Interview

Another hectic day of school passed, and finally, Miaoyi made it to the weekend.

Meanwhile, the news of TMY's exclusive interview with the Tianyou Video Platform was spreading far beyond the confines of the electronic music world.

At 8 PM that evening, the "Grilling Show" TMY special began its live broadcast.

As the name implied, the "Grilling Show" was a large-scale arts and entertainment gossip program. It was backed by the Tianyou Platform and, according to rumours, had some covert support from Mango TV, a satellite TV station. Most of the guests invited to the show were prominent Chinese celebrities.

Of course, Miaoyi had been invited by Zhang Yuan earlier, but she had declined the invitation due to her busy schedule with the label signing. It was only after Yun Jie accepted that she got her personal special on the show.

As Miaoyi arrived at the recording site with Qiuying and Yun Jie, she saw the behind-the-scenes crew and key personnel of the "Grilling Show." To her surprise, she even recognized a couple of familiar faces.

Song Ziyin! Zhang Yuan!

"Why are you here?" Miaoyi asked Song Ziyin first.

She wasn't too surprised to see Zhang Yuan since he was a variety show director with Tianyou Video, one of their own, so it was natural for him to be involved in the "Grilling Show" as a semi-creator.

But Song Ziyin was different. What was her relationship with this program?

After the failure of their last raid, Miaoyi wasn't too keen on seeing her.

However, Song Ziyin wasn't the last familiar face. When a figure wearing an ironed black blazer, exuding a smooth but powerful aura, emerged from a dressing room, Miaoyi was stunned.

The person was none other than Miaoyi's former classmate and the long-lost study committee member - Mr Lin Ruofang.

On the side, Song Ziyin rolled her eyes. "Of course, I would be here. Did you forget that this is the Tianyou headquarters? The recording site for 'Street Dance of China' is just next door."

"Well...," with this reminder, Miaoyi recalled that Song Ziyin was indeed a star captain on "Street Dance of China," a program currently on fire. Her presence here wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

It was Lin Ruofang who appeared next. He approached with a smile and greeted Miaoyi in a light voice, "Hello, Miaoyi. Long time no see."

"It has been a while. How are the recordings for the regular competitions? Are you tired?" Miaoyi smiled back. Although they were classmates, it had been a long time since they last saw each other.

"It's fine. I'm doing what I love, so even though it can be tiring sometimes, I'm still happy." Lin Ruofang replied, and for a brief moment, Miaoyi felt warmth emanating from that smile.

The conversation among the group flowed naturally with Song Ziyin's sociable personality, and An Qiuying also quickly joined in. They chatted and bonded while waiting for the official start of the interview.

As it was a talk-show-style interview, Miaoyi didn't need to do much preparation. There were no scripts to memorize or rehearsals to undergo. She would simply answer the questions during the interview. She even declined the offer of a makeup artist, stating she would go without it.

After about half an hour of preparations, all the departments on the set were ready, the cameras were rolling, and the show was finally ready to start recording.

The interview format was simple. The host and guest sat on a sofa, each with a cup of hot tea, and had a casual chat. There was a small live audience, with minimal crew and equipment present, to not break the immersion.

The show started with some formalities. The host, Zhang Wen, was a well-known young female presenter among Chinese audiences, particularly popular with the younger crowd. She began by introducing Miaoyi as a special guest and elaborating on her background and achievements.

This introduction phase was a customary exchange of compliments and achievements, aimed at informing the audience about the guest's identity, fame, and accomplishments. For example, Zhang Wen emphasized Miaoyi's status as a newly crowned Top 100 DJ.

However, Zhang Wen's professionalism soon emerged, and she smoothly concluded her introduction, transitioning swiftly to the main event, "Let's welcome TMY, a remarkable new-generation producer and DJ. Actually, when we first invited you, TMY, you hadn't become a Top 100 DJ yet. Honestly, with how busy you are right now, it's a surprise you're here at all."

Miaoyi smiled gently, her voice soft and completely different from her usual self. After all, she was on stage now, facing countless spectators. She knew she had to be humble and polite. "Well, I think DJ MAG surprised all of us. To be honest, I don't think I've reached that level yet. It's my fans and electronic music enthusiasts who have been supporting me."

"You speak very eloquently, TMY." Zhang Wen praised, giving a polite gesture. She continued, "Let's not waste any more time and dive right into the main topic. First, let's pick a random member from the audience and ask you a question."

At that moment, the camera shifted to the crowd, as the host picked out an audience member.

"How about you? You look like you have something to say." Zhang Wen said, pointing them out.

"Umm... Hi! So...ummmmm, TMY, why do you think you became popular so fast? Was it luck, or was it inevitable?"

"In this world, nothing is truly inevitable," Miaoyi smiled, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. She skillfully navigated around the sharp point of the question, which also hinted at the audience's unique perspective. "But what I'm about to say might not be very modest."

"Oh? Tell us, Miaoyi," Zhang Wen's interest was piqued. Looking at the youthful face of Miaoyi, she felt a touch of curiosity.

"While success can never be fully explained by inevitability, I wouldn't call it mere chance either. After all, having good luck once doesn't mean it will continue. If coincidences continue to occur, it moves out of the realm of coincidence and into correlation. So while I was probably lucky at first, at this stage you can't possibly blame it all on luck."

Of course, this audience member wasn't chosen randomly. Zhang Wen, in her role as a host, was adept at getting straight to the heart of the matter, seizing the crucial point of the question that the audience loved to see.

So planting a few crowd members was only a means to create more intrigue.

If Miaoyi were an ordinary person of her age, lacking composure, she might have been caught off guard by the directness of the question. She could easily come off as overconfident, or be seen as too weak.

So actually, Miaoyi's answer was perfect for this scenario. Not coming off as fragile, but reminding everyone of her hidden claws.

Still, Miaoyi continued her answer, "But, the growth speed came as no surprise. Actually, it's not just me; everyone knows how the original electronic music used to be. To be honest, if I had followed the old ways of making electronic music, with such great resources like Jing Qiuhua's excellent singing, I might as well have just done pop songs. So why make electronic music that doesn't sound like electronic music?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wen was momentarily stunned and couldn't help but praise, "Well said!"

"So, I basically gained popularity in an industry where I had no competition. it's no surprise that I got popular so fast."

Upon closer inspection, even though TMY looked harmless like any other young girl, Zhang Wen felt there was something different about her words.

Her description of the previous state of the electronic music scene was spot on, and Zhang Wen couldn't find any fault with it. After all, people have eyes and can see for themselves.

"Now, I'd like to ask you another question... of course, this is more personal." Zhang Wen continued with eagerness, "According to what you just said, if you hadn't appeared, where would the path of the electronic music scene be?"

"It would still be here, in the present." Miaoyi wrinkled her nose slightly, answering without hesitation, "Just because I didn't appear doesn't mean there wouldn't be other TMYs emerging. It's the natural trend of development. In fact, every art form eventually encounters significant innovation and transformation, as people's aesthetic standards and concepts of beauty are continually changing. For instance, pop music is thriving, with fresh releases almost every year."

"But the electronic genre has slowly fallen behind. Refusing to change your old ways isn't a sign of strength, but of stagnation. I don't doubt that another with my skillset could come along, but if left to natural progression, it could take 30 years or more just to advance to the standards pop music is at right now."

"In my opinion, the current electronic music scene should do some deep self-reflection, and figure out how to improve the genre, instead of being satisfied with what they have now."