The furnishings in the interview room were very simple; aside from three people sitting at a table, there were only some musical instruments like keyboards and guitars.
The three interviewers this time included Li Lin, the associate director, and the remaining two were seasoned original musicians from the music industry, one named Xu Feiyang and the other Zhang Zhiyin.
Both appeared to be in their thirties or forties and seemed quite amiable.
Before Mu Li entered the room, the three musicians were looking through the material in their hands.
“Mu Li, original singer, fresh graduate from the Broadcasting and Hosting Department of Yangcheng Conservatory of Music, with representative works like 'like you as a friend' and 'stubborn'.”
Upon seeing Mu Li’s resume, Li Lin couldn’t help but become interested, especially when he saw the achievements of 'like you as a friend'.
“It has over 10 million plays on Kuaoyin.”
Li Lin asked the other two musicians, “Have either of you heard this song, teachers?”
Xu Feiyang nodded and said, “I’ve heard it.
It’s one of the few songs that describes friendship, and overall, it’s quite good.
It doesn’t follow the same path as the popular internet celebrity songs on the market, and coupled with the popularity of the previous graduation season, it did achieve some minor success.”
Zhang Zhiyin asked curiously, “Teacher Xu, could you elaborate?”
“Don’t mention it, I actually looked into it specifically.”
Xu Feiyang chuckled, “This song has two versions.
The first version was performed by Mu Li at the Yangcheng Conservatory of Music’s graduation ceremony, a version performed by four people.
The arrangement was likely done by a teacher from the Yangcheng Conservatory of Music, clearly rushed together temporarily.”
“The other version was arranged and produced by Jin Shiming, a golden producer from Jiayu, and it’s also the officially released version, so its quality goes without saying.”
Zhang Zhiyin retorted, “Who asked you to talk about the arrangement? Talk about the original.”
“Habit, habit.”
Xu Feiyang chuckled awkwardly, “From an original perspective, the song’s melody lines are simple and smooth.
The verses use colloquial narration, making the entire song feel very lifelike.
The lyrics also use concrete, everyday scenarios for narration, along with modern popular vocabulary, which makes it more relatable to the thinking of contemporary young people.
Furthermore, the chorus also creates a memorable point through repeated melodies.”
“Overall, it’s a good song, especially for a student who isn’t from a professional background.”
Xu Feiyang did not hesitate to express his praise.
Li Lin smiled and said, “It seems Teacher Xu really likes this song?”
“That’s right.”
Xu Feiyang smiled, “It’s no exaggeration to say that even when compared to the entire audition process before, if we talk about professionalism, this song might not be the most professional, but its popularity is definitely the strongest.”
“What do you say, Teacher Zhang?”
Li Lin then looked at Zhang Zhiyin.
Zhang Zhiyin also smiled, “Everyone isn’t deaf.
With the quality of this song, it’s certainly more than enough to secure this alternate spot, but…”
“But what?”
Li Lin asked, puzzled.
“But Mu Li’s shortcomings are also very obvious.
He only has this one song.
The song called 'stubborn' didn’t even provide us with an audio source.
It’s difficult for us to judge his creative level based on just this one song.”
Zhang Zhiyin chuckled, “I believe Teacher Xu shares my concerns, which is why he didn’t directly recommend this person.”
“In that case, let’s meet him first.”
Li Lin immediately had a staff member invite Mu Li in.
Seeing Mu Li for the first time was a pleasant surprise for Li Lin.
Regardless of Mu Li’s creative level, at least from his appearance and demeanor, he was very suitable for being on camera.
“Mu Li, you wrote two songs in your resume.
Why didn’t you provide an audio source for 'stubborn'?”
Li Lin asked directly.
“That song is the theme song I wrote for Idol Project.
Because the program hasn’t aired yet and is still confidential, I can’t freely provide the audio source.”
Mu Li explained, “However, I brought the audio source with me.
Would the three teachers be willing to help evaluate it?”
Seeing Mu Li speak so appropriately, the three happily agreed.
The moment the song began playing in the room, the three immediately got into the zone.
Xu Feiyang’s lips immediately curved into an arc: “This arrangement is quite interesting, truly worthy of being a song written for a girl group.”
“When I am different from the world…”
As the song entered the verse, Xu Feiyang’s expression became even more serious, his eyes fixed on the lyrics Mu Li had just handed to the three of them.
And when the line “You said only by being burned by fire can a phoenix appear” was sung, Xu Feiyang felt as if a flame ignited in his heart.
His mind began to constantly recall those past years, when he was in the recording studio, day after day, trying to create the most perfect music in his heart.
Although he failed time and again, his works were repeatedly put into the market, but they never received any returns.
He tried again and again, and failed again and again, but so what?
“The direction against the wind is more suitable for flying.”
The more he was in adversity, the more determined he became to achieve his goal: to create a song that the world would recognize.
He succeeded, and so he walked step by step, arriving here.
And this young man in front of him, just like him back then, was constantly trying.
After one song, the three couldn’t help but look at each other, seeing joy, shock, and regret in each other’s eyes.
The joy was that they had originally thought 'like you as a friend' was Mu Li’s highest level currently, but they hadn’t expected 'stubborn' to be a top-notch choice, whether from its concept, creativity, or popularity.
The shock was that Mu Li, at such a young age, could produce such an excellent work.
As long as he could maintain this standard, his future was limitless.
And the regret was that this song turned out to be the theme song for Idol Project.
Why wasn’t it the theme song for Vocal Creation Chapter?
Stubbornness, our program also fits this theme!
The three remained silent for a long time before Li Lin finally said, “Teachers, any comments?”
Zhang Zhiyin retorted, “Comments on what? The quality of this song is even better than what I make myself.
Comments, really? Do you think I have a big face?”
Upon hearing Zhang Zhiyin’s words, Xu Feiyang couldn’t help but laugh, “Teacher Zhang is right.
I have nothing more to say.
Director Li, if you don’t want this person, you’ll probably become famous.
Once this kid becomes famous and tells this story, won’t people laugh you to death?”
The quality of this song goes without saying; it’s Mayday’s famous song, and its popularity has never waned, whether it was when the song was first released or before Mu Li’s transmigration.
However, he also didn’t expect the two judges’ evaluation to be so high.
Didn’t they agree that one would play the good cop and the other the bad cop?
How am I supposed to respond when you both praise me like this?
It’s impolite to hit a smiling face.
Seeing that both judges praised him so much, Mu Li naturally had to feign modesty, and this interview was a success.
Li Lin immediately made the decision to give the remaining spot in the program group to Mu Li.
The next morning after the interview, Liu Yun came to Hang City and signed the contract with the Vocal Creation Chapter program team, awaiting the official recording tomorrow.
The program team also informed Mu Li in advance about the competition rules for the third live recording.
The remaining 20 contestants would compete for the remaining 4 promotion spots.
The competition method was to randomly draw topics on-site and complete song creation within 6 hours, followed by a stage performance.
As for the singer performing the song, the creator could either perform it themselves or choose one from the 20 young singers provided by the program team to help the creator perform the song.
These 20 young singers were all invited from various music academies.
Although they were not famous singers, performing a song was a very simple matter given their professional level.
On the day the official recording began, Mu Li and the other 20 music creators waited directly on stage for the announcement of the limited theme.
However, because the creation time this time was six hours, during the actual recording, Mu Li and the others would first record the scene of drawing the theme, and then begin performing the original song after six hours.
To prevent cheating, the entire process was monitored by countless cameras, and the 20 original creators could not leave the camera’s sight during this period.
Even going to the restroom required a dedicated staff member to accompany them.
For a moment, Mu Li couldn’t help but recall his college entrance examination.
The host of Vocal Creation Chapter was named Xu Wei, a host famous for his fast talking, appearing to be in his thirties.
When he walked to the center of the stage, a machine filled with ping-pong balls was also pushed up.
This was the prop for this topic drawing: each ping-pong ball had a corresponding theme written on it, and the other 20 people would all create songs based on the same theme.
As the music began, Xu Wei drew a ping-pong ball from the machine.
After drawing the ping-pong ball, Xu Wei directly showed the words on the ping-pong ball to the camera: “This time’s topic is regret.”
“Regret?”
Mu Li sat in the room provided by the program team, scratching his head somewhat worriedly.
In fact, there were too many songs about regret in his mind, including regrets of love, youth, dreams, and so on.
Any one of these songs would fit the theme.
But Mu Li didn't just want to create a qualified song, but a song suitable for him to perform.
As a singer, if he couldn't perform his own songs, it would be a bit of a regret.
For him now, only by integrating his own emotions into the song could he perform it well.
Love?
Whether in his previous life or this life, he had never experienced the regret of love.
Youth?
He was in the prime of his youth.
What about dreams?
In his previous life, he loved to Sing, but he never told anyone around him that he wanted to become a singer, because for him, a singer was like the bright moon hanging high in the night sky, only to be looked up at, not to be approached.
That dream was once so humble, so humble that it couldn't be known by a second person, because Mu Li knew that in that life, no one would support his dream.
But having lived again, he had even forgotten that dream, but it was awakened at that graduation party, recalling his dormant memories.
Regarding dreams, the first people he thought of were his parents.
His parents chose to travel abroad directly after he retired.
Mu Li once asked his parents, “Why did you give up your original life and choose to travel?”
“No reason at all.
It’s just because your mother and I both dreamed of traveling the world one day.”
His father replied.
“But I also need you very much!
Why can’t you stay and accompany me?”
Mu Li pressed on.
His father was silent for a long time before saying, “You are already an adult, and you are capable of taking care of yourself.
It’s time for us to let go and let you walk your own path.”
“Similarly, we also have our dreams, and we also want to achieve them.”
Mu Li didn’t understand: “But why now? Can’t you wait until I’m a bit older?”
His father smiled: “You only live once.
Some things, if you don’t do them now, you’ll never do them.”