The finals were broadcast live.
The show hadn't started yet, but the official livestream for "King of Masks" had already begun.
Naturally, it was broadcasting scenes from outside the venue.
It was like a miniature entertainment industry, with various celebrities seeking attention, and feuds erupting. The "entertainment" side of the industry was laid bare under the cameras.
"The circle is truly messy."
"These celebrities, who are usually so high and mighty, are acting like clowns to piggyback on the hype of the King of Masks finals. It's pathetic."
"This is nothing. If it were in the past, a bunch of influencers would be out here trying to grab attention. Celebrities are relatively more restrained compared to influencers."
"They're all the same. Celebrities just have an extra layer of persona compared to influencers."
As the livestream was expected to be hugely popular, the officials had upgraded the servers.
Even so, the server load was immense. As more and more people tuned in, it started to lag.
Then, the technical department had to perform an emergency maintenance, keeping them extremely busy.
Just like the city preliminaries, the King of Masks competition had reached a point of national attention.
After all, it was about selecting a legendary singer for the Chinese music scene to represent them on the world stage.
Everyone wanted to be a part of this process of ascension.
[Scan the QR code on the screen with your phone to like your favorite singer!]
The livestream's like function was the most direct way to gauge contestant popularity before the competition.
However, Dark Night Rabbit's likes were approaching 180 million, with the second-place singer, Daybreak Rabbit, having over eighty million.
Surprisingly, Dolphin Doll, after being shaved bald, still had over seventy million likes, going head-to-head with Daybreak Rabbit.
This was quite puzzling. Logically, Dolphin Doll shouldn't have such a high number of likes after being so thoroughly defeated.
But that was indeed the reality.
Among the four finalists, only Fan Man's support rate was slightly lower.
While his skill level was that of a top-tier King of Masks, in the finals, both of the rabbits and the bald dolphin had significantly better vocal techniques than him.
"There's no suspense for Dark Night Rabbit to become the King of Masks. Unless he makes a major blunder, even if he sings off-key, his votes will crush everyone else."
"I have to say, Listening Rain's judgment is incredibly sharp. Dark Night Rabbit's performance has been astonishing from the very first episode to the eleventh. Especially last episode's Russian song, it made me tear up. My eyes!"
Indeed.
Dark Night Rabbit's high support rate was well-deserved, having been crowned King of Masks for eleven consecutive episodes.
He had defeated all his opponents along the way and silenced those who doubted him with his skill.
For this alone, no one had the right to question his abilities.
Furthermore, representing the domestic entertainment industry on the international stage, the all-around singer Dark Night Rabbit paired with the all-around producer Listening Rain was undoubtedly the best combination, bar none.
...
Russia.
Vot Entertainment.
Barnier sat in the conference room, the projector displaying footage from "King of Masks."
This time, overseas capital had spent a considerable amount of money to smear Dark Night Rabbit on behalf of Dolphin Doll, which was Viktor. However, unfortunately, Dark Night Rabbit had proven himself by crushing Viktor, rendering everyone's money wasted. Not only that, it had also served as a massive promotion for Dark Night Rabbit.
Barnier had been resentful ever since being kicked out of the group chat by John from the US. Now that it was the finals, he could only pray for Viktor to deliver an extraordinary performance and salvage some dignity for the Russian entertainment industry.
After all, Viktor had won the championship in Russia's most popular competition, and being so utterly outclassed was indeed embarrassing.
"Why is it so laggy? Are the technical departments even trying!"
However, today's livestream was exceptionally choppy.
This also made Barnier feel agitated.
"Chairman, it's not a technical issue. The lag is due to the show's server problems..." someone timidly replied.
Upon hearing this, Barnier took a deep breath to calm his internal frustration.
The conference room fell silent.
...
Japan.
Morita Yumi's office door was locked from the inside.
Today, she had a very important meeting. As "King of Music," her competition was about to begin, and she was scheduled to discuss matters with the producer for this event, Miyamoto Sawa.
However, coincidentally, the finals of "King of Masks" were also happening. After some deliberation, she ultimately chose to watch "King of Masks."
After all, she had heard through the grapevine that Listening Rain would be performing a song dedicated to his overseas fans on the show.
This meant Listening Rain would be on stage tonight, and she would get to see him in person.
The red wine on her desk had been decanted. After pouring it into a glass, she returned to her computer and opened the official livestream for "King of Masks."
"Listening Rain-kun's flawless beauty deserves to be appreciated with a glass of fine red wine."
Morita Yumi swirled her wine glass, leaned back in her chair, her black-stockinged legs provocatively placed on the desk. She took a sip of wine, lightly licked her lips, and exuded a relaxed charm.
...
United States.
John frowned tightly.
For a while now, they had been trying to smear him by highlighting Dark Night Rabbit's arrogant attitude, but it had yielded no results.
Public opinion was completely unaffected.
This was making him somewhat annoyed.
"Tell them to increase the intensity. I don't believe those trolls won't follow suit!"
The most important thing for public opinion is to have followers; otherwise, it's completely useless and just a waste of money.
Then, he messaged other entertainment companies in their group chat.
"Are you all ready?"
"Of course, I've already found people on my end."
"We have too."
"All in all, we've spent nearly a hundred million on this. With these people, it should be enough to make Dolphin Doll surpass Dark Night Rabbit in votes."
"What if the domestic officials find out?"
"Don't worry. This is a live broadcast. Even if they investigate, it will be after the broadcast ends. As long as we lead in votes, it doesn't matter who they give the championship to, our objective will be achieved."
"It's letting Barnier and the others off easy, making so many of us pay money to do their bidding."
Several overseas companies knew that Dolphin Doll was no match for Dark Night Rabbit in terms of popularity.
However, this kind of nationwide voting system provided them with a loophole to exploit.
That loophole was vote manipulation.
As long as they could inflate Dolphin Doll's votes to first place, regardless of the final outcome, it would be a huge blow to Dark Night Rabbit. Even if the show's production team later revealed Dolphin Doll's votes were fraudulent and reawarded the championship to Dark Night Rabbit, his title as King of Masks would be tarnished.
Moreover, they could find reasons to smear the Chinese government overseas, claiming their competition was unfair. If that were the case, the money spent would be well worth it.
...
Besides overseas.
Domestic art academies were also paying attention to this grand event.
Qing University, being Listening Ear's alma mater, now attracted throngs of applicants every year, with some excellent students even voluntarily transferring to Qing University.
Even though Listening Ear hadn't visited the school in a long time, thanks to him as a prominent figure, Qing University had become one of the most popular universities in the country.
The school administration naturally knew how to seize this opportunity. They hired many professional mentors at high salaries to strengthen the school's faculty.
Not only that, they had gone as far as to preserve Listening Ear's former dormitory, Room 408, for visitors to tour.
A plaque reading "Former Site of Listening Ear's Dormitory" was posted at the entrance of the dorm, and visitors flocked to see it daily.
The bed that Listening Ear occupied was covered in his photos, and the beds of Zhang Yang and the Slippers Brothers were also clearly marked.
At eight o'clock in the evening, although there were no more classes, the multimedia room was filled with students.
Students from the Composition and Vocal departments had occupied the classrooms.
"It's starting!"
"I'm really looking forward to what song Senior Listening Ear will perform this time."
"Speaking of which, Senior came to school once or twice in the previous semesters. Why hasn't he come this semester?"
"Senior is so busy, how could he have the time? Besides, he'll be representing China overseas soon. We just need to admire him!"
"By the way, it's always been rumored that Dark Night Rabbit is a student from our school. Who exactly is he?"
"We'll know when he unmasks. Sister Zhizhi said he's from our school, so it must be true, especially since she's Senior Listening Ear's disciple."
Li Zhizhi, after becoming Listening Ear's disciple, had also become a prominent figure at the school.
Furthermore, the songs she had written for Jiang Xiao'e recently had all entered the top ten of the new song charts. The pairing of these two had garnered significant attention, and Li Zhizhi had certainly lived up to her status as Listening Ear's disciple.
...