Everyone stood up and gave Iris a deafening standing ovation. There was not a single person who remained on their seat. The people felt like they would be doing something very disrespectful if they remained sitting after such a beautiful and magnificent performance.
It was the loudest and longest standing ovation for a performance so far tonight. The other artists and celebrities who begrudged and didn't believe that Iris Long deserved to receive the most award nominations this year finally experienced firsthand her amazing live performance which wasn't in any way inferior to the recorded versions of her music. Not to mention that they completely lost themselves to her insanely powerful charisma and stage presence.
"Iris! Iris! Iris!"
The Black Stars didn't need to lead the chant because everyone in the audience started calling her name in unison.
Of course, the brothers Jin Liwei and Jin Chonglin were also clapping their hands with everyone else. The people were too preoccupied cheering and admiring Iris' spectacular performance that nobody noticed the proud and loving expression on Jin Liwei's face, nor did they think too deeply about the flying kiss Iris Long sent directly to him.
They thought that her kiss was for everyone. They were wrong. Her elegant curtsy bow and hand waves were for everyone, but her sole flying kiss was for her darling alone.
Jin Chonglin glanced at his older brother beside him. Jin Liwei had an adoring expression on his face. Jin Chonglin elbowed his brother hard on the side, earning a harsh glare from him. Then Jin Liwei quickly reverted to his usual cold and indifferent expression when he realized that a camera was pointing their way.
Sometime later, Iris and JJ walked together to their assigned seats a few rows behind the Jin brothers. They changed back to the outfits they wore on the red carpet earlier. Everyone greeted them warmly, praising them for their brilliant performance.
JJ looked extremely smug and puffed out his chest. He immediately started bragging to his friend DJ Song. Iris sat between the two friends. She wasn't really listening to their conversation. Her eyes were gazing directly at the back of her darling's head. She felt tempted to just walk over to the front and then hug and kiss him in front of everyone. A giggle escaped from her lips at the thought.
It was as if he heard soft laughter because Jin Liwei turned his head behind him for the first time. They locked eyes at each other. They showed no outward expression but their eyes were filled with love.
Similarly, Jin Liwei's expression turned even colder and slightly menacing when he saw several men looking at his baby girl with obvious interest. Some of them didn't even bother disguising the lust in their eyes.
The people sitting around him paled when they saw his scary expression. They also shivered and shifted their bodies away from him. They wondered if someone displeased or offended him in some way.
Farther back in the audience, the Black Stars were busy monitoring something on their phones. They were watching the real-time polls, specifically for the people's choice award of Most Popular Female Artist.
"Come on, comrades! We only need less than 500 votes to get our boss to the number 1 position. We can do this!" Zhou Mei'er (a.k.a. CaptainBlackStar) encouraged her fellow Black Stars.
"Oh! I just refreshed! We only need 300 more votes…no, 200! 130…60…what…" Ming Li (a.k.a. Little Phoenix) gasped and looked at her companions in excitement.
"Yes! We did it!!! Our Boss Iris is now number 1 in the ranking! Whoop whoop!!!"
"Uwah! Look! We didn't just surpass the previous number 1 but we're now widening the gap!"
All the Black Stars celebrated this victory. However, they couldn't grow complacent because the voting hadn't ended yet. Anything could happen, especially since the competition in the Most Popular Female Artist ranking was extremely fierce compared to its counterpart Most Popular Male Artist where Jin Chonglin was already deemed to be the clear winner. The gap between him and the number 2 consisted of millions of votes.
Zhou Mei'er pumped her fists, as she watched the number of Iris' votes grow quickly. At the moment, the gap between the number 1 and the number 2 was more than 5,000 votes. And it was still growing by the second.
"Of course they'll be impressed. I think this is Boss Iris' biggest and most spectacular performance yet," Ming Li said.
All the Black Stars agreed with her. Iris usually played the piano during her performances. But this time, she opted for an eye-popping and mind-blowing stage production and threw JJ to play the piano for her. It was really a performance worthy of the Harmony Music Awards.
It completely overshadowed all the earlier performances. If the next performances failed to outshine Iris', then her performance would definitely be the most memorable one.
The only other person who could perhaps leave a more lasting impression than her was Jin Chonglin. The two not only competed against each other for the awards but also for the unofficial title of best performance of the night.
Who would win in this battle of the performances? Would it be Iris or Jin Chonglin? Would Iris beat Jin Chonglin again just like she did in the music charts?
After a few more acts which all felt lukewarm after Iris' amazing performance, it was finally Jin Chonglin's turn on the stage.
During Iris' performance earlier, she flew in the air via suspended wires. This time, Jin Chonglin was driven to the stage in a cool vintage sports car. He stood on the backseat of the open-top vehicle while he sang and gyrated his body with his sexy back-up dancers.
When he reached the stage, an impressive number of synchronized back-up dancers joined him in a fun, energetic and sexy hip hop R&B performance. Not only was Jin Chonglin a great singer and musician but he was also a superb dancer. All his moves were on-point. Combined with his oozing sex appeal and charisma, nobody could resist going crazy for him.
There were quite a number of fans who fainted from over-excitement whenever he winked, smiled or pointed a finger at them.
Near the end of his performance, a back-up dancer handed a bouquet of red roses to the singing and dancing Jin Chonglin. Then he jumped down the stage and walked past the first rows. Just as he sang the last lines of his song, he threw the bouquet hard.
Iris was shocked and extremely confused when the bouquet shot towards her. It was only her reflexes that allowed her to catch the bouquet a few inches before it could hit her on the face.
"Oh baby, you're the only one for me~"
Jin Chonglin sang this last line of his song and then winked at Iris.