bioinnovel Chapter 18 "The Vase Queen"?
Chapter 18 "The Vase Queen"?
Erjun has been live streaming on Bilibili for many years and is known for his professional, objective, sharp-tongued but fair and just music reviews.
Whenever a famous singer releases a new album, the popularity of her live stream skyrockets.
Her live stream room has become a gathering place for fans from all walks of life, and of course, haters are also emerging one after another, which is exactly the result she wanted to see.
Today, the theme of her live stream is "Appreciating the new album, who is the real queen of pop - 'Sweet and Cool Rules' VS 'Dream Seeking'".
"Alright, everyone, it's time for our new album review in our live stream."
"Today is the release date of the new albums of the two divas. Let's wait and see who truly deserves the title of diva."
"Let's listen to Xu Manlin's 'Sweet and Cool Rules' first. As you can tell from the title, this album is similar to her early sweet style." Erjun put on her headphones and clicked play.
The first song of "Sweet and Cool Rules" reached Erjun's ears, and hundreds of thousands of viewers in the live broadcast room listened to it at the same time.
As a burst of upbeat music played, Xu Manlin's album began playing in the live stream.
Inside the live stream, many of Xu Manlin's fans and casual viewers were flooding the screen with comments, mostly praising the song.
One song after another, and I would pause from time to time to offer my commentary:
"Hmm, the arrangement of this piece is good; the strings are laid out with great power."
"The chorus is catchy, making it a pop song that's above average."
Overall, the album "Sweet and Cool Rules" is of above-average quality, maintaining Xu Manlin's consistent level.
"Especially the album's title track, 'Flying Against the Light,' has a great combination of lyrics and music, and its emotional delivery is very well done, making it a highlight of the album."
Erjun pointed out all the merits of Xu Manlin's new album in one go.
Viewers familiar with her know that her sharp tongue is about to emerge.
"However, this album also has many shortcomings."
"First of all, Xu Manlin is already quite old, and it's a bit difficult for her to sing this kind of sweet song. You know what I mean, it's like she's trying to look young."
"Secondly, this album is clearly intended to be a direct competitor to her hit song 'Moonlight Castle,' but it's obvious that there's a significant gap in quality between it and her hit song."
Finally, Erjun summarized: "The album is above average overall and worth a listen. Fans won't be disappointed, and casual listeners can also find one or two songs they like."
Xu Manlin's fans in the live stream were ecstatic, flooding the chat with comments like "Well deserved" and "The Queen is back."
"Alright, we've finished listening to Xu Tianhou's album. Next, let's listen to Shen Yuege's album."
Erjun found Shen Yuege's "Seeking Dreams" and clicked on the purchase link.
At that moment, the atmosphere in the live stream suddenly changed, and a bunch of level 2 and 3 accounts started spamming the chat with comments.
"Don't listen to Mr. Ear, you're wasting your life!"
"A has-been singer, what good songs can she have without Huang Wenshan?"
"An album with only eight songs looks very perfunctory."
"Why don't we listen to 'Sweet and Cool Rules' one more time?"
Driven by a large number of uninformed passersby, many viewers in the live stream who were unaware of the facts also commented that there was no need to listen anymore, and that it would probably be similar to the previous one.
Erjun frowned slightly as he watched the scrolling comments.
She may be sharp-tongued, but her sharp criticisms are always made after she has heard the content, unlike the viewers in the live stream who start criticizing before even listening.
As a professional music review content creator, she bought the album "Seeking Dreams" despite the pressure.
"Let's maintain a rigorous attitude and listen to Shen Yuege's new album."
"Whether the album is good or not, whether the quality of the works is up to standard, let's listen to it before drawing conclusions."
After saying that, he clicked on the first song.
Unlike Xu Manlin's album order, Shen Yuege placed the title track at the end of her album.
So the first songs I heard were other songs from her album.
Shen Yuege's first two songs are relatively soothing in style and have decent melodies, but as an opening, they are indeed not as good as Xu Manlin's main song.
The haters in the live stream got really excited after listening to this song:
"As expected, absolutely nothing special!"
"I told you, listening to her songs is a complete waste of time. Shen Yuege is definitely just a pretty face."
Actually, I think this song is alright, but there are too many haters in the live stream, so I decided to listen to the whole thing and give my opinion.
"Next song, Shen Yuege's album has relatively few songs, let's listen to it and then give our comments together."
After that, the next song started playing.
This song is much better than the first one. Although it is also lyrical, it seems to have a more inspirational feel.
Although the trolls in the live stream were still very arrogant, there were occasionally one or two people who offered different comments:
"Hmm? This song is alright, it's perfect for listening to before bed."
"The rhythm is good, and it sounds very positive."
This time, Erjun didn't say anything more and listened to the rest in one go.
After listening to the first seven songs, she gradually became somewhat disappointed.
To be fair, these seven songs aren't bad; at least in today's entertainment industry, they're considered to be of average or even above average quality.
But for a singer with the title of "Queen of Pop," that's not quite enough.
At this moment, she had already given Shen Yuege's album "Seeking Dreams" a mediocre review.
"Shen Yuege's album is generally gentle and inspirational, which is very consistent with the style of her previous albums. In terms of melody, there are no particularly outstanding features."
"The first few songs on the album are only average, and the quality is even worse than her previous album."
"It seems this album is going to solidify her reputation as a 'pretty face'."
As soon as Erjun finished speaking, the live chat was filled with sarcastic remarks:
"She's just a 'pretty face queen,' she's good for nothing except her looks."
"It seems the rumors circulating online are true. She acts like a big shot, suppresses newcomers, and plagiarizes; her record is simply appalling."
"This kind of person doesn't deserve to be in the entertainment industry. Shen Yuege, get out of the entertainment industry!"
Driven by the haters, even casual viewers became agitated.
Erjun had initially lost interest in listening to the last song, but after seeing the album description that the last song was the main single, Erjun suddenly felt a renewed sense of anticipation for it.
"Let's listen to the last song, this title track, 'The First Dream'." Erjun took a deep breath and pressed play.
The song doesn't begin with music; instead, it features a monologue by Shen Yuege:
"Thank you to all the fans who have listened to this. I know there have been a lot of negative news about me online these days, but music has always been my favorite dream, and I have been working hard to make the music I love."
"The following song, 'The First Dream,' is dedicated to everyone who has encountered setbacks in life. I hope that when you face difficulties again, you will remember your first dream."
Then, a clear and powerful piano prelude began, followed by Shen Yuege's highly recognizable voice, strong and resonant.
"If pride hadn't been coldly slapped down by the vast ocean of reality..."
...