The Great Wei Music Bureau

Chapter 111 Star-Making Plan (Part )

Last time we talked about how Li Yi and the three ladies discussed with Xiao Ye the plan to create the number one underwear brand in Dawei, but they ended up making a fool of themselves because of Tingmei’s advertising slogans and actions. So how does Li Yi plan to help Xiao Ye break the situation? Let’s take a look together.

Xiao Yezi listened to Li Yi's words and really took them to heart. She began to recognize Li Yi's concept of building a brand and forming a brand culture. Shiyu and others also understood Li Yi's meaning, that he was making long-term plans. So several people began to formally discuss the brand name and advertising slogan. After intense discussions and in-depth ridicule, they finally decided to name the brand Ye's Slim Clothes.

Of course, Li Yi was not attracted by this name that was neither Western nor Chinese, but it was decided by the four women and voted, so he had no choice. The advertising slogan also made Li Yi speechless, and the final result was: "You need to be both considerate and comfortable, the Ye's slimming clothes that understand you best."

To be honest, Shiyu suggested that Li Yi use poetry to express the meaning of this sentence, but Li Yi refused sternly. He said that he could not say such words, let alone write such poetry!

Shiyu and the others tried various methods, including coercion, bribery, soft tactics, and hard tactics, but to no avail. Li Dacai would rather die than obey. Of course he would not obey, because there are no advertising poems or songs for underwear. After discussing these things, the others took separate actions to start the star-making plan.

It wasn't a big deal. Li Yuefu held a folk song festival in the name of enriching the life and entertainment of the people in Shangjing. When Minister Kong heard about it, he asked Li Yi, "Xiuyuan, we are busy with editing books every day, so how can we have the time to hold a song and dance competition? Let's just focus on our work."

Li Yi replied, "Don't worry, Shangshu. As long as the court approves this activity, you don't have to spend any money or effort. The most you can do is invite a few officials from the Music Bureau to serve as judges and comment on the contestants." When Kong Xiu heard that he didn't have to spend any money or effort, he agreed.

Thus, the first Wei folk song festival officially kicked off. Li Yi planned everything. He first found wealthy merchants in Shangjing City to solicit sponsorship and advertise. He also asked these wealthy merchants to bring their own trained singers and dancers to sign up for the competition. Anyway, there was no registration fee, so they could just come to support the event.

Li Yi also found Manager Zhou and asked him to invite the outstanding singers and dancers in the Exiled Immortal Tower to participate in the competition. This would, on the one hand, create momentum for the new courtesan, and on the other hand, add some gimmicks to the first Wei Folk Song Festival.

Why is it called a gimmick? Although the prostitutes in the brothel are of the lowest class, their social status is not low. They can be said to be friends with high-ranking officials and wealthy celebrities. Ordinary people can never see them. Li Yi specially invited them, not afraid of rumors, but also to take the opportunity to hype up the situation. The condition is that the final venue is naturally set in the square outside the Exiled Immortal Building.

Since there was no registration fee, there would be no capital return, and the sponsors could not be denied any benefits, so he set the preliminary selection venues in major teahouses, set up a stage in the lobby, and people could enter to watch the preliminary selection by buying a pot of tea. He evenly divided the contestants into the major preliminary selection venues to increase the selling points of the teahouses.

Because it was the first time such a competition was held, it lacked momentum and popularity, so not many people participated in the primary elections. The first day of the primary elections could be described as deserted.

Li Yi was not in a hurry about this. He asked the Exiled Immortal House to spread the word that as the top brothel in Shangjing, the Exiled Immortal House was determined to win the championship of this year's Wei Folk Song Festival. For this purpose, it specially sent the new courtesan Su Muchun, who was good at singing and dancing, to participate in the competition. Li Yi also did not forget his brothers in the underworld. He asked Dugu Yu and Nangong Qi to promote the event in the brothel and encourage other brothels to send their strongest players to participate.

The nature of the event changed immediately. The Wei folk song festival had turned into a singing competition. Yu Qi and the others thought that their good brother was going to make a comeback, and that he had caused such a stir as soon as he made his move. They really admired him and even visited Li Yi to discuss the details of the first singing competition in Shangjing.

Because of this incident, Shi Yu gave Li Yi a good lesson. She said, "Alright! Li Yi! You are really good! You said you would not go to the brothel in the future, so you moved out of the brothel! You are not going to the brothel anymore, so you let the brothel come to you, right! What do you want, Li? Did you hear those two bastards Dugu Yu and Nangong Qi say that the new courtesan Su Muchun is beautiful, and you want to marry another round of spring, summer, autumn and winter?"

When Shiyu was giving him a lecture, Li Yi was squatting in the corner, facing the wall and thinking about his mistakes. Of course, Bailing and Zhao Hanfeng were also present. The three ladies took turns to scold Li Yi. He had no way to defend himself, because the development of the matter was indeed beyond his expectations. He did not expect that it would turn out like this. He had originally thought of letting Bailing and Zhao Hanfeng participate in the competition, but now it was definitely impossible for them to participate. Li Yi himself was also helpless about this. The plan did not change quickly, so how could it turn out like this.

However, this change also brought unexpected effects. The originally deserted primary election became lively. With a pot of tea, you can watch the singing and dancing of the famous prostitutes in the brothels, which you can never see at other times. This is a great bargain! The teahouse owners who held the primary election were very happy. They changed the rules themselves. You can only listen to one song with a pot of tea, and the price of tea has increased. Even so, the venues were full and there was no empty seat. Some sessions even sold standing tea, and later they even stopped offering tea. The same price was directly for standing tickets. You can come if you want, there are many people waiting outside the door who want to watch!

The preliminary round lasted for five days, and finally thirty-two people were selected. Among the thirty-two finalists, only seven were singers kept by major merchants. This made the merchants, who had originally had full confidence in their own singers, lose face for a while. Some people even found Li Yi to denounce the unfair judgment of the Music Bureau officials.

Li Yi's explanation was that how could a domestic cat be better at fighting than a wild cat? In short, after the preliminary round, the popularity of the first "Dawei Folk Song Festival" soared, and it has become the best topic of conversation for the people of Shangjing City after dinner. Anyone who has watched the preliminary round can comment on it, whether it is appearance or singing and dancing, and they have a strong sense of participation. For this reason, the semi-finals of the first Dawei Folk Song Festival have attracted the attention of the people of Shangjing City.

When it came to the semi-finals, all the brothels requested to change the venue and hold the competition in their own home venues, but Li Yi declined the request on the grounds that it was inconvenient for him to enter the brothels. As a result, several brothels threatened to withdraw from the competition. Li Yi responded strongly, saying, "If you want to leave, then leave. I will personally serve as a judge in the semi-finals. In addition, I will write lyrics and compose music for the top three contestants."

The Minister of Rites and Music Bureau, the most talented scholar in Wei, the person in charge of the singing and dancing programs at the Queen Mother's banquet, and the one who organized a singing competition to redeem the freedom of the courtesan, all these things have made Li Yi famous in the capital. And this talented and romantic scholar said that he would write songs for the top three contestants. The owners of the major brothels are no fools and of course they know the interests involved.

Li Yi had a purpose for emphasizing that he wrote songs for the top three. The bosses of all the brothels knew that it was impossible to get the first place. The Exiled Immortal House had always been the top brothel in Shangjing City. Although they didn't know who the person behind it was, they all knew that this mysterious person had great powers. As a rising star, he defeated all his opponents in just five years and became the top brothel in Shangjing City.

The Exiled Immortal House had already announced that it was determined to win the championship, and in fact, it had sent out its strongest lineup. In addition to several singers who had been personally coached by Li Yi during Li Yi's singing competition, it also sent out the up-and-coming new oiran Su Muchun. How powerful was she? Anyway, Dugu Yu and Nangong Qi had already fallen for her, but they hadn't succeeded yet.

In Dugu Yu's words, "Alas, Xiuyuan got married too early, but it's okay. If he saw Miss Muchun's dance and listened to her songs, we would have no chance!" Therefore, the Exiled Immortal House sent a strong lineup to compete, with the goal of winning the first place. Fortunately, the bait thrown by Li Yi was indeed attractive, and the major brothels made every effort to compete for the second and third places, and the withdrawal storm was calmed down.

The venue for the semi-finals was set up on the square outside the Exiled Immortal Tower, beside the Bishui Lake. This place has become the only choice for the singing and dancing performance venue in the capital of the Wei Dynasty. The Exiled Immortal Tower, which has had experience in singing parties, quickly set up the stage and shed. Because it is late autumn now, the temperature at night is obviously much lower, so the lighting of the entire venue is mainly bronze mirrors and torches, which can keep warm and make it brighter.

In terms of scale, the venue this time is not as big as Li Yi's concert. Due to the limitations of the tent and temperature, it can only accommodate 500 people, but this also means that the ticket price has increased a lot.

The semi-finals are divided into three stages: the group stage to select the top eight, the top eight to the top four and the final. The group stage is to divide the 32 people into four groups, and the top two in each group will enter the top eight. This is six semi-finals. The ticket revenue can be imagined. Such a huge income is the dividend of the sponsors. At the beginning, Manager Zhou also expressed that he wanted to be the sole sponsor, but Li Yi insisted on bringing in more sponsors, not to share the risk, but to allow more people to participate.

Everything was ready, and the rematch was about to take place, but something went wrong. Shiyu refused to let Li Yi be a judge, and even refused to let Li Yi watch! And his attitude was very tough! In the end, Li, the great talent, lost his face and squatted in the corner of Shiyu's room for a whole night before he got Shiyu's permission.

But Shiyu's requirements were very strict. She had to sit in the first row facing the stage in every match so that she could monitor his every move anytime and anywhere! Once Shiyu thought that Li Yi did something wrong, she would teach him a lesson in front of everyone and make him lose face! Li Yi had no choice but to agree.

In addition, Li Yi did not forget the original purpose of holding this Wei folk song festival, which was to create stars. However, Bailing could not participate as a contestant, so she became a judge. Li Yi adjusted the plan to let Bailing take the spotlight on the judges' bench, which could also achieve the purpose of creating stars and pave the way for Bailing to endorse Ye's slimming clothes in the future.

In this way, with everyone having their own thoughts and purposes, the semi-finals of the first Dawei Folk Song Festival finally kicked off. Li Yi not only served as a judge, but also shared the work of host and opening. He came to the center of the stage with a guitar and presented a song "I Love the Country More than the Beauty".

Li Yi's control of the stage has now reached a new level, whether it is adjusting the atmosphere or interacting with the audience, it seems so natural. This song has become his representative work, because the collection of poems given by Shi Yu at the wedding has now spread, and his songs have become a popular element, and are sung in major restaurants, teahouses and brothels in Shangjing City.

Unconsciously, he has become a master of music in the hearts of Shangjing people, a master who can lead a new style of music. So when he waved his arms and shouted to the audience: "Friends in the audience, please raise your hands and wave with me to the music."

Under the influence of the atmosphere, the audience unconsciously integrated into it and waved along with him. Shiyu unknowingly forgot her mission and turned into a little fan girl, interacting enthusiastically with Li Yi in the audience.

Seeing that Zhao Hanfeng did not follow suit, Shiyu pushed her and said, "What are you doing? Come up quickly!" Lady Zhao had no choice but to follow her and go crazy.

Perhaps this was the infectiousness. Yu Qi, Wang Zhong and Yu Wenyuan, who were in the first row, also waved their hands, and the atmosphere at the scene was thus boosted.

When Li Yi shouted: "Do you all know how to sing this song?"

The audience responded in unison: “Yes!”

"Well, let's sing together! Life is just a few short autumns, we won't stop until we're drunk, my beauty is in the east, the Yellow River is flowing in the west, come on, let's drink, we won't stop until we're drunk, don't let your worries and troubles get to your mind!" With the chorus of the crowd, the first game of the rematch officially began.

After singing a song, Li Yi first said some polite words, thanking all the friends for taking the time to come and watch the semi-finals of the first Dawei Folk Song Festival... After the pleasantries, Li Yi thanked the sponsors, with a strong sense of déjà vu of Hua Shao. This job can only be done by him, no one else can do it.

After finishing all the nonsense, finally getting to the point, Li Yi began to introduce the competition system, and then introduced the judges one by one: "In addition to myself, there are three other judges for the semi-finals. Let me introduce them one by one. The first is Mr. Xu Lang, who is recognized as the best zither player in Wei. Then there is the famous composer, the former Music Bureau Commander Sun Lesun, and finally the first person in the Confucian and Taoist school of song, my second wife, Bailing."