Chapter 479: Becoming Material for a Thesis

"Shameful! This is absolutely shameful!"

New York University, Tisch School of the Arts.

As one of the most famous art schools in America and even the world, the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, which has produced the most Oscar winners, may have film-related studies as its trump card major, but its music department has not lagged behind by much.

And because of its strict admissions mechanism, the music department actually admits even fewer students each year.

At least, that's how it appears on the surface nowadays.

Stephanie Joanne Angelina Germanotta, who had been admitted early to NYU's Tisch School of the Arts due to her outstanding grades and talent and planned to study classical music there, quietly sipped her coffee—

trying to sit as far away as possible so as not to be affected by the senior whose spittle was flying in all directions from his rage—he was a die-hard fan of Celine Dion.

He had become a fan because of the "Titanic" theme song "My Heart Will Go On."

"One Billboard with two different data judgment methods— isn't this a betrayal of the spirit of liberty and equality?!"

The obviously drunk man slapped his thigh to defend his idol, his mouth trembling out a trilled R as he spoke: "Being all meek and mild to Spike, but throwing heavy punches at Celine Dion, deliberately suppressing her ranking.

"They're all foreign singers coming to America, and Billboard is this openly double-standard? Just bullying Celine Dion because she won't make a fuss, right?!

"And they even say Celine Dion is herself a member of the racists—what kind of joke is that?! If she were that kind of person, would she have been discriminated against by the American music scene in the past?

"Everything was promoted by Tommy Mottola, so she must be a bird of a feather with him—but isn't Mariah Carey the same?!

"Why does she get to be whitewashed?!"

Celine Dion, a French-Canadian female singer.

Because compared with American divas like Madonna and Mariah Carey, she had very few trophies and nominations, and even her Billboard chart performance wasn't all that impressive, many of her fans believed this was the American music scene discriminating against Canadians.

At the end of February, Canadian little witch Avril Lavigne came away empty-handed at the Grammys and was stuck at number two on the Billboard overall chart, which many also took as evidence of the American music scene's discrimination against Canadians.

If it were just discrimination across the board, fine—at least it would be treating everyone equally.

But then Zhou Yi suddenly appeared out of nowhere, broke through all kinds of restrictions, and through one hype campaign after another climbed to the top of the charts, "casually" digging up the behind-the-scenes music industry bigwigs responsible for the racial discrimination, causing Celine Dion, who had only just made her comeback to the music scene not long ago, to get caught in the crossfire while lying down.

This he just couldn't accept.

Hadn't Celine Dion been discriminated against plenty in the past because of her Canadian nationality?

The person isn't even dead yet and people are already rewriting history?

Especially after the new episode of the Billboard singles chart, album chart, and various radio charts' latest results came out—

This was a result many Americans hadn't expected, and a result many Celine Dion fans found hard to believe—enough to break them.

Our idol's ranking is already this low, and you still say she's the one doing the discriminating and suppressing?

If this gets out, what will other people think? What will they say?

How do you expect the British, the French, even the Italians next door to look at us?

Damn it, the world's number one music scene is this?

A few months gone by and it's already this weak?

Why does the double standard only get played on their idol, and they don't dare play it on Zhou Yi?

"John, you're drunk."

"No! No, I'm not drunk!"

The black curly-haired girl sitting cross-legged beside Stephanie Joanne Angelina Germanotta shook her head helplessly, stood up from the lawn, and went to support her staggering boyfriend—the latter still shouting loudly: "Everything I'm saying is true."

"If that's what you think, you can wait until Spike comes to the school this afternoon to promote and confront him face-to-face." The very amused Stephanie suggested maliciously: "If you do that, you'll definitely go viral, trust me."

"Alright, Stephanie, stop teasing him. But I heard you've been researching Spike lately—is that true? What made you suddenly think of using him as your research subject? Is he your idol?" The black-haired girl soothing her boyfriend John asked curiously.

"Not really an idol, purely because I think he's very suitable for my sociology thesis topic." The woman named Stephanie shook her head.

Her sociology thesis topic was "Going Viral."

Looking across all of America, was there anyone more suitable for this topic than Zhou Yi right now?

She thought not.

From first gaining fame in North America by riding on "Rush Hour 2," to getting face time around the world through the World Cup, to having an English debut album that exploded in popularity yet only taking one song, "Yeah," to the Billboard number-one single, to pressuring the Grammys, to the second album's massive hit.

The various outward behaviors Spike displayed in coordination with Warner's marketing were, in Stephanie's view, of extremely high research value—because she believed there was absolutely no second substitute for a star like Zhou Yi in America, and that was why he could be so popular right now.

As an outstanding freshman representative, Stephanie had the opportunity to speak with Zhou Yi when he visited the school in the afternoon.

Although she hadn't said so openly to her classmates, in truth her inner passion for classical music wasn't that strong—on the contrary, she preferred pop music.

Her gig singing at a bar was proof of that.

Besides wanting to earn living expenses, it was to hone herself, and also to conveniently see if any music producers were willing to take notice of her and bring her into the industry.

The reason she wanted to study Zhou Yi's viral fame was precisely because she also wanted to go viral in the future.

"Let me tell you—"

The group sitting on the lawn was chatting when, suddenly, one figure after another appeared before their eyes, running toward the school gate—

The wind whooshed, lifting the ends of Stephanie's hair, and cutting off the words she hadn't yet finished.

"Quick, quick, quick! Spike's here! Spike's arrived!"

The excited voice of the mystery fangirl echoed back through the open air above the lawn. Stephanie, who hadn't taken it seriously at first, immediately raised an eyebrow, turned, and looked toward the distant school gate—in the span of just a few dozen seconds, a crowd had already gathered at the gate of this top American art school.

To be fair, the students of this top art school were not people who hadn't seen the world, but Zhou Yi's current influence had ultimately undergone a qualitative change through various marketing tactics, and quite a few people genuinely believed he had been discriminated against—

It was by relying on his album, which was as hard as it could possibly get, that he had broken through the encirclement and shattered the American music scene's blockade against Chinese people.

After Warner's persistent brainwashing over these past days, Zhou Yi had truly gained an additional layer of political-correctness golden body in America, especially after they really dug up the former Sony president as a heavyweight figure.

"American college students are one of your most important voting bases. Honestly, if it weren't for the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' connection, you really wouldn't have been able to get in here to promote."

On the road, in an MPV.

Qian Jiang, who had reiterated the points of attention to Zhou Yi, said solemnly: "Don't be fooled by the fact that there aren't that many students in this school—its influence and rallying power can be said to be in the top three among American art schools. You can continue to shape an image favorable to yourself here; as long as some of them believe it, they'll spontaneously help spread the word for you in the industry and the pre-industry."

"That badass?" Zhou Yi, who was flipping through the school chronicle, blew a bubble with the gum he was chewing, his expression not really caring much.

He really didn't know much about American art schools; he only knew some place called USC and Berklee.

"The director and lead actor of 'Pirates of the Caribbean' will probably arrive in about another hour. They've reserved an hour for you to deal with fans—consider it special preferential treatment."

Before getting off the car, Qian Jiang rolled up his sleeve, glanced at the time, gave a reminder, then picked up the walkie-talkie to instruct the security members behind him.

Six black luxury sedans immediately overtook, then got out in front of the school gate under the gaze of the students to take charge of security.

This was not showing off, but necessary protection.

Qian Jiang even thought eighteen bodyguards were a bit few; it was just that today they were coming to the school. If they were going to some music festival or the like, the starting point would be twenty-five bodyguards or more.

America really has crazy gunmen; John Lennon's warning bell rings long.

"Spike! Hey Spike, look here!"

"Spike, I love you!"

"Spike, do you have a girlfriend?!"

"..."

The students of the art academy were quite rule-abiding; they were not so crowded, understood the security work, cooperated, and at the same time did not forget to tease Zhou Yi as he got out of the car. During the inevitable signing session, Zhou Yi even received overt flirtatious glances from several tall, leggy hot girls.

Stephanie saw very clearly that among them were even a few women who had cursed Zhou Yi the most harshly at the school in the past.

One can only say it is real life.

"Spike, are you really not making a cameo appearance in 'Pirates of the Caribbean'?"

"Of course not; this is a big production. I have no interest in challenging a field I do not understand."

Walking with these students, his mood while busy with work improved considerably. Zhou Yi answered questions while signing: "Moreover, I have not received an invitation. If you want to know why, you can wait and ask when the crew's director and producers arrive—"

"Hey sweetie, do you want a signature, or something else?"

When Zhou Yi passed in front of that female student who called herself Stephanie, seeing that she seemed to be daydreaming and thinking about something, he could not help but speak up to remind her.

"Ah? No, no, no, Spike, I want to get your authorization. I want to write a sociological thesis with you as the origin. May I?" Coming back to her senses, Stephanie, for some reason, felt a bit nervous: "This requires some private interviews."

"I am not clear on that; you have to contact my agent. If I have availability, I think it should be possible." After signing and needing to write a blessing, Zhou Yi casually asked: "What is your name?"

"Stephanie Joanne Angelina Germanotta. If the name is too long to write, you can just write Gaga; this is a nickname my friends gave me."

?

Hmm?

Stephanie... Gaga?

Zhou Yi narrowed his eyes slightly, gazing at this woman who did not yet have exaggerated makeup and styling—the future Lady Gaga?

Lady Gaga wants to write me into her thesis?

(End of this chapter)