Chapter 455: Gods Are Forged

"The feeling of winning a Grammy? Honestly, stacking three Grammy-shaped trophies feels pretty heavy."

"About the red carpet? Just speaking the truth. When I was doing part-time gigs as a singer in bars, I was psychologically much happier than now; I didn't have to worry about this or that."

"Worried about making too many enemies in Europe and America? No, no, no. Those who know me well know I've always been kind to others."

"Yao Ming? I haven't met him yet; Houston is a bit far from New York. He has games to play, and I have promotions to do; neither of us can spare the time."

"Apple might put us together for an ad? I'm not sure. Business matters are always confirmed by my manager before he tells me..."

Facing the exclusive interview with those two CCTV reporters, even Zhou Yi, who was usually so talkative, was relatively more reserved. Because he still had to be filmed, Zhou Yi had specifically changed his flashy floral shirt for a formal white shirt and black suit.

"Congratulations, Zhou Yi."

After a brief rapid-fire Q&A, Zhu Zhenping and Xie Wenjie, who had concluded the interview, shook his hand with smiles: "This time you've really brought honor to us Chinese; the domestic reaction is even bigger than the year 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' came out."

'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' was the first Chinese-language film in history to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and also the first Chinese-language film to win four Oscar trophies: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Original Score, Best Art Direction, and Best Cinematography.

However, the praise for this film abroad was actually greater than at home; even many people said the plot wasn't meant for Chinese audiences at all.

Back when it was released, there were quite a few people who criticized it, but after winning the Oscar, because the moon is always rounder abroad, those opposing voices were instantly drowned out by a wave of blind public support.

Zhou Yi's English album benefited from the two songs 'Baby' and 'Wavin' Flag', which were also huge hits domestically. Although the sales didn't match his Chinese album, at least there was more praise—even if they didn't understand the lyrics, as a song, the melody was catchy.

In fact, many students had never even bought Zhou Yi's English album, yet they could always hear the extremely catchy "baby baby, oh oh~" on school radio stations. During the World Cup wave, riding on the popularity of football and the promotion by Coca-Cola, 'Wavin' Flag' became a household name.

With different starting points of goodwill, the domestic reaction after winning a major foreign award naturally wouldn't be the same.

Moreover, because the speed of information dissemination in this era was indeed excessively slow compared to the later mobile internet age, even with the assistance of the nascent internet, the news of Zhou Yi's award had to take several days to ferment under the combined reporting of multiple newspapers—

Not just in China, but in other countries across Asia, Europe, and the Americas as well.

Zhu Zhenping and Xie Wenjie had come for this very reason.

"If you weren't so young, I'd even suspect CCTV might be trending towards making a documentary about you."

After the two left, Qian Jiang, feeling somewhat emotional, joked: "Especially after it aired on 'Xinwen Lianbo'."

The first singer in eighteen years to appear on 'Xinwen Lianbo'; this prestige was far superior to any 'big pot rice' (collective mediocrity).

You have to know that even when 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' won four Oscars previously, 'Xinwen Lianbo' hadn't even glanced at it.

Going back even further, Deng Lijun's songs had such high popularity and influence on the mainland, yet when she passed away, she didn't even get a report on 'Xinwen Lianbo'; only CCTV-4's 'China News' program reported her death for the first time.

"Can't say for sure; maybe they're already preparing it."

Zhou Yi smiled as he walked out of the interview room: "If 22 is too young, then let's release it in a few years."

CCTV, aside from other things, is indeed unrivaled in China when it comes to making documentaries.

"Oh, by the way, when you go to Japan for promotions later, remember to thank your Japanese fans for their support."

On the way to Disney, sitting in the car, Qian Jiang handed Zhou Yi a document. The latter took it in surprise, and the moment he opened it, what met his eyes was information and prices for the outdoor advertising screen in Ginza, Tokyo, along with a photo of himself holding the Grammy trophy.

"What is this?"

"Japan is indeed the favorite backyard for American singers. Fans not only have money and are willing to spend it, but their loyalty is also very high. Thanks to the prevalence of fan culture, all kinds of support activities are available; this is an example."

"They want to celebrate your Grammy win by buying the outdoor advertising screen in Ginza."

On February 24, 2003, after Warner (Japan) officially announced that Zhou Yi had won the Grammy, creating history for Asian singers, several of Zhou Yi's major Japanese fan clubs gathered together to discuss pooling their money to buy the outdoor billboard in the most core area of Ginza for one day—

It wasn't for any other reason; purely to cheer him on.

Warner (Japan) naturally couldn't have failed to hear wind of this situation. After inquiries and investigations, they compiled the news into a document and sent it uniformly to Qian Jiang, so that Zhou Yi could be mentally prepared to thank his fans in advance.

Although he didn't quite understand this behavior, Qian Jiang was undoubtedly delighted to see such a scene; this could not only expand Zhou Yi's influence but was also a manifestation of his commercial value.

"Besides that, Armani is very satisfied with your performance at the Grammys and is interested in reaching a further cooperation with you."

"Armani?"

"Yes."

Upon mentioning this brand, Qian Jiang immediately perked up, speaking with great enthusiasm.

As everyone knows, for artists, the fashion circles in Europe and America mean one thing: resources.

The so-called endorsement fees in the fashion circle are actually not that high. Yet even so, they are pursued by global stars, simply because of the resources.

Whether it's the exposure from various advertising campaigns or the boost from various media channels, top fashion brands possess extraordinary organizational capabilities and influence in regions around the world; reflected in stars, this is the so-called 'aura'.

Hermès, Chanel, Gucci, Prada, Armani—these were luxury goods brands that frequently appeared in past Hong Kong movies. Thanks to the influence of Hong Kong movies, even in the mainland in 2003, many people had heard of these luxury goods brands—

One word: ridiculously expensive.

"So, they've set their sights on my body?" Zhou Yi, having taken the documents, stroked his chin with one hand while reading and joked.

"You could say that."

Qian Jiang smiled like a Maitreya Buddha, then added with a bit of regret: "It's a pity it's not Dior or Louis Vuitton, these 'blue blood' brands."

"There's no such thing as red blood or blue blood; don't be brainwashed."

Zhou Yi shook his head while looking at the documents.

In the fashion circle of early 2003, the fashion model website that single-handedly orchestrated the birth of this 'blue blood' concept had only been established for three years.

Currently, there are only six so-called 'blue blood' brands: Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, and Calvin Klein; the future 'red blood' brands hadn't even formed a concept yet.

But even so, Armani's resources as one of the top luxury brands were in no way inferior to the 'blue blood' brand concept hard-hyped and marketed by that website.

Clearly realizing this point, they later reinvented a 'red blood' concept, incorporating eight more top fashion brands for models, stars, and fans to engage in cyber-fighting—

Yes, this so-called red and blue blood was initially created by a website to engage in cyber-fighting to increase popularity and discussion; its original intention was essentially no different from data charts like the Global Chinese Music Awards, which were watered-down awards.

"EA Series Global Ambassador, 10 million USD for three years?"

Zhou Yi, who hadn't taken Armani seriously before, immediately perked up upon seeing this price—in this era, when a top luxury brand sought a celebrity ambassador, an endorsement fee reaching 10 million USD basically meant extreme importance.

"In the Grammy red carpet report submitted by the people under founder Giorgio Armani, he noticed you wearing Armani haute couture..."

In the European and American entertainment circles of this era, there was actually an unofficial saying regarding men's wear on the red carpet: when you don't know what to wear, wearing Armani won't go wrong.

This was also why Warner had previously found Armani haute couture suits for Zhou Yi.

And often, these red carpet shows were occasions where major brand companies would pay extra attention to the presentation of effects; internally, there would be dedicated personnel to collect data and gather public opinion feedback.

Superior height, outstanding temperament, handsome face, and extremely high popularity; Zhou Yi possessed all the qualities a clothing ambassador should have.

If the proposal were to endorse the main GA line of Armani, Zhou Yi currently lacks the age, and his youthful, flamboyant temperament is not quite a match; however, the EA line, a sub-brand where one stands below only the top and above ten thousand, fits Zhou Yi's personal image perfectly.

As the most successful sub-brand among all luxury brands to date, the EA line, representing youth, fashion, and creativity, can almost be said to have single-handedly helped the Armani brand transform from a top-tier designer label into a fashion empire.

Apart from the main GA line, the EA line is the only series in the vast Armani empire personally overseen by its founder, Giorgio Armani, a fact that reveals its status.

"This endorsement aligns with your philosophy of valuing quality over quantity, and luxury brands generally start by seeking spokespeople for their sub-lines; only if the cooperation is smooth and performance is good will they upgrade you or allow other houses to poach you..."

Qian Jiang spoke slowly, fearing Zhou Yi might feel that endorsing a sub-line would diminish his stature.

For Zhou Yi, Armani's global channels indeed filled a significant gap...

In fact, Qian Jiang's excitement was not without reason.

In 2003, even in the United States, these ultra-luxury brands had not yet shed their aura of mysterious prestige; the American public, just like the Chinese who didn't understand the reasons, fell for the ultra-luxury prestige theory.

After the all-powerful American journalists exposed this matter, Zhou Yi, who had already stirred up a wave of controversy in the US due to the Grammys, caught Nora Jones's team completely off guard—

At this year's Grammys, Zhou Yi alone took home three Grammy Awards, winning three out of six nominations;

whereas Nora Jones lost to Zhou Yi in the Best Pop Vocal Album and Best New Artist categories, winning all others, taking home six Grammys herself, winning six out of eight nominations.

To some extent, Zhou Yi was the one who snatched food from the tiger's mouth.

Although Nora Jones herself was willing to be friendly with Zhou Yi, it did not mean her company behind the scenes was so willing to let Zhou Yi steal the spotlight—

After the Grammy Awards ceremony ended, the massive media channels launched an attack, directly drowning out the news praising Zhou Yi with a deluge of reports, and even recruited numerous celebrities to provide support during interviews.

Zhou Yi had six nominations; she directly took home six trophies.

If Zhou Yi's popularity in East Asia was so dominant that it left the second place far behind, then in the United States, Zhou Yi only held the top spot on Google's trending searches for a day before dropping down—ranking third while Norah Jones took the lead.

Eminem ranked second, because his behavior of reading his acceptance speech from a draft paper at the Grammys formed a sharp contrast with Zhou Yi, not to mention that after defeating him squarely, Zhou Yi showed no mercy and put on a face, fully illustrating what it means that being hated is still being popular.

And after the news that "Armani is suspected of inviting Zhou Yi as a global spokesperson" spread, on the 27th, Zhou Yi miraculously reclaimed the number one spot on Google's trending searches, and fans gathered again under his personal blog to ask if it was true or false—

This group also did not forget to step on Eminem, who didn't even have a single luxury goods endorsement.

"Pathetic, a native-born American, and a white man who should be more favored by luxury brands, has been in the industry for so long yet hasn't even had a rumor of a luxury goods endorsement, while Spike, an Asian, has one."

"What do you mean by emphasizing white? Are you being racist?"

"I only discriminate against Eminem."

"I @#%@#￥%!"

Tom's fans, having nothing to say on this matter, could only start transforming into Motherfucker Knights, spewing profanities.

There was no way around it; Eminem's personal image indeed did not match luxury goods.

On February 28, when Disney released Zhou Yi's schedule, stating he had finished watching "Pirates of the Caribbean" and would begin composing the theme song for "Pirates of the Caribbean" after finishing the album promotion work, Zhou Yi's personal popularity, despite being deliberately suppressed, instantly climbed another level!

Because, at this time, only one day remained until the release of Zhou Yi's second English album—or rather, it was tomorrow.

"This album is something Warner forced Spike to release to harvest fans' wallets, I can swear on my chest!"

"Speak your mother's nonsense! If your idol can't do it, don't say Spike can't do it!"

"..."

As the biggest controversy of this year's Grammys, The New York Times also used the voice of an editor to implicitly express the fact that Zhou Yi used the Grammys for hype in its preview—

"Will the Magic from the East Renew Its Subscription?"

The Los Angeles Times even transformed into a steadfast guardian of the American music scene, solemnly pointing out Warner's sinister intentions in the hype—

"God, is Forged!"

"From the so-called Emperor of Chinese Pop Music at the beginning, to the number one in the Asian music scene, to connecting with Mariah in the American music scene through hype, and defeating Eminem in a sneak attack dishonorably, Warner Records' intention to develop and monopolize the Chinese market, this huge cake, has become blatantly obvious.

"Warner spared no effort in public relations for him at the Grammys, spared no effort in connecting him with Armani, and even groups like Disney, Nokia, and Samsung, all for the purpose of hyping this upcoming album. And at this time, only seven months had passed since he last released an English album.

"Warner has shaped Spike into an unprecedented music genius, or rather, they are deliberately deifying Spike's talent in music—everyone loves Spike's talent, everyone recognizes his talent, and for this, whatever he wants to do is acceptable.

"Warner wants to implant the fixed impression of Spike being omnipotent into the minds of every American; this is an invasion of thought..."

March 1, 2003, the day Zhou Yi's new album "ForeverYoung" was officially released.

The Los Angeles Times, which claimed verbally not to ride the coattails of the hype, was very honest in its body and released this highly inflammatory and controversial report on this very day—even the release time was one hour earlier than Zhou Yi's new album release time...

At 10:08, "ForeverYoung" officially went on sale across the United States.

(End of this chapter)