How about giving out S cards directly?

This judge, Zhou Li, is quite a unique presence in the entertainment industry.

She's worn many hats: she was a singer before, but never really made it big. Then she became a lyricist and composer, but didn't become a "song mom" either.

Then last year, when the first season of "Pure Voice" invited her to be a judge for the preliminary rounds, she suddenly became famous.

The reason? Her sharp tongue.

In the first season, Zhou Li was the judge for the Jiangsu Province preliminary round, and she made at least fifty contestants cry with her critiques.

With her sharp, venomous commentary, Zhou Li carved out a unique niche and became a huge hit online.

Some people found Teacher Zhou's critiques spicy and exciting, making them very enjoyable to listen to.

Others, however, felt Zhou Li was just seeking attention and disrespecting the contestants.

There were even numerous debates and flame wars online because of Zhou Li's judging style.

But controversy breeds traffic. No matter how venomous her words or how disrespectful she was, she became famous.

Lin Mu had a strong impression of Zhou Li; people like her were masters at making money through traffic.

Just like that stand-up comedian on Earth who became famous by coining the term "arrogant and confident man."

Their goal in insulting people is never to insult them, but to create traffic and make money for themselves.

"Dawei Tianlong's song is called 'Quiet.' Hmm, the information says this song is your original work. There are quite a few original singers this year."

Liu Qiang had the most seniority and sat in the middle of the three judges, setting the pace for the critiques.

Zhou Li sneered, "Unfortunately, they're all trash! Do these people have any idea of their own worth? Without the skill, they still want overnight fame and churn out a bunch of garbage to rape the audience's ears!"

As she spoke, she picked up Dawei Tianlong's profile and began to read:

"An office worker, not formally trained, likes to sing and hum compositions. The barrier to entry for music creation is getting lower and lower these days; anyone dares to claim they can write songs."

"There are also a few self-taught geniuses, right, Teacher Zhang?"

Liu Qiang, sitting beside her, tried to smooth things over, tossing the topic to Zhang Wanteng.

Zhang Wanteng picked up his thermos, took a sip of goji berry tea, and smiled broadly, "Hehehe, let's listen to the song first."

"'Quiet.' Just by the title, I know it's trash. These amateurs make my stomach hurt. Hurry up and sing. I'll lose if you can last ten seconds without the buzzer sounding."

Zhou Li sneered, crossing her arms, ready to press the red button on the table at any moment.

Each judge's table had a button. If a contestant's performance was truly awful, the judge could press the red button to save time.

When the buzzer sounded, it meant the contestant had been eliminated and didn't need to sing any further.

Undoubtedly, the person who pressed the buzzer the most was the venomous judge, Zhou Li.

At this moment, she subtly turned her body, positioning her face towards the nearby camera, frowning with a cold expression.

She had practiced this expression many times, perfectly conveying her image as an objective, neutral, cold-faced judge.

This was also the look her audience liked the most.

This morning, Zhou Li had already made five contestants cry and hit the buzzer seven or eight times. She was very satisfied with this.

After all, to stand out in the preliminary rounds where attention is not high, how could she not do something unique?

And there were indeed no particularly outstanding singers among the contestants, so Zhou Li wasn't worried about being accused of deliberately making things difficult for them.

Now, this "Dawei Tianlong," another original singer, and not formally trained – wasn't this just asking to be eliminated?

Zhou Li was looking forward to it, already brewing her rebuttal in her mind, ready to unleash her venomous nature once more.

"Teacher Zhou is so brave to speak her mind, I love her!"

"Isn't calling people trash a bit much?"

"What's too much? What were those so-called originals before? They were utter garbage!"

"Heh, the music scene today is too impetuous. No one is writing or singing songs properly. We need a warrior like Teacher Zhou who dares to speak the truth!"

Behind the judges' table, the audience was also buzzing with discussion, but most of it was about Zhou Li's previous critiques. They paid little attention to the upcoming contestant, "Dawei Tianlong."

Just then, from within the red tent, the piano music suddenly began.

As the melody flowed from the keys, unhurried yet instantly cutting through all the noise, the performance hall fell silent.

Liu Qiang's eyebrows shot up. Zhang Wanteng paused his hand holding the thermos. The two exchanged a glance and nodded simultaneously.

Playing the piano?

And the playing was quite steady; it was clear they had put in years of hard work.

As the two were about to exchange a quiet word, the singing from inside the tent began.

"Only the piano stays with me all day, the cello asleep, quiet and old."

The two immediately shut their mouths, falling completely silent.

Bad songs often came in all sorts of strange forms, but good songs usually had the same characteristic – an immediate impact.

This song, 'Quiet,' had a piano intro that wasn't fast, but the melody was incredibly captivating. The rise and fall of the keys seemed to pluck at the listener's heartstrings.

And when Dawei Tianlong's voice emerged, it immediately immersed everyone in the song.

His vocal quality wasn't top-tier, but it meshed perfectly with the song's melody.

A faint sadness flowed through the melody and his singing, not enough to break one's heart, but just enough to make people listen quietly.

"You want me to say how embarrassing it is, I don't want to part at all, why do you still want me to get through it with a smile."

For a moment, the main performance hall of the Jiangrong Drama Center fell completely silent, with only the piano accompaniment and singing echoing leisurely.

"I really don't have the talent to be this quiet so quickly, I'll learn to let you go because I love you too much."

Because there were many contestants in the preliminary rounds, each could only sing half a song. Unknowingly, as the last lyric and melody of the half-song fell, the singing abruptly stopped.

The performance hall remained silent.

After a moment, someone finally reacted:

"That's it?"

"No way, why so short?"

"This song's title is really fitting. As soon as the music starts, the whole venue quiets down. Tsk tsk."

"Oh my god, the last line made me want to cry!"

More than ten seconds after the song ended, the audience finally woke up, discussing excitedly.

However, unlike the unanimous praise and excitement from the audience, the expressions of the three judges on the judging panel varied.

Clap clap clap!

Liu Qiang applauded vigorously, his eyes shining. "I thought I was sitting at the national finals. This song should be on the grandest stage!"

"Hehehe, good, good!" Zhang Wanteng put down his thermos, which he always had in hand, and applauded as well.

Liu Qiang turned his head to the two judges beside him and said, "How about we just give out an S Card?"

Whoosh!

A gasp immediately rose from the audience.

Pure Voice had five preliminary competition zones, with twenty contestants selected from each zone to enter the national top 100.

And in each zone, there was only one S Card. Contestants who received an S Card did not have to participate in the remaining competitions of that zone and could advance directly.

It was like being a recommended student for the college entrance exam, directly admitted to university without taking the test.

However, because there was only one S Card per zone, the judges were usually very cautious.

Sometimes, there were even situations where the S Card was not given out until the end of the zone's competition.

But now, it was only the first day of the Jiangsu Province preliminaries, and they were already considering giving out an S Card?

Zhang Wanteng looked at Liu Qiang in surprise. After thinking for a moment, he finally nodded:

"I agree. This song is worth an S Card."

"What about Teacher Zhou?" Liu Qiang asked Zhou Li.

At this moment, the audience fell silent again, all eyes turning to Zhou Li.

After all, she had just predicted that Dawei Tianlong and this song Quiet would also be trash.

Now they were about to give out an S Card? Did their Teacher Zhou not care about her reputation?