Chapter 400: Buddies Everywhere Are Rivals, What About It?

To be fair, for Zhou Yi himself, whether or not there was an extra "Zhong" character on his forehead made little difference, after all, everyone mainly operated in different arenas.

But for the Musicians Association, this result was entirely different; this was their first time absorbing such a young singer into the association, and a pop singer at that.

It must be understood that in terms of artistry, singing technique, or even years of grinding out seniority, Zhou Yi actually did not meet the standards for entering the Musicians Association.

Yet, relying solely on the influence he had slashed his way to internationally, he forcibly chiseled open this door—the gold content of the World Cup Closing Ceremony and the British Specialist Conference was simply too high for them to ignore.

In the eyes of the higher-ups, his importance level skyrocketed.

He had overtaken on a curve, a unique case in the entire industry, with no one yet seen capable of replicating it.

Qian Jiang, who hadn't walked with wind at his heels for a long time, rarely ate an extra bowl of preserved egg and lean meat congee this morning, munching on fried dough sticks that tasted absolutely delicious.

"Breaking news: The 4th China-South Korea Song Festival will be held in Seoul, the capital of South Korea; it is reported that our country's young singer Zhou Yi will..."

The program host on the screen was still introducing relevant information about this year's China-South Korea Song Festival with perfect enunciation, while on the living room carpet, Zhou Yi, sitting cross-legged, sipped plain congee and took a bite of the meat bun in his hand: "Why is the publicity so high-profile this time?"

Not only the morning news, but even the current "News in 30 Minutes" segment mentioned the China-South Korea Song Festival; compared to last year's edition, why has the promotional intensity increased this year?

"Because the China-Japan Song Festival at the end of September was a mess, and the internal perception wasn't very good."

Qian Jiang, whose connections in the entertainment circle were at the level of a power-leveler, smiled until his eyes nearly squinted into slits: "You've heard of Ayumi Hamasaki, right? Apart from in China, she is a renowned diva-level singer across other regions of Asia; at the China-Japan Song Festival in late September, she thoroughly taught the mainland a lesson, causing us to lose face."

On September 22, 2002, the China-Japan Song Festival, themed "China and Japan Joining Hands, Walking Together into the Century," kicked off at the Workers' Stadium.

This should have been a commendable event worth remembering.

However, after Ayumi Hamasaki, hailed as the Asian Diva, consecutively sparked negative news such as acting like a big shot and quarreling with Li Wen, the domestic organizers found themselves in a no-win situation, finally having to grit their teeth and push the song festival through.

There was no other way; since the person had already arrived, they couldn't exactly kick them out to sleep on the streets, or the loss of face would have been truly massive.

"You don't know that CCTV now doesn't plan to define this concert as a China-Japan Friendship Song Festival anymore; in the future, it will just be treated as an ordinary compilation concert, and whether to re-enable the official title of 'China-Japan Song Festival' depends on subsequent reactions."

"Moreover, even if it is restarted, there is over a ninety percent chance they will first make a cut, treating it as the first edition to be held anew, so naturally, the current focus has shifted to this China-South Korea Song Festival led by you."

In a certain sense, this was a good thing for Zhou Yi—it lowered expectations for him in advance.

Without needing to perform exceptionally well, as long as no weird incidents occurred and the goal of seriously showcasing artistic culture was accomplished, that would be sufficient.

Listening to these inside stories and gossip, Zhou Yi fell into thoughtful silence.

No wonder the 2005 China-Japan Friendship Song Festival, which had big shots attending to give congratulatory speeches, was referred to as the "Second China-Japan Friendship Song Festival" in promotional press releases; so that was the reason?

"Ayumi Hamasaki was truly outrageous; putting aside the acting like a big shot, which she did plenty of in Japan anyway, but backstage, simply because she felt a cameraman filming Li Wen had captured her in the frame, she quarreled with Li Wen's team and personally tried to snatch the camera to delete all the footage."

Qian Jiang complained about Ayumi Hamasaki's nonsensical reason for losing her temper: "Even if Japan has strict portrait rights management, her participation in the song festival meant she agreed her portrait rights would be used for this China-Japan Song Festival; who knows what madness she was indulging in, since backstage coverage is part of the concert process, okay?"

"Ah Yi, you must also pay attention when you go to South Korea; don't let people think you're acting like a big shot."

Zhou Yi, who turned a deaf ear to the three words "acting like a big shot," smiled: "Otherwise, why do you think among the most famous female singers in Japan, Ayumi Hamasaki has the most news coverage? Hikaru Utada actually defeated her head-on in the sales battle, yet her news exposure volume was still surpassed."

Ayumi Hamasaki's fan model and news model actually had a ready-made template to reference in the near future—Cai Yilin.

Originally supposed to go to Japan for plastic surgery and incidentally learn from Namie Amuro, Cai Yilin went astray while learning, drifting toward Ayumi Hamasaki's direction, and then began adopting Ayumi Hamasaki's various concepts of news hype, gradually integrating them into her own positioning.

It could be said that after Cai Yilin rebuilt her career by bundling the "Double J Love" concept, she crossed the river by feeling her way along Ayumi Hamasaki, which included her obsessive fans who tore into many contemporary singers.

During her peak, Ayumi Hamasaki's fans were equally fierce, capable of tearing into anyone without fear whatsoever.

"Speaking of which, Hikaru Utada is also outrageous; I was waiting for her to release her English album so I could thoroughly step on her, but she actually went and got married."

Hearing the name Hikaru Utada suddenly again, Qian Jiang clicked his tongue with considerable regret when discussing this matter: "With this marriage, her English album will probably be delayed again."

Getting married so young, while being the record company's cash cow, one can only say that talent makes one willful.

"Delayed is fine; anyway, no matter when she releases it, she will inevitably be dragged out for comparison with me," said Zhou Yi indifferently, putting down his chopsticks after eating and drinking his fill, finally peeling an egg.

As the "music rival of Zhou Yi" publicly depicted by the Japanese media, Hikaru Utada's long-prepared English album had kept Japanese fans in suspense.

Including Warner, many people held apprehensions, with only Zhou Yi himself not caring in the slightest.

"Oh right, there's one more thing."

Raising his chopsticks, Qian Jiang added: "Over in South Korea, you actually also have a so-called music rival, dubbed by the Korean media; when you get there, the Korean media might try to cause trouble for you, so I'm giving you a advance warning."

"How come there's another rival? Who?"

"Lee Jung-hyun."

Upon speaking this name, Qian Jiang's expression became somewhat strange.

Lee Jung-hyun, born in 1980, was only one year older than Zhou Yi.

She officially released her first personal music album in July 1999, becoming an instant hit and thereafter rising to become a diva-level figure in the South Korean entertainment industry; at this moment, Park Jae-sang, who would later sweep the globe with the song "Gangnam Style," was her backup dancer—

Truly the progenitor of the Korean Wave, she exported her electronic dance music style to all of Asia within just two short years, influencing quite a few singers in the Japanese music scene as well.

And in China...

As everyone knows, Sammi Cheng, Warner's former number one sister, had the nickname "Lee Jung-hyun's Hong Kong Branch"; backed by the deep-pocketed company Warner, they had nearly picked Lee Jung-hyun clean from top to bottom.

"Mainly, you are just too popular, so popular that the music scenes in both Japan and South Korea have to take you seriously and ride your hype, only to then discover that their respective countries each have a music genius around your age..."

Speaking of this, Qian Jiang also felt it was somewhat eerie; could there really be some kind of heavenly destiny in this world?

The young generation leaders of the music scenes in China, Japan, and South Korea all became kings and divas at a young age, with sales and influence figures exploding off the charts.

Most importantly, the ages of the three and their debut dates in the music scene were all close—

Hikaru Utada, born in '83, released songs in late '98;

Lee Jung-hyun, born in '80, released songs in '99;

Zhou Yi, born in '81, released songs in '00.

Precisely because of this, Japan hyped Hikaru Utada and Zhou Yi, while South Korea hyped Lee Jung-hyun and Zhou Yi, with the latter generating a bunch of news stories fabricated by many Korean media outlets due to the link of Warner.

What's more, after Zhou Yi conquered the international market, in the pens of many tabloid reporters, Lee Jung-hyun and Hikaru Utada became the "Two Concubines" subordinate to the Emperor of Chinese Music—one offered up by the Land of Wa, and one offered up by Goryeo.

When Zhou Yi saw such underground rumors, he somewhat couldn't hold it together.

After all, this was the Celestial Empire; historical suppression was at play. In Japan and South Korea they were rivals, but upon reaching China, they became tributary states, is that it?

"Oh right, Ah Yi, regarding the new song you mentioned, who do you want to collaborate with? While there's still time, I'll help you contact them and arrange a schedule as soon as possible."

"No need, Mr. Liang, I think you won't be able to contact him."

"Impossible; you are challenging my professionalism as a manager." Not yet catching on, Qian Jiang waved his hand grandly, quite domineeringly: "Tell me, who is it?"

"Liang Qichao."

"A trivial matter, just a Liang Qi—hmm?!"

Qian Jiang, whose pupils trembled in shock at this name, gaped in surprise: "Ah?"

"'Ode to Young China,' lyrics by Liang Qichao."

(End of this chapter)