China Entertainment 1997

On June 27, 2002, Dayao became the No. 1 pick in the NBA and was selected by the Houston Rockets.

Dayao became the fifth Chinese player to join an NBA team, and the first Chinese player to join the team as the No. 1 rookie pick.

The enthusiasm for football in China that had quickly dissipated due to the failure of the National Football Team in the World Cup was immediately ignited by basketball.

In the following ten years, the audience of basketball has been increasing day by day in China. In terms of influence and popularity, it has steadily surpassed football, and is even comparable to China's most popular sport. Even in the trough period, it has always been ranked among the top three in the country. .

For Cao Xuan, Yao's entry into the NBA means that he will go to many places in the United States in the future. I wonder if it is easy to get tickets for the Houston Rockets home game.

But at this time, he had no time to pay attention to Dayao's matter, but quietly flew to Japan.

The final venue for the World Cup in Japan and South Korea is the Yokohama International Arena. It was completed in 1998 and can accommodate more than 70,000 people.

It is worth mentioning that this stadium not only hosted the World Cup finals between Japan and South Korea, but also some football matches at the Tokyo Olympics nearly 20 years later.

The competition was held on the evening of June 30th, and Cao Xuan came to Yokohama on the morning of the 28th for rehearsals and field performances.

Regarding Cao Xuan's performance at the World Cup closing ceremony, it is strictly confidential. After all, everyone is not stupid. If it is revealed that Cao Xuan is a guest performer, it will be easy to guess his performance and lose the sense of expectation.

For publicity reasons, the organizing committee still released news that there would be surprise guests to help out.

This news spread widely in Japan and South Korea, and everyone was guessing which big name from the two countries would be invited to fight and win back a victory.

Foreign countries did not pay much attention to the closing ceremony because of the opening ceremony performance. After all, Kahn vs. Ronaldo is much more interesting than any closing ceremony performance.

There are also a few people who are guessing who the mysterious guest is. There are people who can guess, including Cao Xuan.

"Waving Flag" is now a global hit thanks to the momentum of the World Cup.

In particular, Arabic, Spanish, German and other adapted versions have been released one after another, adding to its great influence.

Currently, the song has climbed to the top of the country's music charts in more than a dozen countries including South America, Europe and Asia. If the top ten are counted, the number of countries will exceed thirty.

After FIFA officially listed it as the theme song, the song will be played at the opening, midfield and end of some World Cup games in Japan and South Korea.

Because of the passionate and brainwashing melody and lyrics, many viewers are singing along, and even some players are singing along. A large number of football-related companies, products, programs and media are also citing it.

Let’s put it this way, in the month of the World Cup, Cao Xuan’s copyright fees collected through “Waving Flag” reached 4 million US dollars.

A lot of this is because Pepsi and FIFA are using it. Because it is for promotion and Pepsi owns the right to use the song, they do not charge money for using the song.

In addition, copyright awareness in many countries is not strong, and most applications cannot receive copyright fees.

For example, in China, except for commercial use by TV stations and some important enterprises, basically no money is received.

There is no need to think about developing countries such as Southeast Asia, Africa, South America, and the Middle East, or even war-torn countries.

Therefore, the US$4 million is basically mainly from Europe, the United States and related developed and economically sound countries. If global accessibility can be charged, the copyright fee will be doubled at least.

But even so, this song also made Cao Xuan's mouth water.

You know, the US$4 million copyright fee is only for one month of the World Cup. As long as it is for commercial use in the future, you will still have to pay it when the copyright expires. Although it will not be as fierce as this month, there will be a lot of steady flow.

And as a classic World Cup song that has become a global hit, it will have a small climax every four years in the future.

This can be expected from the fact that the last "Cup of Life" became popular again after four years.

In addition to the copyright fee, because the popularity of the promotional song brought Pepsi a lot of exposure and commercial results in this World Cup, Pepsi-Cola rewarded Cao Xuan with a bonus of US$2 million.

Moreover, the two parties will re-formulate a new contract. At that time, Cao Xuan's endorsement fees will be significantly increased, and the endorsement scope will be upgraded from Asia to the world.

Of course, they are only global spokespersons in name, and the appearance and endorsement fees have gone up, but in fact they are still mainly in Asia.

After all, no matter how popular Cao Xuan is in the United States, he cannot be as popular as Britney, and his popularity in Europe and South America cannot be compared to that of those football stars.

Cao Xuan doesn't particularly care about the world or Asia. For him, status is not as important as real endorsement fees.

Pepsi-Cola’s new contract for Cao Xuan is between US$8 million and US$10 million a year. The specific amount will be based on the effectiveness of the endorsement.

The conditions for this so-called endorsement effect are not demanding, and the sales are basically normal. Without a significant decline in sales, Cao Xuan can easily earn 10 million US dollars per year.

This contract is quite good for Cao Xuan now, but Cao Xuan still hopes to get a little more.

It's not that Cao Xuan is greedy, but that he has confidence in the subsequent new English album.

If successful, his fame and status in the international music scene will rise, and the $10 million per year contract at that time will be less.

Therefore, Cao Xuan intends to sign a floating endorsement fee clause with Pepsi-Cola. If he achieves a certain result and his reputation increases, the endorsement fee will also increase accordingly.

But PepsiCo is not a philanthropist. If there is an increase, then there will be a decrease. So they proposed that floating clauses in the contract are okay, but if Cao Xuan's reputation declines, the endorsement fees will also decline.

To put it bluntly, it is essentially a betting contract.

Should he honestly take a guaranteed contract worth 10 million US dollars per year, or should he gamble on a gambling contract with a chance of profit or loss?

After consideration, Cao Xuan finally chose the latter, but Pepsi and Fanxing still imposed certain restrictions.

Regardless of whether the floating terms of this gambling contract are up or down, the upper limit shall not exceed US$20 million per year, and the lower limit shall not be less than US$2 million per year.

In other words, even if Cao Xuan becomes famous, the price of the endorsement fee must be within the acceptable range of Pepsi, and if Cao Xuan becomes popular, he will still have money to cover.

The general direction of the contract has been initially finalized, and the details are still being discussed. The contract will be officially signed after the World Cup.

The previous contract was canceled and signed for another three years, which ended in the summer of 2005.

In addition to winning a large contract from PepsiCo, this wave of excellent marketing also made Cao Xuan a favorite of many companies, and his commercial value soared.

Preliminary calculations show that the direct profit "Waving Flag" can bring to Cao Xuan exceeds 10 million US dollars.

As for the increase in other indirect profits and overall commercial value, the volume may be calculated in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

This is not just a song that is a global hit, it is also a classic commercial marketing, and it is also a rising supernova in the music scene with widespread influence around the world.

Manager Jiang Yue, who had been following the negotiations, couldn't help but lament that what Cao Xuan sang was not a song, it was like digging a gold mine, one letter per forklift.

From the above, we can also know how popular the song "Waving Flag" is now, so naturally some people speculated whether Cao Xuan played.

Among them, the domestic media was the most enthusiastic, especially someone who revealed on the Internet that he met Cao Xuan in Yokohama, Japan.

The reporter went to interview "Eternal Dragon Sword" and received a reply declining the interview, although during the filming stage, similar replies were normal.

However, a reporter still stayed quietly for two days and bribed the extras to learn that Cao Xuan was indeed not on the set these two days. It was said that he was attending an event, but the domestic media did not find any trace of Cao Xuan.

If it's just one item, it's nothing. Maybe Cao Xuan went to watch the game or actually participated in other activities.

However, combined with the situation of the World Cup closing ceremony and various domestic elements, it is difficult not to guess that Cao Xuan is the mysterious guest.

On the day of the World Cup final on June 30, the game was held at 7 p.m., and in the morning, the Southern Metropolis Daily published a report that Cao Xuan was the mysterious guest at the World Cup closing ceremony.

You must know that before this, although there were media speculations, they always used a tone of suspicion or various speculations and were not sure.

This time, the two newspapers used a definite tone and gave direct evidence——

Live photos of Cao Xuan stepping on the court in the finals!

Although he was still wearing a hat, and only half of his face was in profile, his face was familiar to all Chinese people.

One stone caused thousands of waves, and a large number of online media reprinted it, and domestic fans and people were excited.

Although the national football team has returned home, there are still Chinese people appearing in the World Cup finals!

Before that, Japanese media also released this photo.

In fact, this photo was taken by Japanese paparazzi, but Southern Metropolis Daily obtained it exclusively in China through channels.

The news spread quickly, especially in China, Japan and South Korea, which are closely related to the matter, causing widespread impact.

Naturally, there is a lot of support and joy in the country. Most of the people in South Korea are opposed. There is opposition and support in Japan. Anyway, it is a mess.

Cao Xuan didn't care. If it were announced a few days ago, people in Japan and South Korea would strongly oppose it, and there might be some changes.

But when the fermentation took effect, Cao Xuan was about to enter the performance and it was too late to stop him.

………

Beijing, a certain residence

As a die-hard fan, Lao Meng didn't even bother to eat, so he just took a few bites and stayed in front of the TV, waiting for the finals.

His son Meng Xiaoguang, who was influenced by him as a half-fan, also sat over with a bowl of noodles.

"Dad, who do you think can win?"

"It's definitely Germany. Even if they don't look good on paper, they have internal unity and a balanced offense and defense. This kind of team is the most difficult to deal with."

"Not necessarily, Ronaldo is so fierce. He scored 6 goals in front of him, and there are also some Ronaldinho and Rivaldo. I think Brazil has a greater chance of winning."

"You know what the heck, you watch more football and I watch more football. Kahn, the goalkeeper of the German team, conceded a goal before, and it was a penalty kick.

There is also the one that Ke Zeze, the one that backflips after scoring, he had a hat trick before, he scored 5 goals in total, not much worse than Ronaldo, one contradiction and one contradiction, much better than Brazil. "

Lao Meng spoke eloquently and scolded his son like an old football fan, but Meng Xiaoguang refused to accept it at all.

"Pull him down. I remember you said that Brazil would definitely win the last World Cup final, and Ronaldo was a god. But in the end, the French team was beaten to the ground."

It was because of the last World Cup that Meng Xiaoguang expressed great doubts about his father's theoretical level of football. Lao Meng felt that his authority had been challenged and his mind went crazy.

"This further proves that the Brazilian team is not good. They are weak in the finals. If they can't do it, let's make a bet. If the German team loses, I will call you dad."

"This joke can't be made casually...it's settled."

Meng Xiaoguang immediately sealed the bet, turned around and held the jade pendant of peace that his grandfather had prayed for him from the temple when he was born, and muttered silently.

"Brazil will win, Brazil will win, Brazil will win."

The father and son were loving and filial, and the TV broadcasts began to arrive at the scene. Players from the two teams came on the field to warm up. Two CCTV hosts and commentators were discussing techniques, tactics and various gossips along with the screen.

After the warm-up is completed, the players come off the field and prepare to officially start the game. The closing ceremony of the World Cup also officially begins.

The superstar flags of Germany and Brazil appeared on the stadium, as did the organizer's flags of Japan and South Korea, which were smaller in size.

Then there are related folk performances, such as a few people beating drums crazily, and then a group of strong men lifting and swinging a sedan, with a person dancing on top, and then a soprano singing, which has a Japanese tone, but most people can't see it well anyway. Understand what's going on.

Then there is a giant fabric Mount Fuji, which is a tribute to the place where the finals were held.

Then the Voice of Japan and South Korea group appeared and sang the theme song again. This year, various national flags came on the stage again, showing the various themes and concepts of this World Cup.

The closing ceremony lasted about half an hour, and Cao Xuan's program was the finale, which lasted about 23 minutes.

Behind him were a group of children from various countries singing songs and introducing relevant leaders on camera. This was the main theme of positive energy and international practice, and Cao Xuan couldn't beat them.

There were a total of three singing performances in the closing ceremony. Cao Xuan sang solo and ranked second, which is already considered outstanding.

If it weren’t for the performance of the Voice of Japan and Korea group that stretched their hips too much, and

"Waving Flag" became a hit, but he still couldn't get such a good position.

Boom, boom, boom!

Boom, boom, boom!

The dense drumbeats and melodies instantly attracted the tens of thousands of fans present, and also woke up the host who gave a dry introduction.

Huang Jianxiang, who was a little sluggish in speech because he was introducing the closing ceremony, suddenly raised his voice by two levels.

"The next program is the song "Waving Flag" performed by Chinese singer Cao Xuan, who is also a surprise guest at the closing ceremony.

Domestic fans and audiences should be familiar with this song. This song is translated as "The Flag Begins to Victory". There is also a Chinese version, and it is still sung by Cao Xuan..."

Another host offered various information about the song "Waving Flag."

For example, I would like to introduce how popular it is now and how many language versions it has been translated into. Anyway, it is just a boast.

Although Cao Xuan's performance is confidential in principle, CCTV doesn't know about it either.

However, the news could not be prevented from being leaked in advance, so CCTV was prepared. The host had written down the relevant information beforehand.

It doesn't matter if others can't remember it, but at the critical moment when domestic artists land on such an important stage, the introduction is indispensable.

However, few people in the audience in front of the TV listened to the host. Everyone was watching Cao Xuan's performance.

Including Lao Meng and his son, even Meng's mother Xiao Hua and sister Meng Xiaomang, who returned home on Sunday and was doing homework in the bedroom, also came after hearing the news.

"Why is Cao Xuan on stage? Isn't this football match organized by Little Japan?"

"Ah, this is the first Chinese singer to sing at the World Cup. The idol has broken the record again."

"Stop talking and listen to the song."

Cao Xuan was not aware of the turmoil after the TV broadcast. After the drum beat and prelude, he wore a shiny red leather coat and walked out of the cover of extras to the center of the green field.

When a newcomer appeared on the stage, the audience politely applauded, and some familiar fans who recognized Cao Xuan or heard the prelude cheered and applauded.

Cao Xuan didn't talk nonsense. He sang in a protracted voice along with the melody, and then opened the mic passionately.

"...

In the streets our head are lifting; as we lose our inhibition,

In the streets and alleys, thousands of people hold their heads high, as you and I fight to break free from the shackles

Celebrating it around us, every nation all around us

Full of passion, carnival in empty streets, people from all over the world gathered around

Singing forever young, singing songs underneath the sun

To sing the praises of eternal youth, let us sing with passion under the sun

Let's rejoice in the beautiful game.

Let's celebrate this wonderful competition

Let's gather at the end of the day.

and stay with each other until the end of the world

…”

This was not the first time that Cao Xuan had seen scenes like this with tens of thousands of people. Even though he knew that there were more than a billion viewers in front of the broadcast cameras, Cao Xuan had attended the Spring Festival Gala four times, including the World Cup finals.

Therefore, Cao Xuan's overall state is very relaxed, and he has sung all the songs hundreds of times and is proficient in them. As long as his mentality is stable enough, singing and performing is not a problem for him at all.

However, no matter how good the singer is, he still needs the bonus of the live atmosphere. A good scene can double the singer's ability.

What makes Cao Xuan happy is that as a popular song, "Waving Flag" has been heard by many audiences at the scene and the feedback was very positive.

Especially the Brazilian fans, who are inherently cheerful and lively, this song also hit their mark, and they all danced and swayed to the song.

The broadcast cameras also stared at them in real time, and the audience's enthusiasm was recorded. When everyone saw their own figures appearing on the big screen, they danced even more happily.

The fans were enthusiastic, and Cao Xuan was in better shape, swaying slightly and singing songs more passionately.

Even during the chorus stage, when there happened to be a lyrics that matched the lyrics, he took the initiative to wave his hands to the audience to sing along, and many of the audience were very cooperative.

"WE ALL SAY

Shout together

When I get older I will be stronger

When I grow up, I will become stronger

They'll call me freedom Just like a wavin' flag

They will name me freedom, like a waving flag

…”

As the World Cup finals approached, the atmosphere was already high, but Cao Xuan hooked up again and everyone was completely having fun.

Those who could sing but couldn't, just hummed along anyway. Whether they were enthusiastic Brazilian fans, relatively strict Germanic strongmen, or neutral fans from other countries, they all swayed and shouted along with Cao Xuan's singing.

Not to mention the people at the scene, even the audience in front of the TV couldn't help but be affected and couldn't help but twist their bodies.

"This song is really powerful."

Lao Meng sighed with emotion, and Meng Xiaoguang also echoed: "Although I don't understand the lyrics, the music is quite nice."

The Meng family and his son were not the only ones to express emotion. Most of the fans around the world who watched the World Cup closing ceremony felt this way and were deeply impressed by this young Chinese youth.

Especially the domestic audience. Seeing Cao Xuan holding the entire audience by himself, using the World Cup finals venue as a stage, leading tens of thousands of foreigners to sway and dance like a superstar, an indescribable feeling of pride arose spontaneously. .

This is our Chinese singer!

I never expected that the national football team would lose face and let a singer earn it back...

At the scene, Cao Xuan got more and more excited as he sang, bringing the audience to climax after wave of climax.

There was even a hot Brazilian girl who appeared on the scene. She tied up her clothes, exposed her belly, wore hot pants with two bare thighs, and performed a twerking dance while waving the Brazilian flag.

The broadcast camera was directly pasted, and the girl's figure also appeared on the big screen. The atmosphere became more and more heated. Even Cao Xuan couldn't help but smile and pointed at her from a distance.

The Brazilian girl was enthusiastic and generous and blew a kiss back. Cao Xuan ignored her and continued with the final part.

“Ahhhooo ahhhoooo——

And we all will be singing it

We are going to sing it now

…”

At the end of the song, Cao Xuan bowed and left the stage. The audience gave him warm applause. The closing ceremony continued and Cao Xuan went backstage to change clothes.

The Voice of Japan and Korea group in the background looked at him with complicated eyes. They were still dissatisfied before and even vaguely ostracized Cao Xuan during rehearsals.

But now that the performance was over in front of tens of thousands of spectators, the difference in live performance was obvious. Cao Xuan left them eight blocks away, and they realized the distance between them and Cao Xuan.

Cao Xuan didn't pay attention to them. They didn't have much interaction with each other, so they thought whatever they wanted.

After changing clothes, I greeted the person in charge of the closing ceremony and members of the organizing committee, and received some commercial flattery and sincere praise.

Cao Xuan kept a low profile and found a seat through the staff to watch the game.

It’s the World Cup final, it would be a shame not to watch it!

At the beginning of the game, Ronaldo, who was holding Afu's head, led the Brazilian generals and attacked the German team in waves. Everyone's attention shifted to the game.

However, when TV and live broadcasts occasionally included Cao Xuan, the audience still applauded Mianzi, and Cao Xuan also waved.

The result of this final was still Brazil 2:0 Germany, and the goal was scored by Ronaldo, but the time and method were different from Cao Xuan's impression. I don't know if it was his butterfly effect.

After the game, the German team was frustrated and the Brazilian team was having a party. Cao Xuan took the time to enjoy the same privileges as other celebrities and asked the Brazilian players for autographs and photos.

He actually wanted to find the German team, but seeing that they were in a bad mood, he decided not to cause trouble.

Cao Xuan is now considered an international star. He just sang a song at the closing ceremony, and he still has a bit of face. He got autographs and photos from many Brazilian stars.

There are also people who take the initiative to ask for photos with him, such as Ronaldinho. He really likes Cao Xuan's songs and took the initiative to take a photo with Cao Xuan and asked for his autograph.

But the most precious thing Cao Xuan gained this time is Kaká’s final jersey.

This future football superstar is currently a rookie in the Brazilian team. He came to the World Cup and played very little time.

And because Kaka is now playing in Brazil, aside from South American fans, his popularity is much weaker than that of other Brazilian stars.

Perhaps it was because Kaká was easy to talk to, or maybe it was because the handsome guys were sympathetic to each other. Cao Xuan went over to chat for a few words, and then successfully got Kaká’s World Cup Finals final jersey and his autographed photo, and he got what he wanted.

This jersey may not be much now, but when Kaká wins the Ballon d'Or and World Footballer in a few years, it will be valuable.

And the money is still two things, the key is that it is out of print.

There are only two or three pieces of the final version of the jersey for each person. Except for Kaka, Cao Xuan grabbed one. It is of high commemorative and collection value.

The only regret is that Kaka did not appear in the final, so his final jersey was just a warm-up.

But having said that, if Kaka really appears in the finals, he may not be willing to give up to Cao Xuan...

Cao Xuan was happy to pick it up, and Meng Xiaoguang in front of the TV also looked at Lao Meng, whose face was ashen, showing his filial piety.

"Dad, if you really can't open your mouth, I can call you son."

"No matter how big or small, I will beat you to death."

I have left about 180 free words, which is almost enough to cover the cost of lyrics. I don’t write the lyrics, but I always feel that it is almost missing. The Chinese and English are for book lovers to understand the meaning, otherwise they cannot be substituted into the song (English is charged by word, but in fact the number of words is not many)

Finally, I beg for the guaranteed monthly ticket ▄██●