Chapter 17: The Second Performance Song Selection, Five Themes

Once all the trainees had gathered, Shen Xiyin entered from outside, smiling and waving at everyone. “Hello, everyone.”

She walked to the large screen at the front, cleared her throat, and switched to a formal tone to announce, “I am the presenter for the theme of the second performance. Today, I will be announcing the song selection rules.”

“You all must have noticed the ten boards in front of me.”

“On these boards are written the themes for the second performance.”

“That’s right, the second stage is a themed stage.”

“There are a total of five themes, each divided into Team A and Team B, making ten teams in all.”

“Teams A and B who choose the same theme will automatically become rivals in the second stage.”

“As you can imagine, the team that loses will fall into the lower bracket, and some members will have to leave the stage of ‘Tomorrow’s Star’.”

One trainee couldn’t wait any longer and urged, “Let us see the themes already!”

The ten boards standing in front of Shen Xiyin were all covered; only by removing the covers could the contents be revealed.

“Alright then. Let’s take a look at what the five themes are.”

As she spoke, she began clumsily removing the covers. The trainees in the front row quickly stepped forward to help her.

With the ten covers removed, the themes were revealed:

Youthful Memories, Former Lovers, Dreams and Perseverance, Never Forget Parental Grace, and Martial Arts Dreams.

A commotion rippled through the room as the five themes were revealed, for the difficulty between them varied greatly.

For instance, “Youthful Memories” and “Former Lovers” had numerous fitting songs to choose from, making selection much easier.

After seeing the five themes, Wu Junchen quickly raised his hand and asked, “I have a question—after choosing a theme, how do we select a song?”

Shen Xiyin explained, “Your team can discuss and decide; you may choose from the songs recommended by the show, or select your own.”

A lively discussion broke out at her words.

“Youthful Memories and Former Lovers are both easy to pick for; there are so many great songs.”

“Dreams is fine too, but the songs are harder to sing.”

“Parental Grace is tough—if you can’t convey that feeling, it’ll be really awkward.”

“Martial Arts is tricky as well. There are plenty of songs, but it’s hard to make them shine. Choreography will also be a challenge.”

After a round of debate, each trainee had a general impression, with most leaning toward the first two themes.

Then another trainee raised a hand. “How will the teams be formed?”

“Yesterday, on Penguin Video’s ‘Tomorrow’s Star’ page, there was a round of captain voting. Ten captains have been chosen. After captains pick their themes, they’ll recruit team members. Both the captains and the trainees get to choose each other, and both sides have the right to refuse,” Shen Xiyin said with a slight smile, causing the boys’ eyes to light up.

“Wow! That’s playing for real!” someone shouted.

Team captains and members choosing each other, with both sides holding the power to refuse—this rule was clearly designed for drama.

That was precisely the intention of the production team.

The more buzz and memorable moments a show creates, the more popular it becomes.

Tong Fei, the queen of talent shows, would never allow a show she produced to flop.

So, they did everything they could to stir up controversy with the rules.

Captains picking people and being ruthlessly turned down—audiences love to watch moments like that.

Another trainee raised a hand. “How many people per team?”

Shen Xiyin looked down and flipped through her cards before replying, “The number of people per team isn’t fixed, but will not exceed seven.”

“Huh, so it’s possible some teams might not have a single member?” someone quickly pointed out the flaw.

Shen Xiyin gave a mysterious smile. “If you don’t count the captain, that’s possible.”

With Hashim returning, there were a total of sixty-three trainees advancing to the second round.

With seven people per team, there would normally be nine teams, yet there were ten.

So, the possibility existed that a team could end up with only the captain.

Of course, that was only a theoretical possibility.

It all depended on just how poor a captain’s popularity was.

Shen Xiyin stepped aside to make way for the big screen and continued, “Now for the announcement of the captains. The first captain is... Wu Junchen. Junchen, which theme would you like to choose?”

Wu Junchen stood, took the microphone handed to him, and replied after a moment’s thought, “I’ll go with Dreams. I have a dream I want to sing for my fans who have always supported me.”

“Alright, please come forward and stand behind the ‘Dreams and Perseverance’ board,” Shen Xiyin gestured.

Immediately after, the name of the second captain appeared on the screen—it was none other than Liu Yichen.

These two were the most popular contestants of this season, long holding the top two spots on the popularity charts.

Liu Yichen stepped forward, looking over the five themes, lost in thought.

Shen Xiyin smiled sweetly and asked, “Which theme would you like, Yichen? If you choose Dreams too, you and Junchen will be rivals.”

In truth, Liu Yichen and Wu Junchen were from the same talent agency, Chao Yin Entertainment.

This season, Chao Yin Entertainment had sent five trainees, four of whom were in the top ten on the popularity charts—their trainees dominated the rankings.

There was no helping it; all five had previously competed in “Idol Era” and placed well, so their fanbases were substantial.

Chao Yin’s slogan this time was to have all trainees debut as a group.

Liu Yichen glanced at Wu Junchen and joked, “Can’t I be on the same team as Brother Jun?”

Wow!

The trainees immediately cheered and whooped.

If this segment made it to the final cut, the CP fans would go wild.

Shen Xiyin forced her smile to hold and added, “The rules don’t allow it. At most, you can be rivals—love and hate on stage.”

“Alright, then I’ll just...” Liu Yichen trailed off, keeping everyone in suspense, and finally walked over to stand behind the “Former Lovers” board.

The lower a captain’s rank, the harder it became to choose a theme.

With stars like Wu Junchen and Liu Yichen having already chosen, picking the same theme would mean facing them as rivals.

Facing a popular contestant like Wu Junchen at the second performance? That would be asking for trouble.

So, the captains after them all strategically avoided Wu Junchen and Liu Yichen, opting for unchosen themes.

The first four captains each picked one of the themes: Youth, Lovers, Dreams, and Parental Grace.

The fifth captain’s announcement was a surprise—it was Hashim.

Hashim came forward, took the mic, then turned and shot a provocative glance at Fang Xing. “I choose Martial Arts. Let’s see who dares to challenge me again.”

With that, he took his place behind the “Martial Arts Dreams” board.

Whether by coincidence or design, after Hashim made his pick, the sixth captain was revealed to be Fang Xing.

Fang Xing had expected this; with both “Nocturne” and “Wild Bird” trending, he had brought the show a surge of attention.

Unless the production team wanted less buzz, there was no way they’d pass up a chance for more drama.

“The sixth captain is Fang Xing. Please come to the stage; the staff will bring a microphone.”

Shen Xiyin also realized what was happening; if the producers weren’t doing this on purpose, she’d eat her microphone.

Fang Xing stood and walked over to the boards, taking the offered mic.

Shen Xiyin continued, “Now that all five themes have a captain, whichever you choose, Fang Xing, you’ll end up facing one of the other five as a rival.”

“So, you have two choices to make: pick your theme and pick your opponent.”

“Fang Xing, which theme or rival will you choose? Please stand behind your chosen board.”

Fang Xing didn’t hesitate, smiling as he replied, “Of course, I’ll see things through to the end.”

The first part of that saying is: “If you start something, see it through.”

With that, Fang Xing walked straight to the “Martial Arts Dreams” board, once again becoming Hashim’s rival.