Chapter 1067: The live broadcast begins!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
Saturday.
On the day of the grand finals.
Though it was only a bit after three o'clock in the afternoon, large groups of people were already lining up outside of Beijing Television. Some of them were distributing bottled water, some were distributing clothes, while others were distributing LED lightboards. Everyone was behaving in a very orderly manner as they began preparations to show support for their favorite contestants tonight!
"Where are Teacher Flowing Time's fans?"
"Gather over here, please!"
"Fans of Petal Shower, come quickly. We're distributing clothes over here!"
"Everyone, let's standardize our outfits to show our support for Little Sunset (Sunset Glow)!"
"Are there any fans of Teacher Clown around? You guys can get free bottles of water over here!"
"There are still three available LED lightboards for King of Oddity. Are any of you going to be seated in the front rows? Those who are seated near the front rows, please come and get one. Since the cameras focus there, those who are seated at the back, please don't take the LED lightboards."
"King of Oddity posted on Weibo that if he can gain a spot in the top three, he would sign autographs for his fans at the venue after the competition ends. Everyone will get one!"
"Ah? Are you serious?"
"Then how many will he have to sign?"
"Teacher Flowing Time posted that if he gets crowned as the grand champion on King of Masked Singers, he'll move up his new album's release date and hold a fan meeting with everyone this week. He's hoping that everyone can give him their support and vote for him!"
"I've already instructed everyone at home to vote for Flowing Time tonight!"
"Sunset Glow has also been canvassing for votes in advance. She started a lottery on Weibo two days ago! That's how I got my admission pass for today. Someone even won the latest model of a laptop!"
"The celebs have all poured in a lot of money for this!"
"Yeah, the celebrities are all trying their best to get votes."
"Only The Clown's Weibo has been inactive. He never posted anything!"
"Damn, why isn't Teacher Clown asking for votes?"
"Who knows!"
"As they said, he's probably not very famous and the celebrity guest partner he's invited should also be quite an unknown newcomer, so why isn't he worried? All the more he should be asking for votes in advance!"
At the live broadcast venue.
The program staff were having a hectic time.
"Check the equipment again!"
"There's a bit of a problem with Camera 5!"
"Equipment team, handle it!"
"There's only three hours left!"
"Are the contestants and their celebrity guest partners here yet?"
"They're all here except for The Clown's celebrity guest partner!"
"Wild Rose isn't here yet?"
"Not yet."
All the contestants had arrived in advance along with their guest partners.
However, The Clown's celebrity guest partner was the exception. By rights, everyone should have already reached the venue since this was such an important live broadcast event. But Wild Rose was still nowhere to be seen, and they were only missing her presence as of now.
Han Qi rushed to find The Clown. "Where's your partner?"
The Clown said evenly, "She has a busy schedule. Don't worry."
Han Qi didn't know how to react. "You're really calm, aren't you? Could you call her and hurry her up? There's not much time left."
The Clown shook his head. "There's no need."
He understood Old Zhang quite well as she was the same type of person as him. Since she had agreed to do something, she would definitely do it well. So there was no need to hurry her. After knowing each other for some time, there was some trust between them.
A distance away.
Flowing Time and King of Oddity overheard.
Flowing Time said, "Only The Clown's partner isn't here yet?"
Flowing Time's partner sneered, "What's with this diva behavior? We're rehearsing soon. Is she going to make all of us wait for her?"
In a room close by.
King of Oddity was also not too happy to hear this. "What's going to happen now? Are we going to go ahead with the rehearsal?"
The program team employee said, "We're not going to wait. Let's rehearse."
King of Oddity's partner smacked his lips and said, "These newbies are behaving too ridiculously!"
Just as he said that, the program team received an update: Wild Rose has arrived!
The rehearsal began!
In reality, it was not really a rehearsal but simply something for everyone to go through the motions to find their positions. For example, they had to know where the cameras were located and where to stand when they went up onstage. They had to run through the general process once.
The contestants and celebrity guest partners gathered next to the stage all at once.
When Zhang Ye saw Sunset Glow, Petal Shower, and Spinach, he nodded at them in greeting. Then he glanced at the partners beside them. Although they were all wearing masks, their figures looked very familiar. The other contestants and their partners also exchanged greetings as they scrutinized each other. Zhang Ye was naturally one of those whom everyone had their focus on. Many of the contestants and their partners were sizing him up.
Then Wild Rose finally arrived, late.
Flowing Time's partner glanced at her and shook his head slightly.
Petal Shower looked at Wild Rose and blinked several times.
Even though she was late, Wild Rose showed no timidity at all. Instead, she smiled gracefully. "I'm sorry. I got caught in a traffic jam on the way here. Let's get started."
Dafei said, "Alright. Now that everyone is here, we can begin the rehearsal!"
Sunset Glow and her partner were also looking at Wild Rose with eyes full of speculation.
Was she really a newcomer?
She didn't look like it!
Her voice sounded somewhat familiar?
But it also felt like she had deliberately changed the tone of her vocal register?
If she was a newcomer, why would she need to deliberately change her voice? Was she afraid that someone would recognize her?
...
The sky was gradually getting darker.
The time for the grand finals was approaching.
Zhang Ye's parents and several of his relatives also came to attend the recording and were currently lining up with their admission passes. The audience members were already getting admitted into the venue. They were verifying their admission passes and performing security checks at the front gate.
His mother exclaimed, "Why are there so many people?"
His eldest sister smiled and said, "It's the King of Masked Singers' grand finals, and it's even going to be broadcast live, so of course there's going to be a lot of people."
His third sister called out, "Why are the people up ahead not moving? I can't wait!"
His third uncle said, "What are you so anxious for? We'll definitely get in."
His third aunt said, "It's not like the seats will run away. Be patient."
Almost all of Zhang Ye's family members were here today. If not for his grandparents' legs being not as strong as before, coupled with their high blood pressure making them unable to be in crowded places for long, the two seniors would probably have come as well.
Not far away, Ha Qiqi, Zhang Zuo, Little Wang, and the others were also standing in line.
"It's so hot."
"It's not our turn yet?"
"The security check is taking too long."
"Let's patiently wait. If it wasn't for Director Zhang, we wouldn't have even gotten the tickets. How many people do you think have a chance to watch the grand finals at the venue? We're very fortunate."
This was the King of Masked Singers' grand finals!
It was a feast for the music and television show industry!
Attention from the industry insiders, the entertainment industry, the entire country's audience, and even the authorities were all focused here tonight!
...
At Zhang Ye's maternal grandma's house.
His grandpa and grandma turned on the television.
"Has it started yet?"
"Not yet."
...
His paternal aunt's house.
His paternal elder cousin and her best friend who ran a blogshop together had been waiting at their TV for a long time.
"Who do you like?"
"I like all of them."
"I only like The Clown, hehe."
...
At Peking University.
Many Peking University students who weren't on break yet were using the Internet in their dormitories to access the live broadcast on the television station's website. Some students even brought back a TV set from somewhere and hooked it up to an antenna to watch the live broadcast.
"It's about to begin!"
"Hurry and tell everyone!"
"I have a TV in my dorm. Whoever wants to come here and watch, hurry up!"
"We must support the show that was produced by Professor Zhang!"
...
The audience was shown in!
The stage was ready!
The countdown to recording had begun!
It was getting more and more rowdy online!
"There is only one show tonight—King of Masked Singers!"
"It's starting, it's starting!"
"Supporting Petal Shower!"
"I love Sunset Glow the most!"
"Flowing Time!"
"Flowing Time!"
"Let's go, The Clown!"
"Every one of them has a chance of winning tonight!"
"I'm looking forward to the crowning of the grand champion of King of Masked Singers!"
At 8 PM.
Under everyone's attention, the live broadcast of King of Masked Singers' finale began!