Chapter 61: Tamori's Interview
"Comedian?" Tamori was surprised by Zhou Xiao's remark.
"That's right, I started doing it since high school, but at the beginning, I really couldn't earn enough money to eat, so I had no choice but to go to the subway station to sing and sell. As a result...I didn't become a comedian, but became a singer instead." Zhou Xiao said.
"This is truly a blessing in disguise." said Takeuchi Emiko.
"No, no, I think being a comedian is great too. Relatively speaking, I prefer comedians," said Zhou Xiao.
"You think that way because you haven't really done this line of work, if you really do become a comedian, it's definitely better to be a singer." Tamori said.
"It's just that I didn't expect Wujin Xiaosang to be like this." said Takeuchi Emiko.
"What did you think I was like?"
"It's just... like all great singers." Maki Takeuchi said with a wave of her hand.
"What she means is, why wasn't there any promotion when this single came out? A comedian's words should be liked on TV, right?" Tamori said.
"The problem is mainly because of me, although I released a single, but I didn't take it seriously, and I was still thinking that if I could be a comedian or something, that would be the best. This single wasn't released with much attention, so I didn't ask the company to arrange any promotions for me."
Zhou Xiao would not say that the company did not arrange anything for him, but rather he took everything on himself. If it were said that the company did not make arrangements, then Zhou Xiao might have faced great public pressure, whereas if it was due to his own reasons, it would seem like he was being careless and irresponsible.
"So you're saying you can also do those things that comedians do?"
Tamori asked.
"That's for sure, after all, this is why I wanted to enter the entertainment industry in the first place! Please come and mess with me!" Zhou Xiao said in front of the TV.
"Oh! You're actually saying that, it's really impressive." said Takeuchi Emiko. Not just anyone can say something like this, the things comedians do on TV are all very tough, on the other hand if you become an artist, although you'll appear on TV less often, you'll rarely do those messy things, Zhou Xiao's words, while getting herself more opportunities to be on TV, also increased the possibility of being bullied by TV people.
The most uncomfortable person to hear such words is probably Takahashi Daigo, as Zhou Xiao only signed a music contract with Being and not an artist contract, so the company couldn't restrict him. Originally, Takahashi thought Zhou Xiao was similar to Sakai Izumi, a singer who only liked singing and didn't like appearing on TV, but in reality, he actually said on TV that he can have a lot of fun and appear on many variety shows?
Where did you put "being"?
At first, you weren't scheduled for any activities, but when it comes to the reason, isn't there also your unwillingness to be controlled? Now, you're saying you want to go on TV?
How can this be?!
It's really fortunate that Zhou Xiao is being left alone like this, the company is also dragging its feet and not letting him release a single, just to see what he can do. But ironically, he can't, because Zhou Xiao releasing a single would benefit himself the most. Cultivating a singer isn't easy, companies take huge risks when signing new artists, as there are many talented newcomers, but having potential is one thing, and another is that the company needs to invest heavily in training them after signing. The various training courses before debut, creating hype before release, promotional investments after single release, all these costs add up to hundreds of millions, but the returns are extremely unstable. Some companies even spend tens of millions on each singer, only to end up with a bunch of mediocre artists who bring in nothing but infamy.
And what about Zhou Xiao? Being had almost signed him with empty hands, even the training fees were paid by himself. But what about the benefits he brought in? Even if the record company and the music industry took the largest share, after Zhou Xiao took a part of it, when only 100,000 CDs were sold, Being had already made a huge profit. This money, Being almost got it without paying any funds at all, just by signing Zhou Xiao. Such a good thing, from top to bottom in Being's company, everyone would only hope for more, not complaining that the other party was making too much money for themselves.
In fact, Zhou Xiao's idea is also very simple. If I go on a show myself and there really is a company that helps me arrange it, of course, that would be great. But I couldn't have my hands and feet tied up because no company would allow its artist to be like him, wanting to get involved in everything - singing, movies, TV shows - under the circumstances where he hasn't achieved any actual results yet. The company would only think that doing things this way would definitely lead to losing money until they're left with nothing but their underwear.
So he can only do this, as for the idea of Chang Hu Da Xing? Anyway, what he signed with Chang Hu Da Xing was just a three-year music contract, since he can't control himself, then what's the relationship?
"What else do you like besides music and being a comedian?" Tamori continued to ask.
"Oh, actually there is, I recently submitted a manuscript to Weekly Wen Chun." said Zhou Xiao.
"What's being posted?" Tamori asked.
"Reasoning, just like Mr. Keigo Higashino." Zhou Xiao said. Such a good opportunity for publicity, he couldn't miss it.
"There's also reasoning, and I've done a lot of things at the same time." Tamori said.
"Yes, I have many hobbies and don't want to give up any of them, so that's why things are like this now." said Zhou Xiao.
"We look forward to your future performance."
"Everyone must watch mine!" Zhou Xiao said in front of the camera.
"You're the first one to advertise on Music Station," Tamori said.
"And it's reasoning." Zhou Xiaodao said.
"That's right, and it's still reasoning."
After saying all this, Zhou Xiao finally stood up and walked towards the center of the stage, his performance was about to begin.
And as he walked onto the stage, the audience's gaze also shifted towards the band. A close-up shot from the TV station caused a small gasp among the audience, because they saw that the guitarist of the band was actually Inori Hiroshi, one of the two main members of B'z who had just appeared on stage!
That's B'z, Japan's top-notch artist, accompanying someone? What a great honor for Zhou Xiao!
This kind of thing, of course, is from the pen of Sakai Izumi. Although it's just a trivial matter for Inaba Koshi, it's not a small favor for Zhou Xiao, whether it's for Sakai Izumi or for B'z duo.
"And now, please enjoy the new singer Zhou Xiao's song that has been popular all over Japan recently, 'Little Love'." said Takeuchi Emi.
Regardless of whether it's Chiba Prefecture's little girl who likes Zhou Xiao with her father, or Tokyo's Murakami and Ono Rikuto as a music critic, at this moment, tens of millions of people are sitting in front of the TV watching Zhou Xiao's performance. However, in reality, only a very small portion of these people have actually purchased Zhou Xiao's CD. Among the remaining people, there is a small portion who came to watch MS because they heard about a popular song recently, and another portion who are loyal viewers of MS. For those who had already purchased the CD, the most surprising thing when watching the show was naturally Zhou Xiao's age and appearance. After seeing Zhou Xiao's appearance, many people who were originally not interested in him also came to like him. The importance of appearance is actually quite large.
As for those who had never heard of "Zhou Xiao" before, a large number of people also fell in love with this song, especially outside Tokyo. For those who were not affected by word-of-mouth influence that spread everywhere, the promotional effect of television media was far greater than that of citizens within Tokyo.
As for the real impact of this MS, it was revealed on the second day after the program was broadcast.
