RSDH CH74

The most discussed topic in the music scene recently was undoubtedly the upcoming All-China Music Awards Ceremony. It was the largest and most influential ceremony in the Chinese music industry, equivalent to the “Three Major Awards” in the film industry. Because of its long history—no buying charts, no reliance on traffic data—the judging results remained highly convincing.

In every awards ceremony, the most watched categories were undoubtedly Best Male and Female Singer. Once won, the recipients were crowned King and Queen of Singers.

This year’s battle for the King of Singers was particularly fierce. Among the four shortlisted candidates, there were not only veteran singers who had been “running along” (nominated but never winning) for years, but also a high-profile monster rookie—Duan Xingye.

Countless discussion and analysis posts appeared on major platforms, predicting who the winner would be. Among them, the voices favoring Duan Xingye and Tao Ziyi were the loudest, so public opinion ultimately steered towards a duel between the two.

[Discussion] 36th All-China Music Awards Prediction | Can Duan Xingye achieve the miracle of being crowned King three years after debut?

OP: Looking back from the first ceremony before the millennium, the youngest King of Singers in the history of the All-China Awards was 27 years old and had been debuting for 6 years at the time. Duan Xingye is 24 this year, and at most has been debuting for 3 years. Being nominated at this age and with this seniority is already defying the heavens. If he can win Best Male Singer this time, he could be considered the number one person in the history of the All-China Awards, right?

1L: I’ve been following Duan Xingye since his first album released two years ago. He’s a very spiritual talent. Every song on sides A and B of that album, from lyrics to composition, was done by him, and the quality of every song was top-notch. You can feel his seriousness and focus on music. At that time, I felt that no matter how high this singer stood in the future, I wouldn’t be surprised.

2L: Duan Xingye’s nominated album Starry Vastness continues his usual somewhat cold, unworldly style, but the standard is more mature than in the past two years. Deliberately emphasizing that he is part of the “new generation” is actually unfair; being a newcomer shouldn’t be his label or gimmick. His album is fully capable of competing for Best Male Singer, not to mention he is also nominated for Best Producer. He will definitely take home a strong award this year.

3L: Going off-topic, except for not winning in the first year, Teacher Duan won Best Album in the second year. Based on his output this year, he has to take home a trophy no matter what. Just saying, winning awards for two consecutive years at such a young age already makes him the first in the history of the All-China Awards.

4L: He could have won the first year, actually, but the award-winning song was plagiarized by a certain someone.

5L: Damn it, I will never get over that injustice. Changshi (Record Company) isn’t human. Duan Xingye could have clearly shone alone when he debuted, but they insisted on making the newcomer carry the old timer. How much time was wasted? Later, they even shielded the plagiarist, almost burying a new star.

6L: Changshi is just a den of snakes and rats. Wang Shixi has already been banned; I’m just watching to see how long Tao Ziyi can keep hopping around.

7L: Duan Xingye fans, enough is enough. You’ve been chasing and biting Tao Ziyi for years? You can’t produce evidence, yet you convict people with just your red mouths and white teeth (baseless words)?

8L: Tao Ziyi did not plagiarize! Tao Ziyi did not plagiarize! Tao Ziyi did not plagiarize! Fans of a certain someone, please stop splashing dirty water!

…

20L: Tao Ziyi wasn’t even qualified to run alongside the nominees for the All-China Awards before. The year Duan Xingye became his junior brother, he rushed to win a Best Single award, with lyrics and composition both credited to him. Is there nothing fishy about that?

21L: Tao Ziyi’s success is called “accumulating strength to unleash it all at once.” Thanks, but it’s not only your fave who can write songs.

22L: If we must talk about talent, anyone with eyes can see that Tao Ziyi can’t compare to Duan Xingye. Both are mentors on The Singer-Songwriter. The things Duan Xingye guides on are always substantive, and three of his students have already entered the finals. Tao Ziyi is just slacking off; the students in his hands are obviously being forcefully pushed by capital.

…

The thread went further and further off-topic, as fans of Duan and Tao dug up the old grudges from three years ago and tore into each other again.

Sister Yu scrolled through the forum webpage and said, “The album Tao Ziyi submitted for review is one his company put a lot of effort into, aiming for the King of Singers title. He is your biggest competitor this time. However, it all depends on human effort; let’s wait for the judging results on the day of the ceremony.”

As she spoke, she frowned again. “It’s not that I can’t stand to see others do well, but if Tao Ziyi wins Best Male Singer this year, we won’t be able to get justice for the plagiarism matter. By then, his fans will definitely be even more rampant, stepping on you everywhere saying he is redder (more popular) than you.”

“He’s redder than me.” Duan Xingye didn’t even lift his eyes as he said, “Is a health code redder than me?”

“…” Sister Yu picked up her laptop and stood up. “Okay, sorry to disturb you.”

After speaking, she left the room so as not to delay Duan Xingye’s composition.

…

Sister Yu wasn’t the only one paying attention to the recent prediction trends; Tao Ziyi’s team was also watching closely.

Backstage at a commercial event.

Tao Ziyi sat in the lounge and asked his manager, “Can we get through to the judges?”

The jury of the All-China Music Awards consisted of nineteen professionals and used a voting system.

The manager shook his head and said, “There’s no way to start with the jury. If the hints are too obvious, it will cause resentment instead.”

Tao Ziyi frowned and said, “Then stir up the rhythm online.”

The judges didn’t accept bribes, but their judgment would be somewhat influenced by public opinion.

The manager understood.

First, they needed to build momentum to publicize the popularity of Tao Ziyi’s album. Second, they needed to use the plagiarism incident from three years ago to exaggerate the persecution of Tao Ziyi’s reputation by Duan Xingye’s fans, thereby triggering a wave of sympathy.

Just then, Ah Hui came over holding a shoebox. He didn’t hold it securely when squatting down, and two white leather shoes rolled onto the ground.

Tao Ziyi immediately put on a look of disgust. “Why are you so clumsy?”

Ah Hui remained silent and sullenly picked up the shoes on the ground.

Tao Ziyi looked at him from above and suddenly said, “Don’t follow me to the awards ceremony next week. Hand over the work to the new assistant.”

Ah Hui looked up, blank. “Hand over… why?”

Tao Ziyi turned his chair in another direction, pouted his lips toward the manager, and whispered, “There isn’t a day where he isn’t going through Shui Ni (Mercury Retrograde/bad luck). Don’t let him infect me with bad luck; I still need to win an award.”

The manager smiled as if he found it humorous.

Ah Hui’s face turned red. Looking at Tao Ziyi again, a vicious light burst from the bottom of his eyes. Deep in his heart, he secretly swore to make Tao Ziyi pay for his humiliation!

A week passed in a flash, and it was Friday.

Duan Xingye went directly from the company to the airport. It would still take some time for Cheng Duzhou to rush over.

At nine o’clock, Duan Xingye was already in the waiting hall.

Old Xu held the camera to film. Taking advantage of the hour before boarding, he interviewed Duan Xingye based on questions in the bullet comments.

“Teacher Duan, as the opening guest performer for the All-China Music Awards this time, which song are you planning to sing? Your own or a cover?”

Duan Xingye still had one earbud in and said, “A newly created song. Haven’t thought of a name yet.”

Fans went wild with joy.

“New song released! It’s like New Year’s!”

“Can’t wait to hear it!”

“Join the Duan Sect, never have a song drought!”

Old Xu read the bullet comments: “What is the theme of the new song?”

Duan Xingye lowered his head to fiddle with his phone and said, “Secret.”

Old Xu: “When will it go online?”

Duan Xingye: “After the awards ceremony ends.”

Fans expressed their anticipation with a mix of satisfaction and urgency.

Old Xu said, “When is President Cheng coming?”

Duan Xingye replied to Cheng Duzhou’s message on his phone and said, “Soon. He can make it before boarding.”

While interacting with the livestream room, a tall figure walked into the VIP lounge.

Old Xu looked over and reminded, “President Cheng is here.”

Duan Xingye turned his head and saw Cheng Duzhou wearing casual clothes, striding towards them with long legs. His luggage had been checked, so he only carried a backpack over one shoulder. Handsome and neat, his steps were somewhat hurried.

Duan Xingye’s gaze moved with Cheng Duzhou. He patted the seat next to him forcefully, and his first sentence was: “Let you listen to a song.”

The audience saw it clearly. When Cheng Duzhou came in, Duan Xingye’s pitch-black eyes instantly lit up. Different from his cold appearance just now, due to the change in demeanor, that bright and beautiful face suddenly became much more youthful, revealing an unspeakably vivid cuteness.

Everyone watched with their hearts pounding.

Cheng Duzhou sat down, put his bag aside, and looked at him. “What song…”

Before he could finish, Duan Xingye stuffed the other earbud into his ear.

Cheng Duzhou’s expression paused, focusing his attention on listening to the music playing in the earbud.

This was Duan Xingye’s new song, but only the melody, no lyrics yet. The team’s mixing engineer had edited the finished product and sent it to him just now while he was waiting for the flight.

Seeing the young couple listening to music with shared earbuds, immersed in their own world and leaving the livestream room behind just like that, the audience still happily consumed the “candy.”

“It must be the new song!”

“Wuwuwu, President Cheng is the man I envy the most; he gets to hear wifey’s new song first.”

“Teacher Duan’s eagerness to let President Cheng hear the song melted me. Who wouldn’t want such a sweet wifey?”

“The most beautiful thing in love is the desire to share! Watching Teacher Duan can’t wait to share the new song with President Cheng makes my heart flutter more than watching idol dramas!”

The tune repeated after the chorus. Duan Xingye pressed the pause button and asked, “How is it?”

“Did you compose it?” Cheng Duzhou told the truth. “It sounds very good.”

Duan Xingye’s eyelids drooped slightly, feeling it was perfunctory, and became unhappy. “What’s good about it?”

Cheng Duzhou hadn’t studied music systematically and didn’t know how to analyze a song through the melody. He thought for a moment and squeezed out his truest feeling: “The melody is very fresh and also very soft. There is a tiny bit of sadness, but overall it is lighthearted… I like it very much.”

This was torture for the millions of viewers in the livestream room. The pain level was comparable to seeing delicious food and hearing others’ reviews but not being able to eat it. Wails filled the bullet comments.

Duan Xingye’s expression relaxed, and the tip of his brow even raised in a subtle arc. He took off Cheng Duzhou’s earbud and deliberately said, “Give it here. Truly casting pearls before swine (playing the lute to a cow).”

Coincidentally at this time, their flight issued a reminder to check tickets and board.

Old Xu seized the opportunity to say, “Teacher Duan, the voice of the masses is too high. See if you can let the livestream room hear the song too.”

Duan Xingye didn’t refuse this time, treating it as an advance preview of his new song. He sent the demo of the song fragment to the group chat, then got up and went to the ticket check with Cheng Duzhou.

Before long, operated by the backstage, lossless sound quality rang out in the livestream room.

The bullet comments slowed down because of this.

The main melody performed by the guitar was clean and bright. Just as Cheng Duzhou said, the tune was fresh with brightness, and within the brightness, there was a little bit of sadness. It was a completely different direction from Duan Xingye’s past cool and calm creative style.

Old fans immediately noticed this amazing change.

Bullet screen: Teacher Duan’s style has become sweet!!!

…

Just as Duan Xingye was about to walk out of the VIP waiting room, Cheng Duzhou pulled him into a corner blocked by a pillar.

Duan Xingye looked at him. “What?”

Cheng Duzhou lowered his head and kissed his soft white cheek, then kissed his rosy lips, hugging him. “Missed you. Wanted to hug you as soon as we met, but you stuffed an earbud in me.”

“…” Duan Xingye’s eyes darkened slightly as he said, “Would you die if you endured it a bit?”

“Mn.” Cheng Duzhou nodded. “Enduring one more second, I would die of thirst from not being able to stick to wifey.”

Duan Xingye broke out in goosebumps: “……”

Corny to the extreme.

__

Author’s Note:

President Cheng: Whispering some Tugou (earthy/corny) literature in your ear.