"Double celebration?"
Now, Renly was utterly bewildered. How was it possible that he, the person at the center of it all, had no inkling about what had happened today?
The crowd gathered there raised their hands high, applauding and celebrating Renly's second role in his acting career. Yet, despite the cheers and claps, Renly stood on the stage in a fog of confusion.
Stanley immediately caught onto Renly's bewilderment and burst into hearty laughter. Turning to Neil, he remarked, "See, I told you. He definitely knows nothing. Not a single clue."
Neil, however, paid no heed, excitement lighting up his face as he rubbed his hands together. "Believe me, believe me! After you see this news, you'll be just as ecstatic as we are!" With that, he turned and went backstage, finding a rope and giving it a pull. A banner unfurled with a crisp "swish", its large letters conveying the information accurately:
"Congratulations to "Cleopatra" for making it onto the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart!"
Renly's eyes widened involuntarily, his teeth clenching, almost dislocating his jaw. This… this... this was even more incredible than him winning the role of "Buried" over Ryan Reynolds. To be precise, it was a fairy tale. Even if Renly had guessed a hundred times, he would never have associated this surprise with the Billboard singles chart!
"See? I told you!" Neil bellowed with uncontainable excitement. "I told you!" Then, he rushed over, enveloping Renly in a big hug. "It's happening, it's really happening! Can you believe it? The latest edition of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart that was just announced this morning – "Cleopatra" really made it onto the list!"
Just a short while ago, "Cleopatra" had already gained attention by climbing the iTunes instant download chart due to the popularity of "The Pacific". Renly had found that mind-boggling enough and had thought it was a fleeting success, not paying it much mind. However, the course of events had taken him by surprise.
Three weeks ago, an in-depth feature in The Fader magazine had strongly recommended the song "Cleopatra", propelling its popularity to a new level in an unexpected way.
The Fader was an independent professional magazine in the North American music industry, established in 1999. With its lively style, sharp language, and witty headlines, it quickly became a best-selling magazine. Its professional attitude and music reviews became its biggest selling points. In just five years, it grew rapidly, surpassing the other two independent music magazines, Spin and Blender, posing a threat to the top magazine in the industry, Rolling Stone, and forcing the latter to attempt a new style.
In 2005, The Fader was voted as the music best publication of the year in the United States.
However, the powerful impact of the internet in recent years began challenging the dominance of traditional print media. Many magazines, including The Fader, faced bottlenecks in their operations. Despite multiple attempts at reform and innovation ending in failure, last April, The Fader officially announced the cessation of its print magazine, yet the online version continued to be published.
While print magazines had become history, the online version of The Fader still garnered enthusiastic attention, especially among the younger generation of readers. Leveraging the timeliness of Facebook, Twitter, and the internet, The Fader's influence had grown, its authority unquestionable. Many people were willing to dig into The Fader's recommended music list to discover their favorite independent musicians.
In the first week of May's issue, The Fader's professional music critic Clyde Coughlin wrote a special review on folk music.
The opening paragraphs of the article mentioned the sorry state of folk music in the United States. Even among independent artists, folk musicians had almost disappeared. The true bastions of folk music's development were now in the United Kingdom and Ireland, where each year saw the emergence of outstanding music and creators.
Clyde believed the real reason behind this situation lay in the lack of cultural depth in American music. Folk music required a profound literary foundation and deep thinking abilities. Since Bob Dylan, there had been almost two decades of no noteworthy folk creators in the American music scene. Especially under the relentless assault of commercial interests, music, like the film industry, began to industrialize and gradually lost its unique characteristics, sinking into an inescapable quagmire.
It was as if Hollywood was losing its artistry and becoming a haven for commercial films; North American music was also treading down this path. Not just folk music, but even genres like pop, hip-hop, and electronic music were experiencing the same fate.
In the latter half of the article, Clyde recommended some notable folk singers.
First and foremost was the band Train. The song "Hey, Soul Sister", while strictly categorized as alternative rock, blended multiple styles including folk, soul, and rock, forming Train's distinctive quality that garnered applause. This single didn't initially attract any attention upon release, but with word of mouth, it gradually entered the public's view, eventually achieving unbelievable success.
By the time this article was published, "Hey, Soul Sister" had already secured a spot in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. This was the first folk single to achieve such success in ten years since Elton John, causing an uproar of astonishment and serving as Clyde's motivation for writing the article.
Apart from this, artists like Gotye, Iron & Wine, Jack Johnson, The Weepies, and Mumford & Sons had all come under Clyde's radar.
Among them, the name of Renly Hall was also prominently mentioned.
"This is a mysterious guy, hardly any relevant information can be found. So far, he's only created a single track, remaining so low-profile it's almost indistinguishable from a missing person. But with just this single track, this newcomer is enough to capture everyone's attention.
"Cleopatra" is a single that's both cheerful and sorrowful, the poetic elegance and profound meaning between its lines are heartbreakingly beautiful, rekindling people's appreciation for the moving power of music. The lyrics follow the tragic historical figure, Cleopatra, telling a story about women, love, and freedom. The interplay between lively notes and poignant melancholy, brought to life through a soul-stirring performance, exudes an ineffable charm that one can't escape.
[
And the only gifts from my Lord were a birth and a divorce
But I've read this script and the costume fits, so I'll play my part
]
Life is like a play, and every person is just an actor on the stage. Yet, they are not in control, compelled to follow the script of the divine like marionettes on strings. Freedom, life, and even the soul vanish. The gracefully poetic words touched the softness within each listener's heart. Sorrow misted in their eyes as waves of introspection followed, reminiscent of Bob Dylan.
Renly Hall, a promising future awaits him."
Though the music review was succinct, it spared no expense in its praises, revealing Clyde's deep admiration.
After the publication of this article, it undoubtedly sparked extensive discussions once again. Whether the heated debates about folk music or the attention given to the recommended artists, the online world surged with a frenzy of discussions, with Renly naturally at the center of attention.
Initially, people hadn't connected the singer Renly with the actor Renly. After all, there were so many newcomers in the entertainment industry every year. The fervor around "The Pacific" had subsided for nearly a month since its airing. The influence of the YouTube video was also quite limited. However, the truth was soon unearthed. After all, this was the internet age; the formidable power of netizens required no elaboration. Then, the online community erupted.
A promising newcomer actor was also an exceptionally talented new singer? Anticipation began to skyrocket.
In just three short weeks, the exposure of "Cleopatra" started to climb at a visibly rapid pace. First, it entered the top twenty of iTunes' instant download chart, reaching a peak at number sixteen. Its rise continued gradually, with daily new download counts on the upswing—truly heartening. Subsequently, the video's click rate on YouTube also surged like a rocket, going from two million to a staggering twenty million, a tenfold increase!
Initially, "The Pacific" had attracted significant attention during its broadcast. However, objectively speaking, it was just a mini-series shown on cable television, and its influence was inherently limited. The true testing moment would come after it entered the VHS market. Currently, the viewer base was relatively weak. Among every hundred people, maybe one would search for Renly because of the character Eugene Sledge. This was already a remarkable feat. Compared to the millions of clicks that were typically calculated in the online world, the two million clicks for "Cleopatra" weren't much.
This time, the formidable influence of The Fader in the online world was undeniably evident. "Cleopatra" even found itself among the week's popular videos, capturing numerous gazes. Beyond its twenty million clicks, the daily increase in new clicks had exceeded fifty thousand. The upward trajectory showed no sign of waning and was, in fact, intensifying. Even the number of likes had surpassed a hundred thousand.
Unexpectedly, the widespread popularity of "Cleopatra" piqued netizens' interest in its singer. They began searching for his information, and the Google links led them to the relevant pages of "The Pacific". This prompted another fervent wave of discussions surrounding the show. The Yahoo community posts also buzzed with activity.
This was an outcome Clyde hadn't anticipated before writing the music review.
Previously, the TV series had brought attention to the music. Now, the music was enhancing the TV series' popularity. As a newcomer, Renly's discussion count in the short span of three months had completely deviated from the norm.
And so, a miracle was born.
Without a physical album or radio airplay, incredibly, "Cleopatra" miraculously made its way into the top one hundred of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, becoming Renly's first officially charting single!