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The "Chinese Music Charts" in Xiangnan TV were jointly established with Hong Kong TV in 2006. As one of the three major events in the pop music industry, the "Chinese Music Charts" features a total of 27 awards, including Album of the Year, Best Male Vagabond Singer, Best Female Vagabond Singer, Most Popular Male Vagabond Singer, Most Popular Female Vagabond Singer, Best Music Single, Best New Artist, Best Composer, Best Lyrics, Best Producer, and more.
This awards ceremony was held at the Xiangjiang Grand Theater, streamed live by Xiangnan TV and Hong Kong TV throughout.
The Xiangjiang Grand Theater is one of the largest opera houses in the country, accommodating 2,000 spectators. Normally, it hosts operas, ballets, and large-scale artistic performances, representing the cultural and artistic achievements of the city.
Under the meticulous arrangement of Xiangnan TV, the theater presented an extremely modern aura, with large screens behind the stage complemented by excellent sound and lighting effects, creating a grand scene of prosperity and celebration.
The ceremony was hosted by four hosts: the leading actors and actresses from Xiangnan TV and Hong Kong TV. Among them, Xiangnan TV's Xia Yu and Fang Chen are well-known hosts in China's entertainment industry.
The evening began with a grand song and dance performance, followed by a rendition of "The Most Beautiful Song" by the famous singer Shang Fangfang.
After the song, the audience erupted in applause, and the award ceremony officially began.
The evaluation process for the "Chinese Music Charts" is quite interesting. The winners are selected by a panel of 12 expert judges and a 100-member audience jury, selected from thousands of ordinary viewers.
By abandoning traditional audience voting methods, Xiangnan TV vigorously promotes the fairness and impartiality of the "Chinese Music Charts," claiming inspiration from the US presidential elections to eliminate the possibility of vote manipulation.
Industry insiders scoff at Xiangnan TV's self-praise, but the network's willingness to spend money and invite a large number of celebrity artists ensures high viewership ratings for the "Chinese Music Charts."
The money Xiangnan TV spends is recovered through sky-high naming rights and advertising.
As for fairness and justice, it's mostly lip service for the general public.
As usual, the smaller awards were announced first, such as the Media Recommendation Award, Annual Contribution Award, Best MV, and others, with the major awards saved for later.
Soon, one award after another was announced, pushing the atmosphere of the awards ceremony to a climax. Among the 27 awards, Lu Chen was nominated for Best Newcomer and Best Composer.
In terms of prestige, the Best Composer award far exceeds Best Newcomer, on par with Most Popular Male/Female Vagabond Singer. Therefore, awards related to Lu Chen were first in line, starting with the Annual Best Newcomer Award in the "Chinese Music Charts."
"Now, we will announce the Best Newcomer Award in the 'Chinese Music Charts'!" Xiangnan TV host Xia Yu said into the microphone. "Let's first look at the nominees..."
On the large screen behind her, the four candidates instantly appeared.
Lu Chen, Cui Zhengzhi, Zou Bei, and Wang Guangming!
All four are newcomers who debuted within the last two years. Cui Zhengzhi was the runner-up in Xiangnan TV's "Super Boy" in 2014, signed with Orange Field Entertainment, and released his debut album "Provocative" in 2015.
The criteria for the Best Newcomer Award are within three years of debut and having released at least one album. Zou Bei won the championship in the 2015 Deep Sea TV's flagship variety show "National Idol," signed with Starlight Media, and released his debut album "Blooming Pistils" thereafter.
Interestingly, except for Wang Guangming, Lu Chen, Cui Zhengzhi, and Zou Bei released their debut albums within a few days of each other in 2015, causing a stir on WeChat Music. Ultimately, Lu Chen's "My Old Classmate" emerged victorious.
In 2015, these four newcomers were quite remarkable figures in the pop music scene.
"Now, let's welcome Mr. Liu Zonghan to announce the winner of the Best Newcomer Award and present the trophy!"
Dressed in a sharp, tailored suit and exuding elegance, Liu Zonghan walked onto the stage amid a round of applause. Liu Zonghan is a well-known Hong Kong vagabond singer, though in recent years, he has been focusing his career on the mainland, having released several albums.
Facing the microphone, he took an envelope from his pocket, the one containing the name of the award winner, and opened it.
The Chinese Music Charts Best Newcomer Award was about to be revealed!
At this moment, viewers watching the ceremony in front of their televisions and computers were all on edge with anticipation.
Meanwhile, in Lu Chen's livestream room on Whale TV, countless of his fans were also waiting for the result. Most of them were firmly convinced, no one else deserved Best Newcomer more than Lu Chen.
The reason was simple: in the 2015 Chinese pop scene, there was no newcomer more outstanding than Lu Chen.
He had won the Singing China grand championship, released a platinum debut album, My Old Classmate, wrote songs for the Wandering Band, produced albums for MSN, and even composed for Chen Fei'er…
Achievement after achievement, who could compare?
"Cui Zhengzhi!"
The next moment, Liu Zonghan announced the winner: "Congratulations to Cui Zhengzhi!"
Seated in the third row on the right side of the audience, Cui Zhengzhi immediately stood up, beaming with joy as he hugged those around him. A spotlight beamed down on him as he walked up the stage.
But when the 2,000 live audience members and guests at the venue heard that name, the reaction wasn't the usual enthusiastic applause. Instead, murmurs and whispers broke out across the hall, with only a smattering of polite claps.
News of Lu Chen's dual nominations, Best Newcomer and Best Composer, had long since spread across the showbiz circle. Those in the know already had expectations.
Many industry insiders believed that Lu Chen had a 90% chance of winning Best Newcomer but might miss out on Best Composer, since that award carried significant weight and often favored experience. It wasn't something a rookie could win easily.
Lu Chen was too young. He had the achievements, but not enough seniority.
However, no one had expected that the award Lu Chen was most likely to win, Best Newcomer, would go to Cui Zhengzhi instead!
Compared to Lu Chen's dazzling accomplishments in 2015, Cui Zhengzhi lagged far behind. His debut album had lost badly to Lu Chen's and hadn't produced any major hits on the major music charts. His visibility came mostly from hype and frequent appearances on entertainment shows.
That Lu Chen would lose to Cui Zhengzhi was truly hard to believe.
Only those who knew the inside story understood what was going on, this was typical Xiangnan TV behavior. Giving Lu Chen two nominations was just a setup, to publicly slap him in the face.
Lu Chen had seriously offended Xiangnan TV.
As the saying goes, everyone has their own scales in their heart. Xiangnan TV's obvious manipulation of the results naturally left a bad taste. Even if no one could openly protest, how could they sincerely applaud Cui Zhengzhi?
Some did clap, of course. Besides Xiangnan TV staff and planted "audience members," there were others too.
Chen Fei'er was one of them.
The heavenly queen, seated in the center of the second row, wore a faint smile and gently clapped her hands.
Aloofly.
One clap after another, as if she were slapping someone in the face.
(End of Chapter)