Chapter 2210 - 2213: The Mermaid Princess Narrowly Makes the Top Eight

On stage, the stunning Mermaid Princess Jinli Qianning had already exited, and the three judges on the panel were clearly shocked that Qianning only received two hundred and eighty-one votes, but it was of no use as the competition continued.

"Shen Qiang, did you know, I've always considered you my strongest rival, but it seems I've completely overestimated you. An ordinary singer like you, in terms of figure, appearance, and voice, you fall short of Jinli Qianning. But under my arrangements, I can easily secure the championship."

Ziyi glanced at Shen Qiang and said, "But I never imagined, such a perfect Qianning, with your help, has now fallen to eighth place. This is already a dead end, with six more singers behind, all singing lively and cheerful songs. If you don't want me to humiliate you later, you'd better leave now."

Upon hearing this, Shen Qiang looked at the singer already on stage, seemingly dazed despite the upbeat music, and suddenly felt an impulse. Then, he turned his gaze to others, and immediately noticed that their expressions didn't seem moved by the cheerful rhythm either.

"Not necessarily, Qianning still has a chance!" Shen Qiang said.

Ziyi laughed: "What a foolish hope, the singers behind can beat her with any random singing. If this weren't enough to kick her out of the top eight, those singers would be too worthless. Do you really think you'd have that kind of luck, Shen Qiang?"

At the instant of hearing this, Shen Qiang smiled, with a somewhat mysterious grin that left Ziyi stunned.

But before he could figure out what Shen Qiang was smiling about.

The singer on stage began to sing.

With just the first note, everyone was dumbfounded.

It was clearly a cheerful tune, yet inexplicably carried a sense of homesickness.

Moreover, the second line was directly off-tune.

Ziyi's smile instantly froze.

Not only that, the originally good song suddenly slowed down, and then…

Was filled with nostalgia.

However, it was far inferior to Qianning.

"Boo! Get off the stage!"

The audience began to jeer.

The judges on the panel were already very impatient.

Ziyi was astonished, and then said with a dumbfounded expression: "What's going on? Did this singer just self-destruct? Shen Qiang, you bastard, did you bribe them to go easy?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Qiang's eyes curved with laughter: "Ziyi, don't think of me as being as shameless as you. Ever heard of 'the lingering sound remains long after the melody ends'?"

Watching Ziyi's shocked eyes, Shen Qiang smiled: "Singers' understanding of various singing methods far surpasses ordinary people. Clearly, he is still immersed in Qianning's singing. So, if their song is about homesickness, they'd undoubtedly perform beyond expectations, but if not, sorry, anyone attempting to mimic Qianning will fail."

In an instant, Ziyi's face turned green.

Not only that.

The subsequent competition indeed turned out as Shen Qiang had predicted.

The subsequent singers, though not all off-key, clearly had the wrong emotions while singing. Even if they hit the notes correctly, there was no emotion, causing their scores to plummet. By the last singer's turn.

The three judges gave a ridiculously low score of 3 points.

Audience voting garnered only five votes.

The whole program, which soared before Qianning took the stage, like a rocket, plummeted after Qianning's song ended.

"Eighth place is still a loss, isn't it?" As the program ended, Ziyi raised an eyebrow with a cold smile: "The person I promoted is first!"

Shen Qiang smiled: "Don't speak too soon. Just because she's in the top eight doesn't mean she can compete in the top eight battle. Ziyi, we'll meet at tomorrow's program, and I hope you're still able to laugh then."

Hearing this, Ziyi laughed: "You'll make a fool of yourself, Shen Qiang, I guarantee it!"

Shen Qiang paid it no mind.

Leading Jinli Qianning, Ye Guyun, and Fire Lotus Demon Ke Bizhu away without a second glance.

Meanwhile, as the live broadcast ended.

The three judges in the studio were anxious, all pulling at the program leader.

"Director, if this is how the program goes, we're out. That Qianning's song was a true masterpiece, flawless. We couldn't give it a perfect score and gave it a 9.9 instead, and look at the audience score!"

"There was absolutely no cheating!" The program leader frowned: "I assure you! That's the choice of the audience."

Meanwhile, as they argued,

The team in charge of editing the songs individually for each singer and uploading them online for viewers, was staring dumbfounded at the data.

"Minister, come here quickly, this Qianning singer's song is so bizarre. According to the backstage information, the play count is continuously increasing, and… it shows that the number of viewers on a single loop has surpassed seventy thousand and is rapidly growing."

Meanwhile, on social media, a few influencers bizarrely reposted Qianning's song.

"Heavenly homesickness with high scores, I've already booked my flight!"

"A song that inexplicably makes me feel homesick."

"Simplicity is truth, I don't find this song particularly resounding, yet it truly makes me homesick."

As everyone was focused,

Within the editor's room at the Ocean of Music International Channel, the chief editor, just finishing his work, took off his glasses, rubbing his temples, and said: "My head hurts, the quality of popular songs in the domestic music scene is getting worse. I don't even know how to handle this period's program."

Beside him, the assistant said: "There's no fitting approach, after all, we are an international music channel, and indeed many songs aren't suitable for our broadcast."

"That's not useful." The editor, leaning back on the chair, said: "I just want a few truly good songs."

The assistant sighed: "It's difficult, now there are numerous songwriters, we don't lack music, but truly outstanding ones, noteworthy as heavenly, are hardly any."

Right then.

The office door creaked open.

The editor frowned.

"Editor, come listen to this, I assure you, this is what you want!" The chubby young man who burst in played Qianning's song eagerly from his phone.

For a long while.

After looping several times.

The Ocean of Music International Channel's editor's eyes were fiercely bright.

"Perfect, this singer is too perfect, the song is perfect, though niche, it's enough to feature on our program."

Hearing this, the chubby young man's eyes lit up: "She's an original singer, this song was from a local talent show, semi-final eighth place, tomorrow's top eight battle, if you want to see her, you can go directly to the venue."

"What?" the editor was astonished: "This level of performance, admirable on an international platform, only eighth place?"