Perfect Superstar

Zhejiangprovince, Binhai city, Dongping District, Building 7, Room 201 kitchen.

Fang Yun putthe newly washed dishes into the cupboard. (TN: Lu Chen’s mom.)

“Mom,come here quickly!”

In the smallliving room came Lu Xue’s crisp voice: “The show where big brother is inis about to begin!”

“Gotit!”

Fang Yunpromised. She rubbed her wet hands on his apron twice and hurried out of thekitchen.

She sat downbeside Lu Xue and gawked when she saw the scene on TV. “Where is yourbrother?” she said angrily. "It’s obviously still showing the news! Youchild, you would lie to your mother!”

Lu Xuesmiled and hugged Fang Yun’s arm. She leaned her head on her shoulder, andsaid, “if you don’t come over, you must be busy again, so I tricked youinto resting first, and soon it will be big brother shows’ turn."

“Let meclean the house tomorrow!”

Fang Yunshook her head helplessly, but her eyes were full of affection.

Then they lockedtheir vision on the screen.

.......

07:15 p.m.

2,000kilometers away, Beijing Normal University, Girls dormitory, Building 7, Room305.

Ye Zitongsat alone at the head of the bed, put on her headphones and turned on thecomputer.

Herroommates all went out to play for a few days, but she didn’t feel lonely atall. Instead, she felt the satisfaction of owning the whole world by herself. Slidingher fingers skillfully, she opened a web site in her browser’s bookmark. (TN:I’m assuming she was using the touchpad in her laptop.)

The websiteshows that the live broadcast of Beijing Satellite TV “Singing China”top 16 of 32 has entered the countdown stage.

Staring atthe number that changes constantly, Ye Zitong’s heart suddenly beats morerapidly!

Before sheknew it, a faint blush appeared on her face.

As red as a rose.

.......

07:20 p.m.

Houhai, ForgetWorries Bar.

It’s thefirst night of the weekend, and even though it’s not prime time, the bar is alreadyfull.

Strangelyenough. There were no singers on the stage, even the music was off.

Unexpectedly,what was displayed on the big LED screen was news footage of a TV station, andthe logo in the upper left corner belongs to Beijing satellite TV.

Such a sceneis simply impossible to appear in the past - who goes to the bar to watch thenews?

After awhile, Chen Jianhao came up to the stage with a microphone in hand.

He said witha smile, “I believe we all know that tonight, Lu Chen, a former residentsinger in the Forget Worries Bar, will take part in the Beijing Satellite TV "SingingChina" top 16 of 32.”

“We arehere to watch the live broadcast and cheer for Lu Chen. We are all hisfriends!”

“Tonight’sdrinks will be discounted by 20%!”

Applause,laughter, whistles and cheers burst out in the bar.

Many regularcustomers raised their glasses. They thanked Chen Jianhao and were cheering forLu Chen.

Don’t leteveryone down!

.......

07:25 p.m.

Blue SkyCreative Park, Room 1905, Building A8, Lu Chen Studio.

The studio,which had not yet been decorated, was a mess, with desks and chairs wereeverywhere, cardboard boxes, large and small, were stacked in the corners, andthe air was filled with the peculiar smell of latex paint.

In the livebroadcasting workshop. Li Feiyu sat in his brand-new chair full of energy. Hewas wearing big headphones and facing the similarly brand-new computer, cameraand microphone, he shouted, "Attention, everyone, there are still five minutesto go live!”

“Let’splay the music. Everybody, get up. Follow me... ”

“Let’scheer for Lu Fei!”

“Comeon!”

Numerousbullet screens have been brushed on the screen, and fish balls were fallinglike raindrops. (TN: Bullet screen = barrages.)

Aircraftcarriers majestically sailed by one after another!

.......

07:27 p.m.

BeijingSatellite TV studio, backstage waiting area.

Lu Chenhugged his favorite guitar, waiting to go on stage.

There was animpassioned voice from the host outside.

Tonight is “SingingChina” Beijing Singing District’s top 16 of 32 competition. Due to theaddition of the live audience and off-site audience voting session, the delayedbroadcast time has been changed from 60 minutes to 5 minutes. It can beregarded as a real live broadcast!

Lu Chen was arrangedto be the first to go on stage, number 001.

There are 31contestants behind him, all of whom stand out from tens of thousands ofcompetitors.

And half ofthem will be eliminated tonight, leaving the stage.

Lu Chenknows that in front of TVs and computers, there would be many people who knowor don’t know him that will be watching him sing, including his relatives andfriends.

But he wasnot nervous at all. He was calm, as if he was going to a friend’s afternoon teaappointment.

“Next, let’swelcome one of Beijing Singing District Top 32, contestant No. 001, Lu Chen, onstage!"

Warm applausesuddenly rang out like a summer storm, instantly sweeping across the bigstudio.

Assaulting LuChen’s eardrum.

Lu Chen’seyes suddenly became bright, and the corners of his lips raised a faint smile.

Amid theapplause, he stepped up the steps, walked steadily and forcefully to the centerof the stage, and stood in the spotlight.

At the sametime, he faced the 4 judges, 27 cameras, and 1,500 live audience!

“Hello,four judges, audience and friends! Good evening everyone!”

Lu Chen lookedsteadily forward and said into the microphone: “I am contestant No. 001,Lu Chen.”

With that,he bowed.

The applausethat just calmed down sounded again, and one could hear the audience’s love andsupport for him.

The songs“Life On A String" and “In Spring”, not only made Lu Chen’s namewell known during his first performance in "Singing China", but also made many audiencesno longer unfamiliar to him. (TN: Not sure if I translated this correctly.)

He evenskipped the quarter-finals, and advanced directly to the top 32.

Last week,July 19, the third week in China Music Charts, after a month of promotion andpublicity, “In Spring” successfully topped the list!

The Wanderingband became famous and became a hot new band. And as the songwriter of “InSpring”, Lu Chen’s name has been firmly remembered by many insiders.

One of thejudges, Queen of Sweet Songs Chen Fei’er, smiled and asked, “Lu Chen, wemeet again. What song did you bring to everyone tonight? Is it still your ownoriginal work?”

She showedan expectant expression and the camera gave her a close-up shot.

Lu Chen didnot disappoint. He nodded and replied, “Yes, the song I brought to everyonetonight is very special. It is my first original work, a campus folk song...”

“Itsname is, "You Who Sat Next To Me"!”

Tan Hongsaid, “I’m looking forward to your wonderful singing.”

The music sounded.

Lu Chen loweredhis head slightly and gently plucked the strings.

Then hestarted singing.

“Tomorrow,will you recall, the diary you wrote yesterday, tomorrow, will you think about,you who loved to cry.”

“The teachershave long forgotten, you who couldn’t guess the answers, It was only because Irandomly flipped through my pictures, that I thought of you who sat next to me!!”

“......”

Lu Chen hasplayed and sung this song “You Who Sat Next To Me” many times, butevery time he plays and sings it, he has different feeling and experience. Hecan’t say which time was the best, but he always sang it from the heart.

The songitself is not complicated; simple two-paragraph body, the range is not wide, andonly has six intervals.

But it has abeautiful melody, simple and easy to sing, and long and delicate lyrics likesilk. It easily touched the feelings that people have been hiding in theirhearts, which makes people have a strong resonance, bringing them back to thepast.

This melodiousand fresh song perfectly reflects the pure and hazy feelings of campus life, soit has always been one of Lu Chen’s most popular works.

Differentfrom the usual, the song has been rearranged by Nirvana Studio. Wang Jing hasadded accordion and harmonica score to the accompaniment, which not onlygreatly enriches the timbre, but also strengthens the sense of nostalgia of themelody.

Therefore,when Lu Chen took out “You Who Sat Next To Me” and sang it on thereal stage, the charm of this classic work not only didn’t fade at all, butbecame more and more touching.

Even if peoplelistened to it many times, they will still be deeply touched!

The studiohall became quiet, very quiet. Everyone listened and savored it quietly.

Many people,in Lu Chen’s slightly sentimental narrative, recall the beautiful years ofyouth they experienced - the borrowed eraser, the notebook they copied, the38th line on the table...

Thosebeautiful times, those sweet memories, have gone with the wind!

"... Wholifted your long hair, who made your wedding gown, la...”

Until LuChen finished singing, the whole audience remained silent.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

The first toclap his hands was Judge Lin Zhijie.

There was anirrepressible admiration and appreciation in the eyes of this Music Director ofFlying Stone Records.

However, asif awakening from a dream, everyone applauded one after another. At first, itwas disorderly, and then it became orderly. Sincere and warm applause sounded likewaves!

Chen Fei’erwas the first to stand up. Her eyes sparkled brilliantly and she applauded LuChen.

Many audiencesstood up. Although the live broadcast of the competition has only just begunand Lu Chen was the first singer to appear, the atmosphere has already beenpushed to the climax!

“Thankyou!”

Lu Chenbowed deeply and said sincerely, “Thank you everyone!”

His heart wasno longer calm.

It was goodfeeling!

It took afull minute for the applause to finally subside and everyone sat back to theirseats.

Chen Fei’ersaid, “Lu Chen, I like this song of yours. I like it very much!”

She was evena little excited: “So I’ll give you ten points!”

As soon asher voice fell, the Queen of Sweet Songs pressed down on the scorer on thetable and gave Lu Chen the highest score.

Lu Chen wassurprised and happy, and he thanked her: “Thank you, Teacher Chen.”

“SingingChina” top 16 of 32, uses the combination of judges’ score and on-site andoff-site audience votes to select the top 16, of which the percentage ofjudges’ scores reached 40%.

Chen Fei’er’sfirst 10 points, undoubtedly pushed the balance to Lu Chen’s victory, pressingdown a lot of weight!

She smiledand said, "Thank you, too, for letting me listened to a really good song.”

She smiledwith tears in her eyes.

As emotionalas she is, as moved as she is.

_____

TN: The song"You Who Sat Next To Me": FemaleSinger / Male Singer.

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