Chapter 451: Ascending the Pig-Slaying List

"Why do I feel his aggression is even stronger since he came out here than it was back home?"

9:30 AM, February 19, US time. New York, InterContinental Hotel Times Square, Room 1024.

CCTV reporter Zhu Zhenping looked at the American newspapers and magazines in his hand; over 75% of the front-page headlines were about the various statements Zhou Yi had made during his activities, radio appearances, and interviews in the US over the past few days—

By traditional Chinese standards, one couldn't say it was an insult to literature, but it was more like Lin Dai Yu uprooting the weeping willow.

At thirty-five this year, he was in his prime; due to his outstanding work ability, he had been temporarily seconded to quietly handle the news and interviews regarding Zhou Yi's trip to the Grammys.

"Give it up. You haven't seen Zhou Yi when he first debuted back then; even Qiong Yao was suppressed by him until she had no temper left, or rather, she had temper but couldn't vent it."

In the living room, directly opposite Zhu Zhenping, CCTV reporter Xie Jiewen, also thirty-five this year, couldn't hold back his laughter: "Even the Immortal Hair was forced by him to make a desperate gamble in Hollywood; he can't even get acting roles in the domestic market anymore."

For people of their age, compared to the nickname 'Poison Hair', they were still more accustomed to calling him 'Immortal Hair'.

"It's just that his status back home no longer requires him to show such strong aggression. Over here, he's starting from scratch. The competition abroad is far greater than at home, and his identity is a disadvantage, so he can only further strengthen his image in the West."

"That's true. If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten about the 'Poison Hair' incident."

Recalling that incident, Zhu Zhenping slapped his forehead: "He's in the US too, right? Promoting that new film of his, 'Bulletproof Monk'?"

"Yes, he's banking on this film to turn things around. I wonder what he's thinking seeing Zhou Yi doing so well in the US." Xie Wenjie speculated maliciously: "He might be so jealous his teeth are grinding to dust."

'Bulletproof Monk'. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer officially announced the North American screening date for this film as April 16, 2003. Now, the film has already begun its official pre-release promotion.

As the lead actor, Chow Yun-fat viewed this film as a lifeline. If successful, his stalled film career in China would return to the right track. By then, even if Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Jay Chou got together, they couldn't suppress him.

After all, China is so big; the entertainment industry is naturally not a monolith.

As long as he can still prove he has immense commercial value.

In 2003, Jackie Chan had already flopped with multiple films in Hollywood one after another. Having left the 'Rush Hour' series, the halo around him was rapidly fading.

As for Jet Li, there was no need to mention him. Although the overseas rights to Zhang Yimou's 'Hero' sold very well, this could not stop Jet Li's declining status in Hollywood.

There was only Jay Chou.

That guy was more difficult to deal with, but ultimately, he was still a singer; his hands couldn't reach into the film industry.

Chow Yun-fat was very confident.

However, because they were both Chinese, he inevitably faced questions from reporters related to Zhou Yi while promoting 'Bulletproof Monk'—

but all were brushed aside with answers like "I am not very familiar with Spike," "Please do not ask questions unrelated to the film," and "Stop asking."

Several times, even American media dug up old scores between him and Zhou Yi; his face instantly darkened, and he tried to ride on Zhou Yi's popularity to get on the news.

It wasn't that he didn't want to directly start cursing, but as the lead actor, he could not and dared not create any negative news detrimental to the film during the promotion period; otherwise, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer would not let him off.

At this moment, he was quite envious of Zhou Yi's freedom within Warner Bros. —damn it, he could just blast away whenever he wanted, without caring about image management at all.

Of course, under the packaging of his personal management company, this became the public impression of Chinese people when traveling abroad: modest and polite.

Even if there were conflicts, they would not make them public, but would rather close the door and resolve them at home.

It was a way of following the usual route to rack up some impression points for himself.

Therefore, on the afternoon of the 19th, after disguising himself and quietly entering the nursing home to hand over the domestic specialties prepared by Cheng Hao to Cheng's mother, who was responsible for caring for Cheng's father, Zhou Yi looked up and saw Chow Yun-fat's face mixed among the film's creative team on the TV.

He was smiling quite kindly at the camera.

"You've worked hard, Xiao Yi." Cheng's mother was somewhat emotional: "It's too much trouble for you."

He came to the US to attend the Grammy Awards ceremony, but ended up acting as a human courier.

This was a top-tier superstar that one could count on fingers back home; how did his own daughter dare to do this?

"It's just a handy thing, Auntie. I happened to come to the US anyway. How is Uncle doing?" Zhou Yi smiled, not minding, glanced at the middle-aged man still sleeping in the hospital bed, and asked quietly.

"The doctor said the recovery situation is good."

"That's good. I'll leave first, Auntie."

"Hey, take it slow on the road, be safe." Cheng's mother watched the child leave, and the expression on her face gradually became somewhat complex.

She now knew about her daughter's liking for Zhou Yi.

She didn't know if Zhou Yi knew, or perhaps he knew but pretended not to. But regardless, her daughter's statement left her with no way to refute it: "Mom, without Zhou Yi connecting people to find help, Dad would already be dead."

What else could she say...

However, this time she also witnessed Zhou Yi's high popularity in the US—even some of the nursing home staff were his fans. For Cheng's mother, who had stayed in China for the past few decades, this was simply too outrageous.

"Although I've said it before, I think I should still thank you in person. The level of care here is indeed very good."

Getting into the car, Zhou Yi thanked Mariah Carey. The latter didn't mind and waved her hand, instead looking with interest at the Bodhisattva pendant hanging around Zhou Yi's neck and the wooden bead bracelet on his left wrist: "What made you think of wearing these things?"

"One protects my safety, the other protects my winning the lottery. Although I feel it's not necessary, trying it out doesn't hurt."

Zhou Yi shrugged: "You know, the security environment in the US isn't exactly great, and I tend to offend people, specifically those who play hip-hop."

Mariah Carey, the 'Butterfly' who hadn't yet developed into the 'Cowboy' stage, laughed: "That's nothing. Eminem has many enemies in the hip-hop circle too; the people secretly supporting you are far more than you imagine."

Eminem's aggressive style was not only reflected outside the hip-hop circle; within the hip-hop circle, he was equally hated by people and dogs.

It's just that his albums were selling well right now, plus he had the backing of his company and connections, so only a few open hip-hop big shots could argue with him.

"Rather than worrying about extremists in the hip-hop circle, you might as well worry about whether anyone will be jealous of your wealth. After all, according to the latest statistics from Forbes magazine, you are currently the young pop singer with the highest commercial value globally since the new century; there are plenty of people jealous."

Mariah Carey, who had already become a top-tier diva at the end of the last century, teased with interest: "When I was your age, I never had such fierce achievements. You are heading straight for Michael."

Just yesterday, February 18, the American 'Forbes' magazine, following the trends of the Grammys, produced a feature profile. This included Hip-Hop King Eminem, American Newcomer King Norah Jones, European Newcomer Little Witch Avril Lavigne, and...

Global Pop Little King Zhou Yi.

Out of instinct from his old profession, 'Forbes' also included in the feature profile an estimate of the contributions the hot figures of this Grammy Awards would make to the global music industry value, based on multiple dimensions such as each superstar's record sales, copyright distribution, and advertising revenue from the previous year.

Among these, Zhou Yi topped the list of participants in this Grammy Awards with an estimated valuation of 1.1 billion US dollars!

As everyone knows, after the global music industry value reached its peak in 1999, the global music market slid uncontrollably for three consecutive years in 2000, 2001, and 2002—

By 2002, the total value of the global music market had fallen to around 22 billion US dollars. Depending on the sources of data from various statistical agencies, the figures would fluctuate up and down, but the upper limit was always capped at 22.5 billion, and the lower limit was capped at 21 billion.

"The total global record sales in 2002 exceeded 38 million copies, ranking first in global physical album market sales."

"Since the pricing for singles, Chinese albums, and English albums differs for each version, calculating comprehensively at 26 US dollars, slightly lower than the price of the standard English album version, Zhou Yi created a market quota of nearly one billion US dollars in the global album market."

"Plus advertising endorsements, copyright distribution, and other activities, Spike created a market of over 1.1 billion US dollars throughout 2002, accounting for about 5% of the total market share for the year..."

In this character profile, there was no doubt that Eminem of the East Asian market was crushed by Zhou Yi, who also captured a major share of the East Asian record market.

"Generally, the revenue split for Warner Records artists currently depends on multiple factors, including record sales, performances, and copyright income.

"Depending on the artist's fame, contract terms, and negotiating power, this ratio usually falls between 10% and 25%. Additionally, some famous artists may enjoy more favorable contract conditions, such as exclusive licenses and higher revenue splits.

"Spike belongs to the latter category.

"As the album's music producer and songwriter, he is guaranteed a revenue share of around 25% to 30%.

"This means that throughout 2002, Spike was expected to earn approximately 300 million to 360 million USD in pre-tax income thanks to his musical talent. In other words, he likely had after-tax income between 90 million USD and 130 million USD.

"Of course, this does not rule out that he, like Jack Cheng in China, enjoys hidden tax benefits..."

By comparison, Cheng Long, the highest-earning Chinese artist, was estimated by major US institutions to have earned between 72 million and 100 million USD in 2002.

(End of this chapter)