Jiang Hua refused, but Director Cai, as one of the judges, gave the order. He had no choice but to comply.
This atmosphere group member was stealing a bit too much spotlight.
The competition officially began.
First, the host introduced the veterans, then went through the procedures.
"Next, we have outstanding young opera performer Jiang Hua, bringing us an erhu solo 'Horse Racing'."
This was the compromise result.
It also fit the opera competition theme well.
Jiang Hua appeared on stage in a long robe, looking very pleasing to the eye.
This was his stage.
When the first episode aired, it directly boosted Jiang Hua's public appeal.
It showed people a different Jiang Hua. Many knew him through his songs or his recent interaction with a celebrity.
Few knew his main job was actually as a musician.
Along with the surge in traffic, it also let people know the charm of opera and pay more attention to it.
The domestic video site giant, iQiyi, bought the show's rights for very little.
They directly profited from this.
Just the first episode's views broke 30 million. This wasn't even a popular variety show.
It was just a youth opera competition.
Look at the danmu comments, densely packed. You couldn't see clearly without turning them off.
"Damn, I thought Jiang Hua was just a traffic star. Now I've become his fan. What should I do, sisters?"
Jiang Hua hugged the erhu, looking the part.
"Wow, I think I really heard the sound of horse racing."
"This horse race is so pleasing to the eye. The erhu has such long legs."
At the exciting parts, Jiang Hua directly plucked the erhu strings with his hand, making even audience members who didn't understand music feel like they heard horses galloping.
In Jiang Hua's world, this piece was just a level 4 entry-level erhu piece, not very difficult.
But excellent works are often not very difficult, yet stand the test of time.
The judges sitting below were shocked.
Except for Director Cai Fei who had heard him practice these pieces, including Teacher Mao, they had only heard Jiang Hua play well during performances, but those were rehearsed. Now seeing him solo live, it felt truly different.
The Peking Opera veteran Teacher Fang next to her turned to ask Director Cai Fei.
"This competition of yours is totally unfair. Look at this, how can we play now?"
The popularity gap was huge. Look at the contestants, Jun and Xiao's fans were as many as all the others combined.
Now Jiang Hua had gained so many casual fans. They say love extends to the crows - with Jiang Hua's relationship to Jun and Xiao, wouldn't those fans go support them too?
Director Cai Fei was also a bit shocked. This guy had reported to her before going on stage, after all, she was Jiang Hua's direct superior.
But Jiang Hua directly pulled out his trump card.
She quickly replied, "Young people, we should give them opportunities to grow. Besides, this brings something different to the opera world. But the competition isn't based on popularity, it's based on skill. The young people are all very talented."
The contestants sitting backstage also sighed. No wonder he was popular, it made sense.
With those looks, coupled with such talent, it would be strange if he wasn't popular.
But it also made everyone ponder. Opera was truly hard to break out of its circle.
Look, even the top star of the opera circle broke out through pop music. But being able to break out was good.
Now with such huge traffic for this show, the attention they were receiving was unprecedented.
Wasn't this the stage they had been dreaming of?
"Yunxiao, Yunxiao, can you ask Jiang Hua later if we can take a photo together?"
Li Yunxiao pouted. Damn it, that brat Jiang Hua showed off again. Even the little sister in their group was captivated.
Was this guy really that good? She didn't feel anything special, just felt like this guy always wanted to act like a big brother, which was really annoying.
A male contestant also sighed: "Wow, if I had his image plus my talent, it would be the ultimate combo."
This comment made the girls present laugh out loud.
They all said, "Actually, you guys are very good too, very humorous."
The boy immediately looked proud, realizing his shining point had been discovered.
At this moment, someone added: "Actually, being handsome is pretty good. The key is he's so talented. I must go ask for a photo later."
So his humor was just a joke?
Under everyone's shocked gazes, Jiang Hua completed his solo performance on this stage.
The audience below cheered. It wasn't in vain that they stayed up late to grab tickets. This alone was worth the ticket price.
"Thank you, thank you everyone. I hope you all have family happiness and everything goes smoothly."
Seems like he hadn't completed his task yet. He quickly added: "I hope everyone will support our opera more and pay more attention to our contestants."
This added part at the end was like a last-minute task for a working person.
The host smiled and said: "Thank you Jiang Hua for bringing us this erhu solo."
The famous Kunqu opera Teacher Zhang below took the microphone and said: "Very stunning. It made me feel like I was watching a horse race. Jiang Hua, you're very good, deserving of so many people's love. Very nice. If you have time, come play at our art troupe."
This made everyone laugh. This was openly poaching someone.
Teacher Cai Fei was unhappy: "Teacher Zhang, he's my person."
Peking Opera's Teacher Fang said: "Jiang Hua, come play at our Peking Opera. Our Peking Opera troupe has many beauties."
Jiang Hua immediately said: "Teacher Fang, I'm taking this seriously!"
Haha, this was getting intense.
Jiang Hua quietly left the stage, officially handing it over to the contestants.
But the online discussion continued. This performance was Jiang Hua's first public stage appearance.
Many people only liked listening to his songs, typical of songs being popular but the person not.
This was his first public appearance since being banned. It really won over a lot of fans.
Handsome, part-time songwriter, main job as erhu player. Nothing wrong with that.
"Damn, being Jiang Hua's fan is really a technical job."
"You don't know, when Jiang Hua played 'Horse Racing', I got goosebumps all over. I don't understand music, but I could hear this was a very intense horse race. This is real music."
"Looking forward to it! When will the second episode air?"
At this moment, Jiang Hua was on the return flight.
He was still complaining: "Hmph, I won't participate in this show next time. Don't know which genius directly issued a transfer order without asking if the person was willing."
Teacher Mao directly said: "Jiang Hua, can you be quiet? I saw you had quite a good time this time."
Jiang Hua shrugged. Teacher Mao was sometimes too strict, quite boring.
Director Cai was better, but Director Cai was still Teacher Mao's student. Forget it, can't mess with her.
Junjun covered her mouth and laughed beside them.
If you ask who Jiang Hua feared most in the troupe, it would definitely be Teacher Mao.
...