The final scores brought a surprise.
Many thought that A's lead singer had performed incredibly well, almost a complete victory.
But when the vote count was revealed, B's lead singer had actually won by a landslide against A's top vocalist.
This was exactly what Cao Gong had mentioned earlier.
Ten audiences, ten different opinions.
You might think a trainee performed well, but others might not agree.
Furthermore, you might think this trainee is very skilled, and vote for them.
But others might think the trainee is skilled, but not handsome. If they're not handsome, they're not your type, so they don't vote.
Or, the trainee might have talent and be handsome, but lacks charisma. You won't remember them, and you won't vote for them when it's time.
This is one of the drawbacks of audition shows.
Any audition show, regardless of its format, has its fair share of controversy.
There's always debate surrounding the winner, and even the other rankings are disputed.
This is because the results are based on audience voting, and audience preferences dictate the outcome.
Ninety-nine percent of the audience can't discern a trainee's actual skills, most of them vote based on appearance and impression, making these audition shows largely superficial.
"Aren't you nervous?" Fan Cheng Cheng asked Cao Gong while he was lost in thought.
Cao Gong looked up, noticing Fan Cheng Cheng's slightly awkward expression.
Then he glanced at the others, clearly already on edge.
"Just a few hundred viewers, and you're already this nervous? What about a concert with tens of thousands of people later?"
"Will you faint from anxiety then?"
"You call yourselves idols? You can't even handle this little bit of pressure?"
Cao Gong's words filled the trainees with shame.
He was right, they shouldn't be so anxious and stressed out now.
But even though they knew he was right, they couldn't help but feel nervous.
Next came the showdown between "The Greatest Showman" and "I Love You Forever."
Some groups surprised with their performance, exceeding expectations.
Others, naturally, fell short.
"Next up, please prepare 'I Hate My Foolish Heart' and '***' groups."
Dilireba announced the fourth battle, arousing curiosity among many trainees.
Was this Cao Zei's group's song? They wondered how it would be.
"Whew..." Everyone preparing for the performance took a deep breath.
"Do you guys want to go first, or us?" Cao Zei turned to ask the "I Hate My Foolish Heart" group.
Coincidentally, the song was by Andy Lau.
However, the lyrics had been adapted. While retaining the original Cantonese version's classic lyrics, they also replaced a short section with Mandarin rap lyrics.
As for how those rap lyrics turned out, Cao Gong wouldn't comment.
He didn't write the lyrics.
Furthermore, most of the seven songs, originally lacking rap, had a short rap section added.
This was to give the trainees a chance to showcase their rapping.
"Let us go first. Then we can appreciate your original song better later," said the group leader of "I Hate My Foolish Heart."
Cao Gong shrugged with a smile and watched them perform.
The "I Hate My Foolish Heart" group took the stage and put on a great show. The song itself truly ignited the audience.
After group A finished, group B began to prepare.
"Whoa, a new song! I wonder what it's like?"
"Yeah, I'm so excited! What kind of song is it?"
"Will it be explosive? Cao Zei wrote the lyrics and composed the music."
"I don't know! I didn't see their rehearsal yesterday, they were the last to practice."
"They didn't rehearse today either, it's so mysterious!"
Not only the trainees in the waiting room, but the mentors were also highly anticipating the performance.
The six members of the group took their positions, ready for the music to start.
"Snap!" The stage lights lit up, illuminating the six on stage.
The six stood in formation, each holding a paper fan.
The audience was even more confused. They didn't recognize this song title, and they didn't know who it was adapted from.
Furthermore, the large screen simply displayed the song name, "Hidden Scripture." It didn't mention that the song was written and composed by Cao Gong.
Despite their confusion, the music started.
The six members, ready to perform, began their act.
The moment the music played, the six members, who had been in formation, immediately started a synchronized dance.
Each of them held a paper fan, using it to perform graceful moves with the popular dance routine.
"Whoa!" The trainees were thrilled just by seeing this move.
The song's intro had a strong Chinese style with a powerful melody, creating a martial arts feel.
"Who's practicing martial arts in the back mountain? Such powerful techniques"
"Perfect performance, every move is my command~"
The opening singer wasn't Cao Gong, but Chen Li Nong, whose dance skills weren't the best, but had a good voice.
Chen Li Nong stood at the front of the group, leading the singing and dancing.
When his part ended, they transitioned with a martial arts spin.
This spin was performed by all six together.
This simple spin, however, made Zhang Yi Xing, Wang Jia Er, and Cheng Xiao, who understood choreography, jump up with excitement: "Beautiful!"
Those who didn't understand thought it was just a position change, nothing to get excited about.
The three of them were all members of idol groups, so they knew that stage positioning and transitions were challenging techniques that required immense teamwork.
Without teamwork, it's impossible to execute these changes flawlessly.
Many times, the choreography practice for idol groups focused mostly on positioning and transitions. They could learn and perform the dance moves quickly.
But these transitions were all about teamwork and cooperation, requiring years of practice. That's why they were so excited and happy to see the six on stage flawlessly performing these transitions.
"Treat hardship as nourishment, your waist and legs must be coordinated"
"Eight-section techniques~~~ Follow my lead"
Bi Wen Jun took over, leading the singing and dancing after the transition.
The six members' movements were flawlessly synchronized.
They showed off incredibly stylish moves with their paper fans in their hands.
Each member executed their dance perfectly, and the overall dance looked fantastic.
The dance incorporated some elements of Chinese martial arts to complement the lyrics.
"Eastern Unbeatable, don't talk nonsense, martial arts scriptures are hard to master, ordinary people at home, don't try to imitate~"
The rap portion of the song was performed by Fan Cheng Cheng, the attention-grabber.
As the performance continued, the song reached its first high point.
At this point, Cao Gong transitioned to the center, taking the C position, leading the dance, and singing with his teammates.
"Hidden Scripture, what's hidden within? Masters from all paths vying"
"For fame, none bow their head~"
"Duel with inner strength, who's trapped in a desperate fight?"
"That dragon, restless and leaping~"
"Hidden Scripture, what's hidden within? Four martial arts schools remain silent"
"Let the legend live on forever~"
"After reading the scriptures, only righteous spirit can roar~"
"A laugh across the sea~~~~" Collective operatic vocalization to finish the first high point.
The first verse's climax, with its stylish synchronized dance and understandable lyrics.
Instantly ignited the entire audience.
"Wow!!!" The audience didn't expect such a Chinese-style idol boy group dance song.
More importantly, this group's dance was so synchronized, everyone's moves were perfect.
After watching so many performances tonight, this was the only group whose dance performance...
gave them a sense of order and synchronicity.
Previous groups, during their performances, had dance moves that were mostly chaotic and not unified.
However, this group was perfectly in sync.
Synchronized dance increased the overall aesthetic enjoyment.
"Wow!!!" The trainees in the waiting room were all stunned after watching this stage performance.
"The dance is so synchronized! Is this really Chen Li Nong?"
"Yeah, Chen Li Nong can't dance, how can he keep up with his teammates in this choreography?"
"Is Chen Li Nong lying? He said he'd only been learning to dance for two months?"
"Hidden Scripture, this song is so good, the combination of Chinese style and dance is so cool and explosive."
"Did they incorporate Drunken Fist movements?"
"Yeah, there were definitely drunken fist moves at the end, it's so cool!!!"
"This dance is amazing! Cao Zei, you're incredible!!!"
The trainees in the waiting room went wild.
In the mentors' waiting room, all the mentors also stood up and applauded.
Zhang Yi Xing was very excited, pointing at the TV: "No way, Cao Zei's hiding his skills!!!"
"Haha~"
Wang Jia Er and the others knew exactly what Zhang Yi Xing was feeling.
When Zhang Yi Xing asked Cao Zei to write a song, he said he wanted something Chinese style.
But Cao Zei replied that he couldn't write a fusion of Chinese style and Korean pop, saying it was impossible.
However, in less than a month, not only did he write it, but he even brought the song to the stage. How could Zhang Yi Xing not be excited?
Even the audience watching the show understood Zhang Yi Xing's feelings.
The show had aired the scene where Cao Gong wrote a song for Zhang Yi Xing.
Having watched that, the audience was in awe of Cao Gong's talent and ability.
This song was exceptionally catchy and innovative.
But the audience at the scene, watching the performance, didn't know the song was written by Cao Gong.