All the other contestants had finished their performances and were waiting in the main hall.
At this moment, Li Wenhao, Dai Xinglei, Bai Shan, Hang Yingxue, and even the foreign artist Mei Kaolife all showed varying degrees of astonishment.
In the ears of these music masters, they naturally detected many flaws in his singing.
In a program of this caliber, it was the first time they had heard a song with so many imperfections.
Yet it moved them deeply.
Because this segment of the song had no technique—it was all emotion.
They could even hear his resentment and unwillingness toward the world.
“This is insane,” Mei Kaolife exclaimed repeatedly beside them.
Meanwhile, the only rock singer on stage, Bai Shan, had an extraordinary gleam in his eyes.
Others called him a rock madman for smashing microphones and guitars on stage. But those were merely “techniques.” What he truly pursued was the “essence”—like that of world-class rock stars who sing bare-chested, with hoarse and unpleasant voices, yet effortlessly relaxed, capable of stirring the deepest emotions in people’s hearts.
He stood up excitedly. He never expected to witness the stage presence he had always sought on such a serious platform.
Even the live comments were filled with confusion: “He cracked his voice—isn’t he the worst contestant in this season of ‘I Am a Singer’? So why am I crying uncontrollably?”
“Music truly knows no borders. My foreign friend was moved to tears.”
“My heart feels heavy, as if drenched by a downpour.”
“Me too.”
“Just now, my roommate asked me why I was crying. I touched my face and realized it was wet.”
“It feels awful.”
“But our initial prediction was correct. He really can’t sing well.”
“He’s just a clown seeking attention.”
“He knew he couldn’t compete, so he gave up. See, I told you so.”
“Ahhh! My ears are suffering! What kind of song is this? It sounds worse than a duck quacking.”
“Isn’t it just ‘duck quacking’? It’s normal if you don’t like it—the rich ladies love it.”
“You’ve gone too far. We’re here to watch the show. If you want to complain, do it at home. Look at how you’ve polluted the chat.”
“Exactly. I’ve kept quiet all along. Can the moderators do something? The internet isn’t a lawless place. Your mouths are so foul. It’s disgusting.”
“I don’t get it. When no one joined this show, you mocked them. Now that someone is on, you’re still cursing. You think you’re so capable—why don’t you give it a try?”
The previously one-sided criticism turned into a war of words in the live comments as soon as Gu Yanqiu began singing.
Most fans of the show disliked this toxic atmosphere. Seeing the comments grow increasingly unreasonable, they finally couldn’t hold back and spoke up in defense.
Offstage, Chen Duo felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around.
Xu Kaiming, who had been grinning widely, immediately wiped the smile off his face when he saw her expression. “Duoduo, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
Chen Duo hurriedly wiped her tears. “Where did you go?”
Xu Kaiming studied her face, then said, “I went to get something you’ll definitely like.”
He carefully unfolded it.
Chen Duo was very familiar with it—a glowing support banner.
As Gu Yanqiu sang the final line: “I will never admit defeat.”
He nearly roared through the song, unable to monitor his own voice without an in-ear monitor. After finishing the song, the audience remained silent. But it was different from Fu Xue’s situation.
Fu Xue received applause because her meowing on such a stage made many people feel awkward. Gu Yanqiu’s case was due to being too shocking; many couldn’t react in time.
The light in Gu Yanqiu’s eyes vanished almost instantly.
Even though he had given it his all, it still turned out like this. Suddenly, a glowing support banner appeared in front of him, reading: “Gu Yanqiu, awesome!”
And the face under that light turned out to be Chen Duo and her boyfriend.
Instantly, it felt like a spring breeze melting the frost. He smiled, but his eyes reddened.
When the director switched to a close-up, it almost went live on the broadcast channel. Luckily, someone acted quickly: “How did this get in here? Security! Get rid of it immediately.”
The host bounded onto the stage, chattering excitedly: “Drink organic milk for a healthy life, wow… that singing just now was truly amazing. Mei Kaolife kept saying it was unbelievable offstage. You’re really the most unique singer on this stage. Thank you for your brilliant performance.”
“Drink organic milk and enjoy a healthy life. Dear audience, this is the live broadcast of ‘I Am a Star’ produced by Apple TV. Please, the 500 public judges present, cast your votes. Let’s see if the challenger can succeed.”
As he spoke, many people began voting.
The people in the venue voted.
Online, netizens were also voicing their opinions: “Gu Yanqiu was too overconfident, challenging Mei Kaolife like that—she’s the opening act for super popular shows and might even win the championship. He’s definitely going to fail. If he’d challenged Hang Yingxue, Bai Shan, or Li Wenhao, he might have had a chance.”
“What nonsense are you spouting? Hang Yingxue is the top domestic soprano, not to mention Li Wenhao’s cool, beautiful voice. Bai Shan is a top guest at music festivals. Any of them is better than this nobody who popped out of nowhere.”
“Heroes aren’t judged by their origins; regardless, his performance just now was impressive.”
“He cracked his voice, and you call that impressive?”
“As a music arts student, I believe emotion always trumps technique in expression.”
“I just want to know what happened offstage earlier. Gu Yanqiu clearly stared in one direction several times.”
“What? I didn’t notice that.”
Soon, when the votes were announced, Gu Yanqiu had 307 votes.
Fewer than Fu Xue.
Instantly, the audience stirred with surprise.
But Gu Yanqiu accepted it quickly, bowed deeply, and left the stage.
The Chen Duo he had been searching for on stage had long been escorted out.
That support banner was confiscated, with a security guard sternly saying, “This kind of thing absolutely cannot appear. How did you bring it in!”
Xu Kaiming played dumb, and Chen Duo stayed silent, eventually being chased out.
After they left, Xu Kaiming said, “Let’s go to the hotel and take a shower first; I’m drenched in sweat.”
Chen Duo asked, “How did you manage to get the banner?”
He looked around, checking that no one was nearby, then spoke up: “I got an intern to help sneak it in. I was waiting at the entrance, so anxious.” He was terrified of missing his performance. Fortunately, at the last moment, the other person finally delivered the banner.
Seeing how strictly they were checking, Chen Duo understood how difficult it must have been to get these items through. Noticing the sweat still beading on Xu Kaiming’s forehead, she lowered her head and said, “Thank you.”
Xu Kaiming brightened immediately. “You can’t just thank me for nothing. You’ve got to give me some kind of reward.”
“What reward?”
“KissKiss.” His face lit up with obvious excitement.
But Chen Duo mercilessly shot him down. “Get lost…”
Xu Kaiming snorted. “Fine, don’t kiss me then. Hey… let’s go eat spicy crab. I know a really authentic place.” He chattered nonstop by Chen Duo’s ear, and before they knew it, the two of them had wandered off into the distance…