Chapter 102: The Final Challenge
The night the final group was formed on Star of Tomorrow came to an end.
Beyond Scarlet Performer and Fireworks Fade, a number of other topics surged onto the trending lists.
That night, topics related to Star of Tomorrow occupied nearly half the hot search rankings.
In an age ruled by capital, even the top of the popularity chart could not guarantee a place in the group.
Some music critics who knew the inside story also began to leak information:
The struggle between ice and fire was a contest of capital.
The details of this trending reveal were part fact, part speculation, yet it was told with such conviction that it sounded entirely plausible.
This battle between the Ice faction and the Fire faction was indeed a contest among several entertainment giants.
Tidal Sound Culture, Pine Stone Records, Feifan Entertainment, and Penguin Video.
Among the four companies, Tidal Sound Culture represented the Glacier faction, while Pine Stone Records, Feifan Entertainment, and Penguin Video represented the Flame faction.
The aim of the contest was simple: everyone wanted to make money.
If it had not been Fang Xing, if he had been replaced by some ordinary trainee, he would have been expelled by the major companies long ago.
Yet Fang Xing had revealed a strength that crushed all rivals beneath him, and with votes from ordinary viewers, he defeated the top star that Tidal Sound Culture had heavily promoted.
That forced Pine Stone Records, Feifan Entertainment, and Penguin Video to protect him, even at the cost of offending Tidal Sound Culture.
Only then did the current situation come into being.
The day after the live broadcast of the final sprint night ended, the production team rushed straight into preparing the ninth episode.
In truth, half of the footage for episode nine had already been edited.
There would be no performance stage in episode nine; the main content would be the trainees’ daily training.
Because this was the last episode before the final showdown between the factions, the season recap was added as well.
They would weave together the standout moments of every trainee, from the day each one entered the training camp through every performance stage of the season.
That way, they could stretch the content into yet another episode.
So although the production time for episode nine was short, it could still be completed on schedule.
Aside from the recap, there was also a preview of the variety show for the Glacier Boy Group after their debut day.
There was also the gathering segment for the Flame faction.
The next day, Fang Xing filmed the footage of calling together the members first, along with Lu Ming, Shao Yu, and the others.
At the same time, several entertainment companies, including Hundred Rivers Entertainment and Yida Entertainment, contacted Pine Stone Records to discuss the matter of the Flame faction’s members.
Naturally, those companies hoped that their trainees who had not made the group would be able to join the Flame faction and help boost the buzz around it.
During a break in filming the Flame faction assembly, agent Qiao Yinghong came to speak with Fang Xing about the members.
“How many people do you need for the Flame faction?”
Fang Xing replied casually, “Honestly, it does not matter much to me how many there are. Even if it is just Lu Ming, Shao Yu, and a few others, that is enough. If the company wants to put some people in, as long as their vocal skills are not too poor, I can accept them.”
Qiao Yinghong nodded. “There is no need to rush too much anyway. We still have two weeks to prepare. Or we can wait until the faction battle’s theme is announced before selecting the members.”
She paused, then asked, “Do you have any thoughts on the theme for the faction battle?”
Fang Xing asked curiously, “Can I choose whatever theme I want?”
Qiao Yinghong shook her head. “That is impossible. When Tong Fei discussed the faction battle with Tidal Sound Culture, she already gave part of the right to choose the theme over to them. Otherwise, Tidal Sound Culture would never have agreed to the faction battle so readily.”
Fang Xing naturally understood that these big companies had to compromise with one another. He nodded. “Then let them choose the theme. I do not mind.”
Qiao Yinghong added, “President Liang is worried that Tidal Sound Culture might choose a type you are not good at, so he asked me to ask you: what kind of songs are you worst at? The company can step in and veto those themes.”
Fang Xing laughed brightly. “No need. Let Tidal Sound Culture choose the theme.”
“So confident?” A playful smile appeared on Qiao Yinghong’s face.
Fang Xing grinned back at her.
Meanwhile, in the conference room at Tidal Sound Culture headquarters, ever since Wu Junchen had fallen from first place on the popularity chart, the company had been buying promotional articles, dragging rivals down, and stirring up fans in preparation for the Ice and Fire faction finale two weeks later.
At the same time, they also needed to decide the theme for the faction final.
This was the authority Tidal Sound Culture had gained by agreeing to the faction battle; with such a privilege, there was no reason not to use it.
So He Hongtu specially gathered the company’s senior management from every department to discuss the faction battle’s theme.
“Since we get to decide the theme, the matter is simple. We choose the one we are best at, and the one the other side is worst at,” Liu Rongxuan said first, setting the direction of the discussion.
The head of operations took up the thread. “Actually, we could work with other record companies or music producers. The song we make could become the Glacier Boy Group’s official group song, so we can spend more money and make sure it is a high-quality track.”
The Glacier Boy Group was certainly going to appear on all kinds of programs and commercial performances, and the group song would have to be sung often.
So it made sense to invest more and create a strong group song; the money could always be earned back through appearances.
The head of music production had already discussed the issue with his subordinates and now continued, “Our department has already studied every song Fang Xing has sung, starting from the very first one, Wild Bird.
“Among Fang Xing’s songs are classical rap, Cantonese songs, youth songs, anthem-style songs, and period-style pieces.
“The kinds of songs currently popular in the music scene are not that many: love songs, youth songs, inspirational songs, period-style songs, and so on.
“Fang Xing has basically sung all of those already, but there is one type he has never tried. Perhaps we should give it a shot.”
Liu Rongxuan pressed, “What type? Tell me.”
After a brief pause, the head of music production answered, “A rousing battle anthem. Fang Xing has never sung that type before. Songs of this kind are difficult to control if you are not skilled in them.”
“A battle anthem?” The senior executives of Tidal Sound Culture searched their memories carefully and realized that indeed none of Fang Xing’s songs belonged to that category.
The head of music production continued, “And this theme also suits the stage of the battle between ice and fire.
“Since this is a faction battle, then let us decide the winner with a blood-pumping war song.
“Besides, using a battle anthem as the Glacier Boy Group’s group song would be very fitting.”
After hearing this analysis, the executives all felt it made excellent sense.
What was more, Tidal Sound Culture had already been considering giving the Glacier Boy Group a song of this type, and had even contacted several record companies for songs.
They had already obtained demos of several tracks, all of them quite good. Choosing one or two from among them for the faction final was perfectly suitable.
In the end, all of Tidal Sound Culture’s senior management agreed on the theme of a rousing battle anthem.
Once the theme was decided, it was sent to Feifan Entertainment the very next day.
Feifan Entertainment immediately began preparations, ready to record the footage announcing the faction battle theme.