Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
As a music event in the Milky Way, Sing! Milky Way had been held for a number of years. There were quite a lot of elites who emerged from this event and it was rather popular. At this moment, the big arena hall was almost filled—more than a million people sat neatly in more than two hundred rows. The entire arena covered an area of more than two hundred square kilometers and right in the middle was a huge stage—it was good in the virtual world. It was spacious enough and the latest technology was used. The performance on the central stage was holographically projected live. That was equivalent to enlarging the contestants’ body countless times, so that no matter where people were sitting, the entire competition process could be clearly seen, and there were absolutely no blind spots.
At this moment, the competition was about to begin. The host was already explaining the rules of the competition on stage and introducing the special guests.
“Sister Heloise.” On the backstage, Heloise was already treated as the big sister among the rest. A few people asked her, “Which special guests are here today?”
As a contestant with a strong backing, Heloise naturally knew who was in the judging panel. Being called the elder sister made her very happy, so she smiled and replied, “Today, the people who are here today are all heavyweight characters. After all, it is the semi-finals. Only three people are selected from one hundred people, so these guests are also very powerful people. The first person is Franklin, the runner-up of the previous three seasons of Sing! Milky Way in Shenluo City. He’s very talented. The second person is Brianna, the champion of the regional finals in Shenluo City. Her expertise is in the high notes. The third person is the super famous composer Mr. Lake. The last one is one of our most powerful veteran singers in Shenluo City, Mr. Kristel. The fact that they were invited to be on the judging panel today shows that the results are taken very seriously this time.”
These four people were regarded as the most well-known and veteran singers in the music industry in Shenluo City.
Franklin was in his thirties. He looked refreshingly handsome and was the runner-up in the past three seasons of Sing! Milky Way in Shenluo City. He was quite well-known in the entire Milky Way.
Little needed to be said about Brianna, the champion of the Shenluo City regional finals. She was young and beautiful with countless suitors. Her net worth was more than 60 million Galaxy Dollars, absolutely astonishing.
Mr. Lake was the most famous composer in Shenluo City. Many singers shot to fame after singing his songs. It was no joke.
The last person, Kristel, was a prestigious veteran and an evergreen figure in the music industry. A few of his students had progressed to the top-three ranking of the Shenluo regional finals and their popularity was amazing.
Sure enough, hearing that, the other singers sucked in a cold breath together. The ones who posed the question patted on their chests. “God, it’s actually these four people. I’m so stressed up now. Amazing, amazing!”
The others nodded violently.
The more powerful the judges, the more stringent they would be when they judge the singers.
According to the rules of Sing! Milky Way, each of the four guest judges had one vote. Each vote was worth 1500 points.
If one gained all four votes, it would total up to 6000 points. The remaining points were, in accordance with the rules, from the live audience, listeners on the Internet, and their popularity on the Internet. The total score would be calculated and the top three would be selected.
It was no exaggeration to say that even if one judge was unhappy with the scores, the singers would be eliminated.
Hence, when the singers heard that these four people were the guest judges, they were under great pressure.
Although Heloise had a strong backing, that did not mean she was bound to win. Hence, her pressure was greater. After all, in the music world, listeners did not care whose backing was strong. They only cared if the songs were nice. Especially these four judges. They were famed for having high expectations. If anyone even slipped up a little, they would be eliminated.
“Huu, I must calm down.” Taking a deep breath, Heloise cheered for herself. When she calmed down, she looked at Li Nianwei who was alone in a corner and smirked. “Hehe, I was worried you might win earlier on, but with these four people as judges, get ready to fail. They are not ordinarily harsh.”
…
On the arena.
Soon, the host finished speaking. Everyone quietened down.
Sing! Milky Way was about to begin.
As the evergreen figure in the music industry, Kristel was a little adverse to today’s competition.
To be honest, after getting orders from the top, Kristel was a little unwilling to turn up. To him, music was sacred and inviolable. But orders were given to take special care of a female singer named Heloise. He had seen her photos; she was a beauty, indeed. He had also heard her songs, and she sang pretty well. But she was definitely far from the perfect singer.
Originally, it was okay to give her a pass, 1500 points were nothing. But in Kristel’s mind, the competition became uninteresting when it got mixed with underhand dealings.
He had a lot of work on hand and no time to spare. If they wanted to play dirty, anyone could do it. Why did they have to find him? Music mixed with underhand dealings was extremely boring.
“Forget it, forget it. I’ll see if I can find a few talented contestants.” Kristel thought. “Since the dealings were already in place, I should at least do my best to be fair to the others.” Although Heloise’s backing was strong, what comforted Kristel were the rules of Sing! Milky Way. Even if he gave Heloise a pass, it would not affect other contestants and was better than having to eliminate others due to one person. Four guest judges held a total of 6000 points. Singers who were good would get an all pass from everyone. Next would depend on their popularity. It did not have much to do with him.
Soon, the host began introducing the contestants.
“Dear ladies and gentlemen,” the host shouted, “let us invite our first contestant, Miss Pu Xiaolian!”
The applause from the audience was deafening—there were one million people. Even if only one-tenth of them applauded, the sound of applause would be thunderous.
And the performance began.
On Sing! Milky Way, every contestant used all the resources they could gather. Miss Pu Xiaolian had brought more than one hundred dancers. The symphony orchestra behind was made up of sixty people. Such a scale would cost at least tens of thousands of Galaxy Dollars.
However, at this music event, talent was the determining factor. When Miss Pu Xiaolian started singing, the four guest judges began discussing—
Franklin: “Looks pleasant. But her performance is overly flighty.”
Brianna: “Her voice is okay, I’ll let her pass.”
Franklin: “The song is so-so. The lyrics as well.”
Kristel: “Her performance is far from perfect.”
Among the four judges, Franklin gave an X, Brianna, an O, Lake, an O, and Kristel, an X.
The first contestant, Miss Pu Xiaolian was eliminated and left in tears.
On the stage of Sing! Milky Way, it was cruel as such. Four guest judges, if two gave an X, the contestant would be eliminated directly. If only one gave an X, the contestant could still fight on. Of course, the results were more or less fixed. If all four lights were on, the contestant would be considered quite good.
The host on stage: “Let’s invite our next contestant, Jian Tingyun. She will be singing Milky Way, My Love. Let’s hear a round of applause.”
A good-looking female contestant in a gown stepped onto the stage, bowed to the audience, and began her performance.
If it was on Earth, the first few contestants would be considered appetizers. The ones who performed well the previous round would usually appear last as the grand finale. But Sing! Milky Way was different, the rules were simple—draw lots.
Hence, the sequence of the contestants’ appearance was by pure luck. Li Nianwei’s luck was not so good. She was the 98th contestant, three before the last.
In Sing! Milky Way, it was better to appear first. There were one hundred contestants, after all, and it would take a long time for all of them to sing. In the beginning, everyone was still energetic and would listen carefully. Towards the back, it was easy to feel sleepy. The guest judges were also more prone to outbursts at the moment. Often, contestants who came on stage too far behind would get X-es from the judges without being heard carefully—hence, when the 99th and 100th singers found out their numbers, they cried. It was heartbreaking…
“Hahaha.” Heloise looked at her sign with the number 7 on it. Her heart blossomed. “I’m number 7. The guest judges are sure to be energetic still. It should be easy to score well. That Li Nianwei got number 98. By then, the judges will probably find it hard to sit still. Hahaha. Aye, luck sometimes plays a part. Own your fate, hahaha!”
Soon, the second contestant left in tears as well—two X-es.
Every contestant only had about two minutes to perform. Of course, if all the lights came on, they would be granted the time to finish their song.
The first six people performed rather fast, a total of fifteen minutes. Two minutes of which was the host introducing the contestants—after all, this was just the regional finals. Everything moved fast. When it came to the real preliminaries, semi-finals, and finals, the fight would be brutal. Every contestant would have ten minutes to perform. That would be a real fight between all the contestants.
“Our next contestant has the loudest cheers in our Shenluo City Sing! Milky Way, Miss Heloise. She will be singing ‘Perfect Love Song’. Let’s welcome her with some applause!”
