A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 13 Talented Person
I went to Taiwan on March 17th. The company was understanding that Lin Jianlu had several hours of flying and connecting flights, so they only arranged a company tour and a dinner party in the evening. But this understanding only lasted for that day! I got busy the next day.

After all, the reason Lin Jianlu was brought from the mainland to Taiwan was to promote his albums and sell them!

The signing session lasted a full three hours, and I estimate that at least 1500 CDs were signed. Even though Lin Jianlu thought she was incredibly strong, by the time she finally finished signing, she felt like she couldn't lift her arms anymore.

A fan meeting, chatting and singing, that's easy. People who have been live streaming for years in their past lives don't have good looks to sell, and besides singing, they're best at chatting.

A charity concert, a small music festival.

It's even easier; all you need to do is sing, wave, and smile.

According to his own observation, besides the title track "Cold to the End" which is a must-sing, the most popular songs among Taiwanese fans are "Love is Just One Word" and "Ten Years".

Whenever he appeared, he would always be greeted with huge cheers from the fans. Especially at that small music festival, there weren't actually that many people, only about two or three thousand audience members. His sudden appearance was definitely a big surprise, and many young fans went a little crazy, with girls screaming one after another.

On stage, as the singers performed songs like "Cold to the End," "Love Is Just One Word," and "Ten Years," a large-scale sing-along and chorus broke out from the audience. The atmosphere was enthusiastic.

The above schedule needs to be completed in two days.

According to the schedule, I can rest for one day on March 20th.

Because the intensity will be much greater from now on—it won't be as simple as just singing and interacting with fans anymore; he'll start appearing on radio shows and recording TV variety programs. Only then will he rush to Taichung, Kaohsiung, and other places.

Although there is a general script for recording a show, these days, it is unlikely that any show will follow the script 100%. There will be many unexpected events, which will test emotional intelligence and on-the-spot reaction. Rolling Stone was afraid that Lin Jianlu, a young man, would not be able to handle it and would make mistakes, so they let him rest for a day to clear his mind.

On that very day, Li Zongsheng seized the opportunity to invite Lin Jianlu to his home.

When they arrived, they discovered that Lin Yilian had returned from Hong Kong.

Of course, Old Li also has another home, well, his legal wife's home.

It was a small gathering of friends. In addition to Lin Jianlu, Zhou Huajian, Zhao Chuan, and Chen Shuhua were also invited.

Apart from Lin Jianlu, the other three, along with Lin Yilian, were all made famous by Lao Li, so their relationship is quite obvious.

It wasn't a lavish reception. The two of them had servants, and Lin Yilian only went to the kitchen occasionally to keep an eye on things. Lunch was just simple home-cooked food, and most of the time was spent chatting together.

Some drink tea, some drink coffee, some eat snacks, and some smoke.

Lin Jianlu found these small gatherings quite comfortable.

Loose and unrestrained.

Everyone was very curious about him—a young man from the mainland who had just retired from the Communist Party, yet he was good at songwriting, singing, and vocals. His resonance, breath control, and mixing skills were top-notch, even rivaling those of superstars in Europe and America. The key was that he was also proficient in multiple musical styles, and he did each one exceptionally well, to the point of being astonishing!

How could such a remarkable person suddenly appear in the mainland, a place that everyone perceives as closed off, poor, and backward? It doesn't make sense!

If you say he writes love songs well, even with an indescribable fashionable feel, better than those written by Hong Kong and Taiwanese artists, that's barely understandable. Mainland China's rock music is actually quite good, arguably even better than Hong Kong and Taiwan's, so his talent is perfectly acceptable. But R&B, something that Hong Kong and Taiwan, which are clearly closer to the Western music scene, haven't even truly mastered yet, and you're telling me a young mainland guy has already made a name for himself? And his first work is an extremely mature piece?
how can that be!

Let's chat then, let's brag a bit!

I don't even know what I've listened to. Back then, I couldn't afford cassette tapes, but there was this guy in my class whose family was either government officials or businessmen, but they were quite rich. He loved music and had all sorts of foreign cassette tapes, so I would borrow them one after another to listen to. The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson—I had no idea who they were back then. There was also rap, what's it called, and so on. I didn't have any of those myself, so the ones I borrowed were the best. I treasured everything I borrowed and listened to it over and over again.

I composed the music myself.

Guitar, yes, I'm not very good at it, I'm self-taught.

Yes, I've studied piano. But I'm not very good. I just borrow from others; my family definitely can't afford one, so I rely entirely on borrowing!
I don't know what you mean by that. You guys are all so professional. I'm just an amateur. I write songs... I just change the things I've heard and put them in my own style. Electronic dance music, R&B, really, I still don't know what you mean by R&B. Brother Zongsheng, what does R&B mean?

Everyone was shocked!
Does this work too?
He relied entirely on listening to tapes, unable to even understand the lyrics, yet he managed to extract his own essence from other people's melodies, which enabled him to write songs like "Flower Field Mistake," "Xiao Xiang Rain," "Ten Years," and "Cold to the End"...

They still rely solely on listening to find their resonance, and some have even taught themselves advanced mixing techniques...

This guy is a complete genius!

No one can argue with a genius of this caliber!

The group could only marvel repeatedly.

…………

Recording programs and visiting radio stations.

"Dragon Brothers and Tiger Brothers" is very interesting. I discovered during the recording that this program is not just the kind of dirty jokes and funny imitations that I later saw on Douyin! Zhang Fei's control over the recording pace and topics, and his lighthearted jokes, are the essence of the show.

No wonder this show is so popular.

However... there was definitely some difficulty involved, but it wasn't too serious. When we discussed the script beforehand, Xue Zhongding rejected some topics that involved painful memories of cross-strait relations and mainland China, and we only talked about music.

That makes things easier; just talk about music and Lin Jianlu won't be afraid at all.

The key point is that he seems almost omnipotent in this era—when you tell the stories you told Lao Li and the others again, he can not only imitate Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson in a very convincing way, but he can even learn a little moonwalk and sing a little of Sarah Brightman's "The Phantom of the Opera," leaving the Zhang brothers with no choice but to admire him.

Don't ask, the truth is I didn't even know who Elvis and Sarah Brightman were before, I learned it all from listening to tapes.

The key point is that as a mainland Chinese and a former "old communist," he was actually quite outgoing and even told dirty jokes to the "Dirty King"—after the show ended, the two brothers developed a mutual liking for each other and exchanged contact information, agreeing to have a meal together sometime.

Then... "The Chain Cannon" and "Super Sunday".

Unlike the mainland, the entertainment industry in Hong Kong and Taiwan has become completely systematic, integrated, and entertainment-oriented these days. Singers have a wide range of channels for promotion.

Recording usually takes a whole day because we have to follow the other person's pace.

One more book signing event.

Head straight to Taichung, then to Kaohsiung.

Then, the music video for "Bei'er Shuang" started airing in Taiwan, which surprised many people who hadn't bought the album—some thought it was too noisy, but many young people found it fun and interesting!
Then, the recorded programs began to be broadcast one after another.

This episode of "Dragon Brothers and Tiger Brothers" was absolutely amazing—the real person appeared on TV and was incredibly handsome. He was noticeably taller than the Zhang Fei and Fei Yuqing brothers, and his posture was as upright as a pine tree. He was definitely a super handsome guy. The key is that not only can he sing and dance well, but he can also let go of his good looks and be funny. He can even tell dirty jokes in a refreshing way, to the point that he made the Zhang brothers laugh so hard they couldn't stop.

Of course, this episode didn't actually focus on those aspects; instead, it devoted considerable time to showcasing Lin Jianlu's creative abilities. He even gave a live demonstration, composing a melody on the spot based on a few notes given to him by Fei Yuqing, and humming it casually—and it sounded quite good. This already amazed everyone at the recording, including the Zhang brothers, the professional audience members, and the accompanying band. After the broadcast, his image as a "great talent" was firmly established.

It was at this time, just as the trip to Kaohsiung was coming to an end, that the sales data for the third week came out. As expected, sales did not plummet as they normally would, but instead remained firmly above six figures.

The first week saw 17 tickets sold, the second week saw 26 tickets sold, and the third week still saw 11 tickets sold!

It has been ranked number one on the sales charts for three consecutive weeks.

Total sales have reached 54 copies – so Rolling Stone immediately released a press release stating, "Cold to the End has sold 60 copies in Taiwan in just three weeks!"

(End of this chapter)