Chapter 5 Don’t talk to me about love, I just want to make money!
After the song was over, the members of the symphony orchestra applauded: "Yes, yes! It has that flavor!"
"What kind of music, what kind of language, it has a strong South American flavor, and a very free and easy feeling!"
"Where's the score? Take it out right away. I've written down the second half. Do you think it's correct?"
For orchestra players of this level, listening to songs and understanding music scores are basic skills, but what is more important is the coordination between several instruments.
After hearing such a passionate and unrestrained piece of music, several performers who were just about to go off work became interested.
Even the manager of the dance hall was called in to listen to the end: "You are a very good young man. Where did this song come from? Do you want to stay and sing here?"
Jing Xiaoqiang did not claim it as his own: "It's from a foreign movie, so I definitely don't have the copyright, but I can put together the score and instrumental music. I need a chance to practice singing. What price do you think I can offer for going on stage?"
The manager looked at him and said, "That's all you have? It's easy for someone else to copy your unique trick."
Jing Xiaoqiang smiled reservedly: "I'm sure I have other songs. Your price is right. I can keep adding new songs and I guarantee that your audience will be satisfied."
The managers of dance halls these days are all capable people who have gone into business to contract assets. They are not vague: "Try it tomorrow. Perform five songs. It's 50 yuan a day. If the effect is good, I will definitely not treat you unfairly."
In the 1990s, when the monthly income was only a few dozen or a hundred yuan, each ticket to the best public dance hall in Shanghai was two yuan.
From 6pm to 11pm, there are people coming in and out, and such a large dance hall can sell thousands of tickets!
Therefore, it is natural for the entertainment industry to make money, even in an era of underdeveloped economy.
Jing Xiaoqiang was not greedy: "Okay, I just hope you can make the tide lift all boats, at least I want to stay here to see if I can get into the drama academy."
The musicians, most of whom graduated from the nearby music academy, immediately surrounded him with smiles and asked him about the situation.
They knew each other very well at the drama academy.
The more important thing is to get the score out as soon as possible.
Fortunately, South American dance music is often very simple in terms of instruments; a guitar, an accordion and a drum set are enough.
The manager watched with great interest for a while, and after confirming that Jing Xiaoqiang was an expert, he advanced him two hundred yuan to buy him clothes.
It was this sense of adherence to rules that prevented the managers of the nightclub, who later swarmed in to poach him, from taking Jing Xiaoqiang away.
Jing Xiaoqiang accepted the money without any surprise, handed over his ID card as collateral, and even lived in the storage room behind the dance hall.
Now he can save fifteen hundred yuan a month.
That’s 180,000 a year!
And there is another advantage to singing Latin dance music. The next day, Jing Xiaoqiang bought a floral shirt and beach pants, and went on stage wearing foam slippers!
The decoration style of Shanghai dance halls in the 1990s mostly followed the magnificent style of the Paramount in the 1930s.
Even though other places are still very secretive after the reform and opening up, do you understand the heritage of our foreign concessions?
The band members are basically dressed in suits and bow ties.
Fortunately, these are all work uniforms for the symphony orchestra.
So Jing Xiaoqiang's tropical outfit was very eye-catching. He also bought a straw hat for 80 cents, with a denim curled brim and a Hawaiian concave top. He wore it crookedly on the stage and made a showy gesture of wiping the brim of the straw hat.
The actions that would have been greasy in another era were immediately met with cheers when performed by an 18-year-old!
When the prelude started playing on the electronic piano, everyone was instantly surprised!
New song?!
Even though dance halls are booming across the country these days, most dance music is imported. Apart from "A Fire in the Winter" and a cover of "The Girl Under the Streetlight", all other Chinese songs are foreign dance music.
Over and over again, I hear the same few songs: Cha Cha Cha, Genghis Khan, Screwdriver, Screwdriver, getting up in the middle of the night to install the floor...
I'm tired of hearing it.
Therefore, every new song will definitely get a chance to be showcased, but only a few can survive to compete with these classics.
Especially since domestic professionals are still in the process of transitioning from the original system to the market-oriented one, how could they write such hedonistic songs? There is not a single one who can do it!
Everyone turned their heads and looked at the young boy who looked like a child!
Not everyone can sing loudly in front of so many people. Many people who are good at singing and dancing will feel scared and tremble when standing in front of a crowd and can't perform at all.
But Jing Xiaoqiang was reborn just for this kind of scene. He closed his eyes and spoke with a long tone. His smooth foreign accent gave people goose bumps!
As he held the microphone with his right hand, he simulated hugging the girl in front of his chest, and held his left hand horizontally, swaying, turning, moving sideways, forward and backward...
Even the dance steps are new!
Everyone was excited!
In this kind of scene, the musicians are also in great form. The accordion plays long and romantic music, the guitar provides dance rhythm, and the drummer beats his head.
The violinists, trumpet players, and saxophone players all stood in a row, holding their maracas, tambourines, and triangles, and followed the beats...
If they used to play those songs that made them want to vomit every day, it was just to make money.
Today's brand new music will awaken their tired aesthetic taste for music.
So it was easy for the whole audience to stand still and watch the lead singer's performance on the stand!
Many people couldn't help but twist their bodies following Jing Xiaoqiang's movements, trying to figure out the characteristics of this new dance.
Even the dancers who were sitting in the surrounding tea tables all stood up and kept shaking their feet!
The heart is itchy, and the feet are even more itchy!
The whole audience was shaking!
In fact, this dance popular in northeastern Latin America is extremely simple and casual, and is no different from the hugging movements in ordinary ballroom dance.
The key is to gently sway the upper body left and right and shake the hips. If you watch it for a while, you will naturally find many enthusiasts with good body coordination and excellent dancing skills start to twist their bodies.
The three-minute dance music seemed to pass in an instant.
Jing Xiaoqiang skillfully performed a curtain call and turned to bow to the band. He immediately heard enthusiastic shouts from the audience: "Do it again!"
“Sing it again!”
"It sounds good! It's great!"
It felt a bit like a concert. Jing Xiaoqiang listened for two seconds and enjoyed it quite a bit. Then he turned around and asked the band for their opinions.
This kind of orchestral etiquette, rarely seen among domestic dance hall singers, made the performers of the symphony orchestra feel very comfortable. They all returned the gesture in unison before playing the dance music again.
Jing Xiaoqiang's debut performance in the Symphony Orchestra Ballroom was a sensation!
After singing three times in a row, it was not yet seven o'clock, so he could only announce that he would sing again at ten o'clock in the evening. However, the band just started the previous dance music, which received boos from the dance floor and the surrounding areas.
You have to understand the feeling of a ray of fresh sunshine suddenly appearing after aesthetic fatigue.
Well, the whole band had to take turns playing "Lambada" for three hours straight!
The most popular and best dance halls in Shanghai are actually all on a few streets in the city center. Even in the days before mobile phones, many people would come to the halls quickly, calling their friends and saying, "I heard there's a new song coming out!"
"Is it a new dance move? Then you must check it out!"
In fact, the dancers were practicing new dance steps enthusiastically throughout the evening. Those who came later watched how the others were dancing. Some of them were said to be dance teachers with a good foundation and were also enthusiastic about teaching the characteristics of these obvious Latin dance steps.
So in the past they would usually dance for a while, and some people would go to other places, or if they liked each other they would walk hand in hand on the street to the park, but today everyone came and refused to leave!
The dance floor, which was originally most suitable for three or four hundred people dancing, was soon packed with people, and people kept moving to the side to stand in rows.
Just to wait for the young singer to say he would come to sing again.
Even though many people are imitating the tone of his lyrics, no one can speak Portuguese.
Wait and listen, the smell is so unforgettable.
In fact, Jing Xiaoqiang went to the gym as soon as he stepped down.
Because he once had a sturdy physique like Ma Dong-seok, he is very dissatisfied with his current immature physique like a bean sprout.
The reason why I chose to come to Shanghai is because in that small place on the 18th tier, you can't even buy chicken breast, let alone salmon, shrimp, crab, olive oil and the like.
For Jing Xiaoqiang, who has obtained an advanced combat personal trainer license from a New York fitness club, all techniques are best based on strong core strength.
This is a strength that every person can muster for themselves.
Only when you have been strong can you understand the kind of strong self-confidence that comes from being strong.
He is not keen on becoming famous or making money, but he must be strong enough. Perhaps this is the reason why he survived to the end among the eighteen souls.
Before he started to formally adjust his diet, he just gradually exercised on the lawn behind the dance hall, doing some bodyweight exercises.
The manager finally found him and only looked at him for a few seconds before he confirmed that this strict and self-disciplined young man had a bright future: "It's almost your turn to go on stage. One hundred and eighty yuan a night, which is the highest price in Shanghai at the moment."
Jing Xiaoqiang stood up and smiled: "It's still five songs, but you will definitely think it's worth it."
The manager also smiled. He was an old hand and it was very comfortable to get along with him like this.
As a result, neither he nor Jing Xiaoqiang had expected that as soon as the 10 o'clock show started, a girl jumped onto the stage and wanted to dance!
Therefore, romantic luck will come easily to people in the entertainment industry.
