“Then I'll call Teacher Su Yu and ask about his situation! See if we can add one or two more stages.”
Director Ma looked at the expressions of the staff, steeled his heart, and decisively dialed Su Yu's number.
Every man for himself!
What about the old company? Taking care of self is the priority.
“Teacher Su Yu, it’s me, Ma Da!” The call was quickly connected, and Ma Da’s polite voice came first.
“Director Ma, have you received all the songs? How are they? Do you need me to make any changes?” Su Yu asked knowingly, his tone full of politeness.
He knew in his heart that the quality of these songs was excellent, and unless Ma Da truly lost his mind, there was no possibility of changing them.
“Absolutely not! Teacher Su Yu’s seven works are all magnificent, and my colleagues and I in the program team are very satisfied! The reason I’m calling you now is, first, to inform you that all the songs have successfully passed the review, and second, to ask if Teacher Su Yu has any other songs suitable for the Spring Festival Gala stage? Some special circumstances have arisen here, and one or two song stages might become available.”
Ma Da found a seemingly reasonable excuse and once again extended a sincere invitation to Su Yu.
Upon hearing this, Su Yu instantly understood the reason behind it.
It seemed that Ma Da was under considerable pressure, and after listening to his seven songs, he finally couldn't bear it anymore.
“Director Ma, have you seen the stage for 'the story of time' from last year?” Su Yu didn't agree directly but instead posed a seemingly inexplicable question.
“I did! That was the theme song for your first movie, 'chinese partners'! Da'an, Deng Yue, and Xiao Cheng performed it, and the stage effect was absolutely stunning!”
How shrewd Director Ma was; upon hearing this, he immediately felt there was a chance and blurted it out without thinking.
Fortunately, he had indeed seen that program, otherwise, it would have been awkward.
“How about this, with the original three, plus Gao Bo, I’ll prepare a choral stage for the four of them, and that’s all I have.”
After a moment of thought, Su Yu still decided to release one more stage performance.
Last year’s 'the story of time' received an excellent response, and both Deng Yue and Tong Xiaocheng are from Tianxing Entertainment, so since it's a free opportunity, there's no reason not to take it.
As for whether these four would accept the invitation, that was naturally self-evident.
“No problem! Then the program team and I are eagerly looking forward to this choral stage! We'll have the first round of rehearsals on the 12th, should the timing be okay?”
Although only one program was added, for Director Ma, it was better than nothing.
Moreover, it was a chorus of four highly renowned actors, making the stage's value quite high.
It was just that there were too many choral stages this year, which made Director Ma's head spin a bit.
But who could he blame for this? He could only blame the other entertainment companies for being uncompetitive and unable to produce decent works.
As for blaming self? That was absolutely impossible.
On the 7th, the winter sun streamed through the window, casting patches of light and shadow on the floor of Su Yu's office.
In this warm atmosphere, Huang Da'an, Deng Yue, Tong Xiaocheng, and Gao Bo entered the office one after another.
Just as Su Yu expected, when the four of them received his call yesterday, they didn't hesitate at all and readily agreed.
Although all four of them had movies scheduled for Spring Festival and urgently needed promotion, the rare opportunity to appear on the Spring Festival Gala, as well as the songs personally created by Su Yu, held an irresistible charm for them.
Thinking that Su Yu had thought of them again, the four were filled with excitement; this undoubtedly indicated that their cooperation with Su Yu was not a one-time transaction, but had potential for longer-term development.
Huang Da'an, Deng Yue, and Tong Xiaocheng had received special guidance from Su Yu last year; although some of the learned techniques had been forgotten after a year, it was not difficult to regain that state.
However, Gao Bo’s performance truly surprised Su Yu.
Upon receiving the song from Su Yu, Gao Bo quickly got the hang of it; whether it was his vocal technique or his grasp of the song's emotion, he didn't seem like an amateur, but rather like an experienced professional singer.
It was only then that Su Yu suddenly realized and remembered that Gao Bo had indeed been a singer before he became famous as an actor.
Su Yu couldn't help but inwardly sigh, feeling quite negligent that he had forgotten such an important matter.
Over the next few days, the four fully immersed themselves in refining the song, and progress was very smooth.
Before the first rehearsal on the 12th, Su Yu sent the audio source of the four-person chorus song to the Spring Festival Gala program team and quickly received a reply that it had been directly approved.
Subsequently, the first song and dance stage rehearsal for the Spring Festival Gala officially began.
The eight song stage performances brought by Su Yu, once showcased, once again shocked all the staff of the Spring Festival Gala program team, as well as the participating stars and artists.
Especially the singers and actors from entertainment companies like Giant Shark, Quanxing, and Haiyang, they now completely understood why Director Ma, the General Director of Jusha Entertainment, would rather reduce his own company's spots on the Spring Festival Gala than give Su Yu an extra stage.
Because Su Yu's works were simply too outstanding, incomparable.
After the first rehearsal, many people began to back out.
They all knew in their hearts that if their programs were compared with Su Yu's works, the gap was too obvious.
But they were not as confident as Su Yu and did not dare to easily say “no” to the Spring Festival Gala.
At this moment, they could only silently pray that when the Spring Festival Gala ended, the emotional audience and netizens would be a little merciful when criticizing them.
On the 19th, the second rehearsal arrived as scheduled.
This time, General Director Ma fully demonstrated his professional capabilities, especially in the design of the eight stages for Su Yu's works, where he put in a great deal of effort.
Director Ma's style was completely different from that of the former director, Zhang Guoshi; Zhang Guoshi focused more on strong color contrast, while Director Ma was particularly meticulous in handling details.
In Su Yu's opinion, Director Ma had done an excellent job this time, with many designs being stunning.
Among these, it is worth mentioning that Director Ma,
setting aside past grievances,
invited Tianxing Special Effects to be responsible for all the special effects work for the Year of the Horse Spring Festival Gala.
The Spring Festival Gala program team is never stingy with funds; although the remuneration for actors is relatively low, they are meticulous and uncompromising in aspects such as stages, sets, lighting, visuals, and special effects.
After the second rehearsal, Su Yu handed over his carefully prepared calligraphy and paintings to Li Fengshan.
Li Fengshan, knowing the value of these works, specifically purchased insurance for them, fearing any accidents during the exhibition.
The news that Su Yu's works would appear at this calligraphy and painting exhibition had already spread widely online, sparking heated discussions.
Some businessmen and wealthy individuals who had received inside information that there would be a private auction of Su Yu's works were all eager, hoping to win a piece to take home for their collection.
They might not fully understand the deeper meaning and exquisite details of these works, but they had enough financial resources to satisfy their desire for collecting.
There were quite a few wealthy individuals who shared this idea, like Han Jianhua, and even some overseas tycoons, having heard the news, rushed over, hoping to try their luck.