Chinese entertainment: What's wrong with actresses wanting to improve?

Chapter 564 "Starlight Dream Factory" Season 2 Re-election

The bathroom was quiet, with only the low hum of the exhaust fan.

When Fu Yibai came out of the toilet to wash his hands, he saw a familiar face in the mirror.

A girl was standing in the makeup touch-up area next to the sink.

She wore a light blue denim jacket over a white T-shirt and a dark gray pleated skirt.

She was wearing a pair of white canvas shoes.

The girl wasn't very tall, but she had great proportions. Her legs, beneath the pleated skirt, were straight and shapely, and her skin was so white it almost reflected light under the cool bathroom lights.

She wasn't very plump, but she wasn't the skinny type either.

Her chest was just above the passing grade, and the fitted T-shirt outlined a well-proportioned silhouette.

After reapplying her lipstick, the girl put it into her small bag and then tidied her bangs in front of the mirror.

Then she saw the man standing behind her through the reflection in the mirror.

She paused for a moment, then turned around abruptly.

"Fu! Fu guide?!"

Her voice boomed in the quiet bathroom, several times louder than she had expected.

She quickly covered her mouth, and her ears turned red at a visible speed.

She lowered her hand, took half a step forward, and then abruptly stopped, as if she were nailed to the spot.

She clenched her hands on either side of her skirt and then released them; her lips moved as if she were frantically trying to organize her thoughts.

"Hello, Director Fu! My name is Bai Mengyan!"

I...I'm here to participate in the second round of selection!

Um... I really love your movies!

After she finished speaking, her face turned even redder. She didn't know where to put her hands, so she finally clasped them together in front of her, her fingers intertwined.

Fu Yibai smiled slightly as he looked at her.

What's your number?

"Number 59! There are probably about a dozen more before it's my turn."

Bai Mengyan answered very quickly, as if she were answering a teacher's question in class.

"nervous?"

Bai Mengyan nodded vigorously, then seemed to feel that just nodding wasn't enough, and added another sentence.

"Extremely nervous."

I didn't sleep well at all last night.

Fu Yibai casually tossed the tissue he had used to wipe his hands into the trash can.

"It's normal to be nervous."

Once you're up there, don't overthink it; just take out what you've prepared.

"Yes, thank you, Director Fu!"

Bai Mengyan bowed.

Fu Yibai nodded to her and turned to walk down the corridor.

"Take care, Director Fu!"

Bai Mengyan bowed again behind him.

When Fu Yibai returned to the semi-final hall, the contestant on stage was singing a slow song.

He sat down next to Chen Mo, opened the bottle of mineral water on the table, and took a sip.

The next few contestants varied in skill level.

"Contestant number 59, Bai Mengyan, 18 years old, from Changzhou, Jiangsu."

Bai Mengyan walked out from the side stage.

She had taken off her denim jacket and was only wearing a white T-shirt and a dark gray pleated skirt.

She took a deep breath and bowed towards the judges' panel.

"Good morning/afternoon, judges. I am contestant number 59, Bai Mengyan."

"Please begin your performance."

Bai Mengyan prepared the song "Touch," which was just released this year by the South Korean girl group Miss A.

The choreography for this song is less intense than Cheng Yixiao's dance to "The Boys," but the chorus features a continuous waist wave that demands a lot of core strength.

The intro from the backing track flowed from the speakers, and the electronically synthesized bass drum beats echoed in the quiet studio.

Bai Mengyan's voice has a sweet, youthful quality, and she holds her own in the mid-range.

The dance moves in the beginning were very graceful, but when the chorus came out, the continuous wave movement of her waist made it seem like there was a not-so-flexible spring between her upper and lower body, and there was a clear break when the wave passed from her chest to her hips.

She had memorized all the dance moves perfectly, without missing a single one, but the whole routine still had a lingering stiffness about it.

The music stopped.

Bai Mengyan stopped her last movement, panting heavily, and bowed to the judges' panel.

Xue Zhiqian flipped through the rating sheet in front of him and picked up the microphone.

"Your vocal quality is good, and your sense of rhythm is also excellent."

However, there were some issues with the coordination between the singing and dancing in the chorus.

You still need to practice more.

Zhang Liangying then offered her comments.

"Your voice has a natural sweetness, which is your advantage."

But your problem is that your voice and your dance are not in the same rhythmic system.

When singing, I'm thinking about the movements, but when dancing, I forget about breath control.

Singing and dancing isn't just about doing two things at the same time; it's about making them one and the same.

Lin Wei asked a few routine questions: how many years had she studied dance, and whether she had received systematic vocal training.

Chen Mo lowered his head and wrote a few strokes on the evaluation form.

"You have a great appearance."

But in the idol industry, good looks alone are not enough.

To be honest, your singing and dancing abilities are only slightly below average among today's contestants.

Chen Mo paused for a moment, then put down his pen.

"Let's start voting."

Xue Zhiqian raised his sign first. Passed.

Lin Wei also raised her sign. Passed.

Bai Mengyan's lips had just curled up slightly when she saw Zhang Liangying put down the sign in her hand.

Not approved.

Chen Mo's sign was also put down.

Not approved.

Two votes in favor, two votes against.

According to the rules of the multiple-selection process, a candidate needs three out of four votes to pass, and two votes result in elimination.

Bai Mengyan's lips froze in place.

Her eyes instantly welled up with tears, but she gritted her teeth and held them back.

Thank you, judges.

She bowed again and turned to walk towards the side stage.

"Wait a moment."

A voice came from the right side of the judges' panel.

Bai Mengyan's feet were rooted to the spot.

Chen Mo turned his head and saw Fu Yibai stand up from his chair.

Xue Zhiqian and Zhang Liangying also looked at him at the same time, and Lin Wei reopened the score sheet that had been closed.

"Do you have a back injury?"

Bai Mengyan turned around and looked at Fu Yibai.

"Your dance just now had a lot of obvious stiffness."

Even with poor flexibility, one shouldn't adopt that posture.

Bai Mengyan nodded vigorously.

"I... I had back surgery, so..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but everyone understood.

"If I let you pass, can your back withstand high-intensity training?"

The closed training camp lasts at least six hours a day, with singing and dancing classes, physical fitness classes, and physical training classes rotating among them.

The risk of recurrence of lower back injury is very high.

"I can do it!"

Bai Mengyan blurted it out almost without thinking.

"My dream is to become a singing and dancing idol."

No matter how tough the training is, I can persevere.

I'm not afraid.

Aren't you afraid of getting hurt again?

"I'm not afraid."

Bai Mengyan bit her lower lip, staring straight at Fu Yibai.

"This is the closest I've ever come to my dream."

"If I go back today, I'll regret it for the rest of my life."

The studio was silent for several seconds.

Fu Yibai nodded.

"pass."

He sat down again after saying those two words.

Chen Mo paused for a moment, then immediately picked up a pen and changed "Eliminated" to "Passed" in Bai Mengyan's column on the evaluation sheet.

Xue Zhiqian and Zhang Liangying exchanged a glance, and Lin Wei lowered her head and wrote an asterisk next to Bai Mengyan's name.