GBP Chapter 255 A Successful Start
Chapter 255 A Successful Start
The first episode of "Star Making Lab" easily surpassed ten million views within just three hours of its release.
The topic is trending across the internet:
"Zhao Ming, a top-tier host, has an amazing ability to control the stage. When a contestant was so nervous that he forgot his lines, he warmed up the atmosphere with just a few jokes. His emotional intelligence is off the charts!"
"How much budget did they burn for the stage special effects? The background screen turned into a galaxy while the contestants were dancing. I would believe it if you told me it was a blockbuster movie!"
"Aren't the initial stage evaluation criteria too strict? There are only ten spots in Class A!"
"The production team definitely had a script! The battle for the top spot was edited like a palace drama. Those two contestants were acting way too hard, weren't they?"
……
Bai Li sat in her office, watching the constantly updated data in the backend, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up.
The project manager couldn't hide his excitement as he handed the report to Bai Li: "President Bai, we've won a resounding victory this time! We've taken up six of the top ten trending topics!"
The entertainment industry has been relatively calm recently, with no major news or bombshell revelations emerging for quite some time.
Against this backdrop, the popularity of "Star Making Lab" soared all the way up, reaching an unprecedented height with an unstoppable momentum.
Bai Li opened her phone and swiped her fingertips. She saw that the entertainment trending topics were all about the show.
Star-Making Lab Phase 1
Yu Xinglan returns to the stage
The contestants in the star-making lab all have modeled faces.
The best stage design in talent show history
……
Each related topic has generated tremendous buzz.
Bai Li casually clicked on the video with the most likes.
—This is a clip of Yu Xinglan commenting on a contestant.
In the picture, Yu Xinglan has curved eyebrows and a faint smile on her lips. She looks both easygoing and gentle, and seems to be surrounded by a soft halo.
But what he uttered with a slight parting of his thin lips was an extremely harsh critique:
"Your movements aren't clean enough. Keep practicing."
"Your breath control is unstable and your voice lacks power. You need to strengthen your breath control through regular training."
"My facial expressions were too stiff and painful when I was dancing. I really need to work on my facial expression management."
……
His fairy-like appearance and gentle, melodious voice create a striking and endearing contrast with his sharp commentary.
The unexpectedly sharp commentary did not provoke resentment; instead, it was turned into various memes by netizens.
——“Yu, the Gentle Blade, Xinglan: Saying the cruelest words with a smile.jpg”
—"I suggest that Coach Yu open a training course for sharp-tongued critiques, specifically to cure idols who are just slacking off!"
After all, with Yu Xinglan's abilities, she is fully qualified to make such professional comments.
The next video after this one is Yu Xinglan's stunning opening performance.
With solid skills, a clear and penetrating voice, and a powerful ability to express emotions, he completely controls the stage.
This near-perfect performance stunned the audience in front of the screen, and the barrage of comments flooded in, filled with amazement and praise.
"Singing and dancing live with such composure, all the idols in the Chinese entertainment industry should stand up and bow in respect!"
"The mentors are putting in even more effort on stage than the contestants. Yu Xinglan, are you here to clean up the industry?"
"That facial expression control! Switching from aloof to wild in a second, I suggest some wooden-headed people hurry up and copy this!"
After the show aired, Yu Xinglan's Weibo followers skyrocketed, and various topics related to her generated a lot of buzz.
Who would have thought that this idol, who was considered "outdated," would make such a strong comeback and become the first major hit after the show?
But the price of this resurgence—public opinion—also followed.
His past solo career has been unearthed again, sparking heated discussions online.
—"I heard that Yu was ostracized by her former team because of her bad temper and her tendency to steal the spotlight from her teammates on stage."
"Is the person upstairs probably a fake fan of a former teammate? Everyone knows what happened back then, right? It was the former company's mishandling that forced Yu Xinglan to choose to go solo."
"Yu Xinglan steals the spotlight. That's the best joke I've heard today. Those former teammates with disabilities are incompetent themselves, yet they blame others for being outstanding."
"After Yu Xinglan left the team, how much of a splash did they make? They're not even on the same level, so they shouldn't try to make a name for themselves."
"I don't know which company bought this smear article. I'm sorry, but after all these years, Yu Xinglan doesn't have any other dirt on her. These haters can only keep bringing up this old story of Yu Xinglan going solo. It's really boring."
……
Suddenly, a new message appeared in the comments section.
"By the way, I heard that Yu Xinglan has signed with Day and Night Entertainment."
"It's true! Day and Night Entertainment has officially announced the signing of Yu Xinglan! President Bai's eye for talent is indeed sharp; they're definitely going to make him the next top star!"
—“Prediction post: Yu Xinglan will gain at least 500 million followers through this show. Bet if you disagree!”
……
Yu Xinglan has been in the entertainment industry for many years, and has always maintained her purity and perseverance. When she is not engaged in commercial activities, she lives a simple life between "home" and "practice room". She has never been involved in any negative rumors and naturally has no dark history.
A persistent paparazzi followed him for three months, but in the end, they only managed to capture images of him staying at the dance studio until the early hours of the morning, feeding stray cats, and helping staff move equipment in the rain.
In the end, they had to give up on filming this "living Buddha".
Fans jokingly call him the "textbook for anti-blackening in the Chinese entertainment industry," and even haters have to admit that digging up dirt on Yu Xinglan is harder than proving 1+1≠2.
At this moment, even if someone were trying to sabotage Yu Xinglan's comeback, they could only sigh helplessly.
Yu Xinglan's upright character allowed him to calmly handle this unprecedented surge in online traffic.
Moreover, the public relations department of Day and Night Entertainment is no pushover either.
As the holder of the highest-level artist contract signed by the company, Yu Xinglan's related trending topics and discussions are all under the precise control of the public relations department.
Once any negative public opinion emerges, the public relations team will act swiftly to nip it in the bud.
Bai Li has a lot of confidence in her own public relations team.
She glanced at the comments under the trending topic and then put her phone down.
Seeing this, the project manager quickly handed over another report: "We just received news from the Ministry of Commerce that more than 30 top international brands have voluntarily applied to join the program. Here is the specific list."
Bai Li opened the report, her eyes sweeping over the names of renowned top-tier brands. The prices listed on each letter of intent for cooperation were staggering.
These are all business opportunities that have been offered to us proactively, so it would be perfectly reasonable to accept them all.
But Bai Li knew that if there were too many commercials in the main program, it would inevitably affect the viewing experience of the audience.
In the past, when Bai Li watched shows, she hated the ads that popped up from time to time, especially when she was watching the most exciting part and an abrupt ad would suddenly appear.
Therefore, in her own produced programs, Bai Li tries to minimize the amount of advertising time.
For the sake of the overall effect of the program, Bai Li returned the document to the project manager: "The main program's advertising slots are already saturated. Notify the business department to shift the focus to offline brand collaborations and contestant business development."
The forms of cooperation are diverse, far beyond simply brands joining programs and placing advertisements.
For example, products sponsored by brands can be brought into the program area, and when contestants use these products in front of the camera, it can have a natural advertising and promotional effect.
For example, athletes' training uniforms could be used for brand collaborations, launching a special edition that cleverly displays the brand logo, allowing the public to purchase the same training uniforms worn by their idols, thus boosting brand sales.
Bai Li shared her ideas with the project manager, who only provided the plan and left the actual execution to the subordinates.
The project manager smiled broadly upon hearing this: "Yes, I'll go and coordinate with the business department."
As expected of President Bai!
In such a short time, they were able to provide several open-source solutions.
Moreover, these are all very feasible methods. If further cooperation is reached with these brands, the project team's funding will be more abundant again!
The project manager was more than happy to take on this "sweet trouble".
Speaking of business cooperation, Bai Li suddenly remembered that she had heard that Yu Xinglan's business cooperation invitations had also increased dramatically overnight.
Her gaze fell on the computer screen, and as she watched the show's popularity continue to soar, a smile of satisfaction appeared on her face.
The response to the show far exceeded her expectations, and it is rapidly growing into an even more popular program.
Before the project manager left, Bai Li unconsciously gave him a few more instructions: "Have the post-production team cut out more clips of Yu Xinglan's comments, especially those that are sharp but professional. Strike while the iron is hot and promote them prominently."
"It's already in progress." The project manager nodded quickly in response. "Netizens have very high expectations for the behind-the-scenes footage, and we also plan to include more exciting content for Yu Xinglan in it."
“Very good.” Bai Li said thoughtfully, “Have the publicity department make a comparison video of Yu Xinglan’s past works and his current performance, focusing on his storyline of returning to the top from the bottom. Audiences love to see this kind of comeback story.”
She paused briefly, then added, "By the way, let me officially announce to the public our contractual relationship with Yu Xinglan at Day and Night Entertainment."
"Understood!" The project manager quickly wrote it down. President Bai probably wanted to take this opportunity to let Yu Xinglan fully capitalize on this wave of traffic.
Just as he finished writing, he suddenly remembered something: "By the way, Mr. Bai, many contestants' fan-made videos are also very popular, including those about romantic pairings, which have a high number of views. Should we implement content control for these romantic pairing videos?"
Bai Li shook her head decisively: "No need, just keep it as it is. Don't deliberately interfere or guide it. Let the fans do their own thing and let it ferment naturally."
After the show aired, the craze it sparked swept across the entire Chinese entertainment industry. Not only did Yu Xinglan become popular, but many other outstanding contestants also made it to the top of the trending searches.
Even before the show aired, some contestants had already gained popularity due to their outstanding appearances. And this initial stage performance saw the emergence of a number of dark horse contestants.
The first to be affected was Lin Che, a contestant from a family with a celebrity background. His identity sparked heated discussion as soon as it was revealed.
—"Lin Che, a contestant from a family with a celebrity father, has been revealed to be the actor Raymond Lam! The production team really dared to invite him; with such a background, who would dare to eliminate him?"
Meanwhile, the popularity of several contestants with exceptionally high looks remains high.
"Adrian, the mixed-race heartthrob, gets very little screen time, but any screenshot of his profile is wallpaper-worthy. Can the production team please give him more screen time?"
On the initial stage, several talented contestants also stood out with their outstanding performances, and their popularity quickly rose after the show aired.
"A monster rookie! Excellent singing and dancing skills! A well-deserved A-level!"
"This is absolutely a freak of nature. These kinds of high-difficulty floor moves are not something an ordinary person can do. This person must have at least ten years of dance experience."
The appearance of Jia Lai brought a huge surprise to the audience.
His information could no longer be hidden.
The reason is simple: the voice is too unique.
He was recognized almost as soon as he opened his mouth.
My Bad was incredibly popular back then.
No one expected that he would not choose to debut as a singer, but instead came to the talent show stage.
Even more surprisingly, this versatile and sexy voice came from the mouth of this curly-haired cutie.
"That contestant named Jia Lai, he blew the audience away the moment he opened his mouth! His voice and face are completely mismatched! What kind of cute contrast is this, with an innocent face and a husky voice?"
"Jialai is absolutely the best choice for lead vocalist! Who knows the value of the first Liyuan New Voice Cup? Her high notes are so beautiful, and she doesn't even shake when she dances, she's so stable."
"Jialai must be one of the few performers who sings live throughout their performance, right? That's so daring! But he's definitely got real talent!"
"Am I the only one who thinks he's adorable? He's tall, but surprisingly cute and goofy. His conversations with Lü Cong are hilarious."
Lü Cong is also a contestant who has received a lot of discussion.
There were over a hundred handsome men on site, many of whom were more handsome than Lü Cong and more capable than him.
However, due to the limited time in the main program, each group's performance time is too short, and few people can fully unleash their charm in these few minutes.
On this highly competitive stage, without highlights, it's difficult to be remembered by the audience.
Although Lü Cong's strength wasn't strong enough to get an A, he was just average. But he really understood what the audience wanted to see, and he made a lot of witty remarks. His clips of him and Jia Lai arguing on camera were even included in the final episode.
Success came from getting screen time in the first episode and becoming a familiar face to the public.
Netizens joked:
"What kind of 'sharp-witted' guy is Lü Cong? While others are vying for the top spot, he just lies there, trying to get some screen time, and even goes on a rant. It's hilarious. Is this guy here to do a stand-up comedy show?"
"The production team should give him a special 'witty remarks' reaction camera; the ratings could increase by another 2 points."
Meanwhile, as the contestants' popularity soared, various couple pairings sprang up rapidly online, sparking heated discussions among netizens:
"I'm totally shipping them, their interactions are so cute!"
"Are they already pairing people up? Huh? What if they don't debut in the end?"
"These two contestants I'm a fan of are super popular right now. One is the powerful Golden Melon, and the other is the charming Golden Flower. They're definitely going to debut!"
"Why are you calling yourself a 'golden gourd' and 'golden flower' again?"
"Is the battle between the Golden Melon and the Golden Flower about to begin again? Let's get this fight started! I love watching this kind of excitement!"
……
In the process of talent shows becoming popular, various public opinion storms are inevitable, and quarrels and conflicts between fan groups are commonplace.
However, it is precisely these intense collisions that generate sparks, acting as a catalyst, that propel the show's popularity to new heights.
In no time, derivative works about "Star Making Lab" flooded various platforms, ranging from edited videos to fan fiction, in a variety of forms and in an endless stream.
Just as "Star Making Lab" successfully launched, Bai Li finally received the news she had been waiting for.