A significant portion of the attention she received wasn't for her performance, but for the guesses about her identity as Zhang Xiaoqi, and the inspiration drawn from her story.
Then there were the initial hecklers.
They believed what Zhang Xiaoqi's parents had said were all true, that Zhang Xiaoqi had an undisciplined private life, and they came sniffing around for it.
"Isn't Zhang Xiaoqi that singer with a messy private life who also used drugs? I honestly didn't expect an artist like this not to have faded away."
"Zhang Xiaoqi still has the nerve to appear on shows. It seems she thinks the internet has no memory."
"Exposed by her own parents, what else is there for her to clarify?"
Once the show began, these comments gradually filled the comment feed.
At this point, Zhang Xiaoqi's fans could no longer hold back.
"Are you guys idiots? This matter was cleared up long ago. Wasn't she framed by her parents?"
"Don't bother with these trolls. They never understand the truth, they just like to talk big."
"Zhang Xiaoqi has been slandered for so many years, a little more won't matter."
Even though the matter was very clear, and Zhang Xiaoqi's brother had come out to clarify for her, in the eyes of the trolls, she had still done those things.
Spreading rumors is easy, but refuting them is a long and arduous process; this is quite normal.
The fans were already used to it and didn't argue with the trolls.
The show continued.
The first group was Dark Night Rabbit.
The addition of Ting Yu's fans shifted the comments back to Dark Night Rabbit.
And when Dark Night Rabbit sat at the piano and passionately sang "What Else Do You Want From Me," the comment feed was filled with tearful emojis.
"I never expected Dark Night Rabbit to sing love songs so beautifully. That damned chest resonance, it gave me goosebumps..."
"Case closed. Dark Night Rabbit is no longer concealing their gender. With this resonance and timbre, they are definitely male."
"I thought you guys already knew their identity..."
"This song is just too beautiful!"
Love songs have the largest audience in the Chinese music industry.
And this song, "What Else Do You Want From Me," was indeed a type that the public greatly enjoyed.
Especially with Dark Night Rabbit's timbre paired with this song, it could only be described as perfect.
When the song reached its final note, the camera panned to the audience below the stage, where many viewers were wiping away tears.
Many viewers in the comment feed also expressed that they had been "depressed" again by Ting Yu's song!
...
Guan Xian.
The hottest music critic at the moment.
His show, "King of Singers accompanied by a Gold Medal Commentator," was also very popular.
In the past few episodes, he had been proven wrong countless times, especially in the episode where he predicted the top influencer Li Yuan and the winner of the King of Singers. His face was swollen from being proven wrong.
But what was surprising was that the popularity of his show only grew. Many people tuned in for his 'cursed' predictions, just to see when his persona would finally break.
But Guan Xian didn't see it that way. He believed he was very professional, a professional commentator. It was just that unexpected things always happened after his predictions. If things had followed the usual script, his predictions would have been correct.
"This episode, the Balloon Queen will definitely be eliminated, or I'll eat my monitor on the spot!" he declared with absolute certainty.
"Are you kidding me? Do we even need you to predict something this obvious?"
"The Balloon Queen has already entered the losers' bracket. What are you predicting now?"
"That doesn't count. This doesn't count. Old Guan is cheating. Predict this episode's King of Singers instead."
His live stream audience immediately protested. Many people could see that the Balloon Queen would be eliminated this episode, and Guan Xian clearly wanted to use this to escape his 'cursed' prediction curse. How could his fans let him have his way?
"Heh heh, why doesn't it count? It hasn't happened yet, so it's still a prediction. I'm a professional music critic, and I say it! The Balloon Queen will definitely be eliminated this episode!" Guan Xian didn't care about any of that.
He was about to make a correct prediction, so how could he let this opportunity slip away?
After the three groups of singers had finished their performances.
The Balloon Queen lost to Black Warrior and entered the losers' bracket.
Next was the competition among the losers' bracket singers.
The first-place singer among the three would remain in the show and successfully advance to the next episode, while the other two would be eliminated.
It's worth noting that both substitute singers in this episode entered the losers' bracket. Generally, as the show progresses, the substitute singers should only become stronger. However, their strength this time was not particularly impressive.
"I heard that because the singers from Yihai Entertainment's replacement order was moved up, the singers from the earlier episodes were arranged for later."
"Haha, Yihai Entertainment is shooting themselves in the foot. Who would have thought their singer, Sun Yang, who was originally very strong, would lose because of singing with hiccups."
"The show crew revealed that at least one top King of Singers will appear in the next episode. If that's true, then the rankings in the next episode might change significantly."
"The Balloon Queen is about to leave the stage..."
"Serves her right. She's been here for so long. Unmask her, it's 100% that Zhang Xiaoqi."
"A singer who has stayed this long only by relying on her opponents' mistakes should have been eliminated long ago."
The first two singers had already finished their performances.
Only the Balloon Queen was left.
She stood in the center of the stage, holding the microphone.
The prelude began.
"Yi ya yi ya yo..."
A children's voice, accompanied by Tibetan-infused accompaniment, gradually quieted the discussions.
"A Diao"
Performed by: Balloon Queen
Lyrics by: Ting Yu
Music by: Ting Yu
The moment the song information appeared on screen.
The entire screen was filled with question marks.
"Holy crap, no way?" Guan Xian, who had been so confident moments ago.
Upon seeing the song information "A Diao" appear on the screen, he jumped out of his chair!
And the live stream instantly exploded!
"Is the post-production team mistyping? Ting Yu wrote this song?"
"Hiss... Impossible, absolutely impossible!"
"How could Zhang Xiaoqi know Ting Yu?"
"Does this mean there are three new songs by Ting Yu this episode?"
"Holy crap, Old Guan is working his magic?"
"I can't take it anymore, this is too ridiculous!"
It wasn't surprising that the audience found it ridiculous, after all, it was Ting Yu!
The Music God Ting Yu!
No matter what, everyone couldn't connect Zhang Xiaoqi with Ting Yu. After all, the price of Ting Yu writing a song was something even singers found painful.
Rumor had it that after Zhang Xiaoqi was slandered by her parents, she lost a lot of money. It was impossible for her to afford to have Ting Yu write a song.
Unbelievable!
Too unbelievable!