There were no music variety shows this week, nor any major singers releasing songs. For the coming week, this song would remain at number one on the New Songs and Rising Charts, continuously attracting casual viewers.
Meanwhile, B-site’s well-known critical content creator “Poisonous Snake Harsh Reviews” immediately checked out FTM’s new song.
Last time, he had edited a video overnight about their debut stage. Though he criticized FTM’s singing as “immature and inexperienced,” he ultimately affirmed their harmonies and recommended people follow this small unknown group.
That edited video had made it to Bilibili’s trending page, attracting many fans. Now that FTM had released a new song, he naturally wanted to be the first to evaluate it.
If it wasn’t good, he would definitely criticize harshly, without mercy.
At 8 PM Saturday, the content creator “Poisonous Snake Harsh Reviews” started a livestream with the title: “Live Judgment of Vocal Group FTM’s New Song.”
This title attracted many of his fans and casual viewers to click in—live judgment? Let’s join the creator in judging!
“Welcome to the livestream, friends. Today we’ll be judging FTM vocal group’s freshly released single.”
“Those familiar with me should know FTM. I previously made an edited video reviewing their debut stage performance.”
“It’s been about three months since their debut, right? I had almost forgotten this little unknown group—three months after debut, finally releasing their first official single, you guys debuted for nothing!”
“Shengyao, this makeshift organization, I really ***”
The profanity was censored.
The bullet comment section sent a row of “hahaha.”
This was indeed bizarre—after all, a singing group releasing their first single three months after debut was a first in the Chinese entertainment industry.
Other groups release songs on their debut day, don’t they?
The content creator coughed: “Well, without further ado, let’s listen to FTM vocal group’s first single and see how they sing.”
He clicked the music play button, ready to criticize at any moment.
However, after listening to the first section, the content creator immediately pressed pause, his voice excited: “Tan Junwen’s rap opening is a pleasant surprise! So many lyrics flowing smoothly from his mouth, with an incredibly strong sense of rhythm.”
“After all, he won an award in ‘Youth Rap Class.’ I also looked up his videos from the rap competition before—he definitely has skills. Hmm, the opening rap is pretty good, let’s continue.”
The second section was Fang Yinnian’s solo.
After listening, the content creator commented: “Fang Yinnian’s timbre is outstanding, as I mentioned last time. His issue was that his singing technique was too immature.”
“However, his singing technique has clearly improved this time. Of course, it could also be due to post-production audio correction in the recording studio.”
“An average-looking person can look dozens of times better with beauty filters. In our entertainment industry, there are many ‘recording studio singers’ who rely on post-production correction. To truly tell how good Fang Yinnian’s singing is, we’d need to hear live performances.”
“Hmm, the same goes for Tang Che. There were some flaws in his debut stage voice, but this recording studio version sounds much better…”
“The chorus harmonies are quite pleasant.”
“…Oh my, Fu Fei and Mo Xun even have solo segments?”
“I understand now—this song was custom-made for them, right? All five have solos to showcase their timbres, and each person’s lyrics incorporate their strengths and personalities.”
“The song is called ‘For the Music,’ a customized song for them…the producer had some good ideas.”
“The ending is the finishing touch. Fang Yinnian’s three high notes in the final solo have an ethereal quality, like singing under a starry sky!”
“Wait, I’m actually an anti-fan of FTM. I wanted to livestream listening to their song while criticizing them…but now I seem more like a paid promoter?”
The bullet comment section sent rows of “The creator must be getting paid” “You must be a water army hired by Shengyao!”
Before he knew it, the song had finished playing.
The content creator smiled and said: “Meet you all at the beginning. Let’s listen once more and see if there’s anything to criticize—I won’t be polite.”
Many viewers listening along with him also simultaneously typed: “Meet you at the beginning!”
This was one of the few recent song releases that was actually listenable.
Especially notable were the five highly distinctive voices, along with the rich and pleasant harmonies—very special.
Without realizing it, some people had played it on loop three times.
Some had even played it more than ten times on repeat.
Meanwhile, clips from content creator “Poisonous Snake Harsh Reviews” “live judgment of FTM’s new song” were captured and shared on Weibo, triggering another surge in popularity.
The song’s play count continued to rise steadily.
That evening, official entertainment accounts on Weibo, Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and other platforms launched a second round of promotion.
Shengyao’s entire marketing matrix followed suit.
Xu Baichuan had coordinated with media in advance, and the publicity department had already prepared press releases. The second wave of promotion across all platforms during the evening peak traffic period once again maximized the song’s popularity.
Simultaneously, the “Dance Practice Room Version” of this song was also released on FTM’s official accounts across major websites.
Viewers who had just finished listening to the song and were still excited discovered there was a dance practice video and rushed to watch it.
As soon as the video was released in the evening, the view count skyrocketed like a rocket, with bullet comments flooding the screen.
“Wow, there’s even a dance?”
“This song has such a lively rhythm, it’s really suitable for group choreography!”
“So FTM is actually a singing and dancing boy band?”
“This is too cool, ahhhh!”
In the practice room version, all five wore casual white pants and fresh, pastel-colored short-sleeved shirts.
Mo Xun in light red, Fang Yinnian in sky blue, Tang Che in lavender purple, Tan Junwen in beige, and Fu Fei in mint green.
The pastel colors had very low saturation, and the soft colors made the five look especially youthful and energetic. Mo Xun and Fang Yinnian happened to choose red and blue—a classic CP color combination—giving CP fans another opportunity to secretly celebrate.
Tan Junwen opened the performance.
He moved to the center position in the front row, surrounded by his four teammates.
The four teammates danced behind him as backup, while Tan Junwen freely performed movements in the front. His dancing posture was relaxed and lazy, with a unique style, and he even winked at the camera with a smile.
The final two shoulder-rolling movements were performed very synchronously by all five.
Then, as the melody reached the verse section, Tan Junwen stepped back with a cool side slide, and Fang Yinnian gracefully emerged from his side.
Fang Yinnian took the center position and began the first verse.
Although the choreography design for this section was simple, Fang Yinnian had fair skin and good looks. Unlike many male dancers who use excessive force, his body movements were nimble and fluid—he really danced quite well!
“Yinnian can actually dance?”
“That hand-waving movement just now was so cute!”
“He injured his foot while practicing dance last time, right? Nian Nian is so hardworking!”
“I want to claim the bouncing Fang Yinnian for myself, ahh!”
The hard work during this period had not been in vain. Fang Yinnian could finally keep up with his teammates’ movements and perform them properly. He had also corrected his previous overly light ballet style, forming his own unique personal style.
After completing his dance segment, Fang Yinnian took a step back, and Tang Che moved forward from his right side to take the center position.
Tang Che, who had always self-deprecatingly described his dancing as “zombie rituals,” had made great progress by practicing late into the night every day.
Unlike Fang Yinnian’s “nimbleness,” his dance style leaned toward “hardness.” When Yan Chi choreographed for Tang Che’s center position, he designed group movements with large amplitude but simple actions—as long as Tang Che held his positions properly at the right moments, it would look cool.
Tang Che completed this segment with impressive “hardness.”
The cool-faced guy danced quite stylishly.
During the first chorus, the formation frequently changed between two in front/three behind and three in front/two behind, with the five coordinating very seamlessly.
After the chorus came Fu Fei. Xiao Fei was an all-around trainee with solid dance foundations. Unlike Mo Xun’s power-packed dancing style, Fu Fei’s dancing showed more liveliness, with a hint of passionate youthfulness.
Next came Mo Xun’s solo and the second chorus.
This was also the highlight of the entire choreography.
Here, they designed a “ceremonial” movement where four members simultaneously crouched with lowered heads, forming a circle around Mo Xun. Like the king of the stage, Mo Xun stood in the center position, highlighted by his teammates.
The four teammates pressed pause, and Mo Xun performed a small solo segment in the middle, revealing the most difficult part of the entire choreography.
His turning movements were as decisive as a whirlwind, with an incredibly stable core and not the slightest wobble in his lower body. His arm extensions flowed like water, yet at the moment of pausing, they were unshakable.
His body control had reached mastery level.
The second chorus featured a knife formation dance led by Mo Xun.
Mo Xun jumped to the front row with a cool leap, while the other four retreated, quickly forming a sharp triangular formation.
Tan Junwen and Fu Fei stood in the second row, with Fang Yinnian and Tang Che in the third.
As the five began their synchronized movements, the knife formation dance immediately created an imposing presence!
Leading the dance, Mo Xun seemed able to control every muscle and bone at will, perfectly timing each movement with the rhythm.
His dancing had great power. When he swung his arms, it was as if he were drawing sharp, graceful arcs in the air. The entire practice room floor seemed to vibrate in resonance with his dance.
His eyes looked toward the camera, his lips curving into a smile as he led his teammates in completing this synchronized knife formation dance.
“Damn! That was so cool!”
“This segment is danced so awesomely, ahhhhh!”
“The knife formation dance in the chorus is explosively cool!”
“The five of them are super synchronized, like copy and paste~”
“I was looking to see if anyone was slacking, but everyone was great!”
The center position’s dance posture influences viewers’ first impression of the knife formation dance, and Teacher Yan Chi’s idea proved correct.
For the chorus knife dance, Mo Xun took the center position. His movements were bold and graceful, making the entire group dance look cool along with him, triggering a wave of screaming “woooah” in the bullet comment section.
FTM’s singing was good, and their practice room dance version was also noteworthy!
After the intense knife formation dance ended, only the finale remained.
Mo Xun gently stepped back diagonally, and the other three teammates also retreated, forming a “circle” around to dance as backup.
Fang Yinnian stood in the middle, feet stationary, performing only hand movements as he sang the last three super-high notes solo.
Then, the formation instantly changed—Mo Xun and Fang Yinnian in the front row, the other three in the back, singing the final three lines in harmony.
The moment the movements stopped, the music ended perfectly.
The two in front slightly crouched, the three behind extended their hands upward, and all five together struck a cool team ending pose.
“Ahhh friends, meet you at the beginning!”
“I love this dance segment, they dance so synchronously~”
“The song sounds good, and the dance is great too!”
“I thought FTM was a comedy group, but they can both sing and dance?”
“Debuted as a makeshift team, but their first single is surprisingly high quality!”
Not just casual viewers, even fans themselves hadn’t expected that FTM’s professional abilities would far exceed everyone’s expectations.
The song was quite good, the practice room version dance was performed with exceptional synchronization and appeal, and the knife formation dance was energizing!
Harmonies + singing and dancing—had this group been severely underestimated?
A large number of new fans flooded the Weibo FTM super topic area.
“Searched online to find FTM only has two songs, one cover and one original. Ahhh keep releasing songs, I want to hear more!”
“Are FTM’s fans called Music Notes? Starting today I’m a little Music Note, accompanying this group on their path to success!”
“I was planning to criticize after seeing the trending topic, but after listening to the song and watching the practice room video, I fell straight into the fandom…”
“Never followed a boy band before, but this group’s looks, voices, and dancing all attract me. Please don’t collapse—I’m lying flat at the bottom of this fandom!”
“I like all five of them. Asking fans what I should do next to support them? Hope FTM becomes super popular!”
“I’ve played the practice room version to death, it’s so good to watch.”
…
There were quite a lot of new fans in the super topic area.
Previous investment fans, CP fans, and FTM’s few loyal group fans all began recommending their debut stage, variety show appearances, and emoticon packs.
Long-time fans were all excited, as if their beloved treasure had finally been discovered and recognized!
Everyone rushed to recommend content, hoping to attract more people into the fandom.
The popularity of the FTM super topic was increasing rapidly.
Meanwhile, in the music comment sections of various platforms, music critics also began to appear, judging FTM’s new song from various professional angles—from melody to lyrics, from emotional expression to singing technique and timbre.
There were positive reviews, as well as nitpicking and mockery.
The data from music platforms was surprising.
In just one Saturday, the song “For the Music” had surpassed 100,000 saves on the QQ Music platform alone!
This was genuine saving without any data manipulation.
Across all platforms, this single had already exceeded 300,000 saves!
The five could hardly believe such popularity in just one day.
However, Xu Baichuan told them: “Don’t rush, this is just the beginning.”
Sunday morning, FTM Official Studio released an announcement.
“FTM’s first group livestream will officially begin tonight at 7 PM. The five members will interact with fans in real-time in the Weibo livestream room. There will be a chance to win FTM autographed postcards through the livestream lucky draw~”
New fans attracted by the song and dance practice room videos who didn’t know what to do next, as well as long-time fans who had been following FTM for a while—all had their eyes lighting up.
Now they had something to do!
I’ll consider myself a loser if I don’t flood the livestream tonight!
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