Chapter 172 - I Love You, China
Afterstroking the spa.r.s.e hair on his head, Lu Zhengzhi wiggled his fat waist andb.u.t.tocks to make his huge body more comfortable against the soft chair, and theperfectly snug, neither soft nor hard, feeling from the seat also made him verycomfortable.
The littlebrother was shocked!
(TN: Thelittle brother here is referring to CCTV. This will be explained later in thechapter)
The directorof the CCTV Art and Literature Program Department secretly sighed in his heart.It was said that the seat under his b.u.t.tocks was worth more than 7,000 yuan andwas a product of ergonomic technology.
In the T1 StudioHall of Beijing Satellite TV, there were 2999 of the same soft chairs!
The newlyopened studio boasts the largest scale and the most advanced facilities inChina, and even Lu Zhengzhi was secretly jealous - CCTV’s largest studio can, atmost, only hold up to 2000 spectators.
As a mid-to-high-levelfigure of CCTV, Lu Zhengzhi went to Beijing Satellite TV today to watch thefirst rehearsal of the National Day Party.
CCTV, towhich Lu Zhengzhi belongs, also known as China Central Television, is the mostimportant news and public opinion organization in China, an importantideological and cultural front in China, and one of the most compet.i.tivemainstream media. It has a variety of functions such as news dissemination,social education, cultural entertainment, information services and otherfunctions.
Establishedin 1955, CCTV is the main channel for the public to obtain informationthroughout the country. It is also an important window for China to understandthe world and the world to understand China. It has a wide range of influenceinternationally.
Thepredecessor of CCTV is Beijing TV Station. After the restructuring, Beijing TVStation was divided into CCTV and Beijing TV. (TN: Thus, CCTV was the littlebrother, from what I understand.)
As thesaying goes, broken bones are still connected with tendons. The relations.h.i.+pbetween CCTV and Beijing TV is complex enough to write a thick book. Manysenior executives of Beijing TV are from CCTV, and the latter also has thedirect guidance responsibility to the former.
This impactis comprehensive.
The reasonwhy Beijing Satellite TV only produced its first reality show this year has alot to do with CCTV.
To someextent, Beijing Satellite TV relies on CCTV, but it was not willing to be apuppet of the latter.
The greatsuccess of “Singing China” ratings inevitably made CCTV, this littlebrother, have some thoughts.
So, LuZhengzhi came here today, not just to guide Beijing TV’s National Day Party!
Thinkingabout things, Lu Zhengzhi was a little lost in thought.
It wasn"tuntil he saw Lu Chen appearing on the stage that he turned his attention backto the program list in his hand.
“Thisprogram is…”
Lu Zhengstared at the words on the program list. He asked doubtfully, “w.a.n.g Bin’s NewChina New Time?”
AlthoughDirector Lu was a little nearsighted, he has a high-end gla.s.ses worth thousandsof yuan mounted on the bridge of his nose, so it was not hard to see what thepeople on the stage look like - this is w.a.n.g Bin?
You’ve gotto be kidding me!
Lu Zhengzhiand w.a.n.g Bin knew each other and have had dinner together.
Sitting nextto him, Gao Zhixue, director of Beijing TV Editorial Office, coughed. He saidawkwardly, “w.a.n.g Bin… w.a.n.g Bin’s program has been temporarilyreplaced.”
w.a.n.g Bin’sprogram has been replaced? With such a young man?
Lu Zhengzhi didn"tunderstand.
It was not uncommonfor TV station evening programs to be replaced during rehearsals. As for thereasons, they were very complicated. It could be because the program was reallybad. It could be because the performers have problems. Or it could have been thatperformers were pushed out by others.
But whatkind of person is w.a.n.g Bin? he is not only a first-cla.s.s celebrity; he is alsoa heavyweight guest for Beijing Satellite TV.
Will he be pushedout?
Lu Zhengzhishook his head and asked, “Did w.a.n.g Bin have an accident?”
He hit thenail on the head! (TN: Bingo!)
At thismoment his a.s.sistant leaned over and whispered a few words in his ear.
LuZhengzhi’s a.s.sistant and Gao Zhixue have actually got the news, but they didn’ttell him. The former didn"t think it was necessary, while the latter didn’t wantto talk about it at all.
Now that LuZhengzhi asked on his own initiative, his a.s.sistant couldn"t pretend to be deafor mute, otherwise he would be leaderless.
Lu Zhengzhiwas shocked.
After awhile. He turned to look at Gao Zhixue with a strange look in his eyes.
Gao Zhixue hasno choice but to smile bitterly.
Lu Zhengzhisighed: “w.a.n.g Bin is nevertheless a good person. I guess he was momentarilycorrupted by others… Who is this?”
To be ableto temporarily replace w.a.n.g Bin, this person was definitely not an ordinaryartist.
Gao Zhixuesecretly breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly introduced: “This is LuChen, the champion of "Singing China".”
“LuChen?”
Lu Zhengzhi knittedhis brows and immediately relaxed again: “I remember, my son likes hissongs very much.”
He looked atGao Zhixue with a faint smile and said, “Originally w.a.n.g Bin will sing themain theme song, but you let this Lu Chen take his place. What song is he goingto sing? “
Whether itis CCTV or Beijing TV, the National Day Party program first have to emphasizepolitical correctness, and the singing that accounts for a large proportion ofthe program must be dominated by the main theme song. Pop songs would justserve as a contrast.
The previoustwo programs were already popular works, and now here"s the champion of atalent compet.i.tion…
Director Lu hasno choice but to find faults and strike. (TN: Be strict)
Gao Zhixue couldonly continue to smile bitterly: “It was arranged by Deputy Director Chenand Director Gu, and they have a sense of the overall situation.”
The directorof Beijing TV Editorial Office also complained in his heart about hiscolleagues.
When singingthe main theme song, there are so many people to choose from. How could Lu Chencome on top?
Lu Chenalready has a chorus program prior to this.
Lu Zhengzhisaid meaningfully, “I hope so.”
He made uphis mind. If the program was still singing a pop song, then he"ll have to saysomething about it.
At thistime, the host of the evening program said loudly: “The following programis a male solo, and the singer is Beijing Satellite TV"s "Singing China" firstseason champion, Lu Chen!”
“Thesong he brought us is called…”
“I loveyou, China!”
As soon asthe host’s voice fell, whispers of discussion rang out in the audience.
For thefirst rehearsal of the National Day Party, the audience in the studio wasfilled by the staff of the TV station.
They allknew that w.a.n.g Bin was arrested, and the program was destined to have changes,but no one expected Lu Chen would take the stage in place of the veteransinger.
Lu Zhengzhiwas dumbfounded: “I love you, China? The t.i.tle of the song is good. Idon’t seem to have heard of it.”
Gao Zhixuefirst breathed a sigh of relief, but then raised his heart again.
I love youChina - the t.i.tle of the song is the main theme, but in his memory, there wasno such work at all. He really didn"t know from which corner did Gu Rui foundit.
This Old Guis someone that is reliable!
It wasreally needless to say that Gao Zhixue was depressed in his heart.
There wereso many cla.s.sics main theme songs. What was the meaning of finding something thatwas never heard before?
Is it not goodto sing “Happy People of China”, “Better Future of theMotherland”, “Red Flag” or “Ode to China”?
Depressed,Gao Zhixue had to bite the bullet and explain: “It should be a very goodsong.”
It wasreally distressing; he never knew there was such a main theme song.
The nextmoment, the prelude to the music sounded.
As soon asGao Zhixue heard it, his heart sank with disappointment. The look on his facewas very ugly.
It was asong that he hasn"t heard before, and the accompaniment and arrangement werevery ordinary or even poor, like a rough job of temporary work!
Gao Zhixuehas studied music and understands music.
The onlything he was thankful for was that Lu Zhengzhi didn’t understand music, atleast he wouldn’t immediately know if it was good or bad.
But GaoZhixue’s expectations for this song instantly fell to freezing point.
Many of theTV staff sitting at the back were knowledgeable. They either tightened theirfaces or showed funny looks, and some were very surprised.
Can a solo programat this level be used as a replacement?
Theneveryone looked at Lu Chen to see how he sang.
Lu Chen heldthe microphone with his head down.
Then he startedsinging with the accompaniment.
“WheneverI feel pain, I want you to hold me tight,
Touch mysoul like you always do,
Whenever Iam confused, you always give me warmth.
It"s likesomeone’s arm around my shoulder!
Sometimes Iget lonely and helpless, like a falling stone on a hillside,
But as longas I think of your name, I always regain my confidence,
Sometimes Ilose my way, like a stray swallow in the sky,
But as longas I think of your existence, I won"t be afraid anymore.
……”
Gao Zhixuelistened, his eyebrows were twisted into the character “川”,and the color of dissatisfaction could be seen in his expression.
If it hadn’tbeen for Lu Zhengzhi’s presence, perhaps he would have cursed on the spot.
The directorof the editorial office was able to determine that he has never heard the songbefore. The melody and lyrics were not so bright, and the tunes were slow anddeep, without the kind of uplifting excitement of a main theme work.
Lu Chen’ssinging skills are very good. His voice is unique, has a high degree ofrecognition, and his performance in mid to low range was worthy of the t.i.tle of“Singing China” champion.
Mostimportant of all. This melody and lyrics are obviously pop style - what aboutthe main theme?
Gao Zhixuereally couldn"t listen to it any more.
He has alreadymade up his mind, this solo program must be replaced, and Gu Rui couldn"tcontinue to be willful.
And at thistime, Lu Chen, who was standing on the stage, raised his head.
He lookedstraight ahead, his eyes were filled with firm determination, and his singingsuddenly became impa.s.sioned.
“……
I love youChina, my dear mother.
I"ll cry foryou and I"m proud of you!
I love you China,my dear mother,
I"ll cry foryou and I"m proud of you!
……”
When thesong containing infinite emotional power rushed into Gao Zhixue’s ears, hecould not help but shudder!
This part ofthe song…
It instantlysublimated the previous theme, and reached a very high level. The extremelysharp contrast between before and after made the ** part gave people a strongsense of shock, as if the soft place in their heart was suddenly touched.People couldn"t help but be moved by it, and have gooseb.u.mps! (TN: The * was inthe raw)
“……
One day thissong will grow old like a bud on an old tree.
But I willsing it over and over again in my life.
Some peoplewill slowly disappear, some emotions will gradually break,
But you arealways in my heart like the unparalleled sun.
I love youChina, my dear mother.
I"ll cry foryou and I"m proud of you!
I love youChina, my dear mother,
I"ll cry foryou and I"m proud of you!
……”
The wholestudio was silent and all the discussion disappeared.
Only LuChen’s singing was reverberating, pounding and fluttering… like a wave in thesea.
Wave afterwave, shocking everyone’s hearts!
______________
TN: The Song:I Love You, China: Here
TN: If you like my translations support me in ko-fi: .