Rehearsal

Lin Chudong chuckled, surprised by Sun Xuan's ambition.

Given his qualifications as a chief director for a local TV station, the chances of him directing for the Spring Festival Gala weren't very high. However, if he had experience directing live galas, there was hope for him to get into CCTV.

"Alright, we'll follow Director Sun's arrangements."

Everyone began to rehearse one after another. The lineup of hosts was also quite impressive.

The gala featured two beautiful hosts from Kyoto, Cheng Huanhuan and Guan Lu, along with two handsome and steady male hosts, Zhang Ye and Tian Ke. The entire event exuded a solemn and grand atmosphere.

Hosts provided transitions between each segment. Unlike entertainment shows, the Mid-Autumn Festival Gala was very serious and formal, with little room for jokes. Even the skit programs focused on promoting positive energy.

The audience members were mostly sponsors or people from within the system. Ordinary citizens wouldn't have the chance to be in the audience.

"Da Fei Band, get ready backstage."

Wu Bo was a little excited, "Here we come!"

Besides the band, there was a large entourage of makeup artists, stylists, and other accompanying staff. They quickly headed over.

Several people saw Da Fei and wanted to greet him, but with Shen Jianbin present, no one dared to speak.

Chen Jianguo said, "Let's see how their new song is."

As the show began, Sun Jie stood at the forefront. A magnificent guitar intro played, accompanied by Shen Jianbin's keyboard and Su Yulin's drum kit. The listening effect was incredibly explosive.

Wang Zhi was taken aback, "This song sounds pretty good?"

Lin Chudong sneered, "Pretty good? Does it sound familiar?"

Jing Feifei's ears twitched, "A few musical phrases sound very familiar. Are they from Brother Fei's old songs?"

Lin Chudong nodded, "Your hearing is good. Absolute pitch?"

Jing Feifei nodded, "Sort of. Not as good as yours, Brother Fei."

"Shen Jianbin is a high-level music tailor. Two sections of this song's melody are from my songs, and two sections are plagiarized from famous foreign rock songs. Many song phrases are pieced together, so the effect is naturally good."

Wang Zhi frowned, "Brother Fei, isn't this considered plagiarism?"

"It's not really. If discovered, at most it'll just be moral condemnation."

Liang Yin crossed her arms, looking quite indignant.

"I thought they couldn't create anything new, but they resorted to this trick?"

Lin Chudong sneered, "Shen Jianbin has good talent. He's quite a formidable keyboardist in the industry. He's learned a lot of creative ideas from me over the years. With some piecing together, creating songs like this isn't difficult."

"Shameless!"

Jia Lu said, "But the atmosphere below isn't very enthusiastic."

Although there weren't many audience members, their reactions were all very subdued.

Lin Chudong said, "This is the Mid-Autumn Festival Gala, do you expect these audience members to scream and shout along with them like at a Music Festival? Impossible. Shen Jianbin's choice of song was wrong, but it's not a big deal."

The most important thing for a gala is diversity; having a Rock song would add a lot of color.

Wu Bo's voice was stunning, "In the dark night, we search for light, In weary lives, we search for strength.

The flames of youth illuminate our path, In the world of music, we are no longer alone..."

Liang Yin said with disdain, "Close your eyes and listen, he's imitating Da Fei."

"Yeah, he imitates the form but not the spirit."

"He's far worse than Brother Fei."

Lin Chudong shook his head, "Wu Bo's voice is good, but his stage presence is average. He looks like he's performing alone, not integrated with the band."

"He's too individualistic, there's no interaction with the musicians."

Everyone listened and immediately understood. This was the difference between him and Da Fei.

Every time Da Fei performed, he would have eye contact or physical interaction with every musician. Even just a remote battle would make it feel very harmonious.

This was how a band should be on stage. Wu Bo, on the other hand, felt like a solo singer, with the people behind him merely providing accompaniment.

Suddenly, someone shouted from backstage.

"Liang Yin Band, get ready!"

Lin Chudong said, "You guys go on stage, I'm not going."

"Okay!"

The musicians quickly went on stage.

Jia Lu and Jing Feifei both took deep breaths. Even Liang Yin felt nervous.

At the front of the stage, Jing Feifei said, "Brother Fei didn't even need a rehearsal. Isn't the Director worried he'll perform poorly?"

Jia Lu said, "Brother Fei sang live the last two times and never messed up. Plus, he never had any issues with Da Fei Band before. Of course, the Director trusts him."

"Yeah, we need to work hard too!"

Shen Jianbin and the others left the stage, and Jing Feifei and Jia Lu took the stage.

Seeing so many orchestras, all playing traditional instruments, Shen Jianbin frowned.

What was Da Fei up to? No more electric guitars?

When Jing Feifei took the stage, even though it was just a rehearsal, her heart was pounding. Even as a rich young lady, she hadn't experienced such a scene often.

Jia Lu, holding two thick drumsticks, stood before a Tang drum, her small face flushed with excitement.

The music began, and a grand and majestic accompaniment filled the entire venue.

Shen Jianbin and Sun Jie exchanged glances, both looking confused.

This was not Da Fei's usual style at all.

And the fact that he didn't even rehearse, treating it like a secret weapon, made them even more uncertain.

"Ever since Da Fei left the company, he's just been causing trouble!"

Before, asking Da Fei to create a scandal, stir up some news, or do an interview was like asking for his life.

Now he was constantly stirring things up, making Shen Jianbin grind his molars in anger.

Wu Bo, however, looked confident. "Heh, don't worry about him. How could this kind of song possibly compete with our performance?"

On Magic City TV Station, interviews were being broadcast.

"I think Da Fei is inferior to Wu Bo."

Shen Jianbin's arrogant smile immediately drew a barrage of bullet comments.

"Da Fei Band is awesome, always Da Fei Band!"

"The one upstairs, stop defending him. Without Da Fei, what kind of trash is Da Fei Band?"

"Heh, let's see how this show turns out. Da Fei Band has a new song, and without Da Fei, there's still a new song!"

"Didn't you see Liang Yin Band is the finale? Da Fei clearly has more strength. Haven't those few trump card songs from the past few days blown your minds yet?"

"Da Fei is trash, he's run out of tricks, all show and no substance. Betraying the band to go solo, he's a traitor."

"When Da Fei comes on stage, I want to see 'traitor' spammed!"

"..."

Although Da Fei had been very popular recently, the band still had more fans.

They were very unhappy with Da Fei's commercial activities, like appearing on variety shows and creating scandals.

This was completely contrary to his previous persona as a pure musician, and they were very dissatisfied with his behavior, leading to a flood of criticism.

The biggest outcry was that Da Fei lacked talent, and these songs were not written recently but were secretly written over the years while he was in the band.

Such a person is truly despicable!