I am Really a Superstar

Han Qi called The Clown.

"Teacher Clown!"

"Hello."

"We won! We won!"

"Yeah, I already knew."

"You\'re incredible! That song of yours is incredible! I can\'t believe that they really gave in!"

"I can\'t take the credit. This was due to the persistence and hard work of the entire music industry."

"But it was your song that roused the musicians!"

"Surely I\'m not that great."

"But you really are that great!"

The guillotine hanging over the head of the music industry had finally been lifted. The music industry was cheering and jumping for joy, celebrating their win. But maybe it was better to say it was music and dignity that won!

Netizens made countless comments.

"We won!"

"The higher-ups are still pretty open-minded about things!"

"I have a feeling that \'The Internationale\' will become a legend!"

"With this story, the song should already be considered a legend. Have you ever seen a piece of music that has such great appeal and influence?"

"A legendary song, and a legendary person!"

"But just who could The Clown be?"

"Hurry up and take off your mask! The suspense is killing me!"

"When will the grand finals of King of Masked Singers take place?"

"Yeah, I can\'t wait either. The Masked King these days is always either Petal Shower, Sunset Glow, or The Clown. It\'s always them fighting for the throne every episode. The new replacement masked singers aren\'t really a match for them at all. So I believe that the grand finals should be held quite soon?"

"Who do you guys want to see take off their masks the most?"

"The Clown!"

"Fuck, of course it has to be The Clown!"

"Right, only his identity still remains a mystery. No one has managed to guess it yet!"

On that night.

The King of Masked Singers program team suddenly announced that the next episode of the show would kick off the revival round of the competition. Whether it was the contestants who started in the premiere episode or the replacement masked singers, all of them would be entered into the revival round as long as they had not been crowned Masked King before. Meaning that even those who still remained in the competition, as long as they had not been crowned Masked King before, would be required to compete against the contestants who had been eliminated for the remaining spots in the grand finals, which would be broadcast live. A total of five episodes had been broadcast so far, in which The Clown had taken the throne of the Masked King thrice, Petal Shower once, and Sunset Glow once. That meant that only the three of them could advance straight into the grand finals of the competition.

...

The program team contacted Spinach.

"Teacher Spinach, the revival round will begin soon."

"Alright."

"Please get ready."

"I can\'t wait."

...

"Teacher Marshal Persona."

"Hello."

"We\'ll be recording the revival round next week."

"OK, got it."

...

"Teacher King of Oddity."

"Is it beginning soon?"

"Yes, recording will start next week."

"Alright. How many spots will there be in the grand finals?"

"Other than The Clown, Petal Shower, and Sunset Glow holding three spots, three remaining spots are up for grabs."

"Understood."

...

Many of the eliminated contestants received this update from the program team. Some of them were anticipating it, some were nervous about it, and others were worried about it. But without an exception, all of them immediately went to prepare after receiving notification of this news. This was their final chance, and they all wanted to make the best of it!

Zhang Ye also received a call.

But this call was about something different.

Hu Fei said, "Teacher Clown, the issue has been resolved. We want to thank you for doing so much for the show. If it wasn\'t for you, the restrictions wouldn\'t have been lifted, and there wouldn\'t have been any meaning to the grand finals!"

"There\'s no need to thank me; I didn\'t do much."

"The revival round will be held next week, and the grand finals the week after that."

Hu Fei had called The Clown\'s cell phone number. So Zhang Ye had to deliberately disguise and change his vocal register when speaking. He said: "So soon?"

"We initially planned for it to happen after six or seven episodes were broadcast. But the disparity in talent is too great for the next replacement masked singers to compete against. So the program team called for a meeting where we decided that we wouldn\'t be adding any more replacement masked singers and instead move the date of the grand finals forward."

"I see."

"You won\'t need to do any prepping for the revival round. The main thing that I want to talk about is the details of the grand finals. These grand finals will be broadcast live nationwide, and the location will change as well to a larger venue. The voting format will also be changed to a public vote, that is to say, the television audience can also take part in the voting. On top of that, the grand finals will have two rounds, with the second round being an individual performance. Meanwhile, we have designed the first round with a segment where a contestant will perform with a guest partner. The contestants can invite a good friend of theirs and get them to put on a mask as well, then sing together on stage. This is an important segment because if the guest partner is not suitable for the competition, the contestant might not be able to advance to the second round and end up getting eliminated. That\'s why you\'d need to prepare well for this and hopefully invite a professional singer. The more popular the guest partner is, the better. It would also help to garner more votes for the contestant."

This was Hu Fei\'s decision.

Zhang Ye had provided him with a program structure that had several formats for the grand finals. For example, in the Chinese version of King of Masked Singers in his previous world, two contestants were paired up into groups and the groups would verse each other in a knockout format. However, Zhang Ye knew that this format would not make the show exciting to watch, so he added another one that was similar to the format of the finals of I Am a Singer. He left that for Hu Fei to decide, and clearly, he had chosen the latter. This was quite a good choice since it would add to the viewing experience and anticipation of the audience.

"OK."

"Do you have any other questions? I can answer over the phone."

The Clown asked, "Are there any limitations to the choices of song?"

"There are basically no limitations. You can sing anything you want."

The Clown asked further: "For the group segment, can we choose to sing alone and not invite a guest?"

"Sing alone?"

"Is that allowed?"

Hu Fei shook his head. "That\'s definitely not allowed. As the show rules are set that way, you can either invite one or two guest partners. But they have to at least sing together with you."

"OK, I understand."

"That\'s good then. We\'ll see you in the grand finals."

"Alright, I\'ll prepare well."

After hanging up, Zhang Ye was in a quandary.

A celebrity guest partner?

If the performance wasn\'t good enough, they might get eliminated in the first round? Then there wouldn\'t be a chance to take part in the battle round for the overall Masked King of the grand finals? This was a little troublesome to handle. His troubles stemmed from him not wanting anyone to find out about who he really was. If no one knew who he was, then how could he possibly invite anyone? Who could he invite?

His social ties within the entertainment circle was already abysmal, and he didn\'t know that many people either. There were even fewer choices if he needed someone who could sing. Zhang Xia? She was already on the guessing panel of judges. Chen Guang too. It would be impossible to invite them. How about Fan Wenli? Old Fan was even more impossible! Xiaodong? She was probably going to become someone else\'s guest partner.

Who could he find?

Someone was friends with him?

And had to sing well?

They even had to be a big name?

There was no one!

As he thought about it, it seemed like there was no one suitable among the people he knew!

Zhang Ye lit a cigarette and pondered for a long time but came up with nothing. This celebrity guest partner was simply too important. It directly affected whether or not he could become the Masked King of the grand finals, so he definitely had to consider everything carefully! Hai, if only he had known. He wouldn\'t have put this suggestion into the plan in the first place. This was as good as shooting himself in the foot.

There were only two weeks left!

What should he do until then?