Chapter 979: On fire even before the broadcast!
Translator: Legge Editor: - -
King of Masked Singers.
It did not exist in this world.
This was a world-class television show from Zhang Ye's previous world that was extremely successful and known throughout Asia. The original Korean version of the show swept the viewership ratings chart everywhere it was broadcast, unable to get dethroned by any other shows. It could be said that this was one of the representative works among variety shows. However, even though mainland China's domestic broadcast version of King of Masked Singers did quite well in the viewership ratings and was very popular with the viewers too, it was still lacking quite a bit when compared to the original Korean version. It could be considered a show that didn't translate well from a particularly successful franchise, which was a pity.
Zhang Ye had analyzed the reasons for this, and the reasons were probably numerous.
For example, the competition format: The Korean version required their contestants to reveal their identities upon getting eliminated, while the winner of one episode's match would have to accept a challenge from a different singer the next episode, with the winner of the challenge taking the throne as the Masked King. There were a lot of differences in the details of the show. The Chinese version would have the winner of a competition reveal their identities and then retire from the overall competition until the finals were held. In terms of the format, the Korean version was clearly more logical and interesting. Zhang Ye didn't know the motives behind the change in the Chinese version, but he deemed it a failure.
Another example was the masks: The Korean version went for full battle regalia, with the contestants covered from head to toe in a mask and costume. They were so well concealed that even if their own parents were standing in front of them, they would not be able to identify them. This undoubtedly increased the suspense of the identity and made it interesting by making it hard to guess their identity. Meanwhile, the Chinese version had masks that revealed too much of the contestants' features, while the costumes were designed with aesthetics as the priority. Some of the contestants would have their legs revealed, some would have their arms revealed, some would have their double chins seen. Their close friends in the industry would not even have to listen to their singing to know their true identity, yet they had to act like they didn't know and look like they were finding it difficult to guess who it really was. There was basically no point in designing it that way.
And then there was the issue of the number of eliminated contestants. Korea had many more artists, while the domestic market in China was unable to muster up enough due to various circumstances. They could not implement an elimination of all contestants other than the winner as there were not enough artists in the country who could sing well. Even if there were, not everyone would be available, and thus, the show's freshness was not as good as the Korean version. This was something that Zhang Ye had considered too.
Listing out all the pros and cons.
He made the necessary changes and went mainly with the Korean version of the show, while retaining some standout points of the Chinese version. After all, each country's situation was different and he couldn't just copy it wholesale without changes.
The amended changes were as follows:
1. The winner would not reveal their identity.
2. The losing contestant could choose whether to take off their mask.
3. The number of eliminated contestants needed to be increased, but would be adjusted based on the number of contestants.
4. The masks and costumes must conceal the entirety of the contestant.
These changes were something that Zhang Ye was trying out, but he was still very confident. For such a highly popular show form his previous world, he couldn't possibly give up on it just because the Chinese version was not produced too well. From the results of the Korean version of King of Masked Singers, this was definitely a variety show which had the potential to become popular in the entire country! The Korean version of King of Masked Singers even surpassed the viewership ratings of the Korean version of I Am a Singer! Just what kind of notion was that? And besides, even if the Chinese version of King of Masked Singers wasn't produced too well, its viewership ratings were still very high. If there weren't any other world-class variety shows competing in the same time slot, the results would definitely have been even better! Even if a world-class variety show was produced badly, its results were definitely not something that any other normal variety shows could match. It would still be spectacular!
...
The program proposal was quickly submitted to the station.
The director of Beijing Television was shocked!
The station heads were also shocked!
The moment they read the proposal, many of the heads of Beijing Television felt extremely excited. They had not expected that after the era of The Voice, during which singing shows were done to death, someone could still come up with something as original as this. The station heads only felt more relieved when they found out that it was Zhang Ye who put forward this proposal. They gave wry smiles as they thought of how Zhang Ye was without a doubt the best guy in the TV show industry. It was probably only Zhang Ye who could surpass Zhang Ye!
The station immediately gave their approval!
The program proposal?
Approved!
100 million?
Approved!
They did all that without objection!
After the success of Beijing Television's Spring Festival Gala, the ambitions of the station grew. There was only one request and expectation of this show: Take the nationwide viewership ratings' top spot!
Beijing Television had always came up short in the area of variety shows. Once upon a time, many years ago, disregarding the nationwide viewership ratings' top spot, the number of times they were ranked top in the daily viewership ratings could be counted on their fingers. And this was even due to those days having no other good shows scheduled. As for their results in the nationwide viewership ratings for variety shows? There was no way they could compare! There was simply no place for them in the top few spots!
But right now, today, Beijing Television was feeling full of confidence. Everyone could feel a sense of simmering strength. They could all feel a sense of surety deep down inside!
Because that person had returned!
Because that legendary host who used to be part of their station had finally returned!
...
Do You Remember's program team.
Hu Fei received the approval order and came back to the office. "The management has approved it!"
"This is great!"
"They're really going to allocate us 100 million?"
"Holy shit!"
"This is the real deal now!"
"If we mess it up, we're going to be screwed!"
"Don't say such discouraging things! We have Teacher Zhang on our side!"
"True, true, true! We have Teacher Zhang around!"
Everyone was chattering excitedly. Every one of them here had, in fact, never been part of such a large-scale variety show before. Who would be content with working very hard every day on a show that would not get famous? But anyone would be willing to make a hit! And today, that chance had arrived!
Zhang Ye said helplessly, "Please don't expect so much of me, everyone. I'm only here to help. Everyone needs to work hard on it together." He looked at Hu Fei and said, "Brother Hu, what are the expectations of the management?"
Hu Fei smiled and said, "Nationwide viewership ratings' top spot."
Zhang Ye nodded. "Which day do we broadcast on?"
"Feel free to choose."
"Time slot?"
"Feel free to decide."
Zhang Ye said, "Alright, I understand."
They could get however much funding they needed; they could ask for any day and time slot for broadcast as they wanted. Such treatment was unprecedented. Almost everything was given the green light!
Everyone knew that this was not due to the hard work that the Do You Remember program team had put in for the past year. It was purely based on the reputation of Zhang Ye as the best television program director and producer in the industry!
Zhang Ye immediately started giving orders. "Let's hurry up and make full use of the time. If the show can begin earlier, then let's push it out earlier and not drag things out. Start publicizing the show and put up a front for now. But don't reveal the content of the show. We'll explain in detail when the production work is done, so as to prevent others from copying us. Dafei, take a few people with you and start identifying the suitable candidates. Then write up a list and invite them one by one. Remember to keep it secret!"
Dafei replied, "Roger!"
Zhang Ye looked at Hou Ge. "Hou Ge, there's a lot of work to be done for the stage setup, so I'll leave that to you. You must supervise it well and get the workers to quickly finish the task!"
Hou Ge thumped his chest. "Leave it to me. Don't worry!"
Zhang Ye said, "Shanshan."
Dong Shanshan smiled. "Here."
Zhang Ye said, "The host this time shall be you, and the style…"
Zhang Ye had a great presence. Wherever he stood, everyone would listen and wait for their instructions. But suddenly, Zhang Ye froze midway as he was talking. He looked at everyone in embarrassment and said, "Eh, I don't think I'm the executive director this time."
Dong Shanshan was amused. "You've finally realized?"
Zhang Ye smiled sheepishly. "Hai, I was too used to it. I'm sorry about that, Brother Hu. You're the executive director, so I think it's better for you to delegate. I will just keep to my planning and not involve myself in other things."
But Hu Fei said, "Your delegation was pretty good. This show is yours and the experience you have in organizing a large-scale variety show is more than mine. You're still the most suitable candidate for the executive director position as well as the host…."
"I mentioned it to Shanshan already." Zhang Ye waved his hands and said, "I'll forgo the position of executive director since I'm involved in some trouble. It's probably a bigger mess than you guys think it is, so it's better not to have my name linked to the show's executive director role. Whether our show can successfully be allowed to broadcast is still a big question mark, so it's better to have it this way. I'll just handle the planning and earn a commission through the copyright. If there are any other matters that I can help with, I will definitely do so. However, I must definitely not take the role of executive director."
Everyone kept on persuading him.
But Zhang Ye did not agree and still rejected them.
First, he did not wish to cause any trouble for his old friends.
Second, he had something more important that he needed to do!
...
Before long, the news was released.
Some of it was purposely publicized by Beijing Television, while some was unintended. Afterwards, news of Zhang Ye's return to Beijing Television quickly gained wings!
"Someone saw Zhang Ye outside Beijing TV!"
"What?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Zhang Ye's going back to Beijing TV!"
"For real?"
"What do you mean for real? The news has already talked about it! Go and have a look for yourself!"
"Zhang Ye's new show lands on Beijing TV!"
"Sources say it will be a singing variety show!"
"Title yet to be decided, but production cost set for 100 million!"
"Zhang Ye to be executive producer of new show, but not executive director!"
"Beijing TV's new show to be fully produced by Zhang Ye. Dong Shanshan confirmed as show host!"
"Hahaha!"
"After so many days, Teacher Zhang's new show is finally coming!"
"Do You Remember is going to stop broadcasting? Teacher Shanshan's influence is really great. Even Zhang Ye has come to produce a show for her! Why don't I get to have such an awesome ex-classmate!"
"Support!"
"I'm anticipating this to death!"
"Why isn't Zhang Ye going to be the host!"
"I heard that it's because he's been banned from the industry! They won't allow him to be onscreen!"
"Just what kind of a singing show will it be? Please explain!"
"But singing shows are already overdone. What is there to look forward to? Could it be the second season of The Voice? That can't be, otherwise Zhang Ye himself would be the host, right?"
"An entirely new show?"
"As long as it's made by Zhang Ye, I must watch it!"
"Start broadcasting already! I can't wait any longer!"
"Yeah, the days without Zhang Ye in the variety show industry have been way too boring!"
It was bustling online!
A lot of people were making a racket and looking forward in anticipation!
King of Masked Singers was on fire even before the broadcast!
No, to be accurate, the audience did not even know what the show was about or what it was going to be titled, but the show was already on fire before the broadcast!
Why?
There was no reason why.
It was simply because this was Zhang Ye's new show, that's all.