Crosstalk: Stop playing with your uncle!

Chapter 29 Crosstalk Contest Second Round

Absolute pitch is an ability possessed by many people who have learned piano since childhood. Because they have listened to the piano so many times, the music of do, re, mi, fa, so, la, and si is engraved in their minds, so the music they hear will be automatically converted into notes through their brain.

Many famous creators have this ability, for example, Mr. Zhou Jue Lun, he can make it so that I can tell what note you are playing just by listening to him play a piece of piano.

After Qi Long acquired this ability, he quickly converted the songs from the other world he had heard before into music scores and wrote them down!
This saves some trouble. I don't have to hum the song myself and ask professionals to listen to it when I want to release it. It's troublesome and the creation method is also weird. It's better to just use the score.
In the following days, the company bought by Dongqiang's father, Waner Entertainment, officially signed a contract with the two. They are currently the only two contracted artists of the company.

Na Yu, who had been the deputy director of artists in another entertainment company for a long time and was hired by Gao Qi at a huge price, serves as the chairman and also serves as the agent of both of them.

"What's your surname? It's not very common!" Gao Dongqiang exclaimed.

Na Yu nodded: "I haven't encountered many of them in such a long time!"

His pronunciation of the word "peng" is not so standard, the front and back nasal sounds are not clear enough, it sounds like "pen"
As a crosstalk performer, learning dialect is also a lesson. The one who can't distinguish the front and back nasal sounds clearly is obviously from the northwest.

Qi Long smiled and said, "Then you are from Xia Province, right? You have a Xia Province accent! It looks like you are from Guyuan!"

"You can even hear this?" Na Yu was a little surprised. It's not surprising that he can hear my northwestern accent, but he can even hear my city area?
Qi Long explained: "I didn't hear the latter part, because I know that the place Guyuan was called Na County during the Han Dynasty. Many local people use the word Na as their surname. I guess you are from your lineage!" This is the accumulation of a crosstalk actor.

There is a kind of job on the crosstalk stage called Mo Manr, which is about surnames. Qi Long had read about it before when he was learning about other surnames.

Many of the conversational techniques used on the crosstalk stage are also common in life. By talking about the origin of the other person's surname, you can directly talk about their hometown and then open up the conversation.

Since it is his own company, the contract terms for Qi Long and Gao Dongqiang are those for top artists. The company and the agent together only take 25%, which is the commission price for many big stars. Gao Qi's goal is to prevent his two children from going to other companies and being cheated.

Whether the company is profitable or not depends entirely on Na Yu, the general manager who holds shares.

If you have the ability to make a lot of money, just do it yourself. I will give you the power and money.
If you don't have the ability, just take the high salary I offer you and manage my two children well.

Na Yu was obviously a man with dreams. He didn't want to just sit there and do nothing, so he found a direction to develop the company.

The film, TV series, music and other industries are already dominated by established companies, and it is difficult to rush in and get a piece of the pie. He is targeting China's untapped variety show market.

"At present, some local TV stations have begun to try the policy of separation of production and broadcasting. Instead of traditional TV stations taking full charge of variety shows, they outsource them to variety show companies. I am very optimistic about this prospect!" Na Yu said to Qi Long and Gao Dongqiang.

Gao Dongqiang waved his hand: "The company doesn't need to tell us what it does. As contracted artists, we just need to cooperate. Don't treat me as the chairman's son."

Na Yu smiled and nodded. Having said that, how could he not be regarded as the boss’s son?

This company was built because of you and your partner.

Seeing that the two of them really had no interest in the company's development direction, Na Yu changed the subject and mentioned Qi Long's song recording. First of all, the accompaniment had to be made, and the production of the accompaniment needed to be discussed between Qi Long and the arranger.

Since the day he signed the contract, Qi Long has been going to big companies every day to discuss the details of the accompaniment with the arranger or chat about some variety show ideas with director Yan Min.

The arranger was surprised by the songs Qi Long brought out and asked him if he wanted to switch careers to become a singer-songwriter, which would make more money than crosstalk. Director Yan Min was also surprised by Qi Long's idea of ​​variety show effects and asked him if he wanted to switch careers directly to become a variety show director.

Qi Long naturally refused this because crosstalk was his job.

No matter how happy or excited they were chatting in the company, when it was time to rush to the Sanlitun Small Theater to perform crosstalk, Qi Long would get up and say goodbye, without missing a single show.

As Qi Long and Gao Dongqiang became more well-known among the crosstalk lovers of Deyun Society, many more people bought tickets for them in the small theater!
Soon, it was time to record the second round of the "Crosstalk Competition" finals.

After arriving at the scene, the first thing to do is to draw lots. In this draw, the two pairs of actors who draw the same number will compete one-on-one. The winner will advance and the loser will be eliminated.

CCTV's competitions don't have any resurrections or anything like that, for fear of accidentally eliminating the favorites to win. Luck is also part of strength, and it's even more exciting to see two strong teams competing against each other.

What's more, the strength gap between those who can make it to this point is not that big, at least that's what the planner thought before the game.

If you ask the contestants which crosstalk pair they least want to meet is, all eleven pairs will say in unison: Qi Long and Gao Dongqiang.

Therefore, when Zhang Pan and Liu Quanmiao, like Qi Long and Gao Dongqiang, drew number three, the two brothers looked at each other and smiled helplessly. When they greeted Qi Long, they both said that they were already thinking about their speeches after being eliminated!
Qi Long was also modest: "You two are outstanding students who graduated from the Qu School. We are also nervous!"

He also asked which garden in Tianjin they were performing in, and told them that if they were to visit Tianjin, they would go and support them.

Zhang Pan was a little embarrassed: "We two don't have a troupe. After the previous troupe closed down, we went around performing and participated in small performances to support our family!"

"Sorry, I hurt you!" Qi Long apologized quickly.

"It's okay, you don't know either!"

"The crosstalk industry is difficult!" Gao Dongqiang sighed.

Deyun Society became popular, and hundreds of crosstalk performers could make a living, but many crosstalk clubs did not have an easy time, including the Shanxi Crosstalk Society that existed before them.

If it weren't for his father's wealth, their crosstalk club would have closed down long ago.

After chatting for a few sentences, the two sides separated and Qi Long went to the dressing room and called his senior brother.

"Aren't you participating in a competition, junior brother? Why are you calling? Are you in trouble?" Lao Guo answered the phone in an anxious tone. Could it be that his junior brother was being bullied outside?

"No, no, I met two good actors, but I don't have a club. So I asked my senior if our Deyun Club is still hiring."

Guo Degang was relieved to hear that he was not being bullied, and responded, "Go ahead! Those two?"

To be praised as a “good actor” by Qi Long, there must be something wrong with him. I have been listening to crosstalk since I was a child and I have a good eye!
"Zhang Pan, Liu Quanmiao!"

(End of this chapter)