Chapter 166: Preparation for Battle, The Finals Night Begins

After confirming his guest performer, Fang Xing spent the following days actively preparing for the grand finals of "The Voice".

The musical scale of the song he was going to sing this time fell within the baritone vocal range.

Perhaps to ordinary viewers, baritone songs might seem to lack difficulty, but from a vocal perspective, the exact opposite was true.

The difficulty of this baritone Three Kingdoms-themed song was absurdly high.

The entire song spanned two octaves, requiring him to sing from F2 all to F4.

For a professional singer, F4 was not particularly difficult, but F2 was a different story.

In the pop music industry, generally speaking, the golden vocal range for male singers was the fourth octave, meaning from C4 to B4.

Because the fourth octave was the golden zone for male singers, the vast majority of pop songs were concentrated in this register.

F2 was in the second octave, two octaves lower than the golden zone of a male singer.

Even for professional singers, it was extremely difficult to perform F2 well.

Producing the note might be manageable, but singing a high-quality F2 was vastly more difficult than hitting a high C.

Since Chen Chaonan had confirmed his role as the guest performer, his standards for the performance were naturally extremely high, given his position as a doctoral advisor in vocal music.

Therefore, for the first rehearsal, Chen Chaonan brought in the Dongyin First Symphony Orchestra for accompaniment.

Last time, when they performed "Qilixiang" and enlisted the Dongyin First Symphony Orchestra, the focus was mainly on the string section.

This time, for the Three Kingdoms theme song, the entire symphony orchestra was required, with brass instruments like tubas and French horns being the highlights.

In addition, traditional national instruments such as the guzheng and gongs and drums would also be utilized.

Chen Chaonan attached great importance to this performance, practically emptying out all the top instrumental experts in Dongyin's music department.

If Chen Chaonan hadn't been the guest performer, given Fang Xing's current standing, it would have been utterly impossible to hire so many Dongyin professors and students.

Since so many top-tier instrumental experts from Dongyin had already been mobilized, providing accompaniment for one song was one thing, and providing it for two songs was just as easy.

A thought flashed through Fang Xing's mind, and he simply decided to hand the accompaniment of the second song over to the Dongyin First Symphony Orchestra as well.

...

The day of the "The Voice" grand finals, the "King of Singers Battle," was drawing closer and closer.

The production team also began releasing various pieces of news to generate buzz and hype.

First was the identity of the guest performers.

This guessing game surrounding the guest performers alone drove up the ratings and discussions significantly.

The production team first released the silhouettes of eight groups of guest performers. The guests included both men and women, and some groups even consisted of more than one person.

They released the silhouettes of the guest performers without specifying whose guest each one was.

This kept the curiosity of the audience dangling to the utmost limit.

Netizens across Weibo were busy guessing the identities of the guest performers, practically cycling through every single singer in the music industry.

There were also some prominent accounts on Weibo orchestrated by the production team, releasing cryptic and ambiguous messages.

[According to reliable sources, the guest performers include singers at the heavenly king and heavenly queen level.]

As soon as this news broke, the audience became even more intrigued.

There weren't many singers in the music industry who could be called heavenly kings or queens, and those in their physical prime could be counted on one hand.

Consequently, netizens began guessing who this heavenly king or queen-level guest performer might be.

[Zhang Huiying, it's definitely Zhang Huiying. That song Fang Xing signed over, she hasn't returned the favor yet.]

[Could it be Qi Xuna? I feel like Qi Xuna has a pretty decent relationship with Liu Hongsheng.]

[Are you guys only considering domestic heavenly kings and queens? Have you ever thought that it might be a heavenly king or queen from South Korea? Zhong Yuanxun boasted that he invited the most powerful singer from South Korea to assist.]

[Production team, you've successfully hooked my appetite. If there are no heavenly kings or queens performing in the end, you know what'll happen.]

[Know what? Aren't there enough times the production team has toyed with people?]

Even before the grand finals began, the hype remained consistently high, even trending on several search topics.

Since the grand finals of "The Voice" were broadcast live, there were no advance previews.

However, the production team edited the previously un-aired content from the first eleven episodes into promotional trailers and uploaded them to video websites.

In the trailers, individual interviews with each singer were broadcast, sharing their thoughts on the grand finals.

First to be released was Li Caiwei's interview.

Director: "Caiwei, as a replacement singer who successfully broke through to the final round and entered the grand finals, do you have anything to say?"

Li Caiwei: "I am truly happy to be able to advance to the grand finals of 'The Voice'. I cherish this opportunity very much and will definitely go all out."

Director: "The performance theme for the first round of PK matches in the grand finals is 'Dust of History.' As far as I know, none of your previous songs fit this theme, so how are you planning your song selection this time?"

Li Caiwei: "I haven't thought about that yet. I'll need to return to the company and discuss it with the team before making a decision."

Director: "Will that other singer still be producing the song for your grand finals?"

Li Caiwei: "That's not certain yet. Producing a song isn't something where inspiration just strikes immediately. Moreover, he also has to produce his own song for the finals, so we can only do our best."

Li Caiwei's answers were quite cautious. Having been in the entertainment industry for a relatively long time, her words were watertight.

When the director tried to stir up drama with his questions, Li Caiwei skillfully sidestepped them.

The first segment of the interview trailer was merely a warmup, lacking any explosive points.

Immediately following that, the second interview segment was released, featuring South Korean powerhouse singer Zhong Yuanxun.

Director: "Having won first place for two consecutive episodes, how do you feel?"

Zhong Yuanxun: "If I had figured out the audience's preferences a bit earlier, it wouldn't just be two episodes of first place."

Sensing an explosive point, the director dug deeper into the topic: "Does that mean if Fang Xing were still participating in the regular competition, you'd also have the confidence to win first place?"

Zhong Yuanxun replied with full confidence: "Of course. The few times Fang Xing won first place, it was mostly due to luck. If we competed again, he would at best only get second place."

Director: "What if you meet in the grand finals? Do you have the confidence to win?"

Zhong Yuanxun: "Of course. It would be best if we met in the first round; I could go all out to defeat him and prove that in this season of 'The Voice', I am the true King of Singers."

Director: "This is an interview segment, Mr. Zhong Yuanxun. Are you sure you don't mind us broadcasting this?"

Zhong Yuanxun shrugged and said with confidence: "In the grand finals, I will invite the most powerful singer in our country to assist me. It's best if I meet Fang Xing in the first round, that way I can win even more easily."

...

After this interview segment was released, the level of discussion reached its absolute peak.

The topic surged to the trending searches, and countless viewers left comments online.

[This neighboring friend is quite confident.]

[He actually has the ability to be confident; winning first place two times in a row shows his strength is truly formidable.]

[That was only after Fang Xing advanced that he could win first place, though.]

[Didn't he say it himself? At first, he wasn't familiar with the preferences of the domestic audience, so he didn't deliberately hit high notes. After figuring out the pattern, he won first place two episodes in a row.]

[To be honest, for that song Zhong Yuanxun sang in episode ten, even if Fang Xing performed it himself, who would win first place is really hard to say.]

[This is dripping with gunpowder, making me want to watch the finals right now.]

[The production team has truly mastered Tong Fei's skill for manufacturing drama. Well done, keep it up, hopefully they'll actually start a fight.]

Trolling netizens and drama enthusiasts alike were the kind of people who loved watching a good spectacle.

However, some viewers who disliked Zhong Yuanxun expressed their dissatisfaction:

[Since he's talked the talk, he'd better meet Fang Xing in the first round and get knocked down by him.]

[Support Fang Xing in blowing Zhong Yuanxun away; we can't let this Korean be so arrogant.]

Some K-pop fans also began defending Zhong Yuanxun:

[Even if Fang Xing and Zhong Yuanxun meet in the first round, who wins and who loses is really hard to say.]

[Exactly, Zhong Yuanxun said it himself, he's bringing in the most powerful singer from South Korea to assist. If Fang Xing has any sense, he'll avoid the first round.]

[I'm waiting to hear Zhong Yuanxun hit those high notes, just like 'Fall in Love' in episode ten—it was mind-blowing.]

Other viewers who disliked Zhong Yuanxun began to retort:

[Can Zhong Yuanxun bring in a powerful South Korean singer, and Fang Xing can't? Fang Xing and Zhang Huiying have an open song request; maybe the queen he's inviting to assist is Zhang Huiying herself.]

[If Fang Xing really invites Zhang Huiying to help, that would be interesting. Even if he goes up against Zhong Yuanxun, who wins and who loses is really hard to predict.]

...

Amidst the debates among netizens and viewers, Friday gradually arrived.

Tonight was the live broadcast night of the grand finals of "The Voice".

Fang Xing arrived in Xiangjiang a day early and rehearsed with Chen Chaonan and the Dongyin First Symphony Orchestra.

Since the grand finals this time consisted of two rounds of competition, every singer had to rehearse two songs, making time extremely tight.

Therefore, the rehearsals spanned two days.

After Thursday's rehearsal concluded, Fang Xing was called into the interview room by the director for a preliminary interview.

Director: "Fang Xing, did you watch the preview at the end of episode eleven?"

Fang Xing: "I watched a bit of it."

Director: "Then you should know that Zhong Yuanxun openly challenged you when answering questions. Do you have anything to say about that?"

Fang Xing smiled and retorted: "You guys just love latching onto me to create topics. Just say it—are you planning to ignite this trending topic in the first round, or save it for the final round?"

Director: "The director's team didn't make any special arrangements for a script; you can just proceed according to your own competition strategy. Since it's a competition, winning should ideally be the primary goal."

With an expression that said "I see right through you," Fang Xing smiled and said: "Asking me these questions right now, aren't you just trying to hint at something?"

Suppressed laughter on his face, the director continued his questions: "Singer Zhong Yuanxun also said that domestic audiences just love listening to high notes, and the wilder the high notes, the higher the votes. What are your thoughts on this statement?"

Fang Xing: "Your production team already knows what my song for the first round is. Asking me this now, you must want me to answer like this, right?

"Well then, I'll cooperate with you. Since Zhong Yuanxun says hitting high notes is the only way to win, I'll show him with practical actions that I can win against him without hitting high notes."

The director was extremely satisfied with this answer. Once this interview clip was released, the effect would undoubtedly be maximized.

Chief Director Zheng Tao saw this interview clip and immediately instructed the editing team to do a quick cut of it, preparing to air it in the pre-show broadcast right before the live stream.

Friday night at 7:30 PM.

Xiangguo Video's live streaming channel went live ahead of schedule.

However, before the live broadcast officially began, the channel played some unreleased highlights from the current season.

Among them, many were professional panel reviews of the singers, as well as behind-the-scenes interviews.

The highlight of the artist interviews was undoubtedly the segment featuring Fang Xing and Zhong Yuanxun.

As soon as these two interview segments played, the comment section flooded with messages from trolling netizens and drama lovers:

[Fight! Fight!]

[Fang Xing, you've won an entire season; if you lose tonight, I'm turning into a hater.]

[There's no way he loses, right?]

[Hard to say. I saw a piece of news earlier that South Korea's national treasure-level female singer Park So-hee landed in the country on a flight. If she's here to be Zhong Yuanxun's guest performer, things are going to get big.]

As it approached 8:00 PM, countless viewers across the country waited in front of their televisions, ready to watch the grand finals of "The Voice".

Ni Hongdan, as usual, opened her live streaming room to accompany netizens in watching the program, grabbing some traffic and earning milk powder money along the way.

Lu Xiang'er and Ning Xiaoyun had also arranged to watch the grand finals live together.

"Fang Xing isn't here, so you finally remember me?" Ning Xiaoyun asked with a jealous tone.

"Who says that? Don't we see each other every day?" Lu Xiang'er replied with an unbothered expression.

"That's seeing each other for classes at school, and the moment class ends, you vanish without a trace," Ning Xiaoyun corrected.

"I have to prepare for the Paganini Violin Competition, so of course I'm seizing every minute to practice. When would I have time to hang out with you?" Lu Xiang'er replied with a very serious expression.

Amidst their laughter and banter, the program officially began.

First to air was the segment showing the singers entering the venue.

Zheng Tao began announcing the competition rules for the first round of the grand finals:

"Welcome everyone to the grand finals of 'The Voice'. Tonight's first round competition theme is 'Dust of History', which I believe everyone already knows.

"In addition, the first round is a one-on-one PK match, a fact that everyone was also informed of in advance.

"However, who goes up against whom, and what the order of performance is—none of this was notified to you beforehand.

"The reason it wasn't announced beforehand is because the opponents and the performance order hadn't been determined yet.

"During the seventh episode of the show, I mentioned that every single performance in this season of 'The Voice' was crucial.

"The more votes acquired, the greater the advantage in the grand finals.

"Now is the time for that advantage to manifest.

"The singer with the highest total vote count holds the power to choose their opponent and the performance order.

"This is an advantage the singers present here earned through a whole season of hard work.

"So, the singer with the highest total votes is..."

Without waiting for Zheng Tao to announce it, everyone cast their gazes toward Fang Xing.

"That's right, as everyone probably already guessed, the singer with the highest vote count is Fang Xing, so Fang Xing has the priority to choose his PK match opponent..."

After announcing the singer with the highest votes, Zheng Tao continued explaining the rules: "That means, Fang Xing, you can now choose one opponent from among the other seven singers to face in a one-on-one PK battle.

"The winner of the PK advances to the second round for the Championship Battle, while the loser is directly eliminated, losing the qualification to participate in the Championship Battle."

Hearing these rules, the singers present drew a tense, sharp breath.

Tonight's grand finals were broadcast live, and every singer had rehearsed two songs.

However, if they lost the first round PK match, there would be no second round, which meant they wouldn't get to sing their second song.

After explaining the rules, Zheng Tao asked once more: "Fang Xing, who do you choose as your opponent?"

Fang Xing looked around the room and asked, "Can I choose anyone?"

Zheng Tao nodded and replied: "Yes, anyone can be chosen. According to competition strategy, your best strategy is to pick an opponent you believe you can steadily defeat. Of course, if you want to make the show more entertaining, a matchup between titans is also a great choice."

A faint smile touched the corner of Fang Xing's lips, as he had already guessed the production team's routine: "What if I don't play by the production team's rules?"

Wearing a smile, Zheng Tao said: "It doesn't matter, this is a competition, so naturally you should make your choice based on the optimal strategy for winning."