Chapter 193: The Peony Award Scandal

Chapter 193: The Peony Award Scandal

The "Heavenly Dragon Saga" commences filming, with all actors in position. Tang Fei is deeply involved in the martial arts choreography, character styling, and music composition, ensuring that everything progresses in a direction she deems favorable, recreating the story of the "Heavenly Dragon Saga" as envisioned in her mind.

This play is like a remake of a bygone world.

Meanwhile, the production of the Six Dao Immortal Melody also kicked off. At the launch ceremony, in press releases, and during news interviews, Nie Xiangyin candidly expressed her intention to position it as a rival to Dragon Saber.

Nie Xiangyin: "I want to make it clear to Jiudian that to create a successful drama, one must be well-versed in the market and attuned to the audience's preferences. Allowing an amateur like Tang Fei to oversee the entire project is a disregard for our viewers."

"Six Immortals Melody is set to air alongside Heavenly Dragon Eight Chapters. I hope the audience can stay vigilant till nine o'clock. The young ones are still inexperienced. No deity can save the ratings if you produce dramas that viewers don't love."

Amidst the grandiose casting and commencement buzz of "The Heaven Dragon Eight Parts," our protagonist immediately incurred the enmity of a formidable rival right at the start of filming.

Nie Xiangyin's xianxia dramas have been a ratings staple in recent years. With an unwavering competitor like this vying for the same audience, the prospects for Dragon Slaying Eighteen Scrolls suddenly appear less certain.

However, with the ratings guarantor Tang Fei, who typically draws audiences at 9 o'clock, not featured in the cast of Dragon Saga, the outcome of this head-to-head battle is predictable to anyone: Six Paths Celestial Melody is sure to grind Dragon Saga into the ground.

In response to this, the crew of Dragon Inn experienced some unrest, a testament to the psychological warfare at play. Nie Xiangyin had locked horns with Tang Fei and Zhou Weichuan.

Tang Fei, opting for a decisive and commanding approach amidst the unrest, addressed Nie Xiangyin's remarks directly in an interview to bolster morale. The quality of a drama is sensed during filming; with a little more encouragement, the actors can regain their focus.

Tang Fei replied, "Being familiar with the audience's preferences and creating nothing but pandering dramas is an act of intellectual laziness, merely following in the footsteps of past successes and replicating formulas."

Audiences' preferences are not as superficial as you assume. If you put in effort and create quality dramas, people will watch them. No one's tastes are that singular. It's the slackers like you who have simplified the market.

"Jin Ling's Eight Trigrams will make Director Nie realize one thing: audiences are not the robots he might think they are, not puppets with a single flavor preference."

The tension is already this palpable even before it begins; one can only imagine the grand spectacle when it airs.

While the majority favored Nie Xiangyin's drama, Tang Fei's words held truth. The audience, however, expressed that their preferences were not so one-dimensional; it was merely that other genres had failed to strike the right chord with them, to scratch that particular itch they had.

With no precedent to learn from, would the dramas they create resonate with the audience?

Can this niche genre of wuxia truly resurrect Nine Points from the brink of demise?

On the surface of the cards, Nie Xiangyin appears to be the stronger player, but Tang Fei, being the anomaly that she is, cannot be judged by conventional logic. She's capable of pulling off anything, leaving even her dedicated detractors hesitant to challenge her as she progresses through the game.

Having been rebuked too many times, they've learned to think twice before acting, making them the most sophisticated of this generation's "black fans."

The lively conversation between Tang Fei and Nie Xiangyin lasted for two days, stirring up the highest heat in the country. Amidst meticulous packaging and extensive promotion, the recipients of the Peony Awards, the most prestigious honors, were about to be announced, marking the gradual commencement of the awards ceremony.

Who will be crowned the Peony Award for Best Actress? That is the most anticipated highlight of the day.

Is it Tang Fei, the popular favorite everyone's been anticipating?

Both fans and viewers were eagerly awaiting, and when the time came for the Best Actress award, everyone noticed an issue. Not only was there no mention of Tang Fei winning the award, but more perplexingly, why was her name not even on the list of nominees?

What has happened!

It was widely understood in the industry that this move by the organizing committee was a calculated attempt to undermine Tang Fei, a heavy blow aimed at discrediting her.

Not even nominated? Your acting skills aren't up to par! You'll forever be just a popular figure with criticized acting abilities, never earning the mainstream's approval.

Even if your performance is truly exceptional? So what? Without our recognition, eventually your talent will be questioned over time.

Tang Fei, the prospective female lead of Happiness Hotel, inadvertently filled out the application form incorrectly, resulting in her disqualification for the role!

The registration for "Si Cuichuan" by Tang Fei was successful, yet all the judges cast their votes in favor of the "Happiness Hotel," resulting in "Si Cuichuan" losing its nomination eligibility!

Just ask you, how impressive is the organizing committee?

No one could say otherwise; it was stated that Tang Fei's failure to win the award stemmed from issues with her application, and thus no blame could be attributed to others.

Tang Fei's response to this was, "I have never submitted an entry form for the Peony Award, nor do I intend to do so in the future."

Wang Hongying of the Happiness Hotel refused to accept this injustice and promptly replied, "It was the production team that submitted the application form, and we possess both copies and scanned versions, as well as email correspondence evidence. Please point out where the error in filling out the form lies."

He Zhuhua, also serving as a judge, stepped forward and inquired, "If some judges voted for Si Cuichuan, why does the announcement state that Si Cuichuan received no votes and thus didn't qualify?"

The Peony Award, assuming it had Tang Fei in its grasp with ease and that teaching her a lesson would be a simple matter, never anticipated encountering such a scenario where Tang Fei herself stood firm, the production crew backed her up resolutely, and even the judges came forward in her defense!

The Peony Award organizing committee was truly dumbfounded now.

Their inside stories are an open secret, never openly disclosed at any time, for everyone understands that in every company, there are always a few individuals with mediocre acting skills, who don't win awards, fail to attract viewers, lack attractiveness, and are lacking in every aspect, yet are still relentlessly promoted by those in power.

What to do? This award now held potential. It could be used to boost the prestige and authority of veteran actors during regular times, and at crucial moments, it could be exploited to weave a web of connections for profit and favor-trading. This cycle would create a snowball effect, growing ever larger.

All of us were trapped within the snowball of silence, moving forward without anyone daring to break it. For you've had your wins, and he's had his, leaving no one with a spotless record. And for those veteran actors, their awards were a source of pride. If the truth were exposed, every winner would come under suspicion.

It is this very aspect that allows these accolades to be wielded and exploited for personal gain.

Not just domestically, even the overseas awards aren't entirely aboveboard. It's just that their operations are more mature, and the overall standard of their works and actors is higher. Thus, their manipulative traces aren't noticeable, as the winners often possess genuine talent.

When their overall dramatic quality slips, that's when the deceit becomes apparent.

The Peony Award was an overtly manipulated affair, evident to the naked eye, and it faced a barrage of criticism from the involved parties, the production team, and the judges themselves.

Tang Fei's fans launched a fierce criticism, stirring up such a commotion that it was rumored the Peony Award would undergo an internal investigation. In response, the Peony Award organizers hastily retracted their announcement, and the award ceremony proceeded with unremarkable broadcast, awaiting the impending inquiry.

Before He Baoyi could even take action, the Peony Award swiftly lost its standing, and all Tang Fei did in response was issue a statement.

Is Tang Fei truly that invulnerable to attacks?

Is she impeccable?

It seems that previous actions were too hasty, treating Tang Fei as an ordinary person.

Given her remarkable fortune, she should plan her next move more meticulously, paying attention to every detail. Even the best luck can run out eventually.

He Baoyi flipped through the background investigation results of Xiao Yuan's two older brothers. "I have no shortage of patience for failures. By learning from experience and persisting, success is inevitable."