance from four directions, with no blind spots in their line of sight, allowing them to see every detail on stage clearly.

This is an extremely great test for a singer—whether it's controlling the live atmosphere, presenting stage effects, or the live viewing experience, everything must be done to perfection; otherwise, it's very easy to crash and turn into a disaster scene.

Most importantly, a four-sided stage is also a huge test of a singer's fan loyalty.

Once a four-sided stage is opened, if the fans don't fill up to the minimum break-even line, it would be a huge embarrassment.

A typical example is the so-called God of Songs, Zhang Xueyou; this April he just challenged a three-sided stage at Shanghai's 80,000-Person Stadium, but because there were few people and the ticket prices were relatively low, it directly caused the organizer to lose over a million.

To save face, Zhang Xueyou's team even produced a press release titled "90,000-Person Concert Carnival," which was somewhat delirious; they didn't even check how many seats the venue had in total. Even if you tried to sell standing tickets like on a train, you couldn't sell to 90,000 people.

If the organizers hadn't learned to be smart when holding the concert in Hangzhou in May, raising the overall ticket price since fan attendance fell short of expectations, the money lost at the Shanghai stop probably wouldn't have been earned back.

"Shanghai hasn't opened a four-sided stage yet, right?"

For large venues like the 80,000-Person Stadium, involving a four-sided stage could easily cause a major accident if things go wrong. As one of his main bases of activity, the Capital City had only dared to open a three-sided stage to him at the Workers' Stadium before.

Qian Jiang, driving, stared straight ahead and nodded: "Yes, it can be considered creating a record for you; your popularity is at its peak right now. Shanghai and its surrounding cities have a relatively developed economy, and there will be more people willing to buy tickets.

"Moreover, many people in Hong Kong originally came from Shanghai, like Wang Pangzi and Mojing Wang; they belong to the Shanghai community in Hong Kong. Many people in Hong Kong aren't too unfamiliar with Shanghai.

"ATV has also sent you an invitation, planning to invite you to their special program 'Three Bald Guys'. You can promote it on the show; maybe you can even pull in a batch of wealthy Hong Kong fans to go there and boost local consumption, further promoting Shanghai's cultural influence.

"This is also why the Shanghai authorities gave you the green light."

A concert by a current Guo Tianwang superstar can truly temporarily increase local economic consumption.

"Since they have no objections, I have no objections either."

Zhou Yi, curling his tongue to sweep his gums, leaned back against the chair: "Is that program by Huang Zhan still being held?"

"Originally it wasn't going to be, but your influence topping the charts was too huge, plus Huang Zhan's condition might deteriorate at any time, so they simply decided to make you the final guest for a special episode, which will also be the last episode of the program."

When mentioning Huang Zhan, Qian Jiang's expression on his face was slightly sad.

He was also someone who had experienced the 'Hui Huang' Two Sages era of Hong Kong music; back then, Huang Zhan and Gu Jiahui were the peerless twins standing at the Jin Zita peak of the Hong Kong music scene.

But now, one has lung cancer and won't live long, while the other has officially moved to Canada to start his retirement mode.

The former prosperity of the Hong Kong music scene has gone with them, never to return.

"The last episode, huh? Then the promotional push should be quite strong. Good, good."

Originally, 'Three Bald Guys' was ATV's flagship program, consistently ranking in the top two on Hong Kong's ratings charts. If not for Huang Zhan's poor health and their overall market share constantly declining, they would absolutely not have stopped it.

In that case, let him eat up the last wave of heat from this program.

Zhou Yi, closing his eyes to feign sleep, entered rest mode.

The closer it gets to the end of the year, the busier a superstar at his level becomes.

Next, there's the China-Korea Music Festival in South Korea at the end of December, and... the Spring Festival Gala.

………………

The next day, Hong Kong ATV Building.

Zhou Yi, arriving here by car, received an extremely grand welcome ceremony; even ATV's new Administrative Director, Chen Yongqi, came.

"Welcome, welcome, Mr. Zhou."

Chen Yongqi, who has always had close ties with the mainland, was extremely enthusiastic, personally taking on the role of the 'tour guide' showing Zhou Yi around the ATV Building, while reporters beside them clicked away with cameras, capturing photos of the two of them together.

Even the cheerful Huang Zhan looked a bit bewildered.

So much so that when rehearsals for "Three Bald Guys" began, he specifically mentioned this matter, jokingly pivoting to whether he had invested in Zhou Yi's concert to be so enthusiastic, and then further pivoting to Zhou Yi's upcoming Shanghai 80,000-Person Stadium concert for promotion.

"For this Shanghai stop of the concert, I made a very bold attempt: directly setting up a four-sided stage."

Zhou Yi, sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, looked extremely at ease: "I plan to fill the venue with 80,000 people, making it a genuine 80,000-person stadium. How about it, isn't this idea very bold?"

(End of this chapter)