Half an hour later, the 72 trainees who successfully advanced and the 5 trainees who used Save Cards to avoid being eliminated gathered in the large practice room on the first floor. Under the arrangement of the four mentors, they entered the grouping session for the second public performance.
“Ahem, everyone, can you hear me? Next, I’ll announce the grouping rules for the second public performance. Listen carefully! The grouping rules for this round are different from the first public performance. This time, 10 team leaders will have the right to choose songs. The remaining 67 trainees can only select based on keywords…it’s a blind selection!”
The mentor announcing the rules at the front was Vinki. He spoke quickly, not giving the crowd time to react. “So, who exactly are the 10 team leaders for the second public performance? I believe you all have some guesses in mind…that’s right, they are the top ten trainees in audience votes from the first ranking announcement!”
“Quentin, Qi Yang, Wen Xinyi, Yan Qiao, Zhou Zilin, Cheng Shaozhi, Lu Kui, Fang Xu, Cui Yan, Bi Xiao…”
He recited ten names in one breath, then raised his left hand holding the script. “The 10 team leaders, please step forward and go to the third floor with Teacher Yang to choose your songs!”
“The third floor? Why go there?”
“What’s on the third floor? Has anyone been there?”
“I went up there once by mistake… seems like just some empty rooms, nothing there.”
“Keyword blind selection… it sounds really difficult.”
“We can’t even listen to the songs? Won’t this lead to those good at dancing being placed in vocal groups, those good at singing in rapper groups, and those good at rap in dancer groups?”
“Ah!”
“Holy shit, relying on luck? That isn’t just a possibility, it’s bound to happen!”
Vinki watched with a smile as Yang Xu and the ten leaders left, then turned to face the buzzing crowd of over sixty boys. He pretended to get angry and put on a stern face. “Noise, noise, noise, what’s there to discuss? Quiet down and listen to the rules properly!”
He crossed his arms, squinting to focus on a few of the noisier ones. “I remember some of you already have teams you really want to join. If you keep making noise, you might as well wait for a random assignment by lottery. Why bother with keyword blind selection? Everyone might as well just test their luck together.”
Instantly, the crowd discussing the grouping rules quieted down, like a flock of quails tucking their heads in, obediently shutting up and standing straight.
A few Class F students who were on good terms with Vinki realized that he was pretending to be angry and joking. So, gathering their courage, they raised their hands to ask, “Teacher Vinki, can you help us? What kind of keywords are they? Are there any hints? Are they difficult?”
Vinki crossed his arms and tilted his head. “The production team is standing right behind me, I can’t help you. After the 10 leaders upstairs choose their songs, you’ll go upstairs one by one according to ranking to choose a room. The 10 keywords will be hanging on the room number plates then. See which one you like and just push the door open. Simple as that, nothing to agonize over.”
The boys looked at each other and whispered among themselves.
“So we still can’t know the keywords now?”
“It’s truly blind selection. Not only can’t we hear the songs, we can’t even know who our leader is beforehand…”
“It’s over. Could it be that among the three public performances, we could choose our leaders in only the first public performance?”
“I think you’ve hit the nail on the head…”
Sheng Yuanxu, who was standing in a corner of the crowd, wailed softly and hugged Li He’s shoulder. “Ahhhh how can someone be so unlucky! I wanted to be in Quentin’s team during the first public performance. It was all because my theme song assessment ranking was low. By the time it was my turn to choose, his team was already full! Now I’ve finally made it to the second public performance, and they pull this!”
The next elimination round was from 72 to 36. He wasn’t confident he could make it through.
Yang Siyi beside him muttered to himself in a daze, “I just didn’t dare choose ‘Black Umbrella’ because my English is poor… At that time, I actually… had a chance…”
Meanwhile, Tang Heng, who had silently shrunk into the Class C crowd to lower his profile, was on the verge of collapse after hearing the rules.
Keyword blind selection? Isn’t this purely down to luck?
Even though everyone called him the lucky one, he had only been lucky once or twice in this life. Who would dare bet he could continue being lucky!
Only a 1/10 probability… Wait, he didn’t even have 1/10. He was 72nd, the 72nd person to go up and choose a room. If Quentin’s team got full early, no matter how much he agonized outside the door, he was destined to miss Quentin TvT…
Perhaps the only person in the entire venue who still felt somewhat lucky was Xue Mingzhu.
The top ten were automatically chosen as team leaders, and he just happened to be stuck at 11th place. A little more, and he would have missed the chance to be on the same team as Quentin again because of this leader thing.
As for now, tsk, isn’t it just blind selection of keywords under a 1/10 probability of being on the same team? With his understanding with Quentin, wouldn’t that be easy, a sure thing?
Xue Mingzhu pondered silently, “As long as the production team isn’t too doglike, deliberately setting up a completely unrelated keyword for a rap group song, I only have to gamble on the 1/2 probability of entering Quentin’s room.”
No problem, it’s definitely possible!
“So this time we still can’t be on the same team.”
Yan Qiao, who was walking beside Quentin, turned to look at him and sighed. “If we keep being team leaders until the finals, are we destined to not have a chance to be teammates in these three months?”
Quentin also felt it was unlikely. According to the voting situation revealed by the system, Yan Qiao was still in a phase of soaring popularity. His ranking might not necessarily rise, but at least it could stabilize at fourth.
If the program kept having high-popularity contestants act as team leaders, he and Yan Qiao would probably have to wait until after the formal debut to be teammates.
“If we can’t be teammates, how about trying to be opponents first?”
Quentin lifted his chin towards the entrance to the third-floor staircase just ahead, “If we’re in opposing groups, there’s a chance to compete in this performance.”
Yan Qiao was silent for two seconds, as if seriously considering it. “… It’s not impossible, but competing against you is a bit too difficult. I still want to keep winning until the finals.”
Quentin nodded. “Mhm, I want to win too.”
“Then let’s decide after listening to the songs. Who knows, we might just happen to like the same song?” Yan Qiao shrugged with a laugh. “Then there’s no need to worry…But someone’s luck is really good. Did he make an appointment with you to be on the same team for this performance?”
He changed the topic abruptly. He didn’t explicitly say who “someone” was, but who else could it be besides Xue Mingzhu.
Quentin looked at the obvious probing in the boy’s eyes. Yan Qiao never concealed his emotions, but such expressions on his young, charming face always gave the impression he was deliberately flirting with someone.
The key was, just as he said this, they happened to turn a corner, emerging side by side from the staircase entrance.
Yan Qiao was half a step behind Quentin. He turned slightly, leaning his upper body a bit lower towards Quentin. His left shoulder pressed against Quentin’s right shoulder from behind, and from an outsider’s perspective, it looked very intimate.
The “intimacy” wasn’t in the way they walked together, but in the atmosphere of their conversation.
In fact, Yan Qiao was completely unaware of some of his behaviors. Raised under BKL Entertainment’s tailored training plan, he didn’t have much understanding of normal social distance and communication methods between people. It’s just that in the past, very few people interested him, so this “social deviation” of his never had a chance to be exposed.
Otherwise, how could a perfectly normal scene of “making friends” be twisted into something resembling “finding a friend with benefits”?
Normally, most people would notice something off during the interaction, but unfortunately, Quentin was also a weirdo who had been struggling alone in the Western entertainment industry since a young age.
In the over ten years from obscurity to fame, Quentin didn’t have a single close friend by his side. Instead, there were countless people trying to sleep with him, use him, or scheme for profit from him.
What kind of situation hadn’t he seen? Yan Qiao’s unconscious closeness here really didn’t count as crossing a line.
So, how could Quentin, who could see through people’s dark hearts, not be a perfect match with Yan Qiao, whose thoughts were pure but appeared flirtatious?
“It was agreed, but it also depends on his luck.”
Faced with Yan Qiao’s sudden approach, Quentin didn’t step back, answering with an unchanged expression. “The mentor only said selection is based on keywords blind selection. Choosing the leader isn’t guaranteed.”
Yan Qiao raised an eyebrow, a trace of teasing appearing on his smiling face. “Then why did he come back to the dorm last night hinting and bragging?”
That guy acted all smug even before the rules were announced. Even if he had to rely on luck to blindly choose a leader this time, he’d probably swear he could pick Quentin out of the ten.
To be honest, Yan Qiao knew his own reasons for wanting to be on the same team as Quentin, but he didn’t understand why Xue Mingzhu was so persistent.
Quentin had never rapped. He did mention rapping in his self-introduction, but being able to rap is one thing; doing it well is another.
Having one Xue Mingzhu in a boy group survival show was impressive enough. Rationally speaking, Yan Qiao didn’t quite believe Quentin’s rap skills could be as outstanding as his singing and dancing. Otherwise, the ceiling for rap in this fledgling survival show would be on par with those proper, big-budget rap variety shows.
Is that possible? Even dreaming shouldn’t be so unrealistic.
Yan Qiao looked at Quentin’s profile and thought, ‘So Xue Mingzhu wants to be on the same team as Quentin mainly because of the person.’
As for him… he actually had reasons in that aspect too.
It was not just because Quentin was handsome and a good dancer, Yan Qiao genuinely felt that being on the same team as Quentin should be a cool experience.
Not just happy, not just relaxed, and not just reassuring either.
But cool.
Practicing together was cool. Sweating profusely for a goal was cool. Presenting a stage that made the whole venue cheer wildly was cool, and finally winning the honor of victory was even more cool.
But being opponents with Quentin… that wouldn’t be very cool.
“OK, everyone’s here, right? Gather closer. Let’s talk about the rules first.”
“There are five song demos here. This round’s performance is even freer than the first one. We’ve screened and looked at your resumes beforehand and found that, except for Qi Yang and Lu Kui, whose resumes are relatively thin in music, the others more or less have some original composition experience.”
Yang Xu looked at the ten leaders standing in a row before him and said, “So this time’s theme is…based on the chosen demo, freely create a song!”
The so-called demo refers to a song sample, usually containing only the basic melody and chord structure. It’s a way for musicians to record inspiration and present a creative prototype to collaborators.
Seeing some frowning in surprise, he smiled reassuringly. “You don’t need to be too nervous. During the rehearsal period, if you encounter difficulties, feel free to communicate with us four mentors and the production team. For choreography, you can also discuss with me or the dance teachers.”
Just as Yang Xu was about to press play on his phone to start playing the demos for everyone, Lu Kui couldn’t help but step forward. “Wait, Teacher Yang, what about someone like me who has no experience with original composition at all, and has only learned to dance for half a year?”
He wasn’t even an arts student. Before signing with BKL, he was just an ordinary humanities student following the usual routine to prepare for the college entrance exam. That music theory knowledge was truly too far from him.
Now, asking him to lead a team in creating a song together as a team leader, forget how absurd it was, the most important thing was he didn’t want to lose face or invite criticism!
Yang Xu looked at him and repeated helplessly, “Don’t be nervous. The mentors and the production team will help. And there are also the various teachers giving you classes. You’re young, you might not know how amazing the teachers the production team invited are. Their classes aren’t something you can just attend with money. Be proactive, ask and learn more. You’ll definitely gain a lot.”
Lu Kui wasn’t that foolish. He understood Yang Xu’s implication…the so-called “original composition” varied from person to person. During the creative process off-camera, there were always opportunities to pad it up. This song didn’t necessarily have to be completely done by them from 0 to 100.
Seeing Lu Kui lower his head, Yang Xu looked around. “Everything should be fine now, right? Let’s listen to the songs first. We can discuss the rest after listening.”
The average duration of each demo was only about 30 seconds. Listening to all five songs took just over two minutes.
Half of the ten leaders were left completely confused.
These demos were very basic, without even a single hum. They sounded like inspirational fragments casually recorded with a MIDI keyboard. Putting it nicely, it left room for the trainees to develop. Put bluntly, they were extremely immature rough drafts.
Choosing a demo also tested musical taste. For this group of teenage and twenty-something boys, in the over two minutes of listening, their thoughts merely shifted from “This one seems okay?” to “That one seems okay too.”
Lu Kui had been quite anxious before listening, but after listening, he felt that… he could actually tell which demo seemed more suitable for him?
He didn’t realize that BKL’s strict and comprehensive teaching plan was a huge help. Even a newcomer like him, who trained for only three months, could develop a certain standard for appreciating demos. For Yan Qiao, who had been with BKL for 12 years, this was even less of a challenge.
“I’ve made up my mind. I think I’ll choose the third one. What about you?” Yan Qiao lowered his voice, leaning close to Quentin’s ear and speaking in a whisper.
Quentin thought for a moment. “I think I’ll choose the second one. It’s the most suitable for an explosive rap performance.”
“Rap?” Yan Qiao was somewhat surprised. “You’ve already decided to do that? What if Xue Mingzhu doesn’t end up in your team…”
Quentin gave him a strange look. “Then that’s his bad luck; he’ll have to wait for the next performance.”
Yan Qiao realized belatedly. “So you originally planned to perform rap this time?”
He watched the boy nod with an indifferent expression and finally understood that Quentin’s self-introduction during the initial stage evaluation wasn’t just talk. The so-called “can” definitely wasn’t merely being able to rap, but truly being skilled at it.
Otherwise, given Quentin’s high demands for the stage, how could he willingly jump into a pit?
Their exchange was very quiet, and none of the other trainees or mentors around them heard.
So when Quentin, as the first-place winner from the first ranking announcement, stepped forward to choose a demo, everyone saw him take the card representing the second song without hesitation. No one showed any unusual expression, instead smiling and teasing him for choosing so quickly.
It didn’t take long for the ten people to choose songs. There were five songs in total. The two people choosing the same song would automatically become the leaders of opposing teams. Unsurprisingly, the second demo Quentin chose was left until the end.
Clearly, no one wanted to go head-to-head with the big boss in the official public performance.
Losing was a minor issue; being compared together in post-production edits as leaders of the same song was the fatal pain point. One of the unfortunate parties completely crushed by Quentin last time was standing right here.
The theme of the second public performance was clearly “original composition.” Now, in the entire “NS” filming base, no trainee doubted Quentin’s original composition skills.
Even if one song “La Liberté” couldn’t fully prove his ability, what happened in Quentin’s team during the first public performance was common knowledge.
He overturned everything the day before the performance, and still led all team members to present an optimal stage under high pressure.
Even setting aside his personal musical literacy, this terrifying leadership skill and execution were enough to make people sigh in admiration.
Bi Xiao, who was ranked tenth, had a complicated expression. He silently stepped forward and took the last remaining card. He glanced back at Quentin before turning to stand back in his position.
It might be hard to believe, but he had actually planned to choose this song from the start.
Because the second demo had the strongest sense of rhythm. The drums and bass complemented each other wonderfully; it sounded like an explosive, high-energy song. Coincidentally, he was most skilled at this type of rap.
As the last person to choose a song, Bi Xiao hadn’t been confident about snagging his dream track. But who made Quentin the first person to choose?
He looked down at the card in his hand, and realized with a touch of unease…in terms of song selection alone, perhaps he really should thank Quentin.
If Quentin had chosen any other demo, the song left for him in the end would most likely not be this one.
And he, as the tenth-place finisher with no choice, would have been forced to face the big boss everyone else was avoiding, no matter what.
Being able to step onto the stage with his favorite demo was already heaven’s favor to him.
