I'm Really a Superstar

The next day.

The finalized program list from the second approval session was revealed.

…

The doorbell rang.

“Brother Gao! Brother Gao!”

“Sis Chen, what’s the matter?”

“Quick, watch the news!”

“What news?”

“Don’t you all know yet? Your family’s Xiliang is going to be on the Spring Festival Gala!”

“But that’s impossible!”

“The program list has been announced!”

“What?”

…

The phone rang.

A few minutes later.

“Old Hu!”

“What are you shouting for? You scared me half to death!”

“Old Hu! Old Hu!”

“What is it? Who just called?”

“It was from our daughter! Sh-She’s going to be on the Spring Festival Gala!”

“Ah? She can even go on the Spring Festival Gala with that standard of hers? Who’s she going to be a backup dancer to?

“She’s not going to be a backup dancer! She has an act tailored for her!”

“What did you say? No way! When did the Spring Festival Gala lower their standards for its performers?”

“Get lost! Why can’t you have more confidence in our daughter!”

“Our daughter keeps getting punished by the coach of the Naval Song and Dance Troupe. She can never perform any of those difficult dance moves and actions. All she knows is how to spin around in circles, so how…how could I have any confidence in that!”

…

At the same time, there was another matter that was publicly announced. The upper management had issued a notice to announce that the executive director of the Spring Festival Gala this year, Zhang Ye, would be included in the Spring Festival Gala’s organizing committee as a deputy committee leader. This news caused quite the surprise in the media and industry. The executive director had always been the head of the Spring Festival Gala’s production team and its authority covered matters of the show’s production as well as a series of other related matters. Meanwhile, the supervising authority of the executive director lay with the Spring Festival Gala Organizing Committee. If there were any divided opinions, the final decision would depend on the executives on the organizing committee. But now, Zhang Ye was going to be appointed as a deputy committee leader of the organizing committee?

What did this mean?

What did this represent?

There had never been an executive director in the history of the Spring Festival Gala who was admitted into the organizing committee before!

Zhang Ye was the first person to get in, and he was also the only exception so far!

The signal that this event sent out was worth ruminating on!

“The program list gets revealed!”

“Zhang Ye admitted into the leadership group!”

“Zhang Ye’s authority has been strengthened even further!”

“This year’s Spring Festival Gala is branded with the Zhang name!”

An interview was even broadcast on Central TV’s News Channel.

It was a summarized conversation between a Central TV reporter and the Ministry of Culture’s Deputy Minister Zhou.

The reporter asked, “What were the reasons behind appointing Zhang Ye as a deputy committee leader?”

Deputy Minister Zhou said with a smile, “Because of the trust that we have in Director Zhang.”

“Can you reveal a little bit about the acts that were in the second approval session?”

“We have to keep that a secret. All I can say is that we’re very pleased to have gotten Director Zhang to take charge of the Spring Festival Gala this year. Zhang Ye is the most serious and responsible director that I’ve ever come across. We believe that everyone will experience a different Spring Festival Gala this year.”

Very pleased?

The most serious and responsible?

This was such high praise!

The minister’s declaration was the strongest support that could be given to Zhang Ye!

The public was also very surprised!

“What happened at the second approval session yesterday?”

“I don’t know.”

“The upper management has entirely delegated the Spring Festival Gala to Zhang Ye?”

“Yeah, I find that weird too. Aren’t they too trusting of him?”

“The Spring Festival Gala has turned to advertising this year and the program list was changed at the last minute. With so much negative news, why would the upper management still dare to give Zhang Ye even more authority?”

“Could it be that the acts in the second approval session were all pretty good?”

“Zhang Ye is now someone who wields the greatest authority in the entertainment circle!”

“Yeah. Back then, it was just a saying. But it looks like it has become true now.”

“This is so impressive. How did he achieve that? Even Hao Guang, the executive director of the Spring Festival Gala three years ago who enjoyed such a good relationship with the higher-ups, did not get admitted into the organizing committee. Be it the acts or the work put in, he had to do things according to the decisions of the higher-ups and seek their opinions. However, Zhang Ye has managed to do it!”

“The higher-ups must have taken a liking to the acts.”

“But just look at the program list. I don’t see anything special about it.”

“What are these songs? I’ve never heard of them before.”

“They must be new songs written by Zhang Ye.”

“There’s even going to be a magic show? And song and dance? We won’t know anything just from the title of the acts.”

“Yeah, just what kinds of acts are they? Why aren’t they revealing any more details?”

“This is killing me! I would like to know too.”

“It seems like many of the performers this year are unknowns.”

“Right, why are there so many newcomers?”

“I only know Zhang Yuanqi, Zhang Xia, Chen Guang, and Fan Wenli.”

“I know about Gao Xiliang, but why did he get on the Spring Festival Gala too?”

“A deaf-mute dance group? Fuck this!”

“How can they dance if they can’t hear the music?”

“I really don’t get this program list at all.”

“Well, there’s Teacher Ci Xiufang who’s a regular.”

“Yeah, there aren’t too many changes in the performers’ lineup of the language acts.”

“They still look similar to the previous years, right? There isn’t much difference.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t seem like there’s anything surprising there.”

“There aren’t any Korean celebrities this year, though. I’ll give Zhang Ye a Like for that.”

“Hur hur, I don’t know about the other stations’ Spring Festival Gala. But if the Spring Festival Gala directed by Zhang Ye had Korean celebrities joining, I would immediately jump off the roof.”

“Who is this Little Hu Die?”

“I’ve never heard of this person before.”

“Old Chen and Old Fan will be singing a duet, while Zhang Xia will be leading those veteran singers and sharing the stage with them for a group performance. So why does this unknown have an act all to herself? This is as good as a Heavenly King or Queen’s treatment! As a newcomer, what right does she have?”

“Damn, look at the estimated duration of Little Hu Die’s act!”

“Ah, my eyes!”

“Fuck, this…this—”

“What?”

“Four hours?”

“What the heck!”

“‘Time’? What the fuck could this act be about?”

“The Spring Festival Gala itself will only be running for about four hours, right?”

“She’s going to perform from the start to the end? It’s entirely going to be her performance?”

“How is that possible? Won’t the others need to perform? Are we only going to watch her act?”

“They must have written it wrong, right?”

“Fuck, what the hell is Director Zhang planning?”

“Why do I get a feeling of fear?”

“I guess this year’s Spring Festival Gala is done for just like that!”

When the program list was revealed, it caused a heated discussion among the public and got flamed. There were all kinds of criticism, and many of the acts on the list were getting analyzed by everyone. Especially that act, “Time,” which would be performed by Little Hu Die. It received endless roasting from everyone. Many people were floored!

For acts on the Spring Festival Gala, the songs would last at most three minutes, while the skits and crosstalks would go on for around 10 to 15 minutes. These were the upper end of the estimates. Sometimes when they exceeded that duration allocation, they would even have to be cut short. Some celebrities would also only be given a minute or two to sing a song. When had there ever been an act that lasted for four hours!

Four hours?

You might as well go on for four weeks!

You could keep going from Lunar New Year’s Eve until the first lunar month is over!

In the end, the netizens unanimously came to a conclusion: There was a typo. After that, they all left comments to bring attention to the fact. Some people even complained about it. However, all of that got lost as though they had sunk into the deep ocean. Although there wasn’t a response from Central TV, they couldn’t believe that there would be an act that spanned four hours of the gala. The general public might know that Zhang Ye never did things logically, but they were still kind enough to think that even Zhang Ye wouldn’t resort to something as atrocious as this!

There were countless rants!

The flamers emerged without end!

The topic of the Spring Festival Gala had once again been pushed to the peak after the program list was revealed!

There were scoldings!

There was criticism!

There was praise!

There was anticipation!

From the public!

From the media!

From the higher-ups!

From the industry insiders!

No matter who it was, no matter what they were saying, no matter what kind of opinions they had, there was one thing that no one could change: Every Chinese person was now waiting for the arrival of Chinese New Year’s Eve. They all would really like to see just what kind of a Spring Festival Gala Zhang Ye could come up with!