Chapter 50: Song Selection
Every time Li Ying announced a song title, a short VCR clip would play on the screen embedded in the wall, letting the trainees listen to a snippet of the music.
After all the songs had been played, hushed whispers began to spread throughout the room.
“‘Letting Go’ is so hard…”
“Only people good at vocals should pick that one.”
No one wanted Letting Go. Without solid vocal technique, it was hard to do a love song justice, and the result would end up like Dead Leaf Butterfly from the first performance—disastrous.
Melatonin was much more appealing: exotic R&B, not much high range, and the lyrics weren’t difficult either.
The theme of the song was nighttime, romance, and dreaminess. The original singer’s diction was dreamy and sexy—pulling it off well could definitely attract dream-girl type fans.
As for 007-5, it was pure rap. Writing the lyrics would be challenging, but the upside was that if you chose this song, PD Li would definitely come to guide you.
And if you really couldn’t write the lyrics, the show would cover you—after all, the stage represented the show’s image, and they wouldn’t let things get too ugly.
White Rose, with its melodic rap style, was also a hot pick—it had exploded in popularity through a music competition show and even gone viral beyond its usual audience. If you could pull it off, you were sure to attract viewers.
Still, compared to the rap and vocal groups, the most coveted spot was in the dance group.
Dance had the most potential to blow the audience away.
Crane Bell was a traditional Chinese-style song, and you could perform in period costume—which had always been an enduring cultural aesthetic for Chinese audiences.
Indulged was a massively popular boy group choreography with built-in heat from K-pop fans, and it had a sexy style that was hard to resist.
Both were top-tier hot picks.
Li Ying said, “Each song will be split into two competing teams, but each team can have at most five members—so please choose your teammates carefully.”
Li Ying said, “The first-place winner of the initial round of voting—” He paused and looked at Yue Zhaolin. “Yue Zhaolin, have you chosen a song yet?”
Yue Zhaolin picked up the microphone. “Yes.”
He had already made his choice long ago.
Just as he was about to say it—
Li Ying’s smile deepened. “Good. But don’t say it just yet. Because in this round, the first to choose songs will be the trainees ranked tenth to sixtieth.”
The trainees ranked from tenth to sixtieth, excluding the debut positions, would get to pick songs first.
This was different from last season.
Someone exclaimed, “What?!”
Yue Zhaolin: “?”
Although the production team’s pacing was pretty well-designed, Yue Zhaolin felt like he’d just been teased—baited and left hanging.
Was it intentional?
Li Ying just smiled and said nothing.
Rong Ruize, who was bumped up to ninth place due to the withdrawal of the fifth and eighth-ranked contestants, couldn’t control his expression. He looked like he had a fishbone stuck in his throat—caught between a laugh and a cry.
He looked miserable. “Why did this have to happen when I’m ninth? Someone save me…”
But the lower-ranked trainees were clearly much more excited.
“We get to pick first? Doesn’t that mean we can actually choose the songs we want, instead of just getting what’s left?”
Wei Lai, who was ranked fifty-second, thought something felt off. He raised his hand and asked, “PD, are there any other rules about song selection?”
Li Ying paused for a second. “Yes.”
Everyone instantly went quiet.
Li Ying looked toward Yue Zhaolin, who was standing at the very front, and said slowly, “The top nine still have the right to choose any song.”
“But—if any of the top nine picks a team that has already reached its five-person limit, the lowest-ranked trainee in that group… will automatically be removed.”
This was the top-nine privilege.
“Removed?!”
The room broke into an uproar.
With this new rule announced, the previously disgruntled Yue Zhaolin felt appeased and nodded to himself. If even the first-place trainee had no special privileges, he would have made a fuss.
But from everyone else’s perspective, the competition had suddenly become much more brutal. Someone was definitely going to get kicked out—going from joy to heartbreak in an instant.
And once a trainee was removed from a full group, they could only join one with available slots—which, in most cases, meant being stuck with the leftovers nobody had picked in the previous round.
Standing behind Yue Zhaolin, Tan Shen whispered, “Wouldn’t it be safer to pick one of the mid-tier groups instead of a super popular one?”
Tan Shen’s thinking aligned with Yue Zhaolin’s. He nodded slightly. “Yeah.”
That way, the risk of being kicked out was much lower.
As it turned out, Yue Zhaolin’s prediction was correct. Aside from the love song Letting Go, the number of people in the other groups was fairly balanced.
The mid-tier songs, Melatonin and 007-5, were actually the first to fill up.
Meanwhile, the hottest of the hot picks—the dance groups Crane Bell and Indulged—still had one or two slots open across all four teams.
When it was Meng Yu’s turn, ranked 48th, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and take a gamble. “I’ll choose Crane Bell,” he said, joining Crane Bell Team A, which still had two open spots.
The other members of this group were Shu Yang (41st), Ao Liang’ao (15th), and Mao Ding (13th).
With a total of four people, even if someone from the top ranks chose this group, Meng Yu would still be able to stay.
Wei Lai (52nd) and Chen Fei (53rd), with limited options, chose the rap group White Rose, joining Team A and Team B respectively.
…
Li Ying smiled. “Alright, trainees ranked 10th to 60th have completed their song selections. Now, let’s begin with the top nine, starting from 9th place?”
As the top-ranked trainees began to pick, Cen Chi, who specialized in K-pop style dancing, went to Indulged Team A—forcing one person out.
Fu Xunying chose Melatonin A group. Even though he had poor breath control, this song wasn’t vocally demanding, and he had an edge with foreign languages.
Chu Li picked Crane Bell—a song practically tailor-made for him by the production team, perfectly aligned with his area of expertise—joining Team A.
His reason for choosing Team A was that all the members were slender with long legs, which would make the group look neat and aesthetically pleasing in traditional costumes during the choreography.
No one would drag the team down.
Ranked second, Tan Shen had a clear sense of his own strengths and limitations. He went to the rap group 007-5, bumping someone out in the process.
Li Ying looked at Yue Zhaolin. “Last one—Zhaolin, your turn to choose.”
Yue Zhaolin glanced at the six remaining songs, just about to speak when—bang.
The large screen embedded in the wall suddenly came loose on one side. Without one of its fastenings, it wobbled precariously. The trainees all quickly stepped back at the noise.
Fortunately, some data cables behind the screen held it in place, so it didn’t fall.
The staff rushed in for emergency repairs, while Li Ying kept the situation under control. “Everyone, take a short break and touch up your makeup.”
Yue Zhaolin went to a corner to grab some water. As he took a sip, he heard footsteps behind him. He glanced back casually—it was Meng Yu.
Meng Yu forced a smile and said quietly, “Zhaolin… are you planning to pick Crane Bell? Will you choose Team A?”
Yue Zhaolin raised an eyebrow. He was planning to choose Crane Bell. How did this guy know?
The traditional style was a complete departure from all his previous stages, which made him genuinely curious to try it.
Meng Yu lowered his head and clenched his fists. It looked as if he was pleading.
“If you pick Team A… I’ll be the one forced out.”
Yue Zhaolin: “?”
“I know you want to pick Team A,” Meng Yu said, “but Chu Li already chose it. If you go too, netizens might think the top-ranked trainees are banding together.”
“Pfft.”
Yue Zhaolin couldn’t help but laugh.
Meng Yu realized he’d said the wrong thing and tried to backtrack. “I didn’t mean anything by that…”
“You’re first place. No matter which team you choose, you’ll stand out. But I’m not like that. My ranking is on the edge. I need a good song to turn things around. Please—can you do this for the sake of our past friendship and not pick Team A?”
Yue Zhaolin set down his water bottle.
“Are you forgetting something? Meng Yu, this is my stage. Why should I be responsible for your future? Who even are you to me?”
Meng Yu: “I…”
Yue Zhaolin smiled, eyes glinting. “I’m really curious—do I look like some kind of saint to you? When you hit rock bottom, your first instinct is to beg me to step aside?”
Meng Yu’s voice was hoarse. “…Please.”
Tan Shen strolled over, swinging his arms. “What’s going on here? Acting out a tragedy backstage?”
Yue Zhaolin: “…”
Cen Chi: “…” With a mouth like Tan Shen’s, how could anyone stay serious?
Fu Xunying arrived as well. He glanced at Meng Yu—this guy always gave him the vibe of a “quiet dog that bites.” Best to keep some distance.
“Let’s go.”
“Mm.”
…
Back under the lights, Yue Zhaolin once again picked up the mic and smiled.
“I choose—Crane Bell.”
Traditional style paired well with his silvery-white hair. He’d watched the livestream playback and knew even Tide was excited to see him dye it.
And if he added hair extensions, the long hair would flow like moonlight… it might actually look pretty stunning.
—
[Goose Gossip Group | The nights without Episode 4 are just too boring, wuwuwu]
[Original post]
RT.
The pacing of the show has gotten so much better after the re-edit. Only now do I realize how much I appreciated it. Without the show, I feel like I’m wilting.
[1F] Isn’t tonight the song selection for the second performance? Got any gossip?
[3F] There is, but it’s so boring. Don’t even feel like munching on it.
[5F] There are actually multiple contestants this season who can sing, dance, and look good—this is what a talent show should be like! I was finally enjoying myself, don’t you dare cancel the show on me.
Scandal guy deserves to rot, but if the show really gets taken down, I’ll hate him forever…
[13F] Relax. Capital will definitely protect the show. Plus, the first three episodes have already been re-edited overnight. All of Scandal Guy’s scenes are gone.
[19F] The first three episodes are easier to re-edit than the first public performance. They just cut all his parts. But he had quite a lot of screen time? Nearly 20 minutes across three episodes.
[27F] Twenty minutes?! That’s almost half of what the Emperor Yue got. What’s that saying again? “Force-pushing leads to divine punishment.”
[32F] So boring… Is there anything to keep me alive right now… Give me something…
[39F] Wanna indulge in some morally questionable fun?
[45F] Is there a lot? Gimme gimme!
[58F] Guess what you’re looking for: The Bilibili Edition
“Theme Song Vocals Comparison (Muted Version)” [link]
“Unfiltered Bystander Roasts: Raw Reactions to Starlight Contestants” [link]
“Let’s Learn Yueology” [link]
[77F] Guess what you want to see – Weibo edition:
“Did Sis Show the Matching Outfit Today?” – a fanpage with over a million followers.
The “F4 of Scandal Hell” (Duanmu Hongxue, Min Xixi, Zhou Yixing, Pan Tianhua) are still churning out drama nonstop.
New “sisters-in-law” keep popping up, endless couple pics, intimate photos, and explicit chat logs have exploded online in multiple waves. At this point, netizens have basically become bed photo judges.
Scandal Bro (the one with the criminal stuff) fell due to lawbreaking, the other three fell due to morality. Each crashed in their own spectacular way—a truly satisfying feast of downfall.
[79F] Replying to 58th floor: Huh? What’s this “Yueology” thing?
[83F] It’s an academic-style “analysis” of what Emperor Yue said, did, and to whom he showed micro-expressions.
Purely subjective. Purely made-up.
“Yueology” includes but isn’t limited to memes about Yue himself and his various CPs (pairings).
[99F] I clicked on one—Is Emperor Yue breaking up a CP?
Crown Prince Ying tried to hold his hand and do fanservice, and Emperor Yue just dodged. I laughed so hard I nearly died.
[108F] Emperor Yue doesn’t play the CP game, but the other trainees keep trying to drag him into it. He often looks visibly annoyed.
And when it’s someone familiar like Crown Prince Ying, his annoyed face is even more obvious.
But Crown Prince Ying never gets mad—he’ll just shamelessly come back and try again next time. (LMAO)
[123F] The CP dynamics around the Emperor Yue are morally unhinged:
Crown Prince Ying (Fu Xunying): the main wife who got left behind and is now full of regret
Pretty Consort Chu (Chu Li): the seductive fox spirit from outside the palace
Meng Yu: the discarded handmaiden (lol)
[127F] Brother Deserve (Tan Shen): newly accepted second wife
Brother Moocher (Cen Chi): the mistress working hard to return to the household
[136F] The level of moral corruption here is off the charts.
I hereby name this household drama: “The Yue Family Courtyard.”