bestfiction Chapter 210 Shanghai Regional Selection Ends
Chapter 210 Shanghai Regional Selection Ends
Lu Ran took out his phone and scrolled to Shen Yuege's chat box.
The latest message was just posted by Shen Yuege:
[I just finished recording the last episode today, I'm exhausted. How's it going on your end?]
Lu Ran replied:
[Just put Rainbow Cat into the game, looks so cool. Is the second round over?]
Shen Yuege replied instantly:
[Yes, it's over. The top nine teams from the Shanghai region have been selected; the rest are from other regions.]
Lu Ran calculated the time. The second round of selection in the Shanghai region lasted for three weeks. Now that the Shanghai region selection is over, the next step is the selection in other regions.
Are you going to other regions next?
That's right, the next round is the qualifiers for other regions, and the next stop is Beijing. I'm going to Beijing next Friday.
This is a voice message sent by Shen Yuege.
Because Shen Yuege is the person in charge of the event, others may not have to go, but Shen Yuege must be there and personally oversee the process.
However, the auditions are held on weekends, so you only need to fly there for two days each week.
Shen Yuege's voice was a little tired, but she couldn't hide her excitement:
"Let me tell you, this round of competition was amazing! Lin Xiaoxi finally broke through her own limits; she sang a rock version of a song and got the whole audience hyped up! Su Qian released another new original song, and many people in the audience cried. Her songwriting ability is really quite good. And Zhou Wan, who sings folk songs, actually adapted an electronic folk song; I was completely blown away!"
As Lu Ran listened, the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up.
These are the contestants he has watched since the preliminary rounds.
The three people Shen Yuege just mentioned were all highly regarded contestants during the preliminary rounds, and they lived up to expectations by successfully advancing to the next round.
He has witnessed the growth of each singer, from their initial shyness and nervousness to their current ease and confidence.
"Has the venue for the final been decided?" he asked.
Shen Yuege replied:
[It's settled! The Shanghai Cultural and Arts Center will be the venue. The studio can accommodate 800 audience members, the stage is huge, and the lighting and sound systems are top-of-the-line.]
Lu Ran raised an eyebrow: [So high-end? Is the budget sufficient?]
Shen Yuege sent a smug emoji:
Funding isn't an issue now. Do you know how much sponsorship we've secured?
【How many?】
[Seventeen! The title sponsor is Xiaomi mobile phones, which offered 20 million yuan. There are also beverage, clothing, cosmetics... adding up to nearly 50 million yuan!]
Lu Ran was stunned for a moment.
Fifty million?
This isn't even the finals yet.
"How did you pull?" he asked.
Shen Yuege replied:
[It wasn't me who pulled it in; they came knocking on my door. After the second run, the ratings went up with each episode, and the advertising companies went crazy. I'm getting phone calls every day, all asking if I can insert a segment into their ads.]
Lu Ran smiled.
This is the "Super Girl" he knows.
When this show was popular in its previous life, merchants lined up to give money, and even a single spot on the show could fetch an astronomical price.
The world is finally about to enter the golden age of talent shows.
When does the final start?
[After the selections in all four major competition areas are completed, two more weeks will be allocated. Then, the top 36 will be narrowed down to 20, 20 to 12, 12 to 6, 6 to 3, and finally the grand final. The entire process will be broadcast live.]
Lu Ran calculated the time: "That'll be more than two months from now?"
"Hmm, about two and a half months. By the way, would you be free to be a judge?"
Lu Ran thought about it. Rabbit Technology was busy with game development, but recording an episode occasionally shouldn't be a problem.
Especially during the finals, Lu Ran estimated that things should have been mostly resolved on this side.
He was somewhat interested in being invited to be a judge in the final round.
[Yes, but only for one or two episodes.]
Shen Yuege replied:
Okay, I'll save you a spot. By the way, Manxue said she'd like to guest star in an episode too, is that alright with you?
Lu Ran raised an eyebrow: "Isn't she busy filming 'The Return of the Condor Heroes'?"
Her scenes are mostly filmed; after all, she's not the lead this time, so her role isn't that extensive.
Lu Ran was taken aback: [So fast?]
He hadn't contacted Xu Manxue for several days, and he hadn't expected the filming to proceed so quickly.
"Yes, Director Chen is very efficient; many scenes are being filmed in quick succession. The episodes we're filming now feature a lot of Manxue's scenes, so we should be almost done by then, and she'll be free then."
Lu Ran thought about it and agreed. By then, it would be two months later, and Director Chen would probably have finished filming.
Okay, let her come then.
Putting down his phone, Lu Ran leaned back in his chair and stared blankly at the ceiling.
The Return of the Condor Heroes is currently being filmed.
The character designs for "Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit: The Seven Swordsmen" have been completed, and the storyline is now being developed.
The development of "Seven Heroes of the Jianghu" is progressing steadily, and the local area network mode is already ready for use.
The Super Girl competition has entered its crucial second stage: the national selection process.
TUTU's user stickiness has been steadily increasing, and it has recently become a rival to Weibo.
Everything is going according to plan.
The only problem is—
"Mr. Lu!" the maintenance guy's voice came from the doorway, "The server is giving another alarm!"
Lu Ran sighed.
Well, not everything went smoothly either.
The game needs to be developed faster; we must become profitable as soon as possible.
As the user base has grown, the servers have been expanded repeatedly.
However, with the user base stabilizing and continuing to grow, the server has remained under strain.
Although Lu Ran told Zhou Mingzhe that they could rent more if they didn't have enough, Zhou Mingzhe was a very frugal person and always rented very sparingly.
While this saved Lu Ran a lot of money, it also made his server less stable.
Ultimately, Zhou Mingzhe was still afraid of running out of money.
He had experienced a company going bankrupt because it ultimately failed to generate any profits, which inevitably made him a little petty.
But actually, the company isn't in that dire situation yet, especially after Baidu injected 1000 million yuan into the company. There are still plenty of funds available in the company's accounts.
If you can't beat them, you can take out some more.
During this period, Lu Ran has received nearly 100 million yuan in revenue sharing from Shen Yuege, Liu Siqi, and various works produced by the company.
There will be a continuous stream of revenue sharing going forward.
With the size of Tutu Technology now, there's really no need to worry about spending money.
"Looks like I need to talk to Lao Zhou and tell him not to try to save him money." Lu Ran got up and walked towards Zhou Mingzhe's office.
...