Chapter 12

The familiar melody of "Rats Love Rice" began to play, and Ye Ming slowly walked to the center of the stage under the spotlight, as if he had a sense of control over everything.

It was a long-lost familiar feeling.

No wonder so many people strive for fame and fortune; standing here, you are the emperor of the stage, with a sense of superiority and an overview of the masses.

This feeling can be addictive, and Ye Ming was completely immersed in this pleasant sensation.

I hear your voice, and it gives me a special feeling, making me constantly think of you and never forget you.

I remember someone who will always stay in my heart, even if I can only think of you this way.

Originally, Mao Duoduo had made up his mind to give Ye Ming the lowest score, no matter how he performed.

This was an original song competition, and if there was even a small section of plagiarism in Ye Ming's song, Mao Duoduo would not hesitate to point it out and accuse him of plagiarism.

Moreover, Mao Duoduo believed that if he did this, the next day's newspapers and magazines would definitely report on the entertainment newcomer's plagiarism and how judge Mao Duoduo sharply exposed it.

Mao Duoduo was confident that with his status, he had the qualifications to make the headlines. If it really didn't work, he would use connections to get there. Although he was a top star, he couldn't forget to hype himself to maintain his fame.

However, upon hearing the melody and the atmosphere of the song, Mao Duoduo was instantly moved.

A pop song, this was a rare piece that could become a hit.

Mao Duoduo had sung many songs, and he could tell whether a song would become a hit just by singing a few lines. Therefore, he was very confident that this song had the potential to become a hit. It had been a long time since he had a good work. Perhaps this was an opportunity for him to take his career to the next level.

He looked seriously at the stage for a moment and then said with a smile like a Buddha, "Not bad, a good seed. The melody is catchy and has great potential. I didn't expect the first performer to have such a good performance."

Li Shuangjiang, who had played mahjong with Hong Fei, said without hesitation, "Indeed, it's rare for a newcomer to show no stage fright. This mature and steady performance is not something ordinary newcomers can match. However, the song is a bit too simple and needs improvement. It's quite remarkable for a young person to achieve this."

The term "pop song" was actually proposed by people like Li Shuangjiang. During the Youth Singing Competition, director Zhou Youkai and Li Shuangjiang discussed in the office for a long time and decided to separate the singing styles.

Originally, they planned to call it "pop singing," but this didn't quite fit the social mainstream at the time, so they called it "pop singing."

Therefore, the second Youth Singing Competition in 1986 had three singing styles: ethnic, bel canto, and pop. It wasn't until the 13th Youth Singing Competition in 2008 that it was changed back to "pop singing."

At this moment, Li Shuangjiang still had a certain disdain for pop singing, but because of Hong Fei's face, he didn't say much. He would wait and see. If Ye Ming performed well, letting him pass the preliminary round would be no problem.

It's the same to give favors to anyone.

However, at this moment, Ye Ming's voice underwent a dramatic change, and the song entered its most intense second half.

This second half was the most touching and intense part, stirring the inner sparks. When Ye Ming sang:

I love you~ I love you~ just like rats love rice, no matter how many storms, I will always be with you. I miss you~ I think of you~ no matter how hard it is, as long as you are happy, I am willing to do anything to love you...

This was a revolutionary change, elevating the song from a light and fresh style to a level worthy of a classic.

Serious and Li Shuangjiang were still calm. After all, they were people within the system and didn't fully understand the impact of such a change.

However, at this moment, Mao Duoduo suddenly stood up, his heart roaring.

A performance at the hall level, the second half of the song was a hall-level performance, truly qualifying as a classic hit.

At this moment, almost all the young people who heard the song felt a volcanic eruption in their hearts. The emotional impact of the song strongly stimulated their sensory cells.

Chen Yan's eyes were even full of stars, truly immersed in the beautiful melody of the song.

After the song ended, even the host was immersed in the ethereal atmosphere.

It wasn't until about half a minute after the song ended that the host suddenly realized it was his turn to speak.

He quickly stepped forward and lavishly praised Ye Ming.

Then the judges began their comments. Serious and Li Shuangjiang both gave relatively fair evaluations, one giving 9 points and the other 9.3 points. Of course, the extra 0.3 points were Li Shuangjiang's favor to Ye Ming.

A game of mahjong, after all, was just a 0.3-point favor.

However, don't underestimate these 0.3 points. Sometimes even 0.1 point can determine the champion and runner-up.

Since it was just a preliminary round, there weren't many judges, three professional judges, and the remaining two were leaders from the station.

This was an unwritten rule in the industry. Regardless of the leaders' professional level, if you didn't involve them, they might never bring you along in the future.

Whether the leaders came or not was their business, but if the program didn't invite them, it would be the program's fault.

Non-professional leaders could even have more decision-making power than professional judges.

Of course, leaders generally cared about their reputation and would give a middle value based on the professional judges' scores to show that they also had some level, whether they understood it or not.

In fact, most leaders were like clear mirrors in their hearts. They were just there to show their presence.

Mao Duoduo hesitated for a moment. He originally wanted to give Song Jun a very low score, but he couldn't help but like "Rats Love Rice." After some thought, he decided to leave himself a way out and gave a score of 9.2.

The first contestant to perform could score over 9 points, which was quite rare in a competition, especially an original song competition.

Originally, the first contestant, no matter who it was, would be strictly evaluated by the judges to set a benchmark for the subsequent contestants. Therefore, the first contestant would be intentionally or unintentionally given a lower score. A performance worthy of 10 points would be given 8 points, which would be considered a good score.

Therefore, in such competitions, few people were willing to be the first contestant. It seemed to have become an unwritten rule in the industry that the first contestant was either someone without a background or someone who had offended someone and needed to be suppressed. Therefore, the judges would almost take it for granted to give a low score.

However, Ye Ming's performance was truly outstanding. A hall-level song, a smooth voice, and a very distinctive voice, which was essential for a singer.

Like Teacher Liu Huan, even if he didn't sing "Good Man" or "Youth's Ambition," as soon as he started singing, people would recognize his voice, which had a high level of voice recognition.

With a good song and a distinctive voice, it would be very difficult for such a person not to become famous with a little promotion.

Ye Ming's first performance almost left a perfect impression on the judges. His excellent score of 9.15 almost made the subsequent contestants despair.

As soon as Ye Ming came down, Chen Xi, with tearful eyes, waited in the corridor and said in a choked voice, "Ye Ming, you have to keep going. I'm waiting for your album and for you to sign it for me. I want to be your fan."

Seeing Chen Xi's tearful face, Ye Ming instinctively patted her head and said, "Is it that serious? It's just a song. Don't cry so much; you'll ruin your makeup."

Chen Xi didn't dodge, accepting it naturally. She wiped her tears and said, "If you hadn't heard it, you wouldn't understand how this song touches a music lover. I can say that your song will definitely become a hit."

In a corner of the backstage, Su Xiuxiu gritted her teeth and muttered to herself, "I don't know what kind of luck you had to get such a good song. It's a waste of the song. But do you think you can turn your life around with just one song? We'll see. As long as Mao Mao is around, you won't make it in the music industry. Dream on if you want to be famous."

Su Xiuxiu had no reason to hate Ye Ming; she just felt extremely uncomfortable seeing him happy.

During the intermission, Mao Duoduo smiled and walked off the stage, wanting to leave a perfect impression and not allow any damage to his image.

However, as soon as he returned to the dressing room, his face turned cold.

George hurriedly greeted him with a smile, "Mao Mao, how was it? Tired? Rest a bit. I told you, for such a competition, you just need to go through the motions; there's no need to take it so seriously."

In George's view, it wasn't the National Youth Singing Competition, so there was no need to put in so much effort.

Mao Duoduo said bluntly, "The level is really poor. I thought this kind of competition wouldn't be of high quality, but I didn't expect their performance to be so ugly. Even if they want to promote their own people, they should at least find some contestants with higher skills. This bunch is just garbage. You didn't see the faces of Li Shuangjiang and Teacher Serious; they were almost green. I think they regret coming to this competition."