CEO's Sweetheart is a Super Idol

Chapter 160 - 156 Afang Performs

These two groups made a spectacular entrance, igniting the atmosphere with boundless energy and continuous cheers from the crowd.

After four performances, the audience’s enthusiasm had reached a boiling point.

Li Ke had already downed a bottle of water, his head and body drenched in sweat, and he couldn’t help but envy the fans nearby who had towels.

The lights on both stages dimmed simultaneously, and the first to perform was Chen Afang.

"That Kind of Girl," a song with an upbeat rhythm and a strong South American fiery vibe, featured evocative drumbeats and brass interludes. The numerous vocal riffs in the chorus made it a challenging song.

As soon as the opening began, Chen Afang lit up the stage. Despite her poor character, her singing technique was undeniably solid. Dressed in a red shiny leather jacket, she opened with a C3 high note.

She even belted out an English segment, making the arrogant Ge Xiaohui look completely inferior in comparison.

However, her dancing was fairly average. The spicy group dance at the start seemed somewhat chaotic, with Wu Yunting from the Huayan group even missing a beat.

Next, Chen Afang and the other four performers, moving in sync to the vibrant music, surrounded Liu Yushan, who was also from Huayan, positioning her at the center. The five of them knelt down on one leg, all facing outward.

Liu Yushan’s vocals weren’t bad. Though her voice lacked distinctiveness, her abilities were at a professional level. Wearing a red dress like the others, she managed to nail the challenging verse.

While the formation changes still looked a bit disorganized overall, things improved slightly when Qiuluqing from the "Mom Idol Group" began performing. Her singing was on pitch but completely devoid of any distinguishing features.

Soon after, it was Chen Yanran’s turn, Lv Fangxin’s friend—and the girl infamous for causing a "trainwreck moment" in the first episode of the program.

Of course, her skill hadn’t improved in a month; she went off-key again.

However, Chen Yanran was the group’s sole dance lead, and among everyone, she danced the best. After all, she had undergone professional dance training since childhood.

She moved to the center position and led a triangular formation for a distinctly Latin group dance. This at least brought a level of uniformity to their synchronization.

Wu Yunting, who had initially missed the beat, finally got her first solo segment—but it was just half a line. Her voice was mediocre, merely staying on pitch.

The selection criteria at Huayan Music are truly baffling; Wu Yunting and Liu Yushan’s abilities were both thoroughly unimpressive!

Next was Lin Ji’an, who was somewhat famous in the HK modeling scene. Unfortunately, her vocal skills only reached the "on-pitch" standard.

Chen Afang followed, delivering a breathtaking rendition of the chorus. She kept her pitch steady in the D3 range and maintained excellent breath control.

Her vocal technique was solid, employing diaphragmatic breathing with strong core support, although her tone was slightly inferior to Xu Qianhua’s.

Then came the group chorus, with all six performers standing diagonally in a line, singing the song’s highest and most powerful parts. However, the audience could only hear Chen Afang’s voice.

The fans in the stands and the waiting idols backstage couldn’t help but sing along as well.

This group’s expressiveness in their singing had been the best of all performances so far.

Other than Chen Yanran singing off-key, the rest had generally fulfilled their roles adequately.

Yang Xiaoyue sat in her chair watching the performance. Although she loathed Chen Afang, from the perspective of the show’s success, keeping her was essential.

While the show emphasized storylines and personalities, a girl group with members who couldn’t sing or dance would never attract an audience.

True personalities must inevitably be built on a foundation of reasonable skills.

At this moment, Chen Afang on the stage was visibly elated, feeling that her performance today had been flawless.

She felt a deep sense of grievance in her heart. With her level of talent and as a standout like "Gao Hua," why wasn’t the production team bending over backward to cater to her?

The other members of her group had mixed emotions. They already knew debuting was out of the question for them. Now, they were just clinging to the hope of making it through one more round of performances.

Among them, Chen Yanran and Qiuluqing were the most desperate.

Chen Yanran, who had lived as a wealthy heiress before her sophomore year of college, lost everything when her family business went bankrupt. This was her first time in two years finally having her own bed.

She wanted to fight, to last one more round. If she could do that, she might gain some fame, possibly finding a job to sustain herself.

Qiuluqing was equally desperate to stay. Having grown up in a broken family with divorced parents, she had never felt love in her life. So poor that she’d even drink leftover dumpling soup from other trainees, she didn’t even have a place to stay.

The company couch was her only refuge, despite the mockery of her peers.

Her initial stage debut, with two other performers, was entirely cut from the final broadcast. This was her first taste of the cutthroat reality of the industry. Since then, she trained relentlessly, intending to prove herself.

In the latter half of the song, the performers resorted to a group chorus to finish things off. There were no elaborate formations or difficult choreography—essentially a static display of vocal strength.

Still, the song’s lively rhythm, the excellent stage lighting, and the fact that all except Chen Yanran were professional-level singers made the overall performance decent.

Over at the other stage, Li Zimeng watched their performance. Though she had been lacking confidence initially, she gradually regained her composure and belief.

In her group, besides herself, Wu Meixiang was also an exceptional vocalist.

Additionally, Liu Lixian from the "Magical Numbers" girl group sang beautifully. Her sweet voice stood out and had a professional-grade charm.

Zhang Wenyu’s dancing was strong, and while not off-pitch, her singing was more basic.

Similarly, Zhang Yaxuan excelled in dance but had average singing skills, staying on pitch at best.

Overall, the strength of the two teams was evenly matched, though the song "Dark High Heels" they were about to perform was slightly less challenging than the previous one.

However, the song was much more widely circulated, written explicitly for a "femme fatale" concept.

Today, everyone in the group adopted this vibe, wearing gauzy red dresses and high heels, exuding an air of lazy allure under the stage lights.

This time, the production team deliberately reduced the complexity of the choreography to highlight Li Zimeng and Wu Meixiang, shifting the focus to vocals and individual charisma.

But it truly was a stretch for these girls to appear seductive.

Most of them weren’t trained actors and struggled to portray the sultry and beguiling aura needed. Moreover, their natural looks didn’t fit the "femme fatale" image, so they relied heavily on makeup to appear more alluring and mature.

The most uncomfortable member was Zhang Wenyu. At only 17 years old, the concept of being seductive was utterly foreign to her, leading to several emotional breakdowns during rehearsals.

What devastated her most was Zheng Chengcheng quitting midway. All their staging had to be scrapped and restarted, leaving her on the verge of giving up entirely.

Li Zimeng was at a loss. At just 18 years old, she had difficulty even speaking Mandarin fluently.

Her upbringing emphasized independence and self-reliance.

She couldn’t understand why someone would be so fragile and didn’t know how to console them.

Fortunately, their mentors sympathized deeply with these girls and did their best to support them.