Apart from the trainees who have already been eliminated after the previous two episodes, all the remaining trainees will be divided into eight groups for this performance.
The tickets for the performance have long been sold out on the official Weibo account.
This is not only the first public selection process by the program team but also the first meeting between all the trainees and the audience and fans.
The Sports City in City S is located in the southwest of the city, with convenient transportation and close proximity to surrounding cities.
Due to the good reception of the first two episodes of 'Your Stage', the enthusiasm is high, and the newly gained fans are full of enthusiasm.
The audience attendance for this performance alone reached nearly 100,000.
As the captain of the first team of the performance, Fang Yuzhou selected teammates almost all from Class A, and the C position was given to Jiang Tong, who had the best dance foundation.
Although the Sports City allowed the program team and the trainees to arrive a day early to familiarize themselves with the performance venue, various facilities still needed to be set up, and each group had to evenly distribute rehearsal time.
In the evening, they had to go through the entire process once more.
In short, the time available was extremely tight.
Apart from a good night's rest after taking medicine on the first day, Sang Qiao hardly found a chance to fall asleep again.
On the eve of the performance, he decided to sit straight up in bed until dawn.
The next morning, Sang Qiao used a hot towel to soothe his dark circles.
He thought to himself that it was fortunate to have a large bed in a single room; otherwise, it would be terrifying to scare others in the middle of the night.
When drawing the lots for the competition order, it was team captain Fang Yuzhou who drew, and their luck was so bad that they ended up being the last team to perform.
However, even if they were the last to perform, it didn't mean that Sang Qiao could get a few extra minutes of sleep.
They still had to gather backstage on time, do makeup, and change clothes.
Then they would enter the backstage of the performance venue and start their performance in front of the camera.
Sang Qiao: "......"
Sigh.
Making money is really hard.
The trainees did not have dedicated makeup artists, and the program team directly hired a makeup team for collective work. Sang Qiao happened to be the last one in the lounge for this group.
The makeup artist who came to do his makeup was a very stylish young lady, wearing a Cartier ring on her hand and an Hermès waist bag containing Giorgio Armani make-up brushes. She also carried a limited edition LV tote bag containing other makeup products from foundation to eye shadow.
The young makeup artist's fingers flew as she took out a shiny golden eyelash curler from her tote bag and reached out to hold Sangqiao's chin, saying, "Come on, lift your head a little, I'll curl them a bit more for you."
Sangqiao was dazzled by the wealthy power in front of him and asked, "Excuse me, may I ask a question?"
The young lady curled a few times on each side, then threw the eyelash curler back into her bag and said, "Go ahead."
Sangqiao hesitated and then asked, "Is this eyelash curler made of real gold?"
The lady frowned at Sangqiao, "Of course not!"
Sangqiao said, "Oh."
The makeup artist pulled out a platinum-plated gold face massager of the same color and said, "What do you think? I have an eye for luxury, don't I?"
Sangqiao kept silent for a long time, then couldn't help but ask sincerely, "Is the makeup industry making a lot of money now? Do you think I have a future if I join?"
The young lady shook her hand holding the brush in disbelief, walked over to Sangqiao's side, and stared at him in amazement.
Then she burst into laughter like a barbell, "Sangqiao, is your name Sangqiao? You are from that group, are all the trainees in your group as interesting as you?"
Sangqiao sneezed due to the irritation from the powder puff, and seriously said, "No, I am the most handsome one in our group."
The makeup artist finally managed to finish laughing and then, using a nose shadow brush engraved with an Hermès special custom seal, gave Sangqiao a highlight, and said, "I'm sorry to disappoint you. My dad is in mining and my mom sells real estate. I had to work because I didn't want to inherit the family business."
Sangqiao said, "I'm sorry."
He fell silent.
The young lady quickly finished setting up Sangqiao's highlight and eye shadow, then pulled out a lipstick jar from her tote bag. She turned it upside down and started rummaging through hundreds of lipsticks inside, saying, "Aren't you going to ask why I became a makeup artist?"
Sangqiao replied, "I don't really want to ask."
The young lady found two colors among the lipsticks, turned around on high heels, and said, "Ask me quickly, otherwise, I'll apply a color called Death Barbie on you!"
Sangqiao hesitated and then asked in despair, "Why did you become a makeup artist?"
The lady nodded in satisfaction and said, "Damn, it's all because I have too many bags. As a makeup artist, I can carry one and show off a limited edition custom to those stars, it feels so great."
Sangqiao thought, "Alright then.
I don't deserve the happiness of rich people."
The final step in the setup is the fixing of the makeup.
Sangqiao had been tormented by the makeup artist like a cucumber for minutes, his eyes stiff, trembling.
The makeup artist sprayed makeup mist on Sangqiao and said casually, "By the way, do you have trouble sleeping at night? Your dark circles are worse than a sixty-year-old lady's."
Sangqiao struggled to breathe in the midst of the makeup assault, and after a while, he took a breath and said, "Maybe I'm just not sleeping well these days."
The lady applied some powder to his face and added some shadow along his jawline.
She then glanced down at his shirt, saying casually, "Other trainees' fans want the makeup to extend from their neck to their clothes, do you want me to add some to you too?"
Sangqiao froze for a moment and instinctively moved backward, "No, no, I don't need it."
"Alright then."
The lady straightened his collar and said, "You're as pale as paper, forget it, let's just leave it like this. I'm off."
She casually picked up her Hermès and LV, clacking her heels as she walked to the door, then turned back, "By the way, I'm Yang Xiaocai, remember to look for me if you need makeup done!"
Sangqiao said, "No, thank you. It's kind of scary."
Sangqiao adjusted his clothes again, buttoning up and rushed out of the room to the backstage with other trainees.
From the preparation room, you could watch all the teams' performances on the front desk in real time, and there were also dozens of cameras recording the trainees' expressions in the preparation room.
In short.
You had to appear super dedicated, super excited, super happy for the other group's performance, while simultaneously feeling worried about your own.
No problem.
Sang Xiaoqiao was super professional at this.
The performance began promptly at eight o'clock in the evening.
Sang Qiao and the other teammates waited in the preparation room until nearly ten o'clock, finally hearing the call for them to take the stage.
In contrast to the silence during the rehearsal, the audience area was filled with countless lights and lively call-and-response chants, igniting the entire night.
As he walked onto the stage at the very edge of the group, Sang Qiao even seemed to faintly hear someone calling his name.
The penetrating stage lights shone straight down from above, casting a dazzling glare on the tempered glass stage, almost bringing tears to his eyes.
This was Sang Qiao's first stage performance, although in a not very prominent position.
He couldn't see his name in the sea of fans' light sticks in the audience area where dozens of trainees competed, but it was still much better than before.
Better than a year ago.
Better than five years ago.
Better than ten years ago.
Simply surviving was also good.
As the performance ended, the direct light on Sang Qiao caused him to break into a thin layer of sweat. He reached out to wipe it away and then smiled and bowed to the audience with his teammates.
After each performance, there would be routine speeches.
Coincidentally, Yi Chu, as the creator, also served as the host for this performance.
Soon, Yi Chu walked up from the side of the stage and handed the microphone to Fang Yu Zhou.
After saying a few words, Yi Chu turned to Sang Qiao and asked, "Sang Qiao, how do you feel about your performance today?”
Sang Qiao was unexpectedly cued, and Fang Yu Zhou promptly placed the microphone near his mouth.
Sang Qiao reached for the microphone, but Fang Yu Zhou smiled and shook his head, saying, "It's okay, I'll hold it for you."
Sang Qiao hesitated to say, "I did my best to perform at the level that I had."
This elicited a burst of laughter from the audience below.
Yi Chu also smiled meaningfully and paused for a few seconds on Fang Yu Zhou's hand holding the microphone for Sang Qiao.
He continued, "I won't hide it from everyone, before the performance today, one of Sang Qiao's fans contacted our team and wanted to send a gift to bless Sang Qiao's first stage performance."
Yi Chu paused, and with expressive flair, he piqued the audience's interest, "At first, the production team did not agree, but later, it was determined that this gift would not affect the program, and it could also serve as an additional gift to enjoy with everyone. So, it was approved."
It was fairly common for fans to send gifts to their favorite idols.
However, it was obvious that the gift that could stir up the production team was not common.
Even though "Your Stage" only aired its second episode, some trainees already had a certain number of fans or fan clubs before entering the show.
However, the abilities of those fans were still limited and not enough to send gifts to their small idols for this kind of live performance recording program.
After all, gifts were essentially money.
In this kind of situation, gifts were equivalent to a lot of money.
Yi Chu dangled the story, but had not yet revealed what the gift was.
Fans in the audience began to speculate.
"Sang Qiao's fans? Does he even have fans? Could it be a wealthy patron?"
"Wake up, sis. Most patrons already have wives at home, so would they spend time on these things? Don't read too many CPY novels, okay!"
"If he had a patron, he wouldn't have helped him clear the negative trend a couple of days ago, right? It's probably a wealthy fan, he doesn't know anything if he doesn't mix in the circle."
"But it seems that Sang Qiao really has a lot of wealthy fans. When I came in, I saw his fans setting up support materials outside, and they seemed to be of high quality."
"Yi Chu hasn't said what the gift is, I'm so curious. This kind of gift, where you buy the program's favor, must cost a lot of money..."
"Not only money, but also connections. His fans are really rich, so envious!"
The atmosphere at the scene was ignited layer by layer.
Yi Chu snapped his fingers, "All right, I hear everyone's voices! Now, everyone, please stand up from your seats! Look to your left and forward—"
The S City Sports Center had no roof.
Looking outward from the inside of the center, you could see the brilliant starry night sky.
At this moment.
In that night sky.
A firework, even more dazzling than the starry sky, slowly bloomed in the quiet night.
Then there were two.
Three.
Countless.
Countless countless.
The colorful fireworks lit up half of the night sky of S City at eleven o'clock.
It also ignited the atmosphere of the whole venue.
Amid the screams of the audience and fans, several unmanned aerial vehicles quietly passed through the beautiful fireworks.
After a few seconds.
In the very center of the continuous fireworks, several clear words appeared—
Qiao Qiao.
Forever healthy and happy.