Chapter 157: First Broadcast
Jiang Shu?
That name sounds a little familiar.
Something’s not right, let me check again.
It still sounds familiar, let me search on Baidu…
What the heck?!
Jiang Shu?!!!
When the first person who discovered it forwarded the news to their K-pop group, the news spread rapidly like a plague.
The news of Chairman Jiang Shu of DM Entertainment appearing on “Classic咏流传” quickly spread within the niche circle of Chinese K-pop.
Due to the lack of a second-generation K-pop wave, the actual global influence of K-pop was far less than in the real world, and the number of fans was quite small, making it a niche within a niche.
However, no matter what, Korean Entertainment, with its complete idol debut system, was still the most renowned entertainment system in Asia, carrying significant weight.
After all…
While K-pop might have been struggling, Korean films certainly were not.
Moreover, with the sudden explosion of IVE, even though it was only for eight months, it injected a strong stimulant into K-pop, which was facing a development bottleneck, rekindling the idea of forming girl groups for many companies.
And the mastermind behind all of this was DM Entertainment, a new force, and Jiang Shu was the founder of DM Entertainment.
Furthermore, the debut songs and title tracks of DM Entertainment's artists were basically all from his hand; this Chairman Jiang was a bona fide genius producer.
It’s just…
Could he write a song that looked so traditional Chinese?
Questions arose, but this sudden surge in popularity was naturally something the production team welcomed. Discussions about “Classic咏流传” were everywhere, and the theme of the first episode was also released.
DM Entertainment, Chairman’s Office.
“The Three Greats of enlightenment studies, huh.” Jiang Shu frowned, looking at the theme: three character classic, Thousand Character Classic, Hundred Family Surnames. They were going for such a difficult theme right from the start?
But if he were to copy… write, he could still do it.
He picked up the phone on the desk.
“Connect me to the Trainee Department.”
A moment later.
“Clear out a practice room with instruments.”
Putting down the phone, Jiang Shu got up and headed straight downstairs.
The trainees who were in a composition class were bewilderedly chased out. DM Entertainment only had two practice rooms with instruments: one where Jeon Soyeon was leading ITZY in songwriting, and the other where trainees were having a composition class. The Trainee Department definitely cleared out the latter.
“Xiao Xiao Jie, what’s going on?” Song Yuqi scratched her head and asked Cheng Xiao beside her.
“I’m not sure.” Cheng Xiao also looked confusedly at the equally bewildered teacher who was negotiating with the manager.
“Never mind, is Ning Yizhuo done with class?” Song Yuqi didn’t care and asked.
“She’s in vocal class, so probably not.”
Just as Song Yuqi was about to say something, she saw Jiang Shu’s figure.
“Chairman Jiang is here.”
Cheng Xiao looked up and also saw Jiang Shu.
The trainees instantly quieted down.
“Chairman Jiang!”
The group bowed to Jiang Shu in greeting.
Jiang Shu walked quickly into the practice room. Seeing his actions, the trainees also understood why they were driven out.
“So they were clearing the room for Chairman Jiang, no wonder.” Song Yuqi nodded in realization.
At this moment, Jiang Shu’s voice came over.
“Cheng Xiao, Song Yuqi, is Ning Yizhuo here?”
Hearing their names, Song Yuqi and Cheng Xiao exchanged glances and quickly walked over.
“Chairman Jiang!”
Jiang Shu, who had just entered the practice room, came out again and was standing at the door looking at the two of them.
“Which of you can recite the three character classic?” Jiang Shu asked in Chinese.
This question stumped both of them.
“I can!” Song Yuqi reacted faster and raised her hand, saying.
“You’re it.” Jiang Shu glanced at Cheng Xiao, “Song Yuqi, come in. The rest of you can disperse.”
After speaking, he turned and walked into the practice room.
Song Yuqi quickly followed him.
Although Cheng Xiao didn’t know why Jiang Shu asked that question, it didn’t stop her from being annoyed at her slow reaction.
Song Yuqi followed Jiang Shu into the practice room, not forgetting to close the door.
“Sit wherever you like.” Jiang Shu said without looking at her, reaching for the guitar in the case.
“Recite the three character classic.”
“Eh? Oh! People at birth, are naturally good…”
“Stop.”
Jiang Shu plucked the strings.
“People at birth~ are naturally good~”
Song Yuqi’s eyes instantly widened.
Such a soothing melody. The three character classic is an enlightenment text, so why does it sound so soothing when interpreted with modern music?
The music stopped abruptly.
“Continue reciting.”
“Oh, oh.”
Thus, with the help of a Chinese person who could recite the three character classic, Jiang Shu was saved from constantly checking his phone for information.
Soon, a modern pop music version of “three character classic” was freshly released.
Then Jiang Shu took Song Yuqi to the recording studio to record a demo. In just over an hour, a “three character classic” was completed under Song Yuqi’s watchful eye.
This rapid pace left Song Yuqi feeling a bit dizzy even after it ended. Was this reasonable?
When did songwriting become so easy?
She probably couldn’t even copy a song that fast, right?
Dizzily, she returned to the practice room, the melody still echoing in her mind.
These were poems she had learned since childhood, but could these things also be made into songs?
A small seed was planted in Song Yuqi’s heart.
…
April 1st arrived as scheduled, and the highly anticipated “Produce48” aired at 4 PM on JTBC.
At the same time, DM Entertainment live-streamed on Bilibili, Weibo, Douyin, and other major Chinese platforms. However, there was no live stream on Instagram. If you wanted to watch, you had to go to these Three Greats platforms or JTBC. Instagram was the bottom line; no TV station would allow simultaneous re-broadcasting to Instagram.
The recording habits of Chinese and Korean variety shows differed. Domestic variety shows were usually released after being fully or mostly recorded, while Korean shows tended to be filmed and aired simultaneously, similar to K-dramas.
“Produce48” followed this model. After recording two episodes, the content was released directly to gauge the reaction. If the reaction was good, the script would be extended or refined. If the reaction was mediocre, it would be cut and ended quickly to minimize losses.
Ultimately, it came down to insufficient funds, requiring careful spending.
However, fortunately, “Produce48” had ample funding; at least for this particular survival show, they were not short on money.
Soon, the show began airing.
“Hello everyone, I’m from DM Entertainment…”
“Hello everyone, I’m from S.M. Entertainment…”
After the classic “Produce48” opening, the trainees entered one by one, introducing themselves to the camera and the pyramid-shaped ranking seats.
However, it was clear from the bullet comments that most trainees would not be remembered by netizens.
As the trainees continued to appear, they took their seats one by one.
【So many people have arrived already】
【I saw Kim Minju from Chairman Jiang’s video!】
【Why is no one daring to sit in the top three seats, hahahaha everyone is too humble】
【Humble my ass, those three from IVE are among these forty-eight people!】
【Now that you mention it, I remember. With Karina and Yuan Ying here, no one would dare to sit in first place.】