Chapter 961: Xiao He: Oh no, am I going to become a regular NPC for the Spring Festival Gala?!
"Stop, stop, stop—"
On stage, a show was only halfway through, and the actors hadn't even finished their lines when they were abruptly stopped by the audience.
The once lively program seemed to have been put on pause.
Everyone looked at the person in the very center of the audience.
Zhang Qi, the chief director and person in charge of the Spring Festival Gala stage program, was also staring at the stage with a deep sigh, repeatedly chewing on the lines. Then he shook his head with some regret: "This program... feels a bit lacking. Who approved it before?"
As soon as he spoke, the people next to him immediately leaned in and whispered something in his ear.
Zhang Qi listened while flipping through the documents in his hand.
The skit was stopped halfway through, and the actors on stage didn't dare to say anything. They just stood there awkwardly, waiting for the director's instructions.
Although they have all passed the preliminary review and confirmed their participation in the Spring Festival Gala, all programs are subject to adjustment and cuts before the official broadcast. These modifications could drastically change their entire program or force them to pack up and go home.
The person who made this crucial decision was the director sitting offstage.
As the chief director of the Spring Festival Gala, a position that requires passing the exam every year but still failing every year, it is undoubtedly a good job, but also undoubtedly a thankless job. Many people are unwilling to take on this job, but many others are willing to take on this job.
Zhang Qi was naturally the latter—at least before the widespread criticism from the public, this title sounded prestigious enough to make his resume look richer, and he was indeed qualified to take on this project.
Everyone was tense at that moment.
They couldn't figure out what the director was thinking, but after thinking it over, it all boiled down to just a few points.
"Hmm, it doesn't feel like it has any original ideas!"
Sure enough, Zhang Qi then put forward a bunch of his own ideas.
"Family-friendly comedies aren't popular enough these days. Your constant bickering is getting on the audience's nerves."
The comedians on stage looked slightly downcast, clearly finding it hard to understand the director's idea—to be honest, on such a big stage, instead of performing family-friendly comedies, they couldn't possibly cry, make a scene, sing opera, and then have a tearful ending that would make the whole country cry along with them!
"Hey, I remember there was a play that was really popular a while ago, right? What was it called again—oh right, 'The Root of Calamity'! The stage performance was really good! Especially the ending, when the mirror lights shone on, the people would flash... The stage effects were stunning, and the theme was quite profound..."
Zhang Qi began to speak fluently and at length.
The assistant director stood silently for a moment, then whispered in Zhang Qi's ear, "Director Zhang, that's a stage play, this is a skit. The two are not quite the same."
It's not just different, it's absolutely different!
Director Zhang, wake up!
"So what if they're different?"
Zhang Qi glanced at his assistant director and said, "There are many performance styles in their skit that we can learn from."
Assistant Director: "..."
No, Director! What you're saying is definitely different from what I'm saying, it's different!
However, with a tight schedule and many tasks, Zhang Qi gave the skit group a series of "colorful black" requirements before waving them off.
Today, they are mainly reviewing language-based programs.
If this skit doesn't work, there'll be another one.
They still have many options.
Zhang Qi immediately sent someone to call the next group.
"Is this a magic trick?"
Zhang Qi glanced at the information and the main personnel of the program.
"Magician Ge Fu, magician's assistant Xiao He..."
He read out the list of names, his gaze first landing on the magician: "Why is this year's magician different from last year's?"
"Uh, last year's magician declined this invitation."
The assistant director explained hesitantly.
Last year's magician was also a newcomer to the Spring Festival Gala, making his debut on CCTV's stage. His magic performance was nothing special.
His nervousness was evident to almost everyone in the country, and perhaps only he himself was putting on a brave face. His voice trembled as he spoke, making it hard to believe that he was actually an experienced magician.
Thankfully, the final performance was completed without any major mishaps—of course, the magic trick itself was relatively simple, since magic can fail, but mathematics doesn't lie.
However, the assistant director guessed that the main reason was the audience's post-event review.
After all, not only will they have to face the magnifying glass of the audience afterward, but if any problems arise, they will also be ridiculed by the public along with the show.
That's quite a bit of pressure.
"The magician we invited this time, Ge Fu, is a magician who returned from abroad. He is very good at eye-catching magic performances. Director Zhang, didn't you just want the show to have some stage performance effects? His performance in Beijing and Taiwan last year was very good, so we specially invited him this time."
He also pointed to Xiao He, saying, "Last year, Xiao He performed on the same stage with him, and the feedback was very good. So for now, we've temporarily arranged for them to continue performing together and will see how they perform."
Zhang Qi frowned: "You performed in Beijing and Taiwan last year, what good performances can you expect this year?"
However, after thinking about it, he nodded and said, "Okay, let them prepare."
A few minutes later, Ge Fu led Xiao He onto the stage to perform.
-
In fact, Xiao He never expected that he would perform magic again on the Spring Festival Gala the following year.
After all, he had just performed on a local TV station's Spring Festival Gala last year, and Xiao He's own image had never been closely related to this. So he originally thought that when he went on CCTV's Spring Festival Gala this year, he would most likely be assigned to a skit or a music program.
Good heavens, when he received the program list, he and Ge Fu looked at each other in disbelief.
So where did it all begin?
Is it that he can't dance or he can't sing? Why isolate him and force him to perform magic tricks?!
Or you could let him perform in a skit—wait, no, let's forget about skits, Xiao He doesn't want to be on the skit judging list.
But performing magic for two consecutive years...
Xiao He forced a smile.
Could it be that he will eventually become a regular NPC in the magic show at the Spring Festival Gala?
No way!
However, since the production team has made this arrangement, Xiao He has no choice but to cooperate.
However, he did not expect that their performance would be stopped during the second half of the show when the director was reviewing it.
"Cough cough, stop, stop."
Zhang Qi took a sip of tea, cleared his throat, and interrupted the performance on stage once again.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over.
"This show still feels like it's missing something."
Zhang Qi then said something that sounded familiar.
The assistant director standing to the side kept wiping away sweat.
Why do I feel like I've heard this sentence so many times today?