TTIG Chapter 46

Chen Mian’s performance ended, and two hosts began their transitions.

 

“Thank you Chen Mian for bringing us that classic song.”

 

“Next up is a newcomer group that has never appeared on television!”

 

“Tonight is also their first official performance since debut.”

 

“I heard this group consists of all handsome guys over 1.8 meters tall—the audience is in for a visual treat.”

 

“Let’s give warm applause for the newcomer boy group from Shengyao Media—FTM, bringing their self-titled single ‘For the Music’!”

 

Sparse applause came from below the stage. The few twenty-plus fans held up their “FTM” light sticks high.

 

The stage lights went out.

 

In the darkness, the “Stellar Gate” at the center of the stage lit up with a high-tech ice-blue glow. As the gate slowly opened, five figures appeared side by side behind it, with lights casting their silhouettes.

 

The red and white twin towers on both sides of the stage shot laser lights toward the Stellar Gate, and the LED modules underfoot began rapidly changing light effects.

 

A star-filled space-time tunnel appeared before them.

 

Ethereal music began.

 

The five walked forward together side by side, as if crossing stellar space-time, slowly approaching the audience.

 

The black silhouettes gradually became clear.

 

The moment the five reached center stage, spotlights snapped on with a “pop,” and cameramen cut to close-ups in time. The live broadcast screen showed five handsome young men in sequence.

 

In front of TV sets, many elders commented: “These young idols are quite handsome!”

 

“The young men look very spirited.”

 

“Fresh and clean, much better looking than those previous demons and monsters.”

 

On the online streaming platform, bullet comments flooded densely—

 

“Ahhh finally FTM’s turn!”

 

“The five little ones look so good, fighting fighting~”

 

“The boy band that recently held the cover contest?”

 

“Yes! Vocal group FTM, first official performance”

 

“I know this song, I even covered it haha”

 

The ethereal music matching the space-time tunnel continued—this was music specially designed for their entrance.

 

The five struck a debut pose together.

 

The accompaniment switched to the “For the Music” intro, the familiar light melody of drums and guitar, as if awakening the muscle memory carved into their blood.

 

Tan Junwen stepped forward, Fang Yinnian and Mo Xun retreated to the second row, Tang Che and Fu Fei to the third row.

 

The formation change was smooth. Tan Junwen picked up his microphone, hit the rhythm point for entering the song, and began rapping—

 

“Yo yo, listen to me!

 

Hear the bass humming like the sound of a heartbeat

 

Hear the guitar strings playing like determination”

 

Tan Junwen was in a relaxed state, singing and dancing simultaneously, with a smile on his face, occasionally winking at the camera and waving.

 

His center position dance was designed to be free, matching his personal style. This section of lazy, casual dancing, combined with fluent rap, instantly energized the stage atmosphere.

 

His teammates were also dancing with him, very synchronized.

 

That earlier statement about “we’re taking the test live” suddenly made Tan Junwen not nervous—these weaklings who’ve been debuting for years can only lip-sync and copy answers, not as good as us newcomers who dare to use open mics!

 

Sing loudly and show them that the new generation surpasses the old!

 

Tan Junwen got more and more excited as he sang.

 

“We pick up microphones and let the stage start up!”

 

“Countless passion and belief surge constantly in our hearts!”

 

His rap was very infectious. Combined with relaxed dancing, he seemed to merge with the music’s rhythm.

 

TV audiences were drawn in.

 

Online streaming viewers also couldn’t help but perk up their ears.

 

“This handsome guy’s rap is quite fluent?”

 

“Good stage presence, is he really a newcomer?”

 

“This is definitely lip-syncing, how could open mics be this stable?”

 

“Another lip-syncer, so boring”

 

Netizens who had seriously listened to FTM’s original could hear some differences.

 

Tan Junwen’s performance wasn’t actually perfect—two words had obvious microphone popping.

 

Singing while dancing, breath control couldn’t be completely stable. This was normal—live singing couldn’t be exactly like playing a CD.

 

As newcomers, singing this well was already very impressive.

 

However, doubts continued.

 

“Obviously lip-syncing!”

 

“There are breath sounds, you can tell it’s live singing, right?”

 

“All five are holding hand mics, I think it’s fully open mics”

 

“Hand mics don’t necessarily mean they’re turned on, might be serious lip-syncing”

 

“Good lip-sync matching, step down”

 

“How many idols dare to really sing live, definitely playing a CD”

 

The live chat once again erupted in arguments about lip-syncing versus live singing—also a common segment of galas.

 

Tan Junwen’s rap ended, entering the main verse, Fang Yinnian’s turn.

 

Fang Yinnian used a light sliding step to come around from Tan Junwen’s side, standing in the front row center position.

 

He picked up his microphone and opened his mouth: “From youth…”

 

No sound?!

 

Fang Yinnian’s mouth was moving, but there was no sound at the gala venue or on the

 

live broadcast screen…

 

What’s wrong? Is the microphone broken?

 

Fang Yinnian’s mind went completely blank.

 

Xu Baichuan below the stage: “…”

 

It’s over.

 

This will become tonight’s New Year’s most embarrassing train wreck!

 

How could Yinnian’s microphone have problems? They had clearly checked just now—why was there no sound after going on stage?

 

Dwelling on the cause was useless now. Audiences and netizens wouldn’t care about reasons, only results.

 

—The result was that FTM’s performance had a serious accident.

 

The most important part of FTM’s harmonies was Fang Yinnian’s main vocals. Without the main vocals, the harmony group lost the main melody for the entire song!

 

It would sound like all the chorus parts were completely off-key!

 

Remove the lead singer, and the harmonies would be completely ruined.

 

If this was someone’s deliberate act, their precise strike against FTM was extremely sinister and unforgivable!

 

Xu Baichuan’s face went pale, his fingers clenched tightly into his palms.

 

On stage, Fang Yinnian quickly came to his senses. He continued dancing—his earpiece was working, and he could hear the accompaniment.

 

The microphone malfunctioned, but the dance couldn’t be disrupted!

 

They had practiced for so long that their bodies had formed muscle memory. Hearing the accompaniment, they knew what to dance and how to move.

 

During a left turn movement, Fang Yinnian instinctively looked toward Mo Xun on his left, meeting Mo Xun’s gaze.

 

Mo Xun had already noticed something was wrong.

 

Yinnian’s mic had no sound—clearly a microphone malfunction.

 

Meeting Fang Yinnian’s eyes, Mo Xun decisively handed him his own microphone.

 

With one look, Fang Yinnian knew what to do.

 

The two exchanged microphones at lightning speed.

 

Fang Yinnian took Mo Xun’s mic, and his clear, bright voice immediately resonated throughout the entire venue through the microphone amplification—

 

“The melody in my heart is as dazzling as stars”

 

“Persistent dreams have never let me stop”

 

Fang Yinnian caught the rhythm perfectly.

 

His precise pitch perfectly set the tone for the third line, earnestly singing out the latter half of this verse.

 

His breathing was steady, not a single word off-key.

 

The live chat exploded instantly—

 

“Who’s still questioning if they’re lip-syncing!!”

 

“Damn? This is a broken microphone, obviously live singing. If it were a CD, it wouldn’t matter if the mic broke”

 

“The first verse was missing two whole lines, only got sound when they switched mics for the third line—definitely live singing”

 

“The little idols broke out in a cold sweat~”

 

“Hilarious, they proved 100% live singing through a performance accident”

 

“Trash Yuntu Satellite TV, even microphones can break?”

 

“What is Yuntu Satellite TV doing? The sound team should resign!”

 

Below the stage, Xu Baichuan broke out in a cold sweat.

 

Switching microphones!

 

His mind had gone blank just now and he hadn’t thought of this solution. But Mo Xun and Fang Yinnian’s eye contact at the crucial moment, their tacit understanding in switching mics, quickly brought the nearly chaotic performance back on track.

 

Yinnian’s voice came through, and next was Tang Che’s part.

 

Tang Che came around from the right to the front row. His solo had four lines. Since Fang Yinnian had stabilized the ending of the first verse, Tang Che quickly steadied himself when connecting to the second verse.

 

With such a sudden accident, everyone was a bit stunned.

 

Next came the full-group harmony chorus.

 

Then Fu Fei’s solo, Mo Xun’s solo, Fang Yinnian and Mo Xun’s duet harmony, Tang Che and Fu Fei’s duet harmony, Fang Yinnian’s solo, and the full-group harmony ending.

 

Fang Yinnian’s mind raced.

 

Mo Xun’s mic was broken. The upcoming section where Mo Xun would solo and lead the knife formation dance was very long, and the microphone would continue to have no sound.

 

The harmonies definitely couldn’t be missing Fang Yinnian’s main vocals.

 

But Mo Xun was holding the broken microphone, and he still had solo parts and duet harmony parts with Fang Yinnian.

 

What to do?

 

The song continued, quickly reaching the five-person harmony chorus, with a formation of three in front and two behind.

 

Fang Yinnian and Mo Xun happened to be together in the back row.

 

After the chorus, there would be a 10-second interlude where no one needed to sing. The choreography also required a formation change—Xiao Fei would stand center for the second round of solos, while Junwen and Tang Che would move back.

 

This was the best opportunity to switch mics.

 

Fang Yinnian and Mo Xun exchanged a look.

 

Mo Xun looked at Tan Junwen, then at the microphone. Tan Junwen understood immediately.

 

After the chorus ended, since Fang Yinnian’s main melody was stable and the harmonies were only missing Mo Xun’s ultra-low notes, only die-hard fans could tell—most audiences couldn’t detect that one voice was missing from the five-person harmony.

 

During the musical interlude, the five began repositioning.

 

Mo Xun and Fang Yinnian quickly switched microphones. The director happened to cut to a close-up capturing this moment.

 

As Tan Junwen moved back, he would pass by Fang Yinnian and proactively handed him his microphone.

 

They completed another switch.

 

The result was that Tan Junwen took the broken microphone.

 

In the upcoming performance, there were no Tan Junwen solos or duet harmonies involving him, only five-person harmonies.

 

His voice being missing wouldn’t have too much impact.

 

The live audience was stunned.

 

“Are they switching mics while dancing?”

 

“This group has such great chemistry.”

 

“The broken mic went to the guy who rapped at the beginning!”

 

“No wonder they switched like that since Mo Xun has a solo coming up”

 

“Their handling of this emergency situation is pretty impressive”

 

“Damn! First time seeing a group like this—singing and dancing while switching broken mics to teammates during interludes?!”

 

No one had ever seen a boy band relay-switching microphones on stage.

 

And handling it so smoothly.

 

This showed they knew the formation changes and song arrangements like the back of their hands, enabling them to use the best solution to ensure the performance continued smoothly.

 

During this period, they practiced singing and dancing every day. Every lyric and every movement of this song was practically carved into their genes.

 

Although the sudden stage malfunction left Fang Yinnian’s mind blank for a few seconds, he and Mo Xun quickly thought of a solution together.

 

If Fang Yinnian’s microphone was broken, they’d switch the working one over!

 

He wasn’t performing alone.

 

He had teammates.

 

On stage, his teammates’ voices were his best accompaniment. His teammates’ presence was also his greatest support!

 

Xiao Fei’s solo ended smoothly. Mo Xun came to the front center position and began the coolest team knife formation dance.

 

They sang while dancing.

 

Live singing had some slight breathing and mic popping flaws, but they sang earnestly, and their dancing was as synchronized as copy-paste.

 

Mo Xun’s knife formation dance leadership was super cool.

 

The young man’s eyes were calm and determined, his movements bold and graceful, the cape behind him fluttering with the dance movements, leading all teammates to keep up with the music’s rhythm in perfect unison.

 

The camera captured a full frontal view of the five at this moment—the knife formation dance was performed with tremendous presence.

 

Especially the center dancer’s effortless stage control and powerful dancing style made him absolutely outstanding among Chinese entertainment boy band idols!

 

The audience was thrilled.

 

“Ahhh this is so cool!”

 

“Tonight’s coolest knife formation dance, bar none!”

 

“Is the center FTM’s captain? He dances so steadily”

 

“The fluttering cape is so cool!”

 

“Cool styling, the bow on his shoulder is a highlight~”

 

The knife formation dance ended, and the song entered its conclusion.

 

Fang Yinnian came to the front center position and began his high-note solo—

 

“Your voice gathers at my ears

 

A colorful sailboat on the river of memory

 

The vast starry sky of the endless universe”

 

On the main stage, LED modules rapidly changed colors.

 

A beautiful water-blue planet appeared beneath the five’s feet, surrounded by spiraling nebulae.

 

In the wave-shaped LED screens surrounding the entire stadium, magnificent meteor showers continuously streaked by. The five seemed to be at the center of the entire universe, surrounded by countless stars.

 

—Endless universe, vast starry sky.

 

This spectacular stage scene perfectly merged with Fang Yinnian’s clear, soaring, and penetrating voice!

 

“Damn, I’m getting goosebumps”

 

“Is this really live singing?”

 

“The younger generation is formidable! A newcomer can sing such high notes?”

 

“I’ve changed my opinion of this group. Full open mics live, both dancing and singing skills are good—commendable courage.”

 

“These high notes kill a bunch of weak idols!”

 

“Who’s singing the high notes? Pretty impressive!”

 

After Fang Yinnian’s solo ended, his teammates joined in harmony.

 

“Breaking the limitations of space, like light illuminating the heart”

 

“Using notes to connect the bonds of our lives, never stopping”

 

The moment the final note fell, Fang Yinnian’s nose suddenly stung, and he felt like crying.

 

But he forced himself to look up and push the tears back.

 

The performance was over—a close call, but they made it through.

 

Fang Yinnian took a deep breath, smiled at the camera, and completed the ending pose with his teammates.

 

Below the stage, Xu Baichuan couldn’t help but tear up.

 

These kids were too excellent!

 

Today had many bad omens—his eyelid kept twitching, Mo Xun got injured and bled, and the stage performance indeed had an accident.

 

But ultimately, the five resolved it perfectly.

 

They even used this method to prove to all audiences—FTM was definitely singing live, and their chemistry and team spirit were unmatched.

 

So what about ominous signs? Success depends on human effort!

 

Even with difficulties, they would definitely overcome them together.

 

Especially Fang Yinnian—when encountering trouble, he never feared or re treated but would quickly calm down and find solutions.

 

And Mo Xun could often immediately follow his thinking.

 

An emotionally stable lead singer, a decisive captain, and three teammates willing to cooperate unconditionally.

 

Having been a manager for so many years, this was the first time Xu Baichuan was moved to tears by a group.

 

FTM, you are truly remarkable!

 

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