Mysterious Assistant of the Washed-Up Queen-Chapter 549 - 347: Not talking about martial ethics, a unique draft_2

First, Xu Qingqiu came out of nowhere, and now Sun Guoxiang. You guys really know how to play unconventionally, one after another.

Xu Li almost laughed out of exasperation. She directly exposed him, especially when she saw Sun Guoxiang with his arm around the contestant's shoulder, laughing heartily.

"Teacher Sun, you don't even know his name. How can you say you're the most suitable? Clearly, I am."

In the director's room upstairs, Wei Liangxiao was dumbfounded. He had never expected things to develop into such a scene. But why was it still kind of exciting?

In his mind, singing was, of course, the most important thing in a music program.

But after Chu Tian orchestrated things, he found the earlier chaotic scene quite interesting. Even he was enjoying it.

"No way, did you arrange all this?"

Chu Tian shook his head and then nodded.

"Not entirely. I just shared some small techniques with them beforehand and discussed some performance methods. It wasn't this specific; they improvised just now."

He was telling the truth. However, when he instructed the mentors earlier, it wasn't as simple as he made it sound. To enhance their understanding, Chu Tian had played multiple roles himself, reenacting several famous scenes from shows of his previous life on the spot.

His performance alone had stunned the mentors, all of them watching with their jaws dropped.

The current scene was just the mentors putting what they had learned into practice. And you know what? It was quite amusing.

Not to mention, the audience in the stands was utterly captivated at this moment.

They had primarily come for the novelty of the program, with a large portion also drawn by the mentors' reputations.

They didn't know much about the show, nor did they have high expectations.

Yet, they had been continuously amazed from the very beginning.

First, there were the spinning chairs. Then, there was the fact that the mentors genuinely listened only to the voices, without seeing the contestants.

These two aspects alone had already broadened their horizons and significantly raised their expectations for the show.

Next, the sight of the mentors hitting the buttons—WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!—and their chairs spinning around unexpectedly thrilled and excited the audience.

Just when they thought it would be another routine mentor feedback session, everything changed when Xu Qingqiu suddenly stood up. The show's direction completely veered off their expectations.

Especially seeing several renowned and respected mentors arguing and bickering over a contestant like street hawkers was completely beyond their imagination.

Is this even real? This must be the opening of some kind of power fantasy novel, right?

A completely different audition style, a refreshing selection process, an eye-opening role for the mentors, and such pursuit and recognition for the contestant.

Especially since the contestant was dressed simply, clearly an ordinary person. This gave the audience an even greater sense of connection, captivating them so deeply they couldn't tear their eyes away.

Actually, by this point, the mentors were stuck. They didn't know what to do next; the entire initial procedure was in disarray.

Only Teacher Zheng still wanted to make another attempt. After all, from beginning to end, apart from a jab at Xu Qingqiu, he hadn't said anything to try and win over the contestant.

When he saw Sun Guoxiang still shamelessly lingering on stage, he grabbed the microphone a second time. He wanted to try again, to talk about the advantages his team offered, divert the contestant's attention, and see if he could win him over.

But then, instructions came through his earpiece from the production team.

"That's enough, Teacher Zheng. Please get the situation under control. Ask Teacher Sun to return, and let the contestant introduce himself first."

Upon hearing the instructions in his earpiece, Teacher Zheng could only sigh regretfully and say,

"Alright, alright, look how you've scared the kid. He hasn't even introduced himself yet! Old Sun, hurry back. What kind of behavior is this."

Sun Guoxiang looked unconcerned, but he quickly ran back. As he did, he even gave the contestant a suggestive eyebrow raise and didn't forget to wave to the audience.

Watching this, Zheng Qiuming, who had been holding back for a while, cursed Sun Guoxiang internally for being an old scoundrel.

Seeing that the situation was finally returning to normal, Xu Li also received a message from the production team.

After Sun Guoxiang returned to his seat, she smiled and said,

"Come, please introduce yourself."

Hearing this, and seeing the program finally return to a familiar rhythm, the contestant secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

However, this 'secretly' was purely his own perception. Everyone present saw him let out a long sigh, which, unsurprisingly, triggered a burst of laughter.

This made the contestant blush, increasing his embarrassment. Fortunately, he had a good attitude. Perhaps the result of four chair turns had lessened his pressure, so he smiled awkwardly and began his introduction as per the prior training.

"Hello everyone, my name is Wang Zhipeng. I am a third-year student at the Capital Music Academy..."

...

After the recording of the first episode was completed, there was a short break on set. The production team discussed whether any segments were missed, and problematic parts were re-shot. Once everything was deemed fine, they proceeded to the next recording session.

「Two days later」

The recording of the first episode was considered complete. After seeing Xu Qingqiu off on her flight to continue her concert tour, Chu Tian returned to his routine of shuttling between home and work.

He was currently in his office discussing follow-up work with Hou Yichuan.

"How is the sponsorship acquisition for 'The Voice' going?"

"It's not ideal at the moment. A dairy company is willing to offer 60,000,000, and a mobile phone company is offering 50,000,000. These prices are too low. Considering our investment, it would be difficult to break even, so I plan to negotiate further."

Chu Tian frowned, somewhat puzzled, and asked,

"These prices are too low, aren't they? Did you ask for the reason? Logically, with such a large investment on our part, they shouldn't be offering so little."

Hou Yichuan nodded and quickly explained,

"That's true. I asked around. Our investment scale is huge, and the few programs we currently have are all sensational hits. This alone should attract many investors. However, a rumor seems to have spread from somewhere that no satellite TV station is willing to pick up our show. Consequently, everyone is being very cautious with their investments and not very enthusiastic."

"No one wants to pick it up? What's going on? Have you checked with the TV stations? Is it true that no one is interested?"

"Of course not. I'm currently in talks with four satellite TV stations. Lemon TV is actually very interested, but they just launched a new program and are now in a dilemma. If they pick up ours, their new variety show would have to be axed, so they're still hesitating.

East Sea TV got a taste of success last time, so they're very keen this time. However, the price they're offering isn't satisfactory. Last time, with a different show, it was because we were in a hurry, so the asking price wasn't high. You also said that for this first season of 'The Voice,' we should be considering profitability. But for 'The Voice,' we've invested enormously in both production scale and promotion. I can't bear to sell it to them cheaply.

Lanjiang TV is offering the most money: an advertising profit split of four-to-six and a package price of 120,000,000. However, their station's reputation isn't very good, so I plan to observe further.

Finally, there's Jingdu TV. They're offering less money and aren't very enthusiastic. It's more like they're just going through the motions or joining the fray. Perhaps they genuinely want to buy it but can't afford it. The relationships behind them are a bit complicated, so I'm not very sure."

After Hou Yichuan finished, Chu Tian pondered for a moment. He realized Hou Yichuan had considered all the necessary issues. Such matters indeed couldn't be rushed, but he couldn't just ignore the situation either.

"Alright, I'll ask around about Jingdu TV later. If there are no special issues, let's not consider them for now. For the other three stations, try to negotiate further. The price cannot be lowered. I have great confidence in this show; achieving sensational hit status is the minimum. Just negotiate based on that benchmark."

Hou Yichuan nodded and explained,

"I understand. Actually, I've discussed this with them before and have already arranged for a screening. I plan to discuss with Old Wei soon to get the first episode produced. After post-production is complete, we'll invite them for a viewing. If the program is genuinely outstanding, then the price will be much easier to negotiate."

Seeing that Hou Yichuan had arranged everything methodically, Chu Tian didn't say much more.

"Okay, let's proceed with that plan. Resolve it as soon as possible. Don't let it drag on for too long."

He wanted the show to go online as soon as possible. By leveraging the show's popularity, combined with Xu Qingqiu's new album releasing at the end of the year and her ongoing concert tour, he wanted to see what level of synergy and impact the three could achieve. Therefore, timing was crucial.