Chapter 121: Premiere of "China's Best Voice"

"What is this? Back to the stage? What is ZNTV up to?"

Countless people were struck by this question.

"Wow! They turned around! Are the mentors not even looking at the contestants?"

"I don't know what they're doing, but it looks awesome!"

"Huh? This format is actually quite novel! Interesting!"

"Does anyone know the rules? I've never seen this kind of gameplay before!"

"Haha! Identifying people by their voices? That's ancient history!"

"How can you be so sure? Careful, you might get slapped in the face later!"

"Heh, I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice. It's just a tired, unoriginal routine!"

"..."

"But honestly, the stage production is top-notch! I heard they spent a fortune building it."

"They say they spent a fortune, so it's a fortune? Did you see the money?"

"..."

"Regardless of how the rest of the show goes, with this lineup of mentors, it's clearly made with sincerity. I'm a fan!"

Although a segment of "die-hard" critics remained resistant to everything, most netizens were quite curious about what would happen next.

Regardless, this opening format created enough suspense to hook the audience and make them want to keep watching.

The first contestant to take the stage was Yao Beibei. As soon as she began to sing, the viewers couldn't stay calm.

"No way? Is the quality of contestants on this show really this high?"

"Compared to this, I think she sings better than a lot of professional singers!"

"Compared to this, shouldn't those lip-syncing celebrity singers feel ashamed?"

"Don't even mention them. Haven't you noticed that some singers never hold concerts? Their music only exists on records."

"This is the real stage."

"..."

After Yao Beibei finished, Ji Xiangyang walked onto the stage to explain the competition rules. As the format became clear, everyone finally understood.

Blind auditions!

So that's what it meant!

Stunning!

That was everyone's first reaction. But did the show really ignore appearance and focus only on the voice? Many people had their doubts. The first contestant, Yao Beibei, was beautiful and had a sweet voice, so the show's premise seemed a bit shaky. Driven by this doubt, many continued to watch.

However, they soon discovered that the subsequent singers came from all walks of life—some from the Daliang Mountains in Sichuan, others returned from prestigious overseas universities. Any outcome was possible. Some with outstanding looks were eliminated, while others with plain appearances won turns from the mentors. It seemed fair.

It wasn't until Niu Jun appeared that the show reached its absolute climax.

*China's Good Voice*

So it really was true: if you can sing well, you can be recognized!

This... the audience was completely immersed. A grassroots comeback is everyone's favorite thing to watch!

"Found a really great show, everyone go watch it!"

"This is the first time in years I've been shocked by a program!"

"If ordinary people have dreams, come here! /link"

"..."

On WeChat Moments and Weibo, more and more people began to share the show.

***

"What are the numbers?"

At the Zhejiang Provincial TV station, the data team had been monitoring the viewership of all provincial channels during the same time slot. A group of people stood around the large screen, staring at the statistics.

"2.1%."

As soon as it aired, the number jumped straight to 2.1%. Ji Lin, who had been nervous, finally let out a sigh of relief, though he couldn't hide his excitement.

This figure! It set the highest viewership record in the history of ZNTV's variety shows right from the start. According to his knowledge of historical ratings, 2.1% was enough to crush over 80% of domestic variety shows.

Although excited, Ji Lin kept a serious face and continued to watch the screen. He prayed for the numbers to hold. He had confidence in the show, but after working in television for so long, he knew there was an element of "metaphysics" involved. Sometimes you think a show is mediocre, but it wins inexplicably; other times you are fully prepared, only to suffer a disastrous defeat. He had seen shows that peaked at the beginning, so he couldn't quite let his guard down yet.

*Thump! Thump! Thump!*

His heart beat in sync with the changing numbers. As he prayed, the viewership rating climbed slowly. Finally, halfway through the show, the data stabilized.

"Alright, leave one person from the data team on duty. Everyone else can head home!"

Given the current trend, there shouldn't be any major changes. The work pace lately had been too intense. Although the other staff had already left, the data team remained. Since the numbers were stable, there was no need for everyone to stay; one person to monitor and report was enough.

"Understood, thank you, Director Ji. You should head home and get some rest too!" The staff member thanked him politely and began packing up.

"Ah, look!"

Just then, the employee sitting in the center shouted, startling everyone.

Some colleagues who were about to leave dropped their bags and rushed over. On the monitoring screen, the viewership rating, which had been at 2.5%, suddenly shot up in a steep curve and continued to climb.

"Quick! Check which contestant is on!"

The staff member at the screen skillfully switched to the playback interface. On screen, after Niu Jun finished his selection, he was hugging Zhu Qingmei offstage.

It was him!

Although Ji Lin had expected Niu Jun to generate some buzz, he never imagined it would bring in such massive traffic. While feeling excited, he quietly wiped the sweat from his forehead. He was grateful they hadn't eliminated Niu Jun during the auditions; otherwise, it would have been a huge loss. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but admire Su Chen's professional eye.

The data kept climbing! The colleagues who were ready to leave completely abandoned the idea. Everyone stared at the screen without blinking.

Finally, the viewership rating settled at 3.8%.

Ji Lin clenched his fist and pumped it hard.

*Whoosh!*

Applause erupted in the office. A glorious achievement! Even the peak performance of the Mango TV headquarters was only 4.2%. This meant *China's Good Voice* was currently ranked second among all variety shows, and the gap was only 0.4%.

Everyone present celebrated with excitement. Ji Lin watched the laughter and joy, his eyes smiling. A heavy weight had finally lifted from his heart. They had been under so much pressure lately. Working as an external company within the original TV station, they had faced mockery or pity from former colleagues in other departments. Even those who were polite enough not to show it still made them feel like they couldn't hold their heads high. Yes, the show was excellent, and everyone was optimistic about it, but expectations and results were two different things. Now that the tangible results were right in front of them, they couldn't help but be thrilled.

Ji Lin thought for a moment and dialed Su Chen's number.

"Hello, Boss! The viewership ratings are out. It peaked at 3.8%, the second highest in history!"

"Good, I know. Thank you all for your hard work. Go home and get some rest!"

"..."

Su Chen's indifferent attitude caught Ji Lin off guard. All the words he had prepared were useless!

*Wait, this is an incredible number! Do you even realize what 3.8% means?*