I'm Really a Superstar

The next day.

The viewership ratings were published!

The rankings of the nationwide viewership ratings for yesterday:

First: I Am a Singer, 2.77%

Second: Sing!, 0.91%

These top two ranked shows in the nationwide viewership ratings were not only the top two shows for the day and at the same time slot. They were as good as the top two ranked shows for the weekly and monthly nationwide viewership ratings! Sing!'s viewership ratings had increased by a little, but it wasn't really much to speak of. Meanwhile, I Am a Singer's viewership ratings rose by so much that it could be said to have taken a step up. It was only into its second week of broadcast, but the viewership ratings were galloping towards the 3% mark. Things were going strong for them!

Seeing this result, a lot of people reacted differently.

The industry sighed.

The media smacked their lips.

The public got into debates.

"Sing! is still not doing well!"

"I Am a Singer is too strong!"

"There's nothing that they can do about it."

"No one in the entertainment circle can curb Zhang Ye!"

"It really is a good show, so it was well-deserved that they got such a result. Sing! was just unlucky to be broadcasting at the same time slot as I Am a Singer. Otherwise, they shouldn't have any problems passing 1.5% in the viewership ratings. We can only see how Central TV Department 1 will react now. Are they going to put up a relentless fight? That might just be possible. After all, the two sides are very caught up in battling each other, and they've got some history between them as well."

"Let's wait and see how they'll fight."

"There isn't much time left for Sing!"

…

Central TV Department 1.

At the Sing! program team office.

"Why is it still like this?"

"Why did it increase by so little?"

"We've lost again?"

"Goddammit, I can't accept this!"

"Come on, everyone!"

"Yeah, it's not over yet!"

"They've eliminated Xue Kaiqi, so their viewership ratings will definitely fall!"

"That's right, this is our chance!"

"Let's do our best for the third episode!"

…

A week later.

The third episode of I Am a Singer was broadcast.

The replacement singer was the final performer.

When the figure standing behind the moon gate appeared onstage, countless TV viewers were pleasantly surprised and whooped in disbelief!

"Ah!"

"This is?"

"Teacher Huang Cheng!"

"It's Teacher Huang!"

"Why is he here too?"

"Even he has come?"

"This lineup is making me piss my pants!"

"Did they have to go this far?"

"It's Huang Cheng! The famous musician!"

Huang Cheng and Zhang Xia were both considered artists even if they each had a different style. Zhang Xia was more of an artistic folk singer who sang bel canto while Huang Cheng belonged more to the global stage as an artistic singer. He was particularly good at jazz and the like and had won global music awards on more than one occasion. He had performed on some of the biggest stages in the world and was even nearly nominated for the most prestigious global music award. Of course, that last honor was something that only the Chinese media had publicized. As for how close he had gotten to being nominated, that was undetermined.

If the Chinese music scene had to identify someone who was closest to the global stage of music, then that person would definitely not be Zhang Yuanqi, Chen Guang, nor Zhang Xia. It would have to be Huang Cheng!

So for an artist like him to come onto the stage of I Am a Singer, the viewers were of course very surprised. It seemed even an artist like Huang Cheng could not resist the charm of performing on such a stage. This was the biggest musical stage in the entire country and a place where professional singers had gathered. And today, Huang Cheng was also here!

Amy said in a daze, "It's another heavyweight?"

He Huan said respectfully, "This is a singing master."

Zhang Xia smiled. "Another old friend has come."

With great effort.

Word by word.

Zhang Ye finally finished announcing the rankings with an effort that was akin to squeezing out the very last bit of toothpaste.

First: Huang Cheng

Second: Zhang Xia

Third: Chen Guang

Fourth: He Huan

Fifth: Amy

Sixth: Xiaodong

Seventh: Zhao Wuliu

Perhaps due to this being Huang Cheng's first appearance on the show and also the fact that he had sung quite well, he took first place with his stage debut. The audience was very respectful to him. Meanwhile, Xiaodong did not get ranked well because she had been picked to sing first and that might have affected her results. Actually, there weren't really any problems with her singing. Zhao Wuliu coming in last place was the most surprising of all. He had clearly done very well in the first two episodes and was also given a lot of attention by everyone, but who could've guessed that the votes for him would drop in the third episode. Perhaps it was due to the initial surprise of his appearance waning and the fading feelings that made the audience more rational and demanding of the singers' performances. This was a good thing, and it showed that the audience was becoming more and more professional with their voting. This was a singing competition, after all. The singers weren't here to compete on their popularity nor their seniority, and this was also an important point that I Am a Singer was targeting to achieve as the show went on.

The viewership ratings were released very soon this time.

First: I Am a Singer, 2.85%

Second: Sing!, 0.90%

I Am a Singer was still building up its popularity, but Sing!'s viewership ratings were flat and had even dipped slightly. It was obvious where this was going.

…

Elsewhere.

Central TV Department 1 could no longer just sit around!

Sing!'s program team staff were all starting to panic a little!

"What should we do?"

"This…this…"

"Director, our advertisers have some very strong words about this!"

"The title sponsor has already called us five times!"

"It doesn't make sense that our viewership ratings are so much lower than theirs!"

"There must be a mistake somewhere!"

The entire office was thrown into chaos!

From the director to the staff members, everyone was feeling very pressured. Of this outcome and these results, they simply could not give an explanation to anyone!

The executive director sat there silently with a dark look!

"Director!"

"Director, give us some ideas!"

"What are we to do now?"

"Director!"

Everyone looked over to the executive director.

He suddenly banged on the table and stood up. Then, under the startled gaze of the office, he turned around and exited the office to head straight to the management office of Central TV Department 1!

Zhang Ye?

I Am a Singer?

I'm scared!

I'm totally scared of you, alright?

I'll give in!

I'll give in to you, alright?

You guys are great! You guys are awesome! You're the best director in the variety show industry! I can't win against you people, alright! Even if I can't afford to offend you, do you think I can't choose to avoid you? I fucking admit defeat! I fucking don't want to play around with you guys anymore!

On the same day.

Central TV Department 1 made an announcement that shocked the entire country!

Due to technical issues, Sing!'s broadcast time would be changed to 9 PM on Sundays!

The industry burst into an uproar!

Technical issues?

Technical issues, my ass!

This was Sing!'s program team admitting defeat!

That wondrous Zhang Ye was really ruthless! He could even force Central TV Department 1 to change their show's broadcast time? When both sides were engaged in a heated battle, such decisions would almost never happen. This was because even if one of them were to lose, they would still have to hold on and get through it. Who didn't want to keep their dignity? But obviously, Central TV Department 1 could no longer hold on. This was their most anticipated show of the year, which they had poured in large sums of money to make. Just the advertising contracts alone were worth over a 100 million RMB. If they continued fighting with Zhang Ye and Beijing Television like this, they wouldn't be able to bear the losses!

The netizens were dumbfounded!

"Ah?"

"They changed the broadcast time just like that?"

"Fuck! They're not going to fight each other anymore?"

"I could never have expected this!"

"Zhang Ye, that jinx! He's caused all this trouble for Central TV Department 1 again!"

"How painful are their faces?"

"But what else could they do? Even if it's painful, they have to take it!"

"Yeah, this is better than getting beaten hands down week after week, isn't it?"

"Central TV Department 1 has finally learned to be smarter this time!"

"They can't be blamed for that. Most people really can't win against Zhang Ye!"

"Zhang Ye is on fire once again!"

"Without any more competition, I Am a Singer will skyrocket in popularity!"

"Yeah, even by broadcasting at the same time and period with the competition, they could still reach almost 3% in the viewership ratings. Without Sing! in their way, what kind of viewership ratings will it get?"

An epic war in the variety world had come to an end just like that!

It had ended once again with the victory going to Face-smacking Zhang!