The performance was over.They had finished their crosstalk performance.
At the scene, a tidal wave like applause rang out. Many members of the audience were still clapping as they laughed. Even though the crosstalk performance was over, they were still roaring with laughter, immersed in the G.o.dlike joke segments of Zhang Ye.
With internet technology being so advanced and the overload of information, there wasn"t much that the commoners had not seen before. Clips of people being scolded or scolding people were all too common, but to be able to scold at such a level, to use sarcasm in such a playful way, and even bringing humorous punchlines across, this was something that they had witnessed for the first time in their lives. All of this was embedded deeply into their minds!
"Alright!"
"Hahaha!"
"Teacher Zhang, you"re really great!"
"Teacher Yao is great too, he"s supporting really well!"
"Aiyo, I"ve shedded more than a pound of water from just my tears alone today!"
The live studio audience were very flattering with their thunderous applause. It was even more pa.s.sionate and louder than yesterday"s "I am a Scholar"!
The preliminary round was a stage for Zhang Ye to show his style of crosstalking. In today"s second round of performances, Zhang Ye had finally let loose by continuing the never before seen style of crosstalk by not only developing it, but actually bringing it to it"s peak of development. He injected sarcasm, no, perhaps it was better to say that every of his sentences were made to be sarcastic from the beginning till the end. When the audience saw this performance, they were all excited by it and were making a scene in the recording studio with their whistling!
Zhang Ye smiled, "Thank you everyone."
Yao Jiancai also said, "Thank you."
Zhang Ye had a good time scolding, while Old Yao was also very satisfied with what he said. The two of them were in high spirits.
Working together this time was really a sublimation of their artistic talents. In the past, a person from Zhang Ye"s previous world had said -- The main and side character both try to seek out a good partner, but that is even more difficult than choosing the correct daughter-in-law. Zhang Ye fully agreed with this. Just like today"s joke segments, only Old Yao could latch onto them as well as he did. If he were to have any other partner, even if Zhang Ye were to break down the script and reproduce it word for word, it would still be unlikely that they could hold the exchange so well. This not only required good basics and professionalism, but it also required mutual understanding, especially knowing each other"s characters well. Besides, what kind of crosstalk would ever stick completely to script?
It would not be possible for the main and side characters to follow the script to a cue and while making subtle changes that required spontaneous wit. A little slip of the mouth would bring about changes in the script, making it hard to follow exactly the way it was planned.
This was why Zhang Ye felt that he was very lucky that Old Yao was the one beside him. It allowed him to talk freely and with ease, making it possible to do justice to the original work of "I will reject the Three Vulgarities" by Guo Degang!
The applause stopped.
Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai both looked towards the judges panel.
There was only one judge left sitting there, the one who evaluated Tang Dazhang"s disciples" crosstalk performance to be lacking. It felt as though he wasn"t that hostile towards Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai.
But he was also rather speechless now. Witnessing such an amazing performance by the two of them, he no longer knew how to evaluate their work, "Hmm, you guys...."
The audience were antic.i.p.ating his comments.
Finally, with a slight hesitation, he said, "Let"s move on to the next group." He chose not to say too much even if he was amazed by Zhang Ye"s talent. After all, he was still a part of the crosstalk world. With the crosstalk and folk art world both labeling Zhang Ye as a heretic, it would be wiser not to say anything at all.
Zhang Ye smiled and prepared to go off the stage with Old Yao.
As they turned around to walk off, the audience stood up and gave another round of thunderous applause. It felt like they were cheering them on with their clapping!
"Go, Teacher Zhang!"
"Teacher Yao, you go too!"
"We will support the two of you!"
"Yea, if the crosstalk world does not recognize you both? There"s still us around!"
"Who dares to say that the two of you were vulgar? Your crosstalk performance was truly an art form! Without some sarcasm or or an affable speaking tone, how could you call it art?"
"Haha! Let those mainstream crosstalk actors go become educators! We will listen to crosstalks by the both of you in the future!"
"If this is what being vulgar is, I"ll choose to be vulgar!"
None of the judges affirmed their performance, with two of them leaving the studio in a rage, but at this moment, on almost all of the audience"s minds, Yao Jiancai and Zhang Ye were the kings without crowns!
...
At the same moment.
Those who were watching online exploded with excitement as well!
"Oh my G.o.d! Is Zhang Ye on steroids today!?"
"Hahahaha! Every time that Zhang Ye stands on a stage, his king"s aura will always show! Competing on sarcasm or face smacking, who could match up to him?"
"He"s the ultimate best!"
"The incident that made me laugh the most was when the judges were chased away by his scolding. Aiyo, I just kept laughing till my sides were in pain whenever I think of this! Hahahahaha!"
"The famous Alexander and the few other reviewers have all been scolded badly!"
"The one who got the worst was Tang Dazhang and those people from the folk arts world!"
"Dont b.u.t.tin! Aiyo, how did Teacher Zhang think of that! It"s so sarcastic! It"s too wicked! Didn"t he smack the entire Folk Arts world and Crosstalk world with that?!"
"But they were really b.u.t.ting in! Zhang Ye did not offend or step on anyone"s tail and even kept rather quiet after being banned by the SARFT, but those people still chose to stir up issues with him. Then, when Zhang Ye came to do crosstalk, he did not do anything to the folk arts world or the crosstalk world, but they still chose find fault with him, calling on the whole country to suppress him along with them! They even wanted to pressure Central TV into disqualifying Zhang Ye"s partic.i.p.ation rights? What dog s.h.i.+t was that! Why did they b.u.t.t in for!"
"Zhang Ye"s really outstanding!"
"Teacher Zhang been really outstanding in the entertainment industry without match!"
"Eh, the live broadcast has been cut off!"
"Hehe, Central TV Department 11 has finally realized their mistake!"
...
At the same time.
A control room in Central TV.
Seven or eight leaders and staff of Department 11 had rushed over and some were even leaders of Central TV. Of course, there were also those who were involved as the organizers of the crosstalk compet.i.tion!
"Are you all looking to be fired?"
"Ah?"
"Leader, we...we really did not know!"
"A total of 10 minutes had been broadcasted and none of you realized it?"
"There was a power failure in between and an interruption of the signal happened. After getting it back up, we might have made some mistake while readjusting the equipment."
"It was like this yesterday!"
"And it"s still the same today?"
"It"s a little too coincidental and we..."
In there, only the Central TV"s leader"s voice could be heard giving the staff a great scolding. Even Department 11 could not escape this great scolding!
The first time, it was a mistake!
But this was already the second time!
And there was still a mistake?
Two continuous days of mistakes?
And it even happened again with the same two banned celebrities?
What"s the meaning of all these!
What the heck was going on!
The SARFT had just transferred one of the their deputy chiefs out and an incoming leader from the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China was appointed. This would be the big boss that would be overseeing the entertainment industry as his role and responsibility. Even as a deputy chief, he would outrank their Central TV"s party member leader by a head. With all these movements, the Central TV team still dared to go against the flow?
They even dared to broadcast banned artists" programs?
And it was even a live broadcast?
Wasn"t that going against the authorities!
That SARFT Deputy Chief was about to step into his new role. A newly appointed official works hard to show his efficiency, so weren"t they clearly lining themselves up before a "firing squad"!?
Within the station, the management was so angered by this that they gave these people a great scolding!
Finally, the leader put down his stand saying that "this mishap must never happen again". He turned and went back to his office to make some calls to the authorities to explain that all of these were down to control mistakes and were not intentional.
In any case, this issue was a big mess!
Just one person, a minor artist like Zhang Ye, had managed to cause such a ruckus within these affected departments. The waters were getting murkier by the second!
Over at the control room.
Those who stayed behind all had the urge to curse and swear!
"That hooligan!"
"What the heck is he trying to stir up?"
"What a G.o.d of plague!"
"I"ve never seen someone so jinxed!"
"If we knew earlier, no matter how big of a controversy it would cause, we would definitely not have accepted Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai"s applications!"
...
Outside.
After Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai came out from the recording studio, it was still unbeknownst to them what had happened. They were still discussing the details and mistakes of their earlier performance and summing up their experiences to each other so that they could learn from it for the later stages of the compet.i.tion.
As they were talking, Yao Jiancai turned on his cellphone. Since their part was complete for today, he was turning it on when a call from his home arrived. From this call, he found out about what had just happened!
Yao Jiancai said in a d.a.m.ning tone, "Old Bro!"
Zhang Ye, who was also turning on his cellphone as well turned around, "Ah?"
"It was broadcasted live again! Central TV has made a mistake again! This time it was not broadcasted live on the compet.i.tion home page but on Department 11"s office homepage! There were even more audiences because of that! The platform was even bigger!"
Yao Jiancai was at a loss at whether to laugh or cry as even he wondered if Central TV"s Department 11 had stepped on dog s.h.i.+t this year?
How did they end up being so unlucky!
How could they have continuously, on two occasions, made a mistake in live broadcasting their performances? Even if one were to think with their a.s.s, they would know the implications from this would not be small. This was just too face smacking!
While they had been banned by the authorities, it felt like they did not suffer any loss from it and instead could still gloriously walk on stage and show their lively faces to the netizens of the whole country. It was as if no ban had been placed at all. Not only that, it did not even seem like it affected them, as their popularity kept increasing!
This was no longer just face smacking, this was basically face bas.h.i.+ng!
Bas.h.i.+ng once wasn"t enough as they continued to bash them a second time!
But Zhang Ye was not surprised by this. He just acknowledged it and acted surprised since he had expected something similar to happen. These six days worth of lowered difficulty was no joke and it would probably make Zhang Ye invincible!
He felt unstoppable!
Di di, his cellphone sounded.
A message was received.
He took a look and saw that he had won a prize again. Looks like his phone bill for the month was going to be free of charge this time!