I'm Really a Superstar

Who else was there?

The audience would find out very soon!

When the second singer came out through the moon gate, the entire studio audience stared with eyes wide. They were so surprised that their jaws nearly dropped to the floor!

"Oh my God!"

"Holy shit!"

"Who did I just see?"

"Zhao Wuliu!"

"It's Zhao Wuliu!"

"He's such a godly singer!"

"Aiyo, it's really him!"

"What a surprise! This gave me such a shock!"

The music played and Zhao Wuliu started singing.

The moment he opened his mouth, many of the audience members felt like they had been transported back 20 years!

Zhao Wuliu: A singer from the earliest batch of pop music singers in the Chinese music industry. He could be considered to be from the same generation of singers as Grandma Zhang Xia. In the field of artistic singing, Zhang Xia was definitely one of the top few performing artists. But back then in the field of pop music, Zhao Wuliu was one of the leading figures who had been extremely popular all over the country. He was a definitive A-lister of his era. Now that times had changed, with the entertainment industry's pace picking up, the number of A-list celebrities had grown much faster than 20-30 years ago when there were only a handful of them. At that time, Zhao Wuliu was at the forefront of the A-listers, and anyone who was slightly older would definitely know of him. He was one of the earliest pop music idols in China. But at some point in time, Zhao Wuliu stopped appearing on everyone's televisions. There were also no updates about him for a very long time. After all, he was already in his forties or fifties, and the times had changed. There were rumors that he had bid farewell to the music scene, and some media outlets even claimed that he had taken seriously ill.

It blew up backstage as well!

Zhang Xia said in surprise, "Whoa, it's an old friend!"

He Huan exclaimed, "This is a truly godly singer!"

Chen Guang stared wide-eyed. "Senior Zhao?"

Xue Kaiqi was also quite shocked. "Teacher Zhao is making a comeback?"

Amy yelled, "Can the program team be any more resourceful? They could even get Senior Zhao to step out from retirement! What's there still left to compete for? I grew up listening to Senior Zhao's songs!"

The host-managers' room exploded again!

"I'll choose Teacher Zhao!"

"Step aside, Teacher Zhao is mine!"

"I'm telling you, don't any of you try to steal him from me!"

"Little Yan, didn't you just say that you wanted to be Sister Dong's manager?"

"I've changed my mind, alright!"

"Let's not fight over this. Whoever can convince the singers to choose them will get them!"

"Let's listen to the performance first. He's singing so well!"

"He still sounds exactly the same as years ago!"

…

In the wings.

The third singer was preparing to come out!

The audience's expectations were raised to the highest point!

"Even Zhao Wuliu has joined. Who else will there be?"

"The next person is coming out!"

"I can't see who it is! Who is it?"

"Looks to be around 1.7 meters tall? A man?"

"Eh, that silhouette looks really familiar!"

Finally, that person walked out through the moon gate!

The audience let out another incredulous exclamation!

"Old Chen!"

"Chen Guang!"

The big brother of the music industry!"

"What the heck! What's with this level of awesomeness!"

"Even Chen Guang has come!"

"What kind of lineup are we going to see? I'm already dazed!"

"Did they have to go this far?"

Zhang Xia shook her head and gave a wry smile. "I did guess that Little Chen would come to support Zhang Ye's show. Little Chen is going to be difficult to handle. I've heard him sing live for so many years and he hasn't once made a mistake. When we're talking about singing skills and experience, as well as being able to perform well in a live setting, there aren't too many singers who can stand up to Little Chen."

Xue Kaiqi put her head in her hands. "This is over, it's another godly singer!"

Chen Guang started singing. The moment he opened his mouth, he sang a high note that made everyone's hair stand on end!

Chen Guang was not a relic of the past nor a retired singer. He was one of the hottest singers and a supporting pillar of the music industry. To say that he was the "Music Industry's Big Brother" might be a little controversial since everyone's evaluation and standards were different. But if it was said that Chen Guang was one of the top three male singers in the music industry, no one would raise any objections. Be it his popularity, singing skills, experience, or qualifications, Chen Guang would definitely be hailed as one of the most outstanding singers. Even his wife, Fan Wenli, was not comparable to him.

…

Then came the fourth singer's turn to take the stage.

"Amy!"

"Wow!"

"It's my Amy!"

"Two members from Spring Garden joined the show!"

"Pfft! Amy and Xiaodong must've both have been scammed by Zhang Ye to join his show! Looking at this lineup, I think Amy is done for! Will she get eliminated?"

"Get lost, Amy's singing is very good!"

"Listen, it's really quite good!"

"I've never seen Amy perform solo before. Her singing is really nice!"

Amy's performance style was more of the bubbly type. Her voice was less recognizable than Xiaodong's, and her singing was also lacking when compared to Li Xiaoxian's, but she was very good at bringing up the atmosphere. She especially knew how to use the music to interact with the audience by choosing a song that was more exciting. In just a short time, she was able to excite the audience. There was even a rap portion in the song she performed so well that Xiaodong and Li Xiaoxian probably couldn't outdo her. Her rapping was definitely her most powerful weapon of all!

…

The fifth singer came out.

"He Huan!"

"Aiyo, it's Old He!"

"It's the Prince of Love Songs!"

"The best love song singer-songwriter in the country!"

"Didn't he just release an album last month? I heard it sold like crazy!"

"The love songs he writes are all quite nice! And his singing is great too!"

"In the genre of love songs, He Huan will sweep away all competition! Even Chen Guang is no match for him, right?"

"Yeah, because Old Chen hardly ever sings love songs!"

"What are all these godly people doing here!"

"Who else has come?"

"My heart can't take this anymore!"

…

The sixth singer made her appearance!

"Xue Kaiqi?"

"Am I seeing this correctly?"

"It's her!"

"The Princess of Love Songs, Xue Kaiqi?"

"Princess Xue was so popular at one point! She was at the same level as Fan Wenli! After she got married and gave birth, she left the industry!"

"I'm not really familiar with her."

"You don't even know Xue Kaiqi? Five years ago, she could release an album and it would get at least 30 million plays on the Internet! It's just that her popularity has dropped since she hasn't been releasing any new songs."

Both the Prince and Princess of Love Songs are here?"

"How exciting!"

"Listen, does it sound like her voice isn't in the right condition?"

"She's probably just nervous."

"I think it's pretty good, it sounds pure to me!"

"'Time' was the song that shot her to fame. I won't get sick of it no matter how many times I listen to it!"

…

Only one was left!

Who could the seventh singer for the final performance be?

The answer was soon revealed!

Zhang Xia came out from behind the moon gate with a smile on her face. Everyone knew who she was. As a constant presence on the annual Spring Festival Gala on Central TV, she had also been appearing on television variety shows recently because of Zhang Ye. Based on her relationship with him, it shouldn't have been surprising for her to come onto I Am a Singer. But to the contrary, the audience was even more surprised to see her than the other singers when she appeared in front of them!

Grandma Zhang was taking part in the competition?

How could she possibly face off against the others?

She wasn't even a pop singer! Rather, she was a songstress who sang bel canto! She was someone who took the artistic route at a higher level of performing arts. She had also won so many art awards that it would fill an entire wall cabinet. Be it her songs or her singing, she was a singer who could easily perform at the Great Hall of the People 1 or any other world-class theater. If the competition was assessed through artistry, then there wouldn't be a need to compete. The other six singers on this stage couldn't beat Zhang Xia even with their combined strength. But since the judging criteria was going to be based on mainstream pop music, surely Zhang Xia couldn't match up to them, right?

But very quickly, they learned they were wrong to think that way!

The moment Zhang Xia raised her microphone, everyone was astonished and astounded!

"These days, seasons fly by,

"flowers bloom aplenty.

"Winds wander, clouds float by,

"nature shut behind the door.

"To be plucked uneasily,

"I slowly realize.

"Bloomed already, but no one coming is completely expected."

It was Zhang Ye's "Wild Rose"!

This version that Zhang Xia sang was not bel canto. Instead, she sang in mezzo-soprano 2 . And from the way that it was sung, it was definitely a technique used for pop singing!

It sounded so good!

So good that it shocked everyone!

Backstage.

The singers who had finished performing were all gathered inside a waiting room.

Amy's jaw dropped!

Zhao Wuliu was a little startled!

Chen Guang sighed in admiration!

Xue Kaiqi was gasping for air!

He Huan was even funnier as he bowed in respect of Zhang Xia's performance!

The audience was also very surprised. This was the most shocking performance that many of them had heard today. It was only when this famed songstress of thirty years dropped down a level to sing pop music that they realized how shockingly good she was at singing!

Screams!

Applause!

And there was even crying!

Compared to Zhang Ye's version of "Wild Rose," Zhang Xia's version was less angry. She sang more reserved, with a greater subtleness and more sadness.

At this point, all seven singers had finished performing!

"It's time to vote!"

"Who are you going to vote for?"

"It's too hard to choose!"

"Yeah, all of them sang really well. Fuck!"

"I'm utterly convinced today! I have no way to describe the shock that I'm feeling!"

"These are what you call pro singers!"

"What do you mean pro singers? These people are more fucking professional than the professionals! Just bringing any of them on would be enough to scare everyone!"

"I'll vote for Zhang Xia!"

"Me too, I'll vote for Zhang Xia as well. There's no two ways about it!"

"I still think Old Chen sang better!"

"I'll give my vote to Zhao Wuliu. Oh, those feels!"

"I think Sister Dong and Grandma Zhang Xia are the ones who surprised me the most!"

The audience was still immersed within the seven songs, unable to snap out of it for a very long time!

It was exhilarating!

It sounded really amazing!

It was way too extravagant!

So this was Zhang Ye's new show?

The biggest stage with the highest-end equipment, with the best variety show director, the big brother of the music industry of twenty years ago, the big brother of the current music industry, the top love song singer-songwriters, the country's leading girl group members, and one of the top three artistic singers in the country!

What kind of a lineup was this?

This was a lineup that could sweep the entire "world"!

Compared to King of Masked Singers, which became popular beyond imagination, even that show would not have come close to what they had seen here!

The audience did not know what the final tallies were as the votes would be counted by the program team separately. Just as everyone was leaving Beijing Television wishing that the show hadn't ended so quickly, they suddenly remembered Sing!, which was being recorded at the same time at Central TV Department 1. Since they couldn't attend that recording, they didn't know how Sing! was doing. But they could finally understand why Zhang Ye dared to pit I Am a Singer against Sing! by choosing to broadcast on the same day and time as them. They couldn't help but start questioning, what if Central TV Department 1 found out what sort of show I Am a Singer was. If they knew that I Am a Singer had invited this group of singers, would they still dare to broadcast Sing! at the same time as I Am a Singer?

The answer to this was unknown.

The outcome of that would only be revealed after the broadcast.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hall_of_the_People

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v78dz51jkYA