Chapter 497: Chapter 473: Return to Number One_1
The competition must go on. Leng Quan’s incident was just a small hiccup in the “Masked Singer” program, and with Prince of Lanling’s exit, this drama also temporarily came to an end…
“Prince of Lanling!”
Excitement filled Tongtong’s face. Her admiration for Lin Yuan was now apparent in her gaze. She had not anticipated that under the weight of public opinion and immense pressure from the opening, Prince of Lanling would explode so resoundingly!
“Let’s go back.”
A smile curled the corners of Lin Yuan’s mouth beneath his mask. He felt like he had become slightly more emotional. He didn’t know if it was the enthusiasm of the fans who had rushed to support him before the recording or the concern he sensed from those around him. Even though he used to get emotional while singing, after the song ended, he would usually maintain a poker face.
Returning to the green room.
The second singer, who identified himself as Male Lion, chose a powerful high-toned song. His voice was several tones higher than Prince of Lanling’s. His performance was received well, but compared with Prince of Lanling’s performance just now, it seemed a bit lacking?
This lion.
Isn’t fierce enough.
Judge Yang Zhongming commented: “You have a rare quality that you’ve managed to overcome the influence of Prince of Lanling’s previous performance and brought out your own power. However, the disadvantage is that the audience hasn’t completely forgotten the previous performance…”
Male Lion felt helpless.
Being the second fill-in singer to appear was unbearable, as he was directly subjected to the terrifying pressure from Prince of Lanling. If he could have delivered a performance at the same level, it would have been all right, but this wasn’t easy to achieve at all.
The competition continued.
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The third performer was Robot. Thanks to Male Lion’s performance, Robot was not too affected by Prince of Lanling and easily used his high tones to engage the audience. Like the last episode, he performed at a King of Singing level.
The fourth.
Fill-in singer Rose took the stage. However, once Rose began singing, everyone was surprised to discover that this participant had also chosen a high-toned song. If the last episode had been a piano-themed event, this one seemed to be high-tone-themed.
The fifth.
White Swan.
High notes again!
After hearing so many high tones, the audience felt as if they were constantly being kept on edge. When the sixth performer, Pufferfish, took the stage, the thought in everyone’s mind was…
Here come the high notes again!
However, to everyone’s surprise, Pufferfish, who ranked second in the first round with high notes, didn’t continue to sing a high-toned song in this round. Instead, she performed “Big Fish” for the audience!
The song that White Swan sang in the first round!
Although “Big Fish” isn’t a low-toned song, it’s different from the other songs which aim for high notes. The audience felt comfortable listening to this song. It relieved the tension that had been building up due to the numerous high notes.
“Impressive.”
White Swan admired.
The assistant manager next to her thought White Swan was praising Pufferfish’s good singing. Little did she know what White Swan really meant: “Pufferfish’s competition experience is indeed very rich, after the audience has listened to so many high-toned songs, what they need now is a subdued song. It’s like how people enjoy tofu mixed with green onions after having a lot of meat and fish. Choosing songs for live performances is a learned skill that requires tactical thought from the singer.”
Next door.
Robot also broke into a smile, “Pufferfish is too smart. Why is everyone singing high-toned songs in this round? Isn’t it because of her high-toned song that ranked second in the last round? However, she chose to perform a relatively calm song this time, which makes the audience appreciate it more….”
Next door to Robot.
Even Lin Yuan slightly nodded in agreement: “Although Pufferfish’s version of ‘Big Fish’ isn’t as good as Jiang Kui’s or White Swan’s, for those hearing it for the first time, it offers a unique taste. This round has plenty of high-toned songs; her choice to not sing a high-toned song is the smartest move.”
Tongtong was left speechless.
Typical of you.
Directly saying that Pufferfish wasn’t as good as White Swan and Jiang Kui was too straightforward. However, seeing as how Tongtong had become too tired to impede Prince of Lanling’s occasional shocking remarks, she did nothing.
Tired.
Let it be destroyed.
After all, Prince of Lanling’s performance this round was enough to silence many critics. As for controversy, having some controversy isn’t necessarily bad. Controversy means popularity. As long as not all reactions are negative, it’s fine.
Competition over.
Including the two fill-in singers of this round, they all gathered in a room backstage, and everyone’s gaze inevitably landed on Prince of Lanling.
Six competitors.
Four high-toned songs.
Only Pufferfish and Prince of Lanling didn’t use high tones. The song of Prince of Lanling was only powerful because of his good usage of the lung diaphragm, so he could sing loudly. This was entirely different from singing high notes, which doesn’t mean shouting louder and louder.
“We made a tactical mistake.”
As soon as Robot entered the room, he blurted out the words, showing tendencies of a chatterbox: “We all chose high-toned songs. The audience will become numb after hearing too many high-toned songs, so songs like ‘Big Fish’ actually have an advantage.”
“Yes!”
“We made a mistake.”
The two fill-in singers also chimed in, expressing their remorse. They all wanted to stand out with high-toned songs, but the higher their tunes, the less significant they seemed in front of “A Smile Amid the Vast Sea”.
He has a broadsword without a blade!
Brilliance lies in the most unsophisticated execution!
Pufferfish smiled softly. She had guessed that this round would feature many high-toned songs. Since Robot and White Swan were both quite adept at high-toned songs, she decided to take the opposite approach and selected the sentimental song “Big Fish”. Of course, there were some other reasons for choosing this song that others wouldn’t know—
She had something to prove!
At this point, she also glanced at Prince of Lanling, her gaze tinged with a touch of gloom and dissatisfaction. It seemed as if she wanted to speak up, but in the end, she didn’t say anything and just gloomily sat back down on the couch.
At this moment, the director entered.
Of course, Tong Shuwen was there to announce the rankings. He beamed, “This episode has significant reference value for our subsequent competition arrangements. Thank you all for your wonderful performances…”
The subsequent competition arrangements?
Reference value?
Everyone pondered thoughtfully.
Tong Shuwen didn’t reveal too much. Instead, he announced the list first. Of course, he didn’t forget to add some suspenseful moments. He had done exactly the same during the first two episodes, and it had stirred quite a reaction. Everyone had a love-hate relationship with Director Tong Shuwen.
Building suspense is adorable.
Too much anticipation, however, could be quite irksome.
Today, they began by announcing the second place. Today’s second place belonged to the White Swan. It was clear that despite the high notes being numerous this time around, they were still very popular with the audience. The third place went to the strategically selected song of the Pufferfish.
Everyone clapped their hands.
The robot muttered while clapping, “All of a sudden, I have a bad feeling. I hope I won’t be eliminated. That would be embarrassingly humiliating. I still have some tricks up my sleeve.”
Of course, the robot wasn’t eliminated.
His final rank was fourth, just the same as the White Swan’s in the previous episode. At this point, it was already evident who the first place would be. All eyes were once again on Prince of Lanling.
“Congratulations!”
Tong Shuwen showed a smile, “Congratulations to Prince of Lanling for returning to the first-place throne. This time there were no ties. Furthermore, the total vote count for Prince of Lanling was the highest since the commencement of the competition, with 470 audience votes, 45 popular jury votes, and 150 jury votes, making a total of 710 votes!”
Lin Yuan stood up.
The vote count was certainly very high. The highest total vote counts in the previous two episodes hadn’t even surpassed 700 votes. It was clear that the song he chose had truly resonated with the public.
Amidst the applause of everyone,
Tong Shuwen looked at the two replacement singers. They were sitting pitifully quiet on the couch. They had come here intending to make an amazing debut, but the singers here were all incredibly talented, driving them into a corner.
Tong Shuwen felt sympathy for them.
But no matter how much he sympathized, competition rules still had to be adhered to. In the end, the Male Lion was eliminated. His vote count was only slightly lower than the other replacement singer, Rose.
In other words,
If the second performer in this episode had been Rose, it would have been her instead of the Male Lion who got eliminated. Today, regardless of who sang after Prince of Lanling, they were bound to lose.
“I’m leaving.”
The Male Lion stood up.
For a singer, it’s rather embarrassing to be eliminated in the first round of The Masked Singer. But if his skills had been inferior, he would have had to unveil his mask obediently. Everyone was curious about the identity of the Male Lion. After he had unmasked himself, it turned out he was a quite famous top-tier singer named Mu Shi.
Mu Shi. Shi, Lion, homophonic.
When the host asked Mu Shi if he had any final words, continuing the program’s tradition of unmasking, he started to sing: “The moonlight’s chill turns my longing into a river…”
The whole audience erupted into laughter.
Another ‘chill’ one fell.
Everyone couldn’t help but sigh, they didn’t expect Mu Shi was the singer behind the mask. Rose even complimented Mu Shi for his good singing. Just at that moment, Prince of Lanling shook his head.
“Prince of Lanling!”
Tongtong couldn’t help but intervene.
She felt that if she didn’t stop him, Prince of Lanling might say something offensive again. However, Tong Shuwen seemed to enjoy stirring the pot, “Does Prince of Lanling have something to say?”
Lin Yuan looked at Tongtong, then at Tong Shuwen and finally couldn’t help but speak, “Let’s just touch the surface then. Teacher Mu Shi’s high notes are very powerful, but his breaths are too frequent. This song is not suited for him.”
Tongtong rolled her eyes.
The robot clicked his tongue.
White Swan chuckled softly.
Pufferfish remained silent.
Rose looked embarrassed.
The managers and assistants all collectively played dead. This Prince of Lanling was really the blunt and direct Prince of Lanling, never considering who he might offend. Even though his straightforwardness had caused him quite a lot of trouble: first with Yuan Xi’s fans, then with Zhao Ying Ge’s fans, and now he had also offended Mu Shi’s fans. Did he intend to never unmask himself…
With numerous debts, what’s there to worry about?
With so many lice, do you stop itching?
Tong Shuwen burst out laughing. In this room, he was the only one who knew the real identity of Prince of Lanling. That’s why he knew that no matter how many people Prince of Lanling offended now, the moment he took off his mask, none of those problems mattered!
The Masked Singer!
There’s really a “king” under the mask…
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ps: Thank you[Thousand Cherry Blossoms LoSeR] for becoming the forty-first Alliance Hierarch of this book, ▄█▀█● you’re awesome, cheering for you!