China Entertainment 1997

Jay Chou has many classic songs, and one person can compile an inventory of the top 20 Chinese classics.

"Nunchaku" was his first time in the music industry, setting off a storm of fast songs among young fans.

There are Chinese-style songs "Dongfeng Break" and "Blue and White Porcelain" that helped him open up his national reputation.

There are dark trilogy films such as "In the Name of the Father" that established Jay Chou's musical style and were praised by countless music critics.

There is a "Nocturne" that has won numerous awards. It is said that as soon as "Nocturne" is played, the performer goes on stage to receive the award.

But these songs, except for the Chinese-style ones, most of the masterpieces have "flaws".

For example, "Nocturne" is very popular, but not everyone accepts the style.

The songs that can really be liked by most people, retain Xiao Zhou's personal musicality and style, and at the same time be extremely popular and popular, are actually classic and fresh songs such as "Qilixiang", "Sunny" and "Snail" slow song.

And "Qili Xiang" is almost the most popular among these songs. It was once called Jay Chou's song with the highest personal comprehensive index.

Let's put it this way, if only three masterpieces were selected from Jay Chou, "Qili Xiang" would definitely be one of the biggest hits.

Of course, no song will be liked by everyone, and many people are not impressed by "Qili Xiang".

But judging from various data, this is indeed one of Xiao Zhou's best-performing and most widely circulated songs.

To be honest, when Cao Xuan released a new album, he hesitated for a while when he thought that "Qili Xiang" was included in Xiao Zhou's new album.

Because he searched around and found that almost no one could hold this song steady.

It's not that there are none. Cao Xuan's previous masterpieces include "Fairy Tales", "Blue and White Porcelain", "Ten Years", "The Wind Rises", "East Wind Breaks", and even "Jiangnan", "Dusk", "Fireworks Easily Cold", "Blue Lotus" and "Blue Lotus" for Hu Jing. Invisible Wings" and other songs.

Basically, they are all in the top five of the year, or even the most popular songs that have dominated the charts for a year. If it were to compete with "Qili Xiang" now, I can't say that it will definitely win, but at least it will not lose.

But unfortunately, these songs are now "old songs".

King Cao realized for the first time that it might not be a good thing to pluck the wool too quickly.

Wang Zha was very happy before, and he made the entire Chinese music scene submissive, but the price is that now he has encountered a tough situation, and he is almost running out of good cards...

In fact, at first, Cao Xuan wanted to use Eason Chan's "Love Transfer" as the first title song of the new album.

This song is actually quite popular. It was firmly in the top three this year in 2007. It is one of Doctor's best-performing songs besides "Ten Years".

However, Cao Xuan later felt that this song became more popular, but its sensationalism and influence were still different from "Qili Xiang".

Of course, with Cao Xuan's popularity, the winning rate is not low, but the reputation may be inferior.

In fact, it is normal for songs to have high or low reputations, and Cao Xuan doesn't particularly care. He has written many popular songs and is known as a "music businessman."

But it usually doesn't matter, but now the key is the battle between the old and new kings. If Cao Xuan "loses" in terms of reputation, then considering the status gap between him and Xiao Zhou, in a sense he has lost.

As a big devil who has dominated the music scene for several years, the outside world has very "harsh" requirements for Cao Xuan.

In this battle between the old and new kings, Cao Xuan has the basic advantage in popularity, while Xiao Zhou is the weak challenger.

Cao Xuan must win without any suspense, no controversy, and a clean and decisive victory with a big score.

Otherwise, let alone a narrow victory, it would just take a little longer to win, even if it was like "I haven't seen you for a few years, King Cao Tianwang pulled it off."

So Cao Xuan had to hold back a big move and come up with a song called "Wang Zha", supplemented by his own popularity bonus. In terms of performance and reputation, he could suppress Xiao Zhou 360 degrees without any blind spots.

In the end, Cao Xuan took out "The Ordinary Road" from the bottom of his box.

This is actually what Cao Xuan always wanted to sing in the Spring Festival Gala, but now in order to punish Xiao Zhou, Cao Tianwang has no choice but to do whatever he wants.

Cao Xuan's new album is called "I Love", and the promotional song is "What I Miss". On the day the album was released, "I Believe" and "Love Transfer" were simultaneously played around the world.

Everyone thought that the name "I·Love" was taken from these two songs, but until they got the album, they didn't know that the real trump card of this album was "The Ordinary Road".

I love, I believe, I miss, and I long for the ordinary road...

Of course, the popularity and depth of the song "Ordinary Road" are not mentioned, but the popularity of the original time and space song is actually not as popular as "Qilixiang".

In fact, it's not that bad. "Ordinary Road" can be said to be one of the most popular songs in 2014, even removing it.

If it weren't for the different times, the influence of pop songs has dropped significantly compared to the beginning of the century, and the singer's bonus, Cao Xuan believes that the song "Ordinary Road" will also become the king song that dominates the whole year.

But now, with Cao Xuan's reputation and popularity accumulated over the years, as long as the quality of the song is good, he can definitely make this song popular and give it a run for its money with Xiao Zhou's "Qili Xiang".

………

Beijing, Zhuoyue Video Store

The Chinese music scene has been booming in the past two years, but the traditional record industry has become increasingly sluggish.

In particular, the popularity of online songs and the advent of the ring-tone era have caused record companies to shift their business focus.

For example, after Yang Chengang's "Mouse Loves Rice" was launched on CRBT, it reached 6 million+ downloads in a short period of time, with cumulative revenue reaching 12 million yuan.

In the traditional recording industry, there are only a few albums that can achieve this rate of return, not to mention the effort behind them.

Working hard to put together an album, all channels and links do not dare to make mistakes, and it may not necessarily make money. If you just make a hit song, if it becomes popular, it will be tens of millions of profits.

Regardless of the effort, time, and cost invested, as well as the subsequent rate of return, online songs and ringtones have completely surpassed traditional records.

Capital is all about profit.

Fortunately, big companies can say that they know that this trend will not last long, and understanding is the mainstream of the music industry. Even if they allocate some of their energy, they will still maintain the number of releases for singers.

But small and medium-sized music companies may not have the patience or the capital to be "willful".

Regardless of whether ring tones and online songs are the so-called quick money from a burst of wind, let’s make money first.

Under such circumstances, the traditional recording industry will definitely be greatly impacted.

Although the basics of the record industry are still there, Xu, who runs a video store, can already feel from various details that the industry is declining rapidly.

Lao Xu, who originally didn't even have a rental business, is now forced to bow to reality for the sake of the store's revenue.

This previously purely [video store] now not only rents music and film and television discs, but also later introduced books such as comics and online novels.

Recently, his son has grown up, and many things can be prepared, but the declining business makes Lao Xu extremely anxious, and he even hesitates whether to allow those who sell Yellow to sell bulk goods in the store...

For the past year, Lao Xu's face has been drooping every day, as if someone owed him 2,000 yuan.

Only a few times, when the albums of top singers are released and the business is boosted, can his face turn from gloomy to bright.

However, today, Lao Xu's face could not be considered clear, and it was scorching hot. Looking at the endless stream of customers in the store, Lao Xu burst into laughter.

"It has to be Cao Xuan. If he releases two albums every month, he will be able to buy a house for his son next year."

The store next door sells groceries and just opened this year. Seeing the constant flow of customers in Lao Xu's store, I couldn't help but come over curiously.

"Brother Xu, you must have made a lot of money today, good guy, so many people bought the CD."

"This is nothing."

Business was good today, and Lao Xu was in a happy mood. While customers were paying their bills, he was bragging to the owner of the neighboring store.

“Nowadays, everyone listens to music online. You can listen to music anytime and anywhere. You can also order albums online, so fewer people come to the store to grab albums.

Two years ago, the Internet was not so popular. If you wanted to listen to music, you had to buy new albums. That scene was amazing.

I remember when Cao Xuan was at his best in 2000, the long queue at the door stretched from my store to the opposite side. The album sold exceeded four digits that day, and my voice became hoarse. "

Lao Xu looked sad as he recalled the good old days, when records and albums were most popular.

Especially for Cao Xuan's albums, these audio and video stores have to order half a month in advance, and they may not be able to grab them. Lao Xu remembers that he almost got into a fight with his colleagues when they were trying to get the goods.

At that time, new albums were purchased in hundreds or hundreds of dollars. If the quantity was less than 200 copies, the distributors would not want to deal with you. Many big stores would start with 1,000 to 2,000 copies.

Although the quantity is large, there is no need to worry about selling it. The new album is money when you get it. Many times, for the sake of quantity, there is even a purchase limit, and the last few albums are even quietly sold dozens of times.

In Lao Xu's impression, he met a rich man and bought "Bright Stars" for 500 yuan. It was the highest-selling single album he had ever sold. He was so happy that he took his whole family to Bianyifang for a roast duck.

In the past two years, Xiao Zhou, Sun Yanzi, and Cai Yilin's album sales have also been good, but Lao Xu has never felt the madness of Cao Xuan's time.

Today, a large number of new customers came in. Although it was still not comparable to the previous two years, it was somewhat different, which made Lao Xu feel even more emotional.

"I'm telling you, Lao Zhang, don't look at the old and new kings that are being blown about on the Internet.

I, Lao Xu, don't care about anything else but the sales volume of singers. In this aspect, those Taiwanese people are not on the same level as Cao Xuan.

When will anyone be able to sell Cao Xuan, I, Lao Xu, will be the first to stand up and support him. If he can't be sold, then just wait and see. The Chinese music scene has not yet changed. "

Lao Xu's words aroused the approval of many customers in the store. In the past two days, Cao Xuan has released a new album, and his fans are the most frequent visitors to the video store.

After hearing what Lao Xu said, I naturally felt good about him, and even bought a few more of Cao Xuan's old albums to take care of Lao Xu's business.

"Uncle Xu, do you have Cao Xuan's new album?"

Old Xu, who was busy working and bragging, looked back and was happy when he heard the familiar crisp voice.

"Xiaoyu is here, don't worry, I've left everything for you."

The visitor is Xiao Yu, who has entered the third year of high school and is starting to rush to college.

A few years later, she is no longer the little girl who was lying on the table with her best friends copying lyrics, but she is still a die-hard fan of Cao Xuan.

In the busy study life of senior high school, I still find time to pay attention to my idols from time to time.

Xiao Yu has been buying albums from Lao Xu since Cao Xuan's first album in 1998.

For a while, Xiao Yu even started a small business of reselling albums among classmates. He usually bought goods from Lao Xu, and the two became acquaintances.

This time it was included in Cao Xuan's new album. No need to explain it in advance, Lao Xu helped Xiao Yu keep it.

"I want seventeen sheets, are they available?"

"Sold again? Is seventeen sheets enough?"

"I stopped selling it a long time ago. The senior year of high school has a lot of study tasks. I just helped my classmates. They know that I have connections."

"Okay, I'll wrap it up for you."

Lao Xu didn't talk much. He took out a few albums he had prepared, then went to the shelf to get a new batch, and counted them together.

"Old rules, I'll give you a small discount and I'll treat you as an uncle and treat you to a drink."

"Thank you, Uncle Xu. If my classmates want it later, let them come to you."

"This kid, why are you so polite?"

Lao Xu's preference for Xiao Yu is not only because the girl buys a lot of goods, but also because Xiao Yu is a regular customer who insists on going to his video store.

I didn't feel that in the past two years, but now as the business of the video store is declining, Lao Xu doesn't know how long he can persist. It is inevitable that he will have more personal feelings for familiar old customers like Xiao Yu.

Over here, Xiao Yu bid farewell to Lao Xu and returned home alone, carrying a schoolbag.

She was a good best friend in junior high school, but due to performance reasons in the high school entrance examination, the two of them were forced to go to separate schools.

Although they have known each other since childhood and the two families are close, their relationship has not been affected much, but they are still not as inseparable as they were in junior high school, and they wish they could stick together every day.

Not to mention that her best friend is now in a relationship. Compared with her boyfriend, Xiao Yu, her best friend, can only play on the side.

Thinking back to the time when my best friend and I skipped school to buy albums, and then went home to listen to songs together, silly copying the lyrics, and dreaming about the green days of marrying our idol Cao Xuan.

Xiao Yu also felt a little melancholy in her heart, maybe this is the price of growth...

As a result, when she just got home, she saw her best friend lying on her sofa with her legs curled up, watching the TV series "The Domineering President Falls in Love with Me". When she saw Xiao Yu coming back, she waved quickly.

"Xiaoyu, look, this Situ Liangchen is so handsome. I used to be particularly fascinated by his role as Murong Fu."

"Why didn't you accompany your boyfriend? Why did you come to my house?"

"Shhh."

My best friend put her index finger on her lips and pointed to the bedroom: "Keep your voice down, your mother is at home. If she knows, she will definitely tell my mother and I will be screwed."

"My mother is not that boring."

That's what he said, but Xiao Yu's voice also lowered a lot, and he asked the question again, and his best friend curled her lips.

"We broke up. I asked him who was more important, me or MapleStory? What do you think he said...Why do you think he is like this?"

"Ah, yes, yes!"

Xiao Yu listened to her best friend's complaints perfunctorily and didn't take the so-called breakup to heart at all.

My best friend has an out-of-touch personality, and her boyfriend also has a bad temper. When the two of them are together, they have a small quarrel every week and a big quarrel every month. Breaking up is not a common occurrence, but it happens every now and then.

Xiao Yu had tried to persuade him before, and even helped his best friend to scold the scumbag, but later on, the family reconciled as before.

After repeating the cycle twice, Xiao Yu finally realized that he was a grievance, and when he met his best friend, talking about feelings was like "ah, yes, yes, yes".

Just like now, on the surface, we are listening to the complaints and sharing the same hatred, but in fact, our attention is all on TV.

"The Domineering President Falls in Love with Me" is an idol romance drama produced by Fanxing. It premiered during the summer vacation and stars Yan Kuan and Dong Xuan.

The story routine is very simple, basically following the standard female video, with a lot of popular elements added.

The general plot is that the president of a certain group played by Yan Kuan has extraordinary abilities, a cold personality, and never treats people with pretentious words. However, he unexpectedly meets Dong Xuan, a new designer in the company, and the chemical effect is produced by various coincidences.

Although President Bingshan said he disliked Dong Xuan, he already cared about her in his heart. He protected and protected her in various ways, and Dong Xuan also felt his affection.

After more than ten episodes of tug-of-war, the president finally confessed his love and the two became a couple.

But at this time, the president's Bai Yueguang Gao Yuanyuan appeared, causing trouble to the relationship between the two.

In the end, due to a series of misunderstandings, the "ugly duckling" Dong Xuan, who had low self-esteem, ran with the ball, and the president finally figured out who was most important to him, but he couldn't find the heroine.

A few years later, Dong Xuan came back with her son, and was met by the CEO. They staged a long journey to chase his wife, and finally had a happy ending.

This plot may seem a bit old-fashioned in 2022, but it is still very novel today.

Although the ratings of the premiere of "The Boss Falls in Love with Me" are not particularly outstanding, they are still very eye-catching, and the replay rate is extremely high.

The most important thing is that it has attracted a lot of fans for the male and female protagonists, especially Yan Kuan, who plays the domineering CEO Bingshan. After playing several male supporting roles, he finally became famous with the help of this drama.

Especially his big move in the play, I don’t know, it made many girls feel excited and worship him under his suits and leather shoes.

And Dong Xuan is becoming more and more popular. If "Beauty's Scheming" hadn't become a hit, Fan Xiaopang might not have been able to suppress her.

It's a pity that these two have different personalities. They are popular, but their commercial monetization ability is obviously not as good as Fan Xiaopang.

Fortunately, Yan Kuan still has a handsome face, attracting a large number of female fans, and the competition among niche groups is limited.

Dong Xuan is not so good. Her image is not outstanding enough and her hard work is weak. She is unable to break out from the crazy crowd of major female stars. Her business ability is obviously a grade lower. Fortunately, she has accumulated enough popularity that she can't eat fat. It’s okay to eat some lean meat and chew on the bones.

At least Dong Bailian, who was born as a murderer, was crushed by Dong Xuan, who followed a similar path, even if she was protected by Wang Sunglasses and Liang Liang...

As a little girl, Xiao Yu actually likes watching this show, but what she wants to listen to at the moment is Cao Xuan's new album.

After a few perfunctory comments, she suggested listening to music to her best friend. Her best friend was heartless and nodded when she felt comfortable complaining.

"Listen, it's been a long time since I heard Cao Xuan's new song."

Opening the DVD and putting on the album, Xiaoyu found new songs to play in the order listed on the cover. The first one was "Love Transfer".

This song is a sentiment about love and even marriage. The melody is soothing and affectionate, and the lyrics are full of information and have a certain depth. For example, the last sentence "Burn your good youth in exchange for a wife" is the finishing touch.

This song is actually more suitable for adults to listen to, especially if it has a story, and you almost feel like you are the person in the song.

However, for a young girl like Xiao Yu, she is not deeply impressed by the lyrics and listens more to the music.

"This song is quite nice."

"It's a bit like "Ten Years". It's sung very tastefully."

The sisters discussed it and played the next new song, "I Believe."

What surprised the two of them slightly was that Cao Xuan did not appear in the MV, but was placed in a training hall.

boom

There was a muffled sound of hitting a ball, and a group of tall girls wearing team uniforms appeared and started training. A line of small words appeared below to introduce their identities——

Chinese women's volleyball team!

After the women's volleyball team, there were training scenes of the shooting team, weightlifting team, track and field team, gymnastics team and other national teams. If anyone familiar with sports sees it, they will find that most of these people are medals from this year's Athens Olympics. winner.

After a very fast flashback editing, the prelude of "Do You Believe" finally sounded, with very rhythmic drums and playing, mixed with Cao Xuan's several high notes.

After that, Cao Xuan officially opened the show, and the full voice resounded through the living room of Xiao Yu's house along the TV speakers.

"I want to fly into the sky and be side by side with the sun

The world is waiting for me to change

Never be afraid of others seeing the dreams you want to make

I can achieve it here

…”

As Cao Xuan sang, the MV video also changed, from gymnasium training to highlights of the Chinese team at the Athens Olympics.

In the shooting competition, Chinese player Du Li won the first gold medal for the Chinese team. She looked back and waved and smiled at the camera.

The big devil Zhang Yining raised his arms and shouted, blew kisses to the audience, turned around and hugged the coach.

The women's volleyball team smashed Russia, and the team went crazy, hugging each other and cheering in celebration.

Xing Huina's dark horse counterattacked in the 10,000-meter long-distance race and finally won the gold medal.

There is also the most impressive scene of the Chinese team in the entire 2004 Athens Olympics. Liu Feiren won the hurdles.

In these exciting scenes, Cao Xuan's high-pitched and powerful singing voice always accompanies him.

"Put aside your worries and stride forward bravely

I'm standing in the middle of the stage

I believe that I am who I am, I believe in tomorrow

I believe youth has no horizon

………

I believe in freedom, I believe in hope

I believe you can touch the sky with your hand

…”

The exciting singing, coupled with the inspiring shots, doubled the effect. Even the two little girls Xiao Yu felt excited when they heard it, and they wanted to go downstairs for a long run right away.

"This song is so inspiring. I will definitely recommend it to my classmates later."

"Hmm, when you are tired from studying, this song must be very exciting to listen to."

Students are all emotional, especially in the struggling moments of their senior year of high school, when they need some external encouragement, so inspirational songs naturally become the focus.

As for inspirational songs, Cao Xuan has always been a big producer, including "Your Answer", "Light Chaser", "First Dream", "Stubborn", "The Brightest Star in the Night Sky", "Invisible Wings", "Stars in the Sea" and "Running". 》…………

This is only Chinese songs. If you include English songs, there will be 5 to 8 more songs.

It is no exaggeration to say that if you did not listen to Cao Xuan's inspirational songs during high school, your high school would not be complete.

As a result, Cao Xuan redoubled his efforts this year and came up with another song, "Chasing Dreams" and "I Believe", both of which were very encouraging and inspirational songs. Xiao Yu felt that he had no shortage of spiritual food.

However, the follow-up "The Ordinary Road" told her that Cao Xuan, who has always been generous, has to stuff his fans with enough food at once, even if it is spiritual food.

The MV for "Ordinary Road" is extremely simple. It shows Cao Xuan driving alone in a car, aimlessly driving in a deserted place. When he is bored, he sits on the roof of the car and plays the guitar.

"Wandering, on the road, do you want to leave, via via

Fragile and proud, that was also what I looked like

…”

Against the relatively desolate background of the MV, the melody of Cao Xuan's singing is slow and fresh, with a touch of warmth and sadness, giving it a plain and stable power, and feeling a kind of innocence and calmness.

The melody and lyrics of "The Ordinary Road" are not amazing, but they are very durable, and the more you listen to them, the more enjoyable they become.

Word by word, bit by bit, it sings the voice of mortals, sincerely and openly, and expresses the true meaning of life. No matter the trough, happiness, loneliness, joy, or despair, we never give up and we keep working hard.

"I have crossed mountains and seas, and also crossed mountains and seas of people.

Everything I once owned was gone in the blink of an eye

I was once lost, disappointed and lost all direction

Until you see ordinary is the only answer

………”

Someone once asked, when does a person become mature?

Answer: Be aware of and comfortably accept your own ordinaryness.

"The Ordinary Road" conveys many emotions and thoughts. Everyone has a different understanding, but one answer will never change.

Keep going, keep going, just keep going!

After hearing several new songs before, Xiao Yu would discuss his thoughts with his best friends, but after listening to this song "Ordinary Road", the two of them said nothing and just pressed the replay button silently.

A song that truly touches the soul does not need words to mention or discuss. Needless to say, you will understand it naturally...