I'm Really a Superstar

The next day.

Zhang Ye's Studio was still in a celebratory mood.

The public also took some time to appreciate Zhang Ye's soaring popularity.

But it was at this time that something unexpected happened.

—These were troubled times.

—Gossip flies when a person gets popular.

These two sayings were the most apt descriptions of the entertainment industry. There were a lot of unrest and activities constantly going on. No one could predict what would happen next!

Central TV Department 1 announced without warning in the afternoon that they were going to begin production on the second season of The Voice. In fact, they were already midway through production, so it wouldn't be long before they met the audience again. In the announcement, it was even revealed that they would stick to the old ways and continue making the show in the same style as the first season of The Voice. There would be an all-new panel of guest coaches joining the show and an all-new production team of professionals to help recreate this classic reality show. They would bring the audience a most fresh and awesome audio sensory experience.

When the news got out, many people were shocked!

There was amazement all over Weibo!

"What?"

"Season Two of The Voice?"

"That's great, it's finally returning!"

"What so great about that? Isn't that show copyrighted to Zhang Ye?"

"Right, it was this exact matter that embroiled Zhang Ye and Central TV Department 1 in a lawsuit, so what's with this? Has Teacher Zhang made up with Central TV Department 1? Did he give them authorization to film the show?"

"That's impossible!"

"Look at what they said in the announcement. They mention that it's headed by an all-new production team!"

"Right, Zhang Ye couldn't have authorized them. Who doesn't know what his temper is like!"

"The Central TV Department 1 executives were even scolding Zhang Ye on Weibo last night on his essays getting selected for the Chinese language textbooks! They couldn't have made up so quickly overnight!"

"Then why does Central TV Department 1 still dare to call their show The Voice?"

"It's copyright infringement, right?"

"I'm utterly confused as well!"

No one in the industry expected that Central TV Department 1 would actually go against the grain and act so brazen. They even said they were already halfway through production?

At Zhang Ye's Studio.

Ha Qiqi said angrily, "What the heck are they trying to do!"

Zhang Zuo said, "Old Ha, didn't you say their show would adopt a name and format change?"

"Yeah," Ha Qiqi said, "that's why I don't understand what's going on either!"

Zhang Ye did not even hesitate and said, "Send them a cease and desist!"

And so, the law firm representing Zhang Ye's Studio immediately issued a Cease and Desist Letter to Central TV on the same day and sent someone to liaise with the courts.

The incident blew up!

Zhang Ye and Central TV Department 1 were going to go to court again?

However, the way things developed caught everyone by surprise!

Just as countless people's attention focused on this incident, Central TV Department 1 quickly deleted that promotional Weibo post and updated it with a new one. The official Weibo account of Central TV Department 1 announced that due to copyright issues, their new show would drop the name of The Voice and be known as Sing! instead. There would be some changes to the format of the show as well. At the end of the post, it even hinted that although the name was changed, the spirit of the show would still be the same.

Video publicity!

Advertising campaigns!

The promos went into full swing!

The name of Sing! was quickly made known to everyone too!

It was at this moment that everyone realized what was going on!

Central TV Department 1 knew that there would be a problem with the copyright, so they hadn't planned to produce the show as the second season of The Voice. Right from the start, they were planning to change the name and modify the trademarked segment where the coaches turned around in the chairs. By having a different look for the show, they were intending to continue doing The Voice as it was. But as they were afraid the audience would not be convinced if they just announced this new show and inadvertently suffered a drop in viewers and notability of the show, they billed it as the second season of The Voice. Seizing the opportunity to publicize Sing! while the media's attention was all on Zhang Ye, it was their way of telling the audience that this was not an entirely new show, but in fact, the second season of The Voice! If this wasn't their intent, Central TV Department 1 couldn't have possibly reacted so quickly. It didn't even take a day for them to come up with another name for the show? And change the format of the show's segment? Even the publicity video was readily released after the announcement? It was impossible that they could do all that so quickly! They were riding on the name of Zhang Ye and The Voice!

Moreover, they had already deleted that previous Weibo post, so it wouldn't affect them much even if Zhang Ye's Studio sued them in court. There was no loss for them!

Some of Zhang Ye's fans started cursing.

"Fuck!"

"How can they be so despicable?"

"Damn, I've lost my faith in humanity!"

"They were scolding Zhang Ye on Weibo just last night but are now using his name and show to promote themselves? This is what Central TV Department 1 is? How can they do that?"

"What they're doing is really shameless!"

"If you all want to make Sing!, then go ahead. But why did you have to do it this way? Even back then, you were in the wrong first, no? The Voice is Zhang Ye's baby. You didn't want to pay Director Zhang for the copyright and even tried to steal it from him to sell it off. After that, he was even shipped off to the Documentary Channel while you continued to raise a ruckus about him until Central TV was forced to terminate his contract. In this past year, you've continued scolding Zhang Ye on the Internet and criticizing him at various public events. But in the end? This was what you resorted to doing? Haven't you gone too far!"

Of course, some people didn't mind.

"Anything is fine as long as we get a second season of The Voice!"

"Right, I like this show so much. They mustn't shelve it!"

"Counting the days, it's about time the second season began. I'm really looking forward to it!"

"It's just a name change, we'll still watch it anyhow."

"Yeah, there are too few good singing shows, and The Voice and King of Masked Singers are the two most representative works in the genre. Since King of Masked Singers only ended a few months ago, I doubt there'll be a second season anytime soon. So there's only The Voice left to look forward to. I don't care if they change the name to Sing! They can call it Dog Shit for all I care! I'd still watch it!"

"Hurry up and start broadcasting please!"

"Just don't destroy the reputation of The Voice."

"I watched the promo vid and found it quite good!"

There was a lot of controversy!

A lot of attention was given to it too!

But this was exactly the effect Central TV Department 1 was going for. They knew that even though some people would scold them, those same people would still come and watch the show when it was broadcast. This was because there was no one to compete with their show, nor was there anyone who could compete with them. Among the singing shows, they would sweep away everyone else. As long as they could hold viewer attention on the show's premiere and make them realize that it was basically The Voice with a different name, then the viewers would give their recognition to it. They wouldn't possibly just give up on the show just because Zhang Ye wasn't the director or the host. Other than Zhang Ye's diehard fans and some hot-blooded youths, not too many people were so principled and bothered by such things. In the end, what the people needed was entertainment, not some impossible to emulate person standing on stage speed-reciting some advertising messages!

The Voice was already an established show!

Therefore, Central TV Department 1 no longer had a need for Zhang Ye!

The host?

The director?

The guests?

It would all be the same whoever held those roles!

1. In 2016, contractual disputes arose between Talpa Holding, the owner of the show's format and franchise, and Canxing Production, the show's production company. It was revealed the former had inked a joint venture with another production company, Talent International, to produce the upcoming seasons of the show. In response to the dispute and to prevent copyright breaches, Canxing Productions launched Sing!, a rebranded version of the show which the producers claimed to come with an original format, though it still shares several similarities with The Voice of China.