Music programs involve rehearsals and post-production, so there's less studio filming, with most shooting focused on behind-the-scenes work.
In the first episode, after more than a dozen groups of artists arrived, the production team introduced the music festival venue layout using blueprints.
There were three stages - large, medium, and small - with different time slots, and the artists competed for both stage assignments and performance order.
This competition happened before the actual performances - an internal competition among artists. On the day of the music festival, they would compete on stage, with success measured by audience size and viewer ratings.
The competition was structured this meticulously to serve the program's central purpose.
"Title: Gossip Discussion/I guess many people skipped the final advertisement section, but there was actually something important there [related to the show]"
"The show only mentioned that the guests' wins and losses affected charity projects without specifics. Most people probably didn't care, including me. But today when I accidentally canceled the skip to the next episode, I saw the charity project details at the end."
"After each music festival, spots are allocated based on rankings: first place gets six spots, second place gets four, third place gets two, and others get one each. However, these spots aren't guaranteed - they depend on ratings. If the live performance audience rating doesn't exceed 8.5, the spot is canceled."
"These spots are assistance quotas for families struggling with severe illness medical expenses."
"After the music festival, the production team will provide targeted assistance to families with critically ill patients, under the names of both the artists and production team, with funds going directly to hospitals without any intermediaries."
"The production team didn't promote this online but advertised in hospitals, allowing patients with financial difficulties to submit information for review."
"My sister (who's a nurse at a major hospital) told me about the hospital promotions. The production team even asked medical staff to inform patients and their families."
"You're really something, sjyl. I'm crying."
"Why wouldn't they announce something this important!"
Comments section:
"...They don't want us promoting it, worried that audiences might deliberately give high scores (quietly peeking out)"
"Wow, first time hearing about this."
"I was wondering why they seemed so serious on the show. I even complained to my friend about why these grown-ups care so much about rankings."
"So stage quality is tied to assistance quotas... no wonder."
"They deliberately put it in the end credits, really afraid of audiences seeing it."
"Choosing to help critically ill patients probably hopes they'll recover soon and join other audiences at music festivals. Dancing and jumping together."
"I just noticed this end credit..."
The lack of promotion isn't just because it's tied to audience ratings of performances, but also due to distribution channels.
The production team wanted to avoid any charity organization channels, ensuring the money directly helps patients without any deviation, leading to this decision.
Another reason is that medical-related charity projects involve significant amounts of money, and the production team couldn't handle too many cases, making excessive promotion inappropriate.
When the program's PD discussed this with Jiang Juyou, they were anxious, worried she wouldn't agree since avoiding charity organization channels implied distrust in those institutions, which could be controversial if revealed.
But Jiang Juyou readily accepted their proposal and participated in the follow-up work.
Random Entertainment always takes unconventional approaches, and this program was no exception. When they said they wouldn't promote it, they really meant it - several posts and videos about it were taken down online.
Only a few main PDs and Jiang Juyou knew the details. Even staff members only knew it was related to a charity project without specifics, let alone the artists.
Those overly speculative guesses were false, and the production team had platforms intervene to lock those posts and videos.
All this would be made public eventually, but not now.
The focus now was on the performances. The production team wanted both audiences and artists to focus on that, without too much burden.
Experienced artists focused on creating performances, while the younger ones fixated on rankings.
Besides Random Entertainment's three groups, five or six other artists who had only debuted a few years ago were also somewhat arrogant, wanting to take first place like them.
"First place? That might be difficult... Compared to the other seniors, our drawing power might be insufficient. What if we get assigned to the small stage again?" Chen Wu tried hard to control himself after hearing Jiang Wangran's declaration about wanting first place, barely managing not to look at the camera.
Sang Mo also felt nervous, worried that Jiang Wangran's bold statement might upset viewers.
Sitting on the floor, Jiang Wangran was exasperated by these two timid ones, "We haven't even started yet, won't you even give yourself some confidence? What if! What if we end up getting first place?"
Chen Wu tried to imagine it but couldn't see them taking first place no matter how he thought about it.
Sang Mo, crouching nearby, also counted the guest performers on his fingers, growing less confident as he went.
After hearing one senior artist's name after another, Jiang Wangran also became embarrassed.
He scratched his head with one hand, "...Well, then let's just do better than those two groups. We must rank higher than them, otherwise we won't have any presence in the company anymore."
"That should be easy," Chen Wu smiled.
"Hey! You guys are truly from the same company!"
"Hahahahaha all three groups just want to outrank the other two."
"Status and success hang in the balance!"
"Fight! We support you fighting it out!"
The other two groups had said similar things, with Pei Luming being particularly boastful, "We have so much performance experience, beating those two groups should be a piece of cake, right?"
"You're really giving the editors plenty of material for malicious editing," Yao Shuo reminded him.
Pei Luming widened his eyes, puffing up angrily: "Anyway, I can't lose to Pei Zhiping. If I don't beat her... God, I can already imagine what kind of messages she'll send me!"
All filmed at Random Entertainment, the practice rooms had identical dΓ©cor, just shot from different angles.
When Pei Luming mentioned Pei Zhiping, the production team thoughtfully cut to their group.
Their group was asked about this during the follow-up interview, being led to say something about wanting to beat the other two groups. As for Pei Zhiping--
The production team asked her: "Pei Luming said he doesn't want to lose to you, what do you think about that?"
Pei Zhiping, who had always maintained an elegant and well-educated cat-like image, showed her unrefined side for the first time with a snicker, "Pfft..."
After laughing, she quickly sat up straight, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
"He's lost to me so many times throughout his life, one more time won't make a difference," Pei Zhiping couldn't help laughing again.
"Hahahahaha I was wondering why he cared so much! Turns out he's never won!"
"These siblings are so interesting, from the TikTok cuts!"
"Great, I ship this sibling relationship!"
"No wonder Pei Luming always acts so quiet and composed in front of Pei Zhiping, trying to maintain some big brother dignity, otherwise it really wouldn't hold up."
Each artist group had about an hour of performance time, with the number of songs potentially increasing or decreasing based on their performance order.
For song selection, all three groups went to consult with Jiang Juyou.
They had arranged the upstairs appointment several days ago, and as the time approached, Chen Wu and Sang Mo grew increasingly anxious. They had always been afraid of Jiang Juyou, even with many people around before, let alone going to her office upstairs now.
When their manager notified them they could go up, Chen Wu and Sang Mo started getting nervous, their legs shaking as they left the practice room.
Jiang Wangran strode ahead, showing no signs of nervousness. While waiting for the elevator, he looked back at the two, who were facing away from the camera doing deep breaths.
Jiang Wangran, hands in his pockets, licked his lips and hesitantly said, "...Should we maybe not go up?"
"No way!" Chen Wu was the first to respond.
Sang Mo also looked over and let out a long breath before saying, "Don't you want to win? How can you do that without going up?"
"...Will going up there guarantee a win?" Jiang Wangran was completely puzzled.
The viewers in the comments section also tilted their heads in confusion.
Although Jiang Juyou was only the group's production director and had participated in their album production, she wasn't a professional after all. Everyone was confused about why these three groups insisted on consulting with Jiang Juyou.
"I've always been curious how someone who studied Political Science managed to run an idol group so well."
"Could they be going to her for insider tips?"
"I'm curious too."
"Well, she's the group's production director, that doesn't require highly specialized knowledge."
Everyone knew that Jiang Juyou was the boss of Random Entertainment and that her main job was overseeing the production of several idol groups.
People had tried to dig up information about her before but couldn't find much. The fact that Jiang Juyou, with her Political Science background, could participate in album design and production was particularly intriguing.
The show also introduced Jiang Juyou from the perspective of the three group members.
In the post-interview, the show's staff asked Sang Mo and Chen Wu, "Why did you insist on discussing the setlist with Director Jiang?"
"Um... Director Jiang has excellent taste," Sang Mo answered.
Chen Wu nodded in agreement beside him.
The same question was asked to members of other groups, but only these two could explain their reasoning.
Gao Xiayu responded to the show's question like this: "Director Jiang has a good grasp of public taste. Her preferences always align with the general public, and she knows how to strike the right balance. This is actually what we rely on - public preference is extremely important, which is why we consult with Director Jiang."
Pei Zhiping answered this way: "Director Jiang has her own unique insights in this area. She analyzes potential scenarios for us, from the environment to psychology, to current popular elements - things we might overlook."
Some people think of the production director role as too technical, but Jiang Juyou's position really only requires two things - connections and taste.
Connections to build an excellent team, and taste that aligns with public aesthetics. With these two elements, creating a quality group isn't difficult.
The former can be solved with money, but the latter is innate - sometimes even hard work isn't enough.
Jiang Juyou was naturally blessed with public taste, but her aesthetic wasn't commonplace. It carried a touch of her personal niche preferences, and when these two aspects merged, it resulted in Random Entertainment's current success.
Innovation that isn't too difficult to understand or avant-garde - that's the main factor that captures public interest. Jiang Juyou's repeated successful planning proved that her taste perfectly matched the current market's public aesthetic, which is why people kept buying in.
While idol groups can attract fans through their charm and appearance, that alone isn't enough. To expand their circle, they need works.
Whether it was the theme songs and original tracks from both seasons of "21 Heartbeats of Youth" or the performances Jiang Juyou praised on "Time Train Countdown," all achieved remarkable success.
Especially the theme song from the first season, which kept going viral periodically.
Jiang Juyou deserves significant credit for selecting this song.
Everyone had to admit that she had an exceptional ear for music.
The three members of Equals3 took the elevator to the top floor. This was their first time visiting Jiang Juyou's office, and they held their breath as they stepped out of the elevator.
They had been to the top floor before for meetings with the A&R department, but since the film and variety show departments moved to two other buildings, the A&R department had also moved downstairs, leaving this floor empty and converted into a book bar.
Usually, only the brave dared to come up here.
After turning the corner, the staff members sitting in the office area at the entrance looked up at them and pointed to the door, saying, "Director Jiang is inside, just knock and go in."
As she spoke, someone nearby picked up the desk phone to call inside and inform Jiang Juyou that they had arrived.
The atmosphere made them even more nervous.
While the other two were still taking deep breaths at the door, Jiang Wangran pushed the door open and went in, "Hello, Director Jiang," he said with a nod.
The two outside nearly died of fright.
Inside, Jiang Juyou had just risen from her desk, and after stepping down, she said to them, "Have a seat."
Those who hadn't interacted much with Director Jiang were the bold ones. Jiang Wangran entered first, holding their prepared setlist, and after reaching the sofa, he looked back and called to the other two, "Come on, hurry up."
After sitting down, Jiang Juyou turned on the sound system and handed them her iPad, "Find your setlist."
They had all sent their setlists to the company software beforehand and could play them directly.
Jiang Wangran first put down the paper in his hand, then took the iPad to find their setlist. Instead of playing it, he put down the iPad and gave the printed paper to Jiang Juyou, "Director Jiang, this is our proposed setlist."
Chen Wu, sitting next to him, added when he saw Director Jiang take it, "We want to focus on original songs, we've marked which ones are original compositions."
Jiang Juyou grabbed a nearby cushion to hold, furrowed her brows as she reviewed the setlist, then said, "Let me listen to the songs first."
The show briefly revealed snippets of several songs, but Jiang Juyou's expression wasn't very positive in the footage.
She turned the A4 paper sideways and tilted her head to stretch her neck, "Tsk... you should know that performing a song nobody knows at a music festival is a very risky move. Other guests probably wouldn't dare to take such a gamble."
Her words conveyed disapproval.
Under pressure, Sang Mo explained, "This was our thinking: no matter what we choose, what we present will probably be something relatively new anyway, so we might as well choose original songs that can fully express our ideas."
All three groups were under Jiang Juyou's management, but their album production differed slightly.
Before Timetrain's formation, there were already several produced albums, so they followed a model of fitting members into good songs.
AIcho's albums focused on showcasing the different colors of their four members, maximizing individual charm, so whether it was song selection or overall album concept, it centered around the four of them, with compatibility being most important.
Equals3's albums, however, were primarily produced under their own direction, with Jiang Juyou not participating in song selection or album concept design.
"I think the songs are good, and since you've decided to focus on original tracks, that's fine, but the song order might need some changes."
Jiang Juyou analyzed for them: "Our venue is in Zhuhai, where it's quite warm at that time, usually around 25-26 degrees. If you're unlucky and perform first, the temperature might be close to 30 degrees, and it'll be near mealtime."
"At this awkward time, people's energy levels might be dropping," Jiang Juyou pointed to several songs and said, "It's not appropriate to put the crowd-hyping songs at the end, though they're not suitable for the beginning either."
She looked at the three seriously and said, "You're newcomers, and there might be many people in the audience who don't know you. From my perspective, it's better to start with a cover song - a familiar song that the public knows will always work better than a new one."
"You can put your talk segment after the first song, say a few words to transition to the second song, and then you can use an original song that can hype up the crowd. After the third or fourth song, when the venue is properly warmed up, that's a better time for your self-introduction."
Aliali: 67467efbc4f3f33ac45e4cd7As she spoke, Jiang Juyou picked up the iPad, rearranged the song order, then pointed to the third song, "The arrangement of the third song still feels a bit weak, it needs some adjustments. The drum pattern is a bit messy - you need to decide whether you want to highlight the guitar skills or something else, this needs to be modified."
While the other two listened attentively, only Jiang Wangran stared at Jiang Juyou with sparkling eyes.
In the backstage room, when the production team asked him why he was looking at Jiang like that, Jiang Wangran excitedly said, "I've found a kindred spirit!" He slapped his thigh emphatically.
"When I told Arki that the drum beats were a bit messy in the latter part, he said it was meant to show off technical skills. I questioned having both guitar and drums showing off at the same time, but he said they actually complemented each other perfectly."
"Finally! Finally, someone who thinks the same way as me!"
"It's amazing, I even find it incredible that he's not afraid of Jiang Juyou."
"He's truly a rare find in the entertainment industry, the last one like him was Pei Luming."
"Great, I'm going to become a Jiang Wangran fan now."
"I really envy people like him who aren't afraid of the teachers..."
Jiang Wangran: I really don't understand what they're all afraid of.