The Ace City Tournament is currently the most watched event.
It's also the finals of the regional competition.
Winning the championship means entering the official tournament, where the champions of the five major districts will compete for the overall title.
This overall champion will be the fifth "Song God" in the Chinese music scene!
Such a grand occasion hasn't been seen in the Chinese music industry for a long time.
In the months since the city tournaments began, major charts have been dominated by high-quality songs.
These songs are all works by the ace producers of the city tournaments.
This battle of the gods has thrilled music lovers.
However, even with so many talented individuals, they haven't been able to stop Ting Yu's charge up the charts.
Every new song he releases quickly climbs to the top of the New Songs chart.
Furthermore, in this city tournament alone, he has released four songs, each with a different style, all becoming classics. Most astonishingly, he has found time to release other songs in addition to his competition entries.
Not only that, but his team of singers was mocked by many professionals as a motley crew.
Yet, to everyone's surprise, Ting Yu, with this very same "motley crew," has powerfully crushed his opponents by using their own strongest styles against them.
This is also why his fanbase is growing and his popularity is soaring.
He possesses both skill and good looks, and is so dominant.
Producers like him are bound to be embraced by many viewers.
...
Outside the city tournament venue.
A steady drizzle had begun.
A black commercial van pulled up at the entrance.
Reporters who had been waiting rushed to grab their cameras, ready to shoot.
The car door opened, and Hu Yang stepped out. The raindrops hit him, prompting him to hurry towards the entrance.
"Why did it suddenly start raining..." Hu Yang frowned, brushing the rain off himself.
Following closely behind him was his singer for this competition, Zhu Xinyu.
Unlike Hu Yang, he appeared very elegant.
After all, he was a Song King.
He couldn't afford to lose face.
The short distance, combined with the flashing lights of the reporters, made him look as though he was walking a red carpet.
"Teacher Zhu, this is your second new song since becoming Song King. Can you reveal its style?"
"Teacher Zhu, judging by your demeanor, you're very confident about this competition, aren't you?"
"Many netizens online believe you can easily defeat your opponent Zhang Wei. How do you respond to that?"
"As a Song King, do you feel insulted by competing against a washed-up singer?"
The reporters' questions were sharp.
This is the nature of entertainment reporters; their questions always incorporate buzzworthy topics to attract attention.
If he answered, they could spin countless headlines to capitalize on the hype.
"Heh, actually..." Zhu Xinyu smiled faintly at the reporters, parting his lips as if about to say something, but he was interrupted by Hu Yang.
"Let's hurry, we were stuck in traffic for so long, the competition is about to start." Having collaborated for a long time, Hu Yang knew Zhu Xinyu's personality very well.
This person had talent but loved to show off.
He was always burdened by his idol image.
"Uh... alright." Interrupted, Zhu Xinyu lost interest in chatting with the reporters.
He followed Hu Yang towards the venue.
The group of reporters continued to pepper him with questions,
but were blocked by security.
After walking a couple of steps, Zhu Xinyu felt uneasy. If he didn't finish his show-off, he might not even be able to sing well.
He turned back, forcing a smile at the reporters, a confident grin on his face: "He's just a washed-up singer, it'll be a piece of cake for me. Remember to write me as valiant and imposing after the competition."
With that, he struck a handsome pose, forming a heart with his hands towards the reporters, then winked.
At that moment, the flashbulbs and shutter clicks erupted.
Hu Yang, walking ahead, stumbled, nearly falling.
Regaining his balance, he shook his head inwardly.
He sighed in his heart.
You call yourself Song King?
You might as well be called "Show-off King"...
...
What had started as a sporadic light rain suddenly intensified, accompanied by thunder.
It was already late June, the peak season for thunderstorms.
The rain poured down in sheets.
It caught many passersby without umbrellas off guard,
causing them to rush under eaves for shelter.
At this moment, most people ignored the worsening rain, instead pulling out their phones to open the still black screen of the livestream.
In Su Yu's fifth district,
the viewership had reached fifty million.
Although there was no program footage yet, the screen was densely packed with bullet comments.
"They're here!"
"Ting Yu's first Vietnamese song is out! So excited!"
"I really didn't expect Ting Yu to know Vietnamese."
"Not just Vietnamese, this song has two versions. After the competition, the Chinese version will also be released!"
"What's the point? It's just different lyrics, the melody is the same."
"Exactly, Zhang Wei is still singing it. I really don't know what Ting Yu is thinking."
"Heh, who knows? Maybe he thinks he's invincible now, really believing that if you drag a dog, it'll win like they say outside?"
"Don't hate. Did you guys see Zhang Wei's live performance of 'Lone Brave'? His singing was underestimated by everyone."
"Ting Yu is smarter than all of you. The singers he chooses for his songs are always suitable. Like the Slippers Brothers earlier, although their singing wasn't great, they perfectly performed 'Old Boy' with their timbre and their own style."
"That's right, Ting Yu's singers might not seem strong, but his songs bring out the best in these singers. That's what makes him so amazing."
There were quite a few Ting Yu fans in the livestream.
And because of the fan club's organization, the fans were very orderly. You could criticize the singers, but you couldn't criticize Ting Yu.
Because Ting Yu's fans had countless examples to refute any criticism.
As everyone was discussing,
the livestream finally displayed footage.
"Welcome everyone to the 'Ace City Tournament,' exclusively sponsored by Xiang Guo Wu Yu. I am your host, Lin Han. Thank you for waiting. This episode is the final match of this regional competition..."
As host Lin Han took the stage, the audience erupted in cheers.
The host for the fifth district now had popularity that far surpassed the other districts.
Within the hosting community, everyone expressed envy for Lin Han.
Envy for his good luck in being assigned to the fifth district.
"Quick, refund time!"
"I can't wait!"
"Hurry up, I prepared a megaphone today just for this segment!"
Many audience members heckled.
The "refund time" segment was originally for trainees' performances.
Now, it had evolved into trainees performing on stage while a crowd below chanted "Refund!" in unison.
This had become a tradition in the fifth district.
The organizers found it amusing,
and didn't prohibit it.
Therefore, the audience's sense of participation was immense.
Some people deliberately went to scalpers to buy tickets just to come and shout a few times.
There was even one person who, having not become a "refund participant," crazily brought in a megaphone and became the leader of this segment!