novelraw Chapter 776 - 759. Feng Ge, whose singing stunned everyone! (3)
Chapter 776 - 759. Feng Ge, whose singing stunned everyone! (3)
Chapter 776: 759. Feng Ge, whose singing stunned everyone! (3)
The rehearsals for the Musical Club usually took place in the rehearsal hall of Meng Building.
Therefore, when Huo Feng first went to report to the Musical Club, it was directly convened in the rehearsal hall.
Unlike other clubs, after filling out the registration form, the members of the Musical Club had to go through a second audition.
The purpose of this second audition was not to eliminate certain members but to assign a role to each one.
A successful musical is not completed solely by the actors on stage, but rather with the combined efforts of various backstage crew members.
The goal of the second audition was to assign a role to each student.
Whether one became an actor or a member of the logistics staff was up to choice, of course, subject to the selection by older members.
When Huo Feng arrived at the rehearsal room, the hall was already packed with members!
It was evident that the Musical Club was a club that did not lack student applicants.
In this batch of freshmen, there were more than 20 members who signed up for the Musical Club.
Not all of these 20 students were necessarily going to be on-stage actors, as it wasn’t uncommon for those who left the club due to academic reasons to be members of the logistics staff.
Thus, to fill the vacancies, at least 10 of these 20 some students would need to switch to logistics.
After all, Huo Feng’s goal was to be an actor!
His eyes were set on the lead role!
He was the one meant to stand at the center of the stage!
He barely wanted to play a supporting role, let alone be an unnoticed logistics member.
Out of this batch of 23 newcomers, half were required to switch to logistics.
The ones interviewing these 23 individuals were the senior members of the club.
Among them, a female sophomore exuded a strong presence. Sitting amongst a group of senior year members, she held her chin high, her heavily made-up face captivating everyone’s attention.
It was said that this upperclassman had a significant background, with family connections in Beijing and was outstanding herself, being the belle of the business management department.
Also, due to her many merits, ever since she joined the club in her freshman year, she had always been the leading lady.
In any musical she was involved in, she was always the leading lady.
Moreover, she was not willing to take up any secondary roles right from the start; she aimed straight for the lead roles!
From all these examples, it was clear to all the newcomers that this upperclassman was not someone to be taken lightly.
Huo Feng stood among these 23 newcomers, listening silently to these stories. But he wasn’t the least bit intimidated by that garishly made-up woman...
Indeed, Huo Feng even harbored some doubts.
He wondered if a woman so unattractive could be the lead actress, then was he even sure about competing for the male lead?
Regardless, the thought of becoming the male lead had calmed substantially in Huo Feng’s mind.
Not getting the part wouldn’t be the end of the world...
The lead upperclassman, who was a member of the logistics staff, announced the audition process so that all 23 newcomers were informed.
First of all, out of the 23 people, those who wanted to volunteer for logistics staff would raise their hands.
After that, the remaining students would compete for an acting role by singing a song.
The audition song was set as "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" from the musical "The Lion King," known for its robust high notes.
Anyone familiar with musicals knows that the music featured in them is far from the smooth tunes of popular songs.
The songs in musicals are generally robust with high notes; even if the prelude is mild, the climax will escalate to reach the standards of high tenor and soprano.
To become the male lead, Huo Feng had also practiced this English song with high tenor notes in his dorm prior.
Huo Feng was no mere pop singer; his vocal range was extensive and he was capable of handling this formal type of song.
Among the 23, 8 new students voluntarily raised their hands to switch to logistics. Therefore, the remaining 15 would go through an audition to be selected.
Each person was given 4 minutes of singing time, accompanied by piano music played by someone on the side, and it was the same song that would showcase each person’s aura.
Huo Feng stood at the end of the group of 15, and it was his turn as the 13th in line.
However, among the 15, Huo Feng’s posture and presence were notably outstanding, together with his superior fashion sense and looks, which had already captured the attention of the senior judges.
Without Huo Feng’s knowledge, these senior members were quietly gossiping about him.
One upperclasswoman said, "The third-last guy looks like he probably can’t sing, just has a face fit for pop songs."
Another upperclasswoman agreed, "He’s pretty handsome, probably just good for singing pop music."
Hence, upon hearing this whispered conversation, that bold upperclasswoman with bright red lips also turned her gaze towards Huo Feng.
However, that bold upperclasswoman didn’t join in on the others’ conversation.
Soon, the freshmen picked up the English lyric sheets and began their performances starting with "Can You Feel The Love Tonight."
The first to sing was a rather thin boy. After introducing himself, he began singing along with the piano accompaniment, "there’s a calm surrender, to the rush of day..."
The difficulty in singing English songs lies in articulation and the variation in musical rhythm. This boy started off too low, his voice was soft, and it sounded out of tune, making it quite amateurish!
So, after the boy had sung just three lines, the heavily made-up upperclasswoman immediately raised her hand and shouted, "I’ll give you a chance to start over."
Her words made the boy so nervous, his heart felt like it was in his throat.
The boy took a deep breath and started singing again, "there’s a calm surrender..."
"Stop."
He had only sung one line before the heavily made-up senior shouted for him to stop again!
The senior leaned back, folded her arms, lifted her pointed chin, and said directly, "Your singing is inadequate. Next."
Thus, the boy was dismissed just like that.
What four minutes for one person? That was nonexistent...
For a moment, the remaining dozen or so candidates waiting to audition panicked, all except Huo Feng who remained calm.
Next up was a girl.
The girl sang through to the climax in one breath, but when she didn’t reach the peak, the heavily made-up senior stopped her, "Go back to the previous line and sing it again."
Then, the girl nervously went back to the previous line and started over, but this time, just after finishing the line and before she could reach the climax, the senior stopped her again!
"No good, you can’t reach the high notes. Next."
Then the third boy, the senior said, "Your voice is too shrill, your singing is inadequate. Next."
The fourth boy, the senior said, "You can’t even pronounce English clearly, go back and practice your spoken language."
In this way, one after another was eliminated, one after another fault found...
Among the first 10 people, only a chubby boy’s singing was not criticized, but his appearance was, "You sing quite well, but you’re still short of the leading man’s physique. You’re not very tall—bad for stage presence."
The senior was somewhat lenient, she didn’t mock others for being overweight, only mentioning height.
The chubby boy stepped down, disheartened...
This senior was extremely strict.
She was the strictest and least lenient judge on the panel. Meticulous to each musical note, she made anyone retry immediately if something didn’t please her ear.
Perhaps it was her stringent demeanor that made her seem professional, securing the leading female role as a sophomore?
In any case, after a bout of her nitpicking, among the 15 newcomers, except for Huo Feng, virtually everyone else was quite apprehensive of her.
Finally, it was Huo Feng’s turn.
Huo Feng was the candidate whom all the older students and seniors had no hopes for.
Because Huo Feng’s appearance was that of a pop singer and he might sing Jay Chou or JJ Lin’s songs quite well.
But reaching a legitimate musical’s high tenor was still a challenge.
In short, the older students and seniors were not very impressed with his singing ability.
"First class of the Computer Science Department, Huo Feng."
Huo Feng briefly introduced himself and then said to the senior playing the piano, "Please play the climax direct."
"Why?" the heavily made-up senior asked, looking up at him.
Huo Feng raised an eyebrow and replied, "To conquer you with the climax."
The heavily made-up senior fell silent.
Then, with the piano playing directly into the climax, Huo Feng, holding a lyric book, lifted his diaphragm and shaped his lips into an ’O’ as he sang, "And can U feel the love tonight—"
The source of powerful high notes is often through singing with an ’O’ shaped mouth, using abdominal muscles, and projecting from the diaphragm—which results in a high, rich sound; the correct technique!
It could be said, Huo Feng had mastered the essence!
"It is where we are—"
"It’s enough for this wide-eyed wanderer—"
He sang a stretch of richly-toned climax, definitely the best among the dozen or so students before him!
Especially as he began, the judges on the panel were utterly stunned, wearing expressions of amazement!
But still!
The heavily made-up senior raised her hand and shouted, "Stop."
Then Huo Feng stopped...
As everyone looked at the senior in astonishment, they heard her say, "Start from the beginning."
The surrounding classmates let out sighs...
The judges also relaxed, having almost thought she was going to eliminate Huo Feng with such a great voice.
Huo Feng raised his eyebrow, "Fine then."
After that, Huo Feng sang the whole song from start to finish.
He was also the only one at the scene who sang the full four minutes.
Because of this perfect performance, he was cast as the male lead in the next musical.
It is said that the previous male lead had moved up to senior year and left the club...
So this time, Huo Feng got lucky!