Chapter 549: All Thanks to the Contrast with Peers

"Hey, David, believe me, this is just a not-so-great start; you don't need to take it to heart."

Los Angeles, USA.

While Tao Zhe's friends in the US, whom he had known and kept in touch with over the years, kept cheering him on and saying the future was promising, the actual result had already explained everything.

"Ok, I'm ok."

Because he had been running around venues in cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, and Houston in the US for performances these past few days, Tao Zhe's overall state showed obvious signs of fatigue compared to when he was first in China.

Especially the day before yesterday, when he was booed during a performance at a small music festival in Los Angeles; for a singer, this was an utter humiliation, let alone for Tao Zhe, a singer who had been famous in China for a long time.

"They just dislike you because they hate Spike, but there are also more people who know you because of Spike."

Because Warner, which had relevant experience, was hired to handle overseas distribution, Tao Zhe, who had been hitting radio stations and offline venues since arriving in the US, immediately debuted with the title "Spike's Best Friend," and several interviews focused on some small stories about his competition with Zhou Yi within China.

Tao Zhe currently holds US citizenship; to attract attention from Chinese-Americans, Warner even contacted people from his alma mater, the University of California, Los Angeles, to help with promotion.

And after this incident of being booed off stage, in order to break into the US market as soon as possible, Warner now even intends to have Tao Zhe reassemble the campus band InstantPicturses he started back in school; after all, the target audience for Tao Zhe's songs is young people.

Under these circumstances, the experience of being in a campus band is quite capable of moving the audience.

"David, I remember you once worked as a police officer in the US? The Los Angeles Police Department, right?" The manager's thoughts gradually diverged as he also worried about how to help Tao Zhe break into the US market with what kind of image.

Wiping his face, Tao Zhe took a sip of coffee, perked up, and nodded: "Worked for a year and a half, 18 months. But I was just a patrolman, the lowest rank; after that, I quit, using a return to Taiwan as an excuse."

"... A police officer who doesn't form a band isn't a good singer; how's that gimmick?"

The manager pondered: "But you can't reveal you were a patrolman for now; just talk at length about the dangers of being a police officer, then find a regrettable reason to say you were injured while protecting something, and had to leave the Los Angeles Police Department to recuperate in Taiwan.

"Believe me, this story has a market in the US; it's very memorable. This way, your promotional image can be established—a soft-hearted tough guy..."

Whether foreign singers or local singers, if you want to make it in the US, you must have your own story, one that can be talked about at length.

Zhou Yi's past stories were "Rush Hour 2," the World Cup, and later escalated to carrying the banner against racial discrimination; each was highly discussable.

With discussion, the persona built by the singer himself through the story can stand firm and be remembered by people.

"Also, I know you had a fiery temper before and would fight those racists; you can also focus on talking about that publicly..."

The manager arranged things one by one.

Tao Zhe, nodding to each point, finally picked up the several newspapers on the office desk, his eyes extremely complex—

"Pirates of the Caribbean Nears End of Run, Creating a North American Box Office Miracle!"

"Current North American Total: 371 Million USD! Disney's Big Bet Pays Off!"

"Pirates of the Caribbean Tops North American Annual Box Office Chart?!"

"Spike's Prophecy Proven True Again!"

"..."

In mid-August, the US entertainment industry, with the blockbuster film "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" exploding, once again pushed Zhou Yi, who was not in the US, to the top of the trending word lists on internet sites like Yahoo and Google.

With the backing of Warner's money power, major US entertainment newspapers featured Zhou Yi on their pages every now and then; the exposure rate was enough to make Utada Hikaru, who was in the US, cry with envy, yet all of it was highly discussable.

This contrast was simply too cruel.

She worked herself to the bone running radio stations to promote, talking about her album's production concepts and outputting her musical philosophy; Universal even bought her space, but the discussion level wasn't even a fraction of a hair of someone not in the US—truly not even a hair's worth!

Comparing people makes one die; comparing goods makes one throw them away.

Only when she truly started entering the US market for promotion did she, who was invincible in Asia, truly feel how high the gold content of Zhou Yi's past achievements really was.

"No way, Spike is just weird; Americans keep giving him heat, and MGM really gives him chances."

Her manager couldn't help but click his tongue.

Now that "Pirates of the Caribbean," which Zhou Yi once spoke arrogantly about, had reached a North American box office of 371 million USD alone, a global total of 600 million was already a foregone conclusion, and even 700 million was not impossible.

Under these circumstances, MGM, which was often active in the European and American entertainment circles, was naturally dragged out to be whipped again, their underwear almost mocked away.

In this back-and-forth, Zhou Yi inadvertently gained another wave of heat; this was simply the "trending topic constitution" that countless record companies dreamed of.

"Given the quality of "Pirates of the Caribbean," plus the heat from Zhou Yi's anti-racial discrimination stance, he will definitely get a nomination at next year's Academy Awards; the committee won't dare not give it, or a big hat will be slapped on them, after all, the Pirate War Song is currently exploding globally.

"As for whether he can be sniped, currently we can only say this bunch of rotten fish and shrimp have no hope; we can only wait to see if "The Lord of the Rings 3," releasing at year-end, can surpass "Pirates of the Caribbean"..."

The more the manager spoke, the more Utada Hikaru felt a bit heartbroken.

So not just the music industry, but even the film industry has Zhou Yi involved next year, right?

Damn, why is it so hard for me to walk in the US, every step as difficult as a difficult birth...

"No way, just like musical performance, it's all thanks to the contrast with peers."

August 18, watching the plane about to land, Qian Jiang, who was exchanging the latest North American battle situation with Zhou Yi, had his eyes squinting into a single seam: "Currently, theoretically, the only film that could pose a threat to "Pirates of the Caribbean" is "Finding Nemo."

"But the key is it's an animated film; it poses no threat to you."

The Oscars, those were the Oscars.

Following the Grammys, the highest hall of the American film industry also had the possibility of being touched by Zhou Yi; how could he not be in high spirits.

This would be very helpful for Zhou Yi to expand his network and market.

Once there is a nomination, it means more film crews might come to Zhou Yi for film scores or theme songs in the future.

Unlike Tan Dun, who won Best Original Score for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," Zhou Yi himself is a major source of traffic, his mastered music genres are extremely rich and diverse, and he has professional results as a backing, rather than being limited to Tan Dun's kind of "martial arts music in the eyes of foreigners."

"Don't think too much; having a nomination is already something to be proud of."

Zhou Yi, who knew very well what kind of crushing momentum the Lord of the Rings would have at year-end, didn't take it to heart at all; putting on sunglasses, he walked out of the airport with one hand in his pocket—

As expected, the moment he stepped out of the exit, outside the two lines of security cordons arranged by Warner long ago, dozens of reporters carrying long guns and short cannons were about to squeeze in!

"Zhou Yi! Zhou Yi, can you please tell us if that mysterious Mr. Zhou is really you?!"

"Zhou Yi, was Xiao Yaxuan confined by Yao Qian because of the love conflict between you two?!"

"Zhou Yi, Zhou Yi! Will you be there to support the launch event of Sun Yanzi's new album "Unfinished" on the 20th?!"

"Zhou Yi, what are your thoughts on Chow Yun-fat suspected of suffering from depression?"

"Jay Chou's new song "Sunny Day" currently ranks second on major charts across the two shores and three regions; do you think he might defeat your "SuperStar" to win first place?"

"Can you reveal anything about the songs on the new album..."

"..."

Even at a scene where the Hong Kong Police were deployed to help maintain order, Zhou Yi still found it difficult to move a single step, showing just how popular he was.

Outside, fans were constantly screaming and shouting Gao Hu; unable to bear seeing them wait in vain, Zhou Yi could only sign autographs for them while picking and choosing which fan questions to answer.

"Zhou Yi! Zhou Yi, will you be able to go to the Oscars next year??"