After being dropped by my childhood friend, I became a superstar.

Chapter 11, 6th competing singer

now.

On the stage of the studio.

An energetic idol dressed in pink sportswear is dancing with all her might.

Yes.

It's like dancing, or perhaps singing and dancing would be a more accurate description.

In a music variety show that is supposed to rely entirely on singing and for the live audience to listen, it is quite bizarre that some contestants choose to sing and dance.

Of course, seemingly in order to show as much of her facial features as possible, the competing singer simply covered her face with a black mask that also had a W symbol printed on it.

Other singers wore full-face masks or beautiful nine-tailed fox masks, but this contestant only wore a face mask.

Wearing a mask is one thing, but it does cover the lower half of the face, so it can barely be considered singing while masked.

Most importantly... because the mask covered his mouth and nose, and he was singing and dancing, he suddenly found it hard to breathe.

At first, it was barely listenable, but I felt the tone was a bit off and the lyrics lacked depth.

I just felt that he treated this singing competition as a talent show like Idol Producer.

But after singing less than a third of the song, the effects of dancing with a mask covering her mouth and nose immediately became apparent.

It started off sounding unpleasant, then became somewhat grating, and even included noticeable panting sounds.

The top four contestants performed different types of songs, and whether or not to vote for them is another matter. But at the very least, they all sounded good.

The audience of 500 people subconsciously felt that this "Masked Singer" program only invited powerful singers, so they could just listen with peace of mind.

The fifth person's poor performance left everyone speechless.

In particular, some viewers who felt they couldn't tell the quality of a song and just wanted to listen to the music and feel the atmosphere pressed the voting button from the beginning, treating all the competing singers equally.

Now I wish I could keep my vote, at least I wouldn't cast it for this kind of performance.

......

In the director's room of the studio.

Luo Qianyang's face turned green as he watched the performance of the competing singer on stage, and he had no time to worry about Chen Yuan's performance.

He immediately looked at the assistant director beside him, veins popping on his forehead, pointed at the singers performing on stage, and shouted angrily.

"Who invited this kind of person? Why would a contestant like this appear in a show I've meticulously prepared for so long?"

Answer me!

The assistant director sitting next to him also frowned, feeling that even a glance at the stage was an eyesore, but he still answered with great seriousness.

"Director Luo, you personally approved this."

"Yinhua Entertainment provided us with the sound equipment for this program and also gave us a considerable amount of sponsorship, but the requirement was... to arrange for two artists from their entertainment company to participate in the variety show."

"To avoid gossip, one singer was invited to the initial stage, and the other participated as a replacement singer."

"By the way, Yin Hua Entertainment specifically asked if we could send one of their favorite idol artists, and you didn't have any objections at the time."

"You brought your own funding to the production, right?" Luo Qianyang tilted his head and asked the assistant director.

"That's true, after all, the sound system is really expensive, and renting it would cost a lot," the assistant director replied honestly.

"Snap—"

Luo Qianyang slammed his hand on the table with tremendous force, pointed at the idol on the stage, and roared with a contorted face.

"No matter how much money you bring to the production, you can't possibly sing while wearing a mask!"

"Wearing a mask is one thing, but he's singing and dancing! Doesn't he know his own limitations? Isn't this just pure disgusting to the audience?!"

The assistant director sitting next to him thought about it carefully, then adjusted his glasses and said solemnly.

"Director Luo, it seems that singing and dancing... was also approved by you."

"This contestant said that simply singing doesn't showcase his unique characteristics, and asked if it would be permissible to add some dance moves."

"Back then, you were overjoyed when you heard that, saying... Of course, it would be even better if there were other ways to express it."

"He also said that if an idol artist can prove themselves through this masked stage, the show will generate buzz and its reputation will rise accordingly."

"So, this outcome is entirely my fault, is that right?" Luo Qianyang stared at the assistant director beside him with a lifeless gaze, his eyes filled with despair.

The assistant director adjusted his glasses and nodded slightly. He wanted to say something more, but seeing Luo Qianyang's lifeless eyes, he could only shrug in the end.

And on the stage.

The contestant, wearing a mask and using the self-proclaimed nickname "Little Handsome," managed to finish singing the entire song despite clearly struggling to breathe.

He even made a seemingly "cool" turn to glance at the vote count on the stage screen.

Upon seeing that there were only a little over a hundred votes, his face turned rather grim, as if he couldn't believe it.

next second.

The contestant made an unexpected move, taking advantage of the time while the accompaniment was still playing, he put his hands together in prayer, bowed repeatedly to the audience, and even pointed to the numbers behind the screen.

It was clearly an appeal to the audience to vote, prompting them to press the voting button in their hands.

Seeing this scene.

Luo Qianyang, sitting in the director's room, was stunned and speechless, never expecting that this contestant could make such a move.

"Bang---"

Another heavy slam on the table followed, followed by a roar at the assistant director.

"Old Zhang, notify Yinhua Entertainment immediately."

"This is 'The Masked Singer,' the purest music variety show, not some idol trainee or 100% sweet idol talent show!"

"If he's still like this in the next episode, and doesn't change that mask, I absolutely will not give him any screen time or exposure!"

"Understood." The assistant director nodded immediately and replied without hesitation, "I'll notify the person in charge at Yinhua Entertainment right now and send him a rough version of the performance video."

Although he often exposes Luo Qianyang's shortcomings and rubs salt into his wounds, when it comes to serious work, as the assistant director who has followed Luo Qianyang for several years, he immediately becomes professional.

Looking at the still-begging-for-votes "Little Handsome," Luo Qianyang leaned back in his chair, gently rubbing his temples, and closed his eyes, clearly too ashamed to look.

"Oh, and we also need to hire a million-dollar sound engineer."

"The previous contestants performed so well, we can't let this one bad apple spoil the whole bunch of 'The Masked Singer'."

......

at the same time.

On the sofa in the singer's lounge backstage.

With his arms crossed and legs crossed, the faceless man sneered when he saw the contestant pleading with the audience.

"To win votes with this kind of behavior instead of singing is something I despise and I can't stand."

"This kid, he probably thinks this 'Masked Singer' is his 'Idol Producer,' and feels ashamed to perform on the same stage as him."

As a member of the rock scene, and with a touch of Beijing folks' style, No-Face is undoubtedly more outspoken than the other three competing singers.

I have absolutely no liking for these kinds of idol artists.

According to him, these idol artists rely on their looks to make a living and have no talent at all. They can just grab any random person, get plastic surgery, and become a star.

The wild fox wearing a half-face mask covered its mouth and chuckled twice to ease the tension.

"Isn't this good? Isn't this real?"

"At the very least, this kid didn't want to lose, and he even went out of his way to solicit votes from the audience. To be fair, he does have basic singing skills, but he shouldn't have done that dance."

"It's good that you don't want to lose, but you're being a bit overconfident and naive," Sun Wukong continued, still speaking with the air of someone who's been there before.

"If it were us in the past, if we dared to sing like that, we would have been sent home the next day. We wouldn't have had any chance at all."

"If you ask me, it's better now, society is better, you can become a singer with just a little money."

The faceless man was clearly still very angry, his arms crossed over his chest as he spoke in a muffled voice.

"Great Sage, if you ask me..."

"If the last contestant is also at this level, I don't think we need to record another episode."

"Compared to 'singers' of this caliber, what's the point of winning first place and the title of 'King of Singers'? Isn't that just a disgrace to men?"

Sun Dasheng nodded in agreement, and was about to say something more when...

Wu Yuchen, who was sitting on pins and needles, quickly spoke up, not wanting to get entangled in this topic, and put on a smile.

"Of the four teachers, Teacher Xiao Yingjun has now been removed from the stage. He currently has 146 votes and is in the bottom position."

"If I don't get good results in the next recording, I will be eliminated, and there will be other replacement singers."

"The sixth contestant is about to go on stage. I heard the staff backstage mention him... Only Director Luo knows who this singer is. No one else knows, not even the assistant director."

"Compared to Mr. Xiao Yingjun, he is the real mystery guest..."