I'm Really a Superstar
chapter-1006

Later that afternoon.

The recording was about to begin.

Backstage, the contestants started to draw lots to decide the order of their appearances and opponents in the first round. There were two replacement masked singers here, whose names and strength were unknown. As such, everyone placed a great deal of importance on this draw due to their results being affected by who their opponent was and in which order they would appear onstage. This was in direct relation to whether they could still remain on this stage or if they would advance further.

In The Clown's waiting room.

The door opened.

Han Qi and some of the program team staff came in.

"Teacher, it's your turn," Han Qi said nervously. She was hoping that The Clown would draw a good lot, the best being number six and would mean that he would be the last to sing.

The Clown reached his hand into the box.

The camera focused onto him immediately.

At the same time, the other contestants could clearly observe the ongoings at The Clown's waiting room in real time

Sunflower in the Starlight had drawn number three.

Petal Shower was number one.

New replacement masked singer "God of War" had drawn number four.

These were the results of the draw so far: Sunflower's opponent was to be God of War. During the drawing process that was shown live from God of War's waiting room earlier, all the other contestants saw how God of War practically broke down. At first, the man's voice sounded rather cheerful, but he ended up exclaiming "no, no, no" for the longest time after the draw. This was because anyone who had watched the first episode of King of Masked Singers would know exactly how strong an opponent Sunflower was. One was Sunflower, the other was Petal Shower. They were both opponents that no one wanted to be matched against!

It was now The Clown's turn for the draw. Everyone was glued to their TV.

The Clown's hand withdrew from the box, holding a small ball in his hand. The numbered side of it was then turned to the camera.

Number two!

He had drawn number two!

He would be the second one to appear on stage and his opponent was—Petal Shower.

Han Qi similarly broke down as well. No! No! No!

He would be appearing at the beginning and his opponent was going to be Petal Shower. This was the worst lot that could be drawn!

In the waiting room of the other replacement masked singer who had not drawn lots yet, he let out a long sigh of relief after seeing The Clown get matched with Petal Shower. That would mean that Sunset Glow had been confirmed as his opponent. Petal Shower was currently the contestant with the most popularity in the prediction poll on the official website. Hundreds of thousands of people had voted that she would be crowned the second episode's Masked King, with Sunflower in second place with 110,000 votes. This was the reason why no one was willing to fac off against these two in the first round; they had already gained a good standing in popularity. Even if they made some mistakes and did not perform up to their potential, the live audience voters might still cast their votes for them as there would be emotion involved in their decision. Competitions have always declared themselves to be fair, but how could there possibly be absolute fairness?

The door closed.

The program team staff left the waiting room.

Han Qi said in panic, "What should we do now!"

But The Clown did not say a single word. Petal Shower was indeed a strong opponent, and he honestly did not wish to face her for his first song today, yet this was exactly what happened.

The studio issued an announcement to start the countdown to recording.

Han Qi was in despair.

Petal Shower enjoyed a very good reputation while The Clown was attracting doubt from too many people!

They could not win this!

There was no way they could win!

When the house band and the program team staff found out about this matchup, they pitied The Clown. They knew there was no chance he could fight for the throne of the Masked King now and thought that he should be thinking of how to remain in the competition instead.

...

The studio was packed.

The audience gazed at the stage in excitement as recording began!

After Dong Shanshan took the stage and recited a string of advertising messages, she smiled at the guessing panel. "Judges, after the first episode, do you have any guesses on who the contestants are?"

Zhang Xia smiled and said, "I have no idea who's who."

Amy giggled and said, "Even at the moment when King of Oddity took off his mask, I still could not believe it. With the costumes wrapping them up so tightly and wearing a mask, who could guess who they are? But Sunset Glow's voice sounds a little familiar to me, so I'll just continue observing for now."

Backstage, Sunset Glow was watching the television. When she heard that, she raised a half-smile.

This is not good.

Did Amy really recognize me?

I've already deliberately changed the tone of my vocal register.

Chen Guang laughed and said, "I'll observe a bit more today."

Dong Shanshan asked, "Judges, are there any contestants you have a good feeling about?"

Wang Zhuishu smiled and said, "I still have my money on Petal Shower."

Chen Yidong said, "I think Sunflower is good. He has a great chance of becoming the Masked King today."

Chen Guang added, "If we're talking about singing, Sunflower and Petal Shower really do have the greater chance of becoming the Masked King. But this is a competition after all, so it's hard to tell."

Zhang Xia nodded. "Petal Shower is very good. I feel like I definitely know her."

Yao Jiancai looked at Chen Guang and joked, "Old Chen, could your wife have come to join the competition?"

Chen Guang's eyes twitched as he replied hurriedly with a smile, "I still believe that Petal Shower is Sister Zhang."

Amy laughed. "That's possible too!"

Everyone was making wild guesses. In truth, a lot of people really weren't thinking about the contestants as any of those famous big names in the music industry. They were all still confused.

After the atmosphere warmed up, the competition got underway.

The audience was also getting more and more excited.

"Hurry up!"

"Petal Shower! Petal Shower!"

"I wonder what kind of song Sunflower will sing today. I like him so much!"

"Eh, why didn't any of the judges mention The Clown?"

"I guess the program team must have informed them before the recording started."

"Yeah, the voices of doubts are getting stronger and they're all about the validity of The Clown winning Masked King on the last episode. No one really dares to bring up how he went onstage sick and could still sing in that way anymore. The judges probably know it themselves too that they were only moved by The Clown's songs last week out of sympathy due to how the lyrics were befitting of the circumstances. Didn't Grandma Zhang Xia and Chen Guang also say that if it were really down to singing technique, other than the two replacements today, the best would definitely be either Petal Shower or Sunflower?"

"The Clown was indeed just being opportunistic."

"The first episode's Masked King should have been Sunflower."

"Oh come on, it should have been Sunset Glow."

"Hur hur."

"Let's see how it goes this episode then!"

"Eh, it's starting!"

People in the audience were debating endlessly about their favorite singer or who they supported. However, The Clown's name was starting to get mentioned less and less.

Dong Shanshan's voice reverberated through the studio. "Let us welcome our first performer today—Petal Shower."

Immediate applause rang out!

"Wow!"

"She's the first one to perform!"

"Petal Shower, I love you!"

"This is great! The first one to sing is our Petal Shower!"

Quite a few people were shouting and screaming, raising the intensity in the studio!

During the first episode when the contestants were underneath masks and had yet to sing a song, people had no idea how good they were. When the contestants first appeared on stage, the applause was lukewarm at best. However, this time was different as everyone had watched the show once. In fact, there were even some people in the audience who were attending the recording for the second time. The atmosphere was clearly different than last time.

Under everyone's attention, Petal Shower walked onstage.

Applause thundered once again!

"You got this!"

"Come on!"

"You're the true Masked King!"

Just from this reaction alone, it could obvious how popular Petal Shower was!

Even the program team staff and the other contestants who were backstage and slated to appear later could only smile wryly to themselves. She was already this popular after singing just two songs in the first episode?

How could they still compete with her?

They should just crown her Masked King straight away!

However, they were willing to admit that Petal Shower was indeed a strong foe. Thinking of this, all the other masked singers felt some sympathy for The Clown for having drawn today's worst lot!

The lights dimmed.

The bowed notes of a violin floated through the air.

The audience hushed, with some of them closing their eyes to listen.

Petal Shower gripped the microphone and opened her mouth softly.

A gentle falsetto drifted out!

It was her signature technique on this stage, as well as the audience's familiar sense of shock!

"Lies repeated a hundred times.

"In return, just a false promise.

"A mask that's been worn a lifetime.

"Why can't I become the person I want to be?"

The audience knew from the moment they heard it!

This was "Face"!

It was a very slow and touching song!

Amy forced a smile and said, "How nice. She's singing it better than me!"

Zhang Xia looked at her. "It's not like you to sing endearing songs in the first place."

Amy said to convince her, "There's almost no one in the music industry who can sing like this. The range of her falsetto is enormous, so I'm a 100% sure that Petal Shower is a professional singer. She's most definitely a big name too!"

Wang Zhuishu agreed, "That's right. And I have a feeling that this woman must be such a big name in the music industry that we couldn't even start imagining it. But as long as she doesn't speak with her normal voice, there's no way that we can guess who she is!"

Yao Jiancai was enjoying the singing. "Whoever faces her is really down on their luck."

Chen Yidong said, "As long as Petal Shower does not make any mistakes, it'll be difficult for anyone to beat her. Her falsetto is so amazing that I don't think there's anyone who has a better technique than hers!"

Petal Shower sang a cappella.

"Ugly.

"A pretence.

"This is…

"What my face…is."

The performance ended.

Petal Shower lowered her microphone and took a slight bow in thanks.

Applause immediately rang out!

Even the backstage contestants were clapping for her!

The audience was screaming from every corner!

"It's so good!"

"I used to not like this song, but Petal Shower sang it really well!"

"That's what a charming singer can do!"

"She's definitely going to win!"

"Yeah, there's no need to listen to the next contestant!"

"Right, it doesn't matter who comes next!"

"Petal Shower!"

"Petal Shower!"

Petal Shower's performance today was as good as her last one. There were no mistakes and no voice cracking, although it wasn't as stunning as her first performance in the last episode. Perhaps this was due to the choice and genre of the song, but she still managed to perform it up to her level and it was still as enjoyable to listen to! But the most crucial point was that the entire song was sung with a varied falsetto, which further increased the charm of the song. After all, none of them had ever heard of anyone who would dare to sing like this. Due to it being very difficult to sing in falsetto, not too many singers had the capability to do so, nor would they dare to do something like this live! Due to such curiosity, this rendition of "Face" by Petal Shower had once again infected the studio!

Whether it was the audience?

The judges?

The backstage contestants?

Or the program team staff?

None of them felt that she could lose!