I'm Really a Superstar

The Clown had exited the stage.

It was the next contestant's turn to go on.

However, there were still some people in the audience discussing him in astonishment.

"Zhao Qiquan didn't turn out to be such a big deal after all!"

"Just who is the true Hokkien singer between the two of them?"

"The Clown sang much better than Flowing Time!"

"Yeah. Without a comparison, no one would have known. But the moment they both sang a Hokkien song, I got shocked!"

"So it turns out that Zhao Qiquan, the so-called best Hokkien singer, is only so-so. It's not that his singing is good, but that there's too little competition in the Hokkien music scene. Not many people sing Hokkien songs, but once any of those elite singers sing in the language, any one of them would be better than him!"

"That's not really how it is. It was only because The Clown was so good that it made it seem like it."

"Right, the guy's incredible. How does he know how to sing everything!"

"He has already sung pop songs, rock songs, folk songs, a song without lyrics, songs with lyrics, a Cantonese song, a northeastern-accented song, Mandarin songs, and even a Hokkien song!"

"This is a singing show, but why does it feel like I'm watching a martial arts film instead? The Clown is really versatile and skilled in so many areas! Hahahaha! I'm dying of laughter!"

"That was really enjoyable!"

"This episode's gonna be wonderful!"

"This is what a professional singing competition should be. The Voice pales in comparison!"

"It's Sunset Glow's turn now!"

"Right, Sunset Glow is also a fearsome competitor today!"

Dong Shanshan smiled and said, "Now, let's hand the stage to Sunset Glow."

Sunset Glow went onstage.

The audience was very accommodating as they immediately quieted down.

Sunset Glow nodded to express her gratitude. Then she looked at the band and nodded at them, signaling that she was ready to start.

In truth, in this round of the competition, The Clown's and Sunset Glow's chances of winning were very slim. It was very difficult for the two of them to compete against Flowing Time as he probably had an 80% chance of winning. This was because Flowing Time was a Hokkien singer and a lot of Hokkien audience members had turned up for today's recording. But when The Clown sang "Strive Hard to Succeed," he ruthlessly reversed the situation and utterly broke up Flowing Time's chances of becoming the Masked King. Further, with those two Hokkien songs performed, Sunset Glow as the remaining singer performing a Mandarin song actually gained an advantage. This was because the audience's curiosity had been dulled, and the hundred-plus votes from the Hokkien speaking audience were allocated between The Clown and Flowing Time. With such subtle changes to the circumstances, Sunset Glow instead became the one with the highest chance of becoming the Masked King among the contestants!

"You asked me,

"Why I never cower.

"You asked me,

"Why I never panic."

After just two verses, all the judges revealed astonished expressions! Was Sunset Glow on steroids today? Her form was spectacular. It looked like she had already familiarized herself with this stage. She did not feel nervous anymore and was able to let herself go. Perhaps this was what you call a late bloomer? No wonder even Petal Shower was taken down by her during the first round!

Once the song finished, the studio thundered with applause!

A lot of people were moved by the gentle and soothing voice in Sunset Glow's singing. This song was originally a rock song and was a song that had shot a male rock band to fame. Now, Sunset Glow had arranged it and used a quiet and womanly voice to sing the song. Be it the audience or the judges, none of them had ever heard anyone sing the song like this. It was extremely original and everyone was very impressed with it!

The audience was faced with a dilemma!

"This is too difficult to choose!"

"Yeah, who should I vote for?"

"They are all super great!"

"Sunset Glow was so incredible! I didn't pay much attention to her before, but I could never have expected that she would be such an amazing singer!"

"Sunset Glow should probably win this!"

"Yes, she has really good chances of becoming the Masked King!"

"The interpretation of the song was very well done!"

"It looks like The Clown will perish together with Flowing Time today. The two of them fought such a battle and the victor has been decided, but Sunset Glow should benefit the most from their fight!"

"Let's see what the judges are going to say."

"I still haven't decided who to vote for."

Dong Shanshan went onstage.

The Clown and Flowing Time were also invited back to join her.

Dong Shanshan smiled and said, "Wow, I'm really enjoying today's competition." She gestured to her rear. "This is the first time that I've realized that live singing can really make one sweat." She looked at the judges and said, "I wonder what the judges think. Teacher Zhang Xia?"

Zhang Xia smiled. "In fact, I was sweating too just now."

A smile hung from Dong Shanshan's lips. "You did too?"

Zhang Xia nodded and said, "When I listened to Sunset Glow's singing, I enjoyed it to the point of sweating. But when I listened to The Clown's singing, I was…sweating with shock!"

Everyone laughed!

Indeed, a lot of people were shocked just now. No one could have expected him to sing a Hokkien song so fluently the moment he opened his mouth. At that time, even the Miracle Wheels band members, who were playing the live accompaniment for his performance, were shocked. This was because The Clown did not sing the lyrics during the rehearsal beforehand. Hence, all of them thought that it was going to be a Mandarin song!

Zhang Xia thought for a moment. "If I were to vote, I would vote for Sunset Glow today. She was fantastic!"

Sunset Glow bowed. "Thank you, Teacher!"

Chen Guang laughed and said, "The Clown is the singer I most admire today. I never thought that he would still have that sort of song. But if we are judging from pure singing skills and fine details, I would probably vote for Sunset Glow."

The Clown nodded.

Sunset Glow bowed again. "Thank you."

Yao Jiancai chuckled, "I would vote for The Clown. I can't give any professional comments here. I just feel that "Strive Hard to Succeed" was just that good!"

The judges expressed their opinions.

Four of them supported Sunset Glow while two of them supported The Clown.

Standing next to them, Flowing Time was left hanging. Only Wang Zhuishu, whom he knew from long ago, praised him a little and even that was just a symbolic gesture. The other judges did not even bring him up in their comments. Actually, this was probably the best outcome for Flowing Time. Whether the singing, lyrics, or melody, Flowing Time knew that he was far inferior to The Clown's Hokkien song. If the judges really used their professional point of view to analyze, Flowing Time would be even more disgraced. As the best Hokkien singer, he would have been even more embarrassed!

Then the voting began!

The tallies for each of them kept changing!

The audience's shouts and expressions kept changing as well!

"Ah, The Clown's votes went up!"

"Sunset Glow is in first place now!"

"Give your vote to Flowing Time!"

"Aiyo, vote!"

"Sunset Glow!"

"The Clown!"

The voting ended!

But Zhang Ye did not even turn around to look because he did not have the thought of competing for the title of Masked King in mind today. Nobody could be the center of attention all the time. He had to occasionally give the chance to other people. Besides, he was already making preparations for the King of Masked Singers' grand finals by keeping a low profile. If he kept being the center of attention and the height of popularity and brought out all his killer moves this early on, how could he handle the grand finals of the competition?

As a result, he felt great. This fellow was here today to teach Flowing Time a lesson, and his objective had been met!

However, when the voting ended, he realized that the audience looked surprised. Dong Shanshan also delayed announcing the results!

What was going on?

What has happened?

Did Sunset Glow win?

The audience was stunned.

The program team was stunned.

The host was also stunned.

"Uh…"

"This…"

Zhang Ye couldn't help but turn around to have a look. He was also slightly taken aback by what he saw!

Flowing Time: 36 votes!

The Clown: 232 votes!

Sunset Glow: 232 votes!

They tied!

The Clown and Sunset Glow's tallies were exactly the same!

Dong Shanshan giggled and looked over to Hu Fei and the program team staff offstage. "This is the first time such a situation has arisen. We never expected that there would be a tie, so let me seek the program team's views on this."

Offstage.

The program team staff gathered together to discuss this.

Flowing Time was the most tormented person onstage. His tally was so low that he could not bear to look on any further. It was really, really appalling to look at. Just choose a winner already and end it quickly. Why are you all still making me stand onstage with everyone? Are you people trying to ridicule me? Can't you come to a decision more quickly?!

The audience:

"Flowing Time lost so terribly!"

"Pfft, he was the one who started the clamoring and provoked The Clown a few days ago. But in the end, the outcome turned out like this? He still intended to seek justice for Li Yu? I'm already feeling embarrassed for him!"

"To the victor go the spoils!"

"Flowing Time is no match for The Clown!"

"Yeah, it's useless even if he practices another few years since these two singers are on totally different planes."

"I never expected a tie."

"I thought that Sunset Glow would win for sure."

"That's right. Even the majority of the judges were supporting Sunset Glow."

In fact, Zhang Ye himself was not prepared for this result. He also thought that Sunset Glow would be crowned this episode's Masked King. But he couldn't have expected that the audience would give him so much face. Zhang Ye was hoping that they would stop discussing any further and just declare Sunset Glow as the winner of this episode. He was willing to forfeit this round automatically. But he definitely could not say that as it would be showing disrespect to Sunset Glow. The last time he lost on purpose was because he was targeting Li Yu. But he couldn't do that again as Sunset Glow would definitely not agree with it!

A few minutes later.

The outcome of the discussion was decided!

Dong Shanshan received the program team's instructions through her earpiece. "Mhm…mhm…yes, I understand." Then she smiled and announced, "Since who becomes each episode's Masked King is quite important as it affects the order of appearance in the grand finals of King of Masked Singers, our program team has decided to implement an additional round!"

The audience got excited the moment they heard!

"Wow!"

"An extra round?"

"Haha, that's great!"

"We get to listen to another two songs!"

"I bet Sunset Glow will win!"

"My bet is on The Clown! That guy's abilities can't be fathomed!"

Dong Shanshan looked at the two contestants and asked, "Do you two have any problems with that?"

Sunset Glow was in excellent condition today and she was highly competitive too. She glanced at The Clown, then nodded and said with a smile, "I don't have any problems with that!" It looked like she wanted to compete with The Clown to see who was better.

Zhang Ye smiled and said in return, "Then I have no problems with it either."