I am Really a Superstar

It was Monday morning.

Zhang Ye was woken by Hu Fei’s call.

The current executive producer and director of Beijing Television’s Do You Remember, Hu Fei, said: “Little Zhang, did your new program’s title sponsorship really sell for 100 million RMB!?

Zhang Ye yawned and said: “Yes.”

Hu Fei said: “Don’t fool around with me, tell me the truth!”

Zhang Ye laughed helplessly: “Why would I lie to you?”

Hu Fei: “……”

Zhang Ye said: “We’ll be starting the official promotions and announcing it later today.”

Hu Fei restrained himself for a long time before finally saying: “You’re really awesome, kid! Everything that you’ve done up till now have been things that always leave others astonished! This title sponsorship contract for your new program is really too large, do you even know that? Everyone at Beijing Television Station and the other television stations are all talking about that title sponsorship fee of Central TV Department 1’s new program! This amount is…too frightening! When has any other television program ever signed a title sponsor deal that was worth as much as yours?!”

Zhang Ye laughed and said, “From now onward, there will be many others like this.”

Hu Fei did not agree with this. He said, “This was just a one-off case based on your reputation, how could it become the norm?”

“If you don’t believe it, then let’s see where we end up two years later. By then, a title sponsorship fee of 100 million will probably be the norm.” The situation of this world’s variety programs was seen before in Zhang Ye’s previous world as well. It was also a similar situation and similar downturn, so he knew that the downturn of the television industry here couldn’t go on forever either. There would be a time when it ushered in another golden age. There was always a trough and a crest, which was also often referred to as the laws of the market.

Meanwhile.

On the internet, reactions about the large sum of the title sponsorship for The Voice of many netizens fell in the stage of unacceptance. In the morning, at the places where the morning newspapers were sold at, many of the entertainment sections of the various newspapers had dedicated the headlines to the issue of the title sponsorship fees for The Voice!

Some people had found out about it last night!

While there were also those who only knew about it when they bought the papers in the morning. Upon seeing these headlines, they were all dumbfounded!

There were also people who found out about it on their way to work or when they were eating breakfast and overheard it from others. They were shocked by this piece of news!

“100 million?”

“Brain Gold must have gone crazy!”

“Will they even be able to recoup their capital?”

“Damn! What the hell! F**k!”

“Zhang Ye has started something big again!”

“This is more than something big, he has totally flipped everything upside down!”

“The Voice has surely broken the record for title sponsorship fees! I’ve heard that the rumored fees for the most popular singing program at the moment, Do You Remember, was only valued at 37 million!”

“Could this be fake news? Didn’t a lot of people from the industry say that there was nothing much to look forward to in The Voice? Didn’t they say that this program has nothing special to it and even goes against the trends of the market? If that’s the case, then why would any advertisers still dump such a huge lump sum to be the title sponsor? If this news is true, then Zhang Ye must really be very bold. Even though others are willing to pay 100 million, that doesn’t mean you should take it, right? Are you trying to reshuffle the industry’s cards for variety programs? Are you intending to reestablish the market rules and standards? All rules have been broken! All standards are toppled! The entire television variety industry has been totally stirred up by Zhang Ye!”

“Previous poster, aren’t you worrying too much over too many things?”

“Yeah, if the Brain Gold company is willing to offer that amount, then that just means that Teacher Zhang is worth that much. How does it reestablish any market rules or stir up anything? Isn’t it good that the title sponsorship fees are this much? If you let any other programs find their own title sponsors, I doubt they could even find someone willing to offer 50 million, much less 100 million RMB! What do you call this? This is what you call ‘difference’! This is also an affirmation from the market upon Zhang Ye’s strength and recognition! It’s not like anyone can get it just because they want it! They do not enjoy the reputation Teacher Zhang has!”

“Awesome!”

“100 million RMB…I’m utterly convinced!”

“Haha, I would really like to hear what those people who did not have much optimism for The Voice have to say now. Even without anything to show for right now, they still managed to secure a 100 million RMB title sponsorship! How face smacking!”

“Don’t you all understand Face-smacking Zhang’s style yet? How many times has it been already? From the start, when people said they were not optimistic about The Voice, I already knew that it would end up this way! Anyway, I’ve always thought well of Teacher Zhang Ye. No matter what programs or works he comes up with, I will surely support them!”

……

Later in the morning.

Zhang Ye sent Chenchen to school before he turned around and headed towards Bayi Lake. He arrived at Central TV Tower very early to start allocating the tasks for the program’s marketing and promotions.

Not long after, Brain Gold published a statement, officially confirming their role as exclusive title sponsors to The Voice of China, having signed a sponsorship contract for 100 million RMB. At the same time, Central TV Department 1 confirmed the news too, with the program team of The Voice also stating that the 100 million title sponsorship fees would be fully invested into the production of the program. On top of the funding that was allocated to them by Central TV Department 1, The Voice would have a total production cost of 120 million RMB. They sincerely invited any interested advertisers to join as well as reiterating to anyone who had a passion for music to register for the program’s audition. They also publicly announced the registration and contact channels for the program team.

When the news got out, it reignited the heated discussions!

“It’s been confirmed!”

“It’s true!”

“It’s really 100 million! The contract has been signed!”

“What the f**k! 120 million RMB, all to be used as production costs?”

“That has to be a record!”

“I’m so looking forward to it!”

“What kind of quality can 120 million RMB create in a program? I really want to see what they can come up with!”

“Can anyone please tell me loudly that I did not see this wrongly with my eyes? Isn’t a funding of 100 million RMB more commonly seen in a movie shoot? Is this all going to be used only for producing a television program?”

“You did not see wrong!”

“Zhang Ye’s making a really big move this time! And I like it!”

“Hahaha! If he’s going to do it, he’s going to make a big one! If he’s going to do it, he’s going to make it the most exciting! This has always been Teacher Zhang’s style! If it succeeds, his name will surely go down in the annals of history! If it fails, then it will definitely leave a stink for ten thousand years! Zhang Ye’s motto is ‘reject mediocrity’! That is what I like best about him!”

“We already know the program’s format and content, so now the only question left is: who will be the guests?”

“Yeah, who will be joining the show?”

“Those big shot celebrities basically no longer participate in talent shows anymore. With the viewer ratings and joining payments at near all-time lows, it makes it very difficult to get anyone good to join.”

“If only Sister Zhang would join the show.”

“Hur hur, previous poster, stop dreaming.”

“I also know that it’s just a dream, but I still want to think that way since I really like Sister Zhang a lot.”

“It’s impossible that an S-list Heavenly Queen would take part in these kinds of talent shows as a guest. Do you know how much people like them can earn from just filming a movie? They would gain more reputation as well, and even have a chance at winning an award, so why would they bother with a television program? Even if it’s just those A-list singers, I doubt they could invite them either.”

“Besides, The Voice already does not have a very good reputation, with the professionals rating it quite poorly.”

……

At Central TV.

In The Voice’s program team office.

Everyone here was asking the same questions too.

After the female administrative staff member passed a few copies of the general contract template to Zhang Ye, she asked, “Teacher Zhang, do you need me to prepare a list of guest coaches candidates for you? Shall we start inviting them one by one?”

Zhang Ye gave a wave of his hands and said, “That’s not necessary.”

Ha Qiqi said, “The first round of preliminary auditions for the contestants will be held this afternoon. I’ve arranged for it to start at 2 PM. If we do not begin picking which guest coaches to invite, I’m afraid it will be too late.”

Zhang Zuo also said, “That’s right, Director Zhang. We ought to get prepared early since the market environment isn’t that good. The guests are getting more and more difficult to invite, especially those big shot guests who always reject television talent show programs. We have to identify our targets first and contact them one at a time and negotiate. If it doesn’t work out, we move to the next candidate.”

Zhang Ye laughed, “No need to go through all that trouble. I’ve already negotiated with the guests.”

“Ah?” Wu Yi said, “Already negotiated?”

Ha Qiqi said in surprise, “You contacted them yesterday afternoon?”

Zhang Ye nodded a few times, and then looked at his watch before saying, “I was afraid that the news would be leaked too early and cause unnecessary trouble or changes, so I kept it a secret instead. Looking at the time now, I think they should be here soon?”

As soon as he stopped talking, a few people were already at the door.

A staff member of Central TV Department 1 brought the guests in and said, “Teacher Zhang, they were looking for your office, so I brought them here.”

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “Thanks, friend.”

Ha Qiqi, Zhang Zuo, and the rest all did a double take when they saw them. It turned out to be the famous songstress, Zhang Xia, and behind her were her lawyer and manager, a total of three people!

Everyone was stunned!

Only Zhang Ye was not surprised. He went up to shake her hand and said, “Grandma Zhang, you’re here right on time.”

Zhang Xia shook his hand and said, “I’m always on time, hur hur. Let’s get the contract signed then.”

“Sure, it’s already prepared. I’ll let you have a look first.” Zhang Ye took out the contract and passed it to her.

Ha Qiqi pulled Zhang Ye aside and asked with a face registering surprise, “You managed to get Zhang Xia to step out from her retirement? Doesn’t she no longer take part in any variety programs?”

Everyone was truly surprised at this as no one could have expected Zhang Ye to get the issue of the guests settled so quickly after only going out for a short while. He even managed to invite the renowned songstress as a guest for their show. Everyone knew the program quality would surely be raised by several levels if they had Grandma Zhang fronting the show. With Zhang Xia joining, not only would her appeal and popularity help the program, her professional strength would also make the program more credible. This was a great artist who had sung for the country’s leaders and foreign emissaries in the past!

Before Zhang Ye could answer, before they could get over their surprise, when Zhang Xia and her team were looking through the contract, another couple and their managers arrived.

A female editor exclaimed, “Chen…Chen Guang!”

Another male editor stared at them. “Fan Wenli!”

When Chen Guang came into the office, he directly went to Zhang Ye, smiling and waving at him. He said, “Teacher Zhang, we’re not late, are we?”

“No, but since Teacher Chen and Teacher Fan are gracing us with both your presences, it wouldn’t matter even if you were late.” Zhang Ye spoke with a mouthful of courtesy and went up to welcome them with the contracts.

Zhang Zuo was getting excited!

Ha Qiqi was also getting excited!

Chen Guang had come? Fan Wenli had also come? These two were the very well-known ideal couple of the entertainment circle! And when it came to popularity, these two definitely belonged to the top of the singing world! As an example, among the guest coaches in all the singing talent shows being held by television stations across the whole country, even if the most popular one stepped forward, they would not be a match for the popularity of just one of either Chen Guang or Fan Wenli! And it was even more so if you compared the two of them together! If Chen Guang and Fan Wenli joined any of those singing talent shows, they would surely sweep all those coaching panels off their feet. They were definitely the Big Brother and Sister of any coaching lineup!

And now, the two of them were here?

They were both going to join The Voice??

The staff of the program team were all getting dizzy from this. This was no longer a matter of whether all this was happening too suddenly or not. This was a surprise no one could have expected even in their wildest dreams. With just one of them, they could already sweep away all the other singing programs, much less two of them! Zhang Xia together with Chen Guang and Fan Wenli? This lineup of coaches was too prestigious!

How did Teacher Zhang do it?

How did he get the three of them to come aboard??