Chapter 119: The Will of the Many

With a performance like that, how could Li Xuan be anything but the champion of this round?

Luo Tao looked at Li Xuan with a strange expression, because the support she had received was absurdly high—so high it completely crushed every other singer! The combined votes of all the other performers didn't even amount to half of hers. Li Xuan had secured a staggering 358 votes out of the 500 audience members! This was the highest number of live votes ever recorded since the inception of "I Am a Singer" in its very first season. Previously, no singer had ever surpassed 250 votes, and no one had ever managed to win the support of more than half the audience. Yet, in this round, amidst fierce competition, Li Xuan had captured over 70 percent of the vote. Such overwhelming dominance left even the experienced production team in shock.

At the same time, they were left with a headache: Li Xuan had snatched away the majority of the votes, leaving the other singers with pitiful, unsightly tallies. The single-digit vote counts for the bottom two singers were nothing short of cruel. Luo Tao didn't even know how to make such results public. For the artists, it was a genuine blow. However, this was a competitive singing show, and by its very nature, it was ruthless. The blow had to be dealt, but they could at least delay the sting. Luo Tao had already instructed the entire team to keep the specific voting results for this week strictly confidential. No one was to leak them; they would wait until next week to aggregate the results from both rounds and release the total, which would at least save some face for the singers.

After a glance at Li Xuan and then at the calm and composed Zhang Qiyang, Luo Tao steeled himself and announced the results, starting from first place as usual. The outcome for this week was so obvious that anyone with ears could hear that Li Xuan was the undisputed champion. Before Luo Tao could announce the winner's name, Zhao Ziqi and her team at Chu Entertainment still clung to a glimmer of hope for a miracle. But Luo Tao’s resonant, powerful announcement shattered Zhao Ziqi's dreams completely.

"The champion of this week is—that’s right, it’s you again, Li Xuan! Congratulations on your consecutive wins!"

As Luo Tao made the announcement, millions of Li Xuan's fans across the country were electrified! The cheers were thunderous. The "I Am a Singer" forums were instantly flooded by her fans. With the help of the "Chef's Knife," Li Xuan had crushed Zhao Ziqi for two consecutive weeks, securing back-to-back victories and propelling her popularity to the highest peak since the show began. The discourse surrounding her had finally begun to catch up to that of Zhang Qiyang. However, in terms of sheer buzz, she still had a ways to go to fully eclipse the son of the richest man.

It seemed that at this moment, countless people were waiting for Zhang Qiyang's result, desperately craving a satisfying outcome to mock this brainless rich kid who always relied on vote-stuffing to steal a victory.

"The second place for this round goes to—Zhou Delin! Congratulations!"

This result brought joy to many. It was reasonable and fair; the legendary Master Delin’s performance that night was worthy of second place. Although Zhao Ziqi and the Chu Entertainment team were unhappy, Master Delin’s popularity was undeniable, and they had no choice but to swallow their frustration.

While second place sounded good, in reality, Zhou Delin’s vote count for the week didn't even amount to a fraction of Li Xuan’s. He had only secured 52 votes. In previous seasons, such a count might not have even made the top five. The counts for the singers who followed were even more miserable. To the dismay of Zhao Ziqi and her team, the third place did not go to her, even with her "nostalgia" trump card. Instead, it went to Lin Haoran. The popularity of this R&B prince was decent; although his vote count was nearly halved compared to Zhou Delin’s, earning only 28 votes, it was enough to secure a top-three finish.

It wasn't until fourth place that Zhao Ziqi heard her name. Having delivered a perfect cover of the classic "Les Misérables" only to land in fourth place was a cold splash of water for Zhao Ziqi and her team. They no longer dared to be as arrogant and haughty as they had been before. Like the other singers, her vote count had been ruthlessly crushed by Li Xuan, leaving her with only 25 votes.

The fifth-place finisher was the powerhouse vocalist Ji Chunying, who had performed last. Her ranking had improved slightly from last week, but her vote count was even lower. She only received 18 votes—a meager total that was highly precarious for the elimination round. The results for the subsequent singers were even more precarious. The ballad queen Yue Li hit a slump, receiving only 12 votes and placing sixth. Even worse was Zhao Lei. Perhaps the live audience just couldn't handle rock, but despite his explosive performance, he fared no better than Zhao Ziqi. He only received four votes from the audience—a mere 4 votes.

When Luo Tao announced that Zhao Lei was seventh, the internet erupted in a jubilant celebration. Countless people were ecstatic! The scene they had most wanted to see had unfolded! Zhang Qiyang had finally, as expected, landed in last place!

Hahaha! After coming in second-to-last last week, "Master Cannon" had reached a new height this week, triumphantly taking the absolute last spot! He had not disappointed the expectations of "Cannon-haters" everywhere, nor had he let down the trust of his little fanboy Wang Mingming! He had truly taken the final spot! Wang Mingming could now shamelessly go and demand that kiss from his cute desk-mate!

Not only did he finish last, but Zhang Qiyang’s vote count this week also set a new record for the lowest number of live votes in the history of "I Am a Singer." He had received the support of only three audience members. A brutal three votes!

In the football world of another dimension, there was a player nicknamed "Three-Vote Luo," who was relentlessly mocked for years, transformed from "forced rivalry" to being "forced into rivalry," and ultimately shattered everyone’s prejudices and jaws to make a powerful comeback and claim the throne. In this world, Zhang Qiyang had also earned a "Three-Vote Zhang" title that would be laughed at for a long time. Whether it was a coincidence of fate or not, Zhang Qiyang was certainly going to be mocked to no end that night.

Even more tragically, some idiot in the technical department, despite Luo Tao’s repeated emphasis on keeping the results secret, leaked the specific vote counts for the singers. Led by Wang Dazhong, the haters were overjoyed when they heard Zhang Qiyang had only received 3 votes—they were laughing until their sides ached! The haters seized on the main point, ignoring the vote counts of other singers and focusing solely on "Three-Vote Zhang."

The netizens were having a field day! It was a nationwide celebration! This was an era where entertainment was king. The entertainment industry hadn't seen such a bizarre, interesting, and satisfying event in a long time. The "Cannon-haters" swarmed out in full force, eager to laugh Zhang Qiyang to death. Among them, several domestic rappers jumped out, as if Zhang Qiyang’s rap-rock performance had struck a nerve. They unanimously cursed Zhang Qiyang, calling him an idiot who didn't understand rap at all. Wang Dazhong even retweeted a post from a leading figure in the domestic rap scene who was attacking Zhang Qiyang, claiming he would destroy him from a technical standpoint.

Zhang Qiyang saw and remembered everything. He was already annoyed about getting only 3 votes, and the fact that those idiot rappers had teamed up to attack him made his blood boil! The "Monster" inside him, akin to Eminem, was being stimulated and ready to awaken.

They actually claimed I don't know how to rap? They want to talk to me about hardcore? About Pop Rap? About Gangsta Rap? To hell with all of that! Next week, I’ll show you idiots what real hardcore rap is!