He finished singing.
The Clown put down the electric guitar and bowed before exiting the stage.
Only then did the audience"s applause gradually sound. Many people had not even come around from the images brought about by the vocals, but the song had already ended!
Just two minutes. That was how short it was.
"I haven"t had enough of it yet!"
"Why is this song so good!"
"I like it so much!"
"Me too, I love this song to death!"
"Ms. Dong? Who was The Clown singing this for?"
"Who is Ms. Dong?"
"It doesn"t sound like his lover, but it"s definitely someone very important to him!"
"This song has such a good feel to it. This ballad really brought me back to the time when I was still in school!"
"Although I don"t know what some of the verses mean or what the story behind it is, I"m sure that the Ms. Dong he is singing about would definitely understand. It"s really good."
"Whose birthday is it today?"
"Me! It"s my birthday today!"
"Is your surname Dong?"
"No, my surname"s not Dong, but my second maternal aunt"s husband"s is."
"Get lost! Who"s asking about your second maternal aunt"s husband!"
The stage was emptied.
The audience was in heated discussion.
The judges were also exchanging their opinions.
Zhang Xia said, "This song is actually…how should I put it?"
Chen Guang shook his head. "It"s not easy to describe."
w.a.n.g Zhuishu added, "Let"s talk about this later, it should be Sunset Glow"s turn now? Eh? Where"s the host? Why hasn"t anyone announced the next contestant?"
Sunset Glow was already on standby behind the door.
However, Dong Shanshan was still standing offstage in a daze. It was as though her soul had left her body as she stood there thinking about something. She even forgot to announce the next contestant.
Xiao Lu ran over. "Teacher Shanshan!"
Dong Shanshan turned around. "Ah?"
Dafei didn"t know how to react. "What"s the matter with you?"
Xiao Lu laughed and said, "The Clown has finished singing."
Only then did Dong Shanshan come around. She immediately went back onstage and said, "Let"s welcome our next performer—Sunset Glow."
Dafei whispered to Xiao Lu, "The song that The Clown sang, could it really have been dedicated to Shanshan?"
"No way." Xiao Lu blinked and said, "Teacher Shanshan"s birthday is next month. The dates just don"t match."
Sunset Glow took the stage.
The house band also came on.
Zhang Ye did not go far. He stayed just offstage to listen to Sunset Glow"s performance. Sweeping his peripheral vision, he realized that someone was watching him. He turned to look into the distance.
It was Dong Shanshan!
Zhang Ye smiled and looked away.
He was very satisfied with today"s song and had been very serious when he sang it. He modified some parts of the lyrics like "fell in love with a wild horse" into "befriended a wild horse." Then, there was the part of "extinguis.h.i.+ng your cigarette and reminiscing about the past" that got changed as Dong Shanshan did not smoke, as well as that ending verse of "happy birthday, Ms. Dong." He had sung it according to his personal style, not the original version by Song Dongye or Zuo Li"s cover of "Ms. Dong." He had performed this song based on what he felt in his heart.
Sunset Glow"s performance had begun.
"That day, we said nothing to each other.
"Standing at the bus stop, you frowned.
"When suddenly, I felt the urge to grab your hands.
"Yet, I did not.
"I did not."
It was another love song!
It was still as good a listen!
It was still as exquisite as before!
The Sunset Glow today had truly performed in a G.o.dly manner. It was as though she had been enlightened and suddenly had a breakthrough. Her entire scope of singing skills was fully embodied into this performance!
Even Zhang Ye couldn"t help himself and wanted to shout about how good it was!
The song ended!
The applause continued for a long time!
Zhang Ye was also smiling and clapping the wings.
Dong Shanshan had gone back onstage at some point in time. "Let"s welcome The Clown back to the stage."
Zhang Ye strode out and made his way up.
Dong Shanshan still behaved very professionally. She kept a smile on her face and did not look at The Clown a second longer than required. "The tiebreaker match has come to an end. What do our judges have to say? Or perhaps we could also proceed straight to the voting. Remember, your votes will decide who becomes the Masked King this episode. Please choose carefully."
Yao Jiancai nodded. "Understood, Ms. Dong."
Dong Shanshan said, "Please vote then, Mr. Bite."
The judges laughed.
The audience egged them on.
Bite Building Materials. This was the name Zhang Ye had given Old Yao during their crosstalk when he teased him.
After some bantering, it was time to get to the main event.
w.a.n.g Zhuishu started the commenting. "I feel that Sunset Glow performed really well today. There"s nothing I can find fault with at all, it"s just that good. Whether it"s her singing or emotion, it was all on point. The Clown"s previous two songs were also especially good. But that third song called "Ms. Dong," I feel that it"s not as good as the other two when it comes to the lyrics and melody. Of course, that"s just my opinion. As I am a lyricist and composer, I"m very picky on these two aspects. I understand that it"s not easy for an original to do well, not to mention that every song you"ve performed thus far has been an original. Since it"s everyone"s first time listening to them, you"re usually at a disadvantage, especially in a compet.i.tion. But since you performed it on this stage, I have to evaluate it objectively."
The Clown laughed.
Dong Shanshan looked at w.a.n.g Zhuishu. "Then who do you choose?"
w.a.n.g Zhuishu said, "I"ll be giving this vote of mine to Sunset Glow!"
Sunset Glow bowed in thanks.
The Clown clapped next to her.
Chen Guang spoke up, "Let me say a few words as well. This ballad is a rather quiet one and usually wouldn"t require an electric guitar. But I can understand why The Clown would choose to play and sing simultaneously. It"s due to the stage and set being quite large with a lot of audience members, and in this atmosphere, an acoustic guitar wouldn"t be able to sustain the performance. That"s why he chose to use an electric one. But, even though he restricted the noise to a very low level and controlled the vibrations when playing, I still found it to be too noisy. Perhaps I was the only one with this issue, so I shall reserve my feelings on it. I"ll also give my vote to Sunset Glow."
Sunset Glow gave her thanks.
The Clown nodded and clapped.
Chen Yidong said, "I think the guitar part was alright. He played really well and I can accept the change from an acoustic guitar. I do not think it"s a problem at all, although I couldn"t really understand the song. So, I"m sorry, but I"ll be voting for Sunset Glow."
Out of the six judges, Sunset Glow had gained three votes!
The audience began to bellyache.
"What"s this?"
"Why are they all voting for Sunset Glow?"
"d.a.m.n, I liked "Ms. Dong"!"
"Me too! It"s such a good song!"
"What do you mean you can"t understand?"
"The evaluations of the judges had all been great, but I think that they"ve finally reached their limit this time! It"s too unprofessional!"
"If Sunset Glow gets another vote, she"ll win!"
"Honestly, I don"t care who wins. I feel that both of them performed incredibly. But if you say that the song, "Ms. Dong," is not good? Then I"ll definitely disagree with you!"
Many in the audience complained!
However, the tiebreaker match"s votes were for the judges to decide, not them.
At this moment, Zhang Xia said, "Maybe it"s because I"m old, but I don"t really understand what "Ms. Dong" is trying to express either. Also, the song is somewhat mellow. The other ballads I know are like that too, but in the current setting, the song is definitely at a disadvantage. So I"ll also vote for Sunset Glow. She definitely deserves to become the Masked King today!"
Four votes!
Sunset Glow had won!
It was Yao Jiancai"s turn to speak. ""Ms. Dong" is a rather nice song. But compared to The Clown"s previous songs, it was indeed a little lacking and couldn"t showcase his technique as much. Although I"ve been supporting The Clown all this time and like him a lot too, I"ll also be voting for Sunset Glow today."
5 votes!
Sunset Glow bowed. "Thank you, Teacher."
But for reasons unknown, Sunset Glow showed no trace of happiness or excitement. Her eyes turned to The Clown and seemed to contain a tinge of unhappiness.
The Clown smiled wryly.
What are you looking at me for?
What"s up with that gaze of yours?
Afterwards, the last judge commented.
Amy was silent for a while before suddenly saying, "Before, even if I had a different opinion from the other judges, our general understanding was still quite similar. But that isn"t the case today." She stood up, a little agitated, and protested for The Clown, "I know Sunset Glow and have confirmed who she is. Logically, I would vote for her since we"ve known each other for many years. But I"m really can"t do so today. My vote will definitely and absolutely, a 100%, be given it to The Clown! There"s no two ways about it!"
When many in the audience heard this, they suddenly started clapping for Amy!
Amy looked at the judges next to her. "So what if he used an electric guitar? Playing a ballad on an electric guitar is not something that n.o.body"s done before![1.] This song was not nice? How can that be? By the time I listened to the third verse, I could feel gooseb.u.mps rising all over me." She rubbed her arms. "And they"re still there now!"
Bba bba bba bba!
The audience"s applause boomed again!
Chen Guang lifted his arms and pressed them down and said with a laugh, "Calm down, calm down."
Zhang Xia added, "To each their own. That"s quite normal."
When Amy heard that, she sat down and said, "Yes, ballads are not considered mainstream, and most people would not use a ballad in a singing compet.i.tion either, but this "Ms. Dong" is no ordinary ballad. The Clown"s singing also wasn"t ordinary at all, so I really can"t accept this result."
w.a.n.g Zhuishu smiled and said, "But it"s five against one."
That"s what the rules were.
With five out of six judges saying that "Ms. Dong" was just ordinary and with Sunset Glow already as today"s Masked King, whatever Amy said had no effect on the outcome at this point.
Dong Shanshan smiled and said, "Then let"s congratulate Sunset Glow for taking the crown of Masked King this episode!"
Sunset Glow gave her thank you speech.
The Clown had already quietly departed from the stage.
Looking at Amy, Zhang Ye smiled inside. He rather liked this girl as she spoke without qualms and seemed even more headstrong than him. In fact, Zhang Ye could accept this result. It wasn"t that he was worse than Sunset Glow, but that he knew that back in his previous world, "Ms. Dong" wasn"t an instant hit. Sometimes, after listening to it several times, one would start thinking of their own "Ms. Dong." Afterwards, they would start falling in love with this song until it got out of control. This was why Zhang Ye did not mind the result. If he had really wanted to become the Masked King today, he wouldn"t have chosen to sing this song.
It was fine if the judges didn"t like it.
Even if the audience didn"t like it, that was alright too.
As long as Dong Shanshan liked it—that was all that mattered. As long as Dong Shanshan could understand it, it was good enough. Today, this song was meant for Dong Shanshan alone!
Happy birthday.
Ms. Dong.