Chapter 125: Luo Mo's Invincible Easter Egg

For most listeners, when it comes to whether the lyrics of a song are well-written, the majority of people possess a certain level of appreciation.

But as for the melody, the vast majority of listeners will only feel whether it sounds good or not; if you were to ask them exactly where it sounds good, it is actually quite difficult to provide a professional critique.

These days, in terms of melody, the hottest meme is 【4536251】, which is called a universal chord progression; it was repeatedly mentioned by a certain celebrity mentor on "The Coming One," with the subtext being that songs using this chord progression are all mediocre.

This mentor also particularly disliked Mao Buyi's melodies, which led to Mao Buyi being pointed at and criticized later on, with people saying he was only good at writing lyrics.

In reality, brilliant composers can often use a few simple chords to create unparalleled effects; the most typical example of this is Zhou Jielun.

There is actually no distinction between good and bad in the creative foundation of a melody; within the same chords, there will be good songs, and there will inevitably be bad songs.

It is just that the rise of this so-called universal chord progression is mostly because many people apply it mindlessly, and this phenomenon is not a good one.

The melody of this song, "Mercury Records," does not follow conventional chords, and it has even less to do with this universal chord progression.

There are a few harmonies that are even quite rare in pop songs; a representative work of the same type should be Zhou Jielun's "Tornado."

Strictly speaking, the most brilliant part of this song is actually the melody.

However, none of this matters anymore.

Because with Zhao Xueqin's status and prestige, when he said that line, "More effort could be put into the melody," it was equivalent to labeling it.

After the program airs normally, this point will be continuously magnified, and on the upcoming "King of Love Songs" stage, as well as in the head-to-head competition between the two albums, it will certainly be brought up and mentioned repeatedly.

It is conceivable that by then, more people will fix their eyes on the melody.

……..

……..

The seven Singers took their seats in the large room, with Zhao Xueqin sitting in the very center, and Luo Mo and Sun Yi sitting on his left and right.

During the earlier small talk, Luo Mo could feel that this Sun Yi seemed a bit unconfident; the whole person was tense, as if waiting for a final judgment.

General Director Ke Ming arrived at the scene and stood opposite everyone.

It is worth mentioning that the spot where he stood was filled with Yueqi.

Basically, all the conventional Yueqi were displayed in this large room, covered with the logos of the sponsors.

As mentioned before, the top three of each episode of "King of Love Songs" would receive song-promotion rewards of different durations.

First place gets 90 seconds, second place gets 60 seconds, and third place gets 30 seconds.

This variety show is produced as a top-tier variety show, and for a Singer, the song-promotion segment is extremely important and can have a very good promotional effect.

Therefore, these Yueqi are for the Singers to use during the song-promotion segment; they can sing a cappella, or they can play and sing.

If they play and sing, they can also incidentally let the sponsors show their faces again. It can be said that Ke Ming is a General Director who deeply wins the favor of the gold-master daddies.

Ke Ming held a sealed ranking list, nodded at everyone, and then greeted them.

"Welcome, seven Singers, to participate in the competition of 'King of Love Songs'," Ke Ming said.

Immediately following this was a full minute of commercials……..

After reading through the sponsors' scripts, Ke Ming then said: "Among the seven Singers, the one with the shortest debut time is Luo Mo. Recording for the first episode started yesterday, and he released his debut album the day before yesterday, so his debut duration on the first day of recording is—1 day."

As soon as this was said, except for Zhao Xueqin, smiles appeared on the faces of the others.

"As for everyone else's debut duration, it is hundreds or even thousands of times that of Luo Mo's. I am also very honored to be able to invite you all to participate in the recording of 'King of Love Songs'."

After some polite pleasantries, Ke Ming slowly opened the ranking list and said: "Next, I will announce the first-episode rankings according to the order of competition."

"Before announcing the rankings, I will read out the rules for you."

"This concerns the performance order for the future."

As soon as this was said, everyone's attention became even more focused.

In the first episode of "King of Love Songs," there is no Elimination; the debut Singers just need to showcase themselves.

Although there will be rankings, it is not a matter of life or death.

But starting from the second episode, there will be a bottom-ranking Elimination system, with one person eliminated each episode.

Then, the performance order is actually very important.

After all, the audience and the professional jury only cast their votes after everyone has finished performing; the later one goes on stage, the deeper the impression.

This rule was actually intentionally set by Ke Ming, as it can increase the viewing appeal.

He continued: "After each episode of competition, Singers will receive different amounts of 'King Power Points' based on the ranking of that round; first place gets 70 points, second place 60 points, decreasing in order. That is to say, the last place can only receive 10 points."

"Now, here is the key." Ke Ming deliberately paused, whetting everyone's appetite.

This was the thing Wei Ge could stand the least; his facial features immediately twisted together.

"After the rankings are announced each episode, everyone can write down in an envelope how many 'King Power Points' you are investing for the next episode. The amount invested will determine the performance order for the next episode. Lower points go earlier, higher points go later," Ke Ming said.

"In other words, the person who invests the most 'King Power Points' for the next round will be the last one to go on stage and perform."

Upon hearing this, Luo Mo felt it was quite interesting; this was leaning towards a financial management program.

At the same time, this could also increase the watchability of the program and create suspense for the second episode.

For example, if he ranked first in this episode, he would have 70 points, but how much he invests to compete for the order depends on how one wants to play; the remaining points can be accumulated, depending on which round you want to use your 'King Power Points' for more.

"Then what if everyone invests the same amount of points?" Luo Mo asked.

"Then we draw lots," Ke Ming said.

Wei Ran mischievously suggested: "I personally suggest, why don't we all just invest ten points each round, and then before each performance, we draw lots on the spot."

Everyone burst into laughter, but it was just laughter; Wei Ran was just saying it casually.

Who knows, he might just go all-in with all his points in a moment.

Wei Ran asked: "Then can we take out a loan for these points? Can we borrow them?"

Ke Ming nodded and said: "You can, but when you pay them back, you must pay back double."

Wei Ran spread his hands, like a deadbeat debtor, and said: "Then what if I can't pay them back?"

Ke Ming smiled and said: "That is why I say, borrowing points requires caution."

Now, everyone roughly understood the competition format.

You can do a favor by lending your own points to others; after all, the remaining "King of Love Songs points" accumulate continuously, and by the later stages, the truly wealthy might hold a large number of points.

However, after you lend them out, if that person performs well and earns the points back, the production team will force a double repayment.

But if they perform poorly and cannot pay them back, then you might suffer a loss.

At the same time, this investment requires careful consideration; you might invest 50 points in this round, but if your ranking is low in the next round and you only earn back 30 points, then you have lost out.

However, if you are stingy and refuse to invest points, keeping them all while being the first to perform every time, and if your final ranking is very poor, you will be directly eliminated at the bottom, and your saved points will have nowhere to be spent.

Within this, there are tactics, psychological games, and interpersonal dealings.

The competition format is actually not considered fair, but it is precisely this unfairness that creates more topics and highlights.

After Ke Ming finished explaining these things, Sun Yi took a deep breath.

General Director Ke Ming finally added just one sentence: "Oh, right, after someone is eliminated, a new Singer will come to fill the spot and challenge. And every new Singer who joins the competition in the future will be the last to perform in their first episode, and their personal identity will be kept completely confidential before they go on stage."

Ke Ming clapped his hands, raised the ranking card in his hand, and looked at Luo Mo, saying: "Luo Mo, your first-episode ranking is—"

After dragging out the sound for a long time, he asked: "What place do you think you will be?"

Luo Mo himself had a good mindset, but Wei Ge on the side felt like he was going crazy.

He felt that he must have lost his mind to participate in a show that was his natural nemesis.

Although the young man in the white shirt was sitting in the very corner, he was able to attract everyone's attention. Luo Mo looked at the camera and said casually: "Anyway, top eight!"

He just wouldn't take the bait.

Ke Ming did not continue to press, smiled, and said: "Your first-round ranking is third place."

The other Singers applauded him one after another.

For a Newcomer Singer, and one who went first, being able to get third place is already quite outrageous.

This competition arena is actually very unfriendly to someone like Luo Mo.

First of all, the audience is divided by age groups, which is more advantageous for Singers who have been in the industry for a long time and have high National Popularity.

Secondly, the so-called professional judging panel is mostly composed of industry insiders, so there will be so-called emotional points.

Luo Mo can be said to be unfamiliar with all of them, but someone like Wei Ran, a social butterfly in the entertainment industry, is known by almost everyone.

Someone like the Heavenly King Zhao Xueqin might even be fawned over...

Therefore, before the official competition, when Ke Ming informed him in advance that he would be the first to perform and told him about the scoring mechanism of "King of Love Songs," he already knew the stakes involved.

Even if he were to promote "Eastern Wind Breaks" in the first episode and sing a "king bomb" like "Eastern Wind Breaks" live, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to get first place.

And then it would stir up a wave of public opinion, or even a flame war.

All the disadvantages were piled onto him alone; it's hard to handle.

The ranking of third place actually exceeded Luo Mo's initial expectations; he had initially estimated that he might be in fourth place.

This was perhaps thanks to the pioneering nature of "Eastern Wind Breaks," which established a strong momentum.

Luo Mo stood up amidst everyone's applause, smiled, and bowed slightly to everyone to express his gratitude.

Ke Ming continued to build suspense, announcing the names at an extremely slow pace.

In the final ranking, Zhao Xueqin lived up to expectations and ranked first.

Wei Ran ranked second.

As for Sun Yi, the former Newcomer King, he ended up at the bottom with a wide margin in votes.

His expression and complexion were both somewhat ugly; after all, for him, "King of Love Songs" was his only hope now, and he was counting on this show to gather his lost popularity again, or even make a comeback.

"Then, next is the song promotion segment." Ke Ming smiled, stood up, and pointed to a pile of Yueqi next to him that was covered in the logos of title sponsors.

The bright expression on his face seemed to be saying: "Money, money, you are truly sweet."

As the third-place finisher, Luo Mo had 30 seconds of song promotion time and also had to go up first to perform.

Ke Ming smiled, pulled him to his side, and asked: "Luo Mo, your first personal album 'Red' has just been uploaded to the entire web. Will you sing some new songs next?"

Luo Mo smiled and said: "No, no, I'm actually here to advertise for my personal Luo Mo Studio."

He looked at the camera and said: "That... Luo Mo Studio is just at the starting stage, and we sincerely invite talent from all walks of life to join the team. The songs I will bring next are a medley of some stock love songs. The song promotion time is limited, and our studio is still small, so I decided to go for quantity. Every song that follows will be released by Luo Mo Studio in the future..."

He spoke eloquently, standing among the title sponsors, shamelessly advertising his own studio, leaving Ke Ming stunned.

As for Wei Ran on the side, his facial features became even more distorted in an instant.

"What! A medley of stock love songs! Doesn't that mean you can only hear one or two lines of each song?" Wei Ge shouted in his heart.

"And listening to what he means, these songs haven't even started formal production yet, and who knows when we'll be able to hear the full versions." Wei Ran felt like he was going crazy.

Wei Ge started feeling his pockets, muttering in his heart: "Huh, where is that little knife I use to open delivery boxes?"

Ke Ming stood beside Luo Mo, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly, and interrupted Luo Mo's endless advertisement at the right moment, asking: "Then, does this medley song have a name?"

"Not yet for the time being," Luo Mo said. "However, I personally think Director Ke could also connect with my studio to buy the naming rights for this song for our show. I can personally give Director Ke a discount..."

He became more and more enthusiastic as he spoke.

Ke Ming was stunned listening from the side.

In the end, he could only cough lightly to indicate that Luo Mo could begin his 30-second song promotion.

"Buy the naming rights and name this song 'King of Love Songs'?" Ke Ming felt that Luo Mo had indeed opened up his train of thought and felt it was quite interesting, but he didn't have such thoughts for the time being.

Because with Luo Mo's current popularity, his songs... would be very expensive!

"Can't bear to, can't bear to," Ke Ming said in his heart.

Luo Mo smiled, sat down at the piano, and then began to play.

Because the song promotion time was limited to only thirty seconds, he had to speed up efficiency, remove unnecessary preludes, and start singing directly.

Even so, he only had time to sing a medley of three songs from the classic medley "King of Love Songs" by Leo Ku, and he would even be a few seconds over time.

For the audience watching the show, the song promotion segment is actually like an Easter egg.

You must know that every time Luo Mo released an Easter egg before, the effect was very explosive.

His Easter eggs are all stronger than other people's main features!

These three songs are, respectively, Wang Leehom's "Forever Love", Li Ming's "Fireworks for Two", and Zhang Xueyou's "Perhaps Love".

"【Loving you, it's not just because of your beauty,

I love you more and more,

Every look touches my heart.】"

As soon as Luo Mo opened his mouth to sing, Wei Ran, whose facial features were still twisted, couldn't help but have his eyes light up.

Luo Mo moved his ten fingers across the piano keys and immediately continued Singing the second song:

"【The one who loves you most is me,

Otherwise how could you let me,

Otherwise how could I possibly go through fire and water,

Doing whatever you say】"

"Sounds good!" Wei Ge's heart was greatly shaken, he never learns his lesson.

Damn it, this man, he took the bait again.

(PS: Second update, 8000 words for two updates, requesting monthly tickets!

Also, I hope everyone will be a little more patient with the plot; everything is designed and arranged. I used to be in a hurry to explain and straighten out the logic for everyone, but now I've realized that it's better to just speed up the updates.)

(End of this chapter)