I’m Really a Superstar

Two days went by.

The other grand champions officially announced their intention of joining.

The fifth season’s grand champion of I Am a Singer, Qu Dong.

The fourth season’s grand champion of I Am a Singer, Qi Liang.

The third season’s grand champion of I Am a Singer, Hai Yifei.

Although the second season’s grand champion had declined the invitation due to poor health, he recommended the female first runner-up from his batch of singers, Guan Xue, to participate in his stead. Guan Xue had received a similar amount of votes as the grand champion during that season’s grand finals, so she could also be considered a very acknowledged and popular singer to the audience.

The grand champions from the five seasons had nearly assembled.

Only the singers from the first season did not respond to the call for them.

Being the earliest season of I Am a Singer, and also the opening class of this phenomenal variety show, none of the people from this generation of participating singers made a sound. Among them, those who had aged had aged, and those who have retired had retired. For some of them, they suffered from vocal injuries, while others were embroiled in contract issues with their talent agencies. Everyone was caught up in all kinds of different problems.

On Weibo.

“Qu Dong is prepared!”

“Supporting Hai Yifei!”

“Qi Liang is definitely gonna win!”

“In terms of popularity, Qu Dong is definitely the most popular one. After all, he was the winner of the latest season of the show. In terms of singing skills, it should probably go to Qi Liang. He hails from a musical family, after all.”

“Has anyone from Season One come forward yet?”

“The first season’s grand champion is Zhang Ye, right?”

“Hasn’t Face-smacking Zhang come back?”

“Can he still sing?”

“Who knows!”

“I guess that fellow will probably not be taking part. Isn’t he busy filming a drama?”

“And besides, it’s been such a long time. Actually, even the second season’s runner-up, Guan Xue, does not have that much of a presence in the music scene these days. She’s slowly getting marginalized from the industry.”

“Grandma Zhang was really popular back then.”

“Well, that was back then.”

“Seasons Two to Five have already sent out their participants, so all there is left now is for someone from Season One to respond.”

“But they should send someone to participate no matter what.”

“Hurry up!”

“@ZhangXia!”

“@ChenGuang!”

“Everyone, guess who will be chosen to represent the class of Season One!”

The people were in an uproar.

In the end, even the hot, young male stars started speaking up.

On Qu Dong’s personal Weibo account, he mentioned many of the singers of Season One, saying humbly: “Back when the first season of I Am a Singer was shown, I was still a part of the audience. At that time, I hadn’t even debuted yet and was a fan of all our seniors on the show. Years later, I am standing on this stage myself, so I really hope that I can get the chance to have a friendly competition with my predecessors.”

Following that, Qi Liang also posted on Weibo: “I’ll do my best starting now to prepare for the battle of the grand champions finale. I look forward to meeting with the seniors to exchange tips with them.”

On the surface, it sounded like they were asking for guidance from their predecessors. But in reality, challenge was in their tones.

A competition between different generations of singers.

A battle between the old and new singers.

Beijing Television’s gimmick was well-crafted. Back when they were pitting the singers against each other, the viewership was already at a high figure. But with the impending battle of the grand champions, all of the people’s’ appetites were whetted again. Over the past few days, a lot of attention was given to this show on the news, media, and Internet. Rumors said that the grand finals of this grand champions’ battle would be held live as well, which made the anticipation even greater. A lot of people clamoring and couldn’t wait to watch it.

Even before the competition had begun, a fiery atmosphere arose between the different fans of the male idols.

…

In a group chat.

This was a very old chat group from years ago. In it, the group members consisted of the singers who appeared in Season One of I Am a Singer. There hadn’t been any activity in here for many years, and it was one of the so-called “dead groups” that people commonly called them. But today, this dead group was resurrected. Many of the chat members had emerged from their slumber.

Chen Guang: “1111.”

The Princess of Love Songs, Xue Kaiqi: “2222.”

The Prince of Love Songs, He Huan: “Huh?”

Zhang Xia: “???”

Amy: “Oh, the dead group has come to life.”

Xiaodong: “What’s going on?”

Chen Guang: “Someone’s challenging us. What do you guys feel about it?”

Xiaodong: “Hur hur, I don’t feel anything.”

Chen Guang: “…”

Amy: “Old Chen, go for it! Don’t embarrass us!”

Chen Guang: “My voice hasn’t been that good for some years. I can’t reach the high notes anymore.”

He Huan: “Amy, why don’t you go and spar with them? You’re one of the younger ones around here.”

Amy: “I don’t have any good songs that I can sing. The songs that people like these days are different from what we used to like. I don’t even know what it is that they like anymore.”

Xue Kaiqi: “You guys go ahead. I’ve retired from the scene.”

He Huan: “I still have an issue with my contract, so I can’t go even if I wanted to.”

Xiaodong: “Grandma Zhang, what’s that fella up to these days?”

Zhang Xia said, “Him? He just finished filming his show and should be idle.”

Chen Guang: “Damn, why don’t he go participate then?”

Amy: “Yeah, he has to step up no matter what. Otherwise, how embarrassing would it be for us? Even if we know that we will lose, we cannot do nothing about it.”

Xue Kaiqi: “@ZhangYe Come on, go do all of us proud!”

He Huan: “@ZhangYe It has been so many years. Can you still write new songs?”

Xiaodong: “He can always stick to singing his old ones.”

Chen Guang: “If no one is going, I guess I have no choice.”

…

At night.

Back at home.

Zhang Ye was carrying his daughter and eating dinner.

His mother was asking from beside him, “So who’s going to participate in the competition?”

His father asked, “Don’t tell me you’ll be the one going?”

Zhang Ye smiled. “I’m still thinking about it.”

His mother rolled her eyes. “What’s there to think about? I Am a Singer is no longer the same. They’ve already finished broadcasting the fifth season. Even though the results are supposed to be determined based on singing skills, and should be assessed on whether a song is performed well, the actual outcome still depends on how popular one is. The real competition is on who has a bigger fanbase, while singing skills are a secondary concern. You should just take it easy. What if you end up in last place after deciding to go onstage? How embarrassing would that be? In that case, you might as well not join at all.”

Zhang Ye said in amusement, “That’s what the staff at my studio says as well. Just how little confidence do you all have in me?”

His mother said, “That’s what you get for being away for so long.”

Zhang Ye looked at his wife. “Old Wu, what do you think?”

Wu Zeqing smiled. “Decide by yourself. I’ll support you no matter what.”

Zhang Ye rubbed his daughter’s head and asked, “My dear, do you think that Daddy should join?”

“Daddy should join, Daddy is the greatest,” Sisi said loudly.

Zhang Ye jutted out his chin. “See, it’s still my daughter who is the most confident in me.”

Sisi shouted, “Daddy will win for sure!”

His mother pouted.

His father suggested, “Think about it again.”

The calls kept coming in one after another.

His friends called to ask about the situation.

And Beijing Television called him to harry him for a decision.

Only a few days remained until the battle of the grand champions began.

In fact, Zhang Ye had still not formally met with everyone since the announcement of his comeback. The people had only heard about this news through the media, and he had not come face to face with everyone through his activities so far. Therefore, he wanted to say many things to them.

Should he join?

To take to the stage of I Am a Singer once more?

So that he could let everyone know that he was back, not through the media or over Weibo, but by telling it to them face to face?