Chain reaction

After the airing of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, it garnered an enormous response.

For independent films, it's often difficult to secure extensive publicity resources. They usually rely on the most primitive and straightforward methods: attending independent film festivals, appearing in movie theaters across various cities, engaging with the audience in face-to-face interactions. These methods, while effective, have a limited reach, employing a point-to-point approach.

"Buried" was no exception. This was the first public promotion since the movie's special screening. The show, not only being broadcast nationwide with an average viewership of around four million, generated a vastly different level of promotional impact. It successfully ignited the accumulated hot topics, focal points, and word-of-mouth from the pre-release period.

More importantly, this marked the public's first direct, vivid, and close encounter with the actor "Renly Hall". For the past six months, a young emerging actor with strong momentum but shrouded in an air of mystery finally unveiled his true self. He effortlessly provoked people's curiosity.

Even though Us Weekly had conducted an in-depth interview with Renly, the Toronto Film Festival had witnessed his dazzling debut, and his first appearance had been made during the premiere of "The Pacific"... those were all indirect, distant, and unfamiliar images and words. "Renly Hall" had always been just a name. Whether it was the fragmented Eugene Slice on the battlefield or the struggling Paul Conroy trapped in a coffin, they were not the real-life Renly Hall.

This time, The Ellen DeGeneres Show vividly and authentically presented Renly to the audience. He was no longer the "rising newcomer" of news headlines, the "acting prodigy" of online discussions, or the "dark horse surprise nominee" on award lists. He was now a real person who conversed wittily, exhibited humor, displayed abundant talent, and exuded an elegant wisdom.

After the show aired, it ignited a frenzy of discussions online. The Yahoo community was almost paralyzed by the traffic surge. The hottest topic was none other than "Who is he?"

This topic seemed to have never ceased since the premiere of "The Pacific". However, this time was different. People weren't surprised by Renly's background, but rather by the unimaginable contrast. The real-life Renly was far from the image people had in their minds. He... appeared too young!

Twenty-one years old. Before, it had been just a set of numbers. But when seen on the television screen, it was hard to believe. He was the spitting image of a university student. He had washed away the dirt from "The Pacific", shaved off the beard from "Buried", and his short buzz cut from the press release of "Fast 5" had grown into short curls. He had even shed the elegant restraint from the Golden Globe Awards red carpet. The Renly appearing in the public's gaze was brimming with an inconceivable youthfulness.

"Who is he?"

This was the question that stunned every netizen. It effortlessly shattered all the fantasies and preconceptions people had about Renly, unveiling a starkly different and entirely new image. Just as everyone thought they understood this newcomer well enough, they discovered that all their fixed impressions were wrong. This kind of shock left people dumbfounded.

"This is Renly Hall."

This post from Brandomania once again captured the attention of all netizens.

"...Ever-changing? I wouldn't use that word to describe him, because I can see Eugene Sledge's sorrow in him, Paul Conroy's maturity, the elegance of the Golden Globe red carpet. Besides, I can also see his wisdom, wit, knowledge, vitality, determination, and astounding talent! He's Eugene Sledge, he's Paul Conroy, but he is Renly Hall, the newcomer actor who infuses his roles with soul through his acting. This is Renly Hall."

It must be acknowledged that such a drastically different real-life image once again surprised people. This indirectly attested to the brilliance of Renly's performance, which went beyond mere praise from film critics and instead vividly presented itself before every audience member.

"With the splendid performance in "Buried", Renly absolutely deserves an Oscar nomination!"

Similar comments began to quietly gain popularity in the Yahoo community. In the face of the excellent reputation of "Buried", the disadvantage of his age transformed into an advantage of solid acting skills. The disadvantage of his fame, given his loss at the Golden Globe Awards, turned into an advantage that made people express regret. The disadvantage of promotion, compared to the soaring popularity of "127 Hours", became an advantage that attracted people to enter the theaters.

A mere episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show didn't merely showcase Renly's eloquence; its actual impact far exceeded imagination. This episode attracted a viewership of a staggering 4.8 million, making it the most impressive episode since November 2010. Its discussion heat was on par with popular figures like Justin Timberlake and Colin Firth.

The discussion about acting was just one of the derivative effects of the show. However, after the episode aired, people became even more interested in Renly's humor, composure, and wisdom. Especially when facing Ellen's pranks, Renly's responses truly amazed many. His subsequent retorts also ignited explosive reactions on YouTube.

Just this prank segment alone, the official release of The Ellen DeGeneres Show on YouTube garnered 30 million views and 170,000 likes. It spread on the internet like a viral video, truly opening up the mass market for Renly, breaking free from the constraints of HBO and independent films. In terms of recognition, it successfully achieved its first breakthrough.

Unexpected yet also within reason, the opening performance of Renly singing "Your Bones" became the highlight of the entire episode.

When saying "unexpected", it's because Renly's first talk show performance was truly splendid. The final aired segment lasted for a remarkable fifteen minutes—worthy of treatment for top-tier celebrities. His clashes with Ellen were captivating and filled with highlights. Surprisingly, the most favored segment by the show's staff was the brief interaction between Renly and Katy Perry. It was unforeseen that this on-the-spot creative segment would generate the most discussion among netizens.

When saying "within reason", it's because The Ellen DeGeneres Show had always involved singing and dancing. Ellen frequently danced on the show and invited the audience to join in, almost becoming a distinctive feature of the program. Hence, the musical element was an indispensable part of this talk show. Correspondingly, while the on-the-spot creative segment triggered such a profound reaction, it was not surprising.

"Your Bones" instantly became a popular keyword on Google's search rankings. At this point, people realized that this wasn't the first time Renly had displayed his musical talent.

Whether it was the minor trend of "Cleopatra" or the topic effect of "Ophelia" street performance, even though both singles performed well on the iTunes download charts, they were only momentary bursts. In the deluge of information in the age of the internet, they were insignificant, merely a single firework in the millions that sparkled during National Day. Their impact, after all, was limited.

This, too, is an inevitable outcome brought about by the limitations of folk music.

This time, however, Renly, in front of 4.8 million viewers, created a live composition, merging it with Max's story. The melody's beauty became even more moving, successfully captivating countless viewers.

Driven by curiosity, people embarked on careful exploration. Soon, they discovered performance videos of "Cleopatra" in Village Vanguard, "Ophelia" on the streets of Los Angeles, and "Old Pine" on the streets of Rio de Janeiro. This instantaneously ignited the enthusiasm of a vast audience.

To be accurate, people cared not for folk music itself but rather for the folk songs Renly sang, particularly the folk songs closely related to "Your Bones". Or to put it more bluntly, people cared not for folk music but for the focal point, the spotlight that everyone was following and joining in on.

But regardless of the reasons, the creation video of "Your Bones" on YouTube had already surpassed 45 million views, with 560,000 likes. From the proportion of views to likes, one could gauge just how tremendous the wave of enthusiasm it had generated was. It even overshadowed the movie "Buried" itself, becoming the biggest hit after The Ellen DeGeneres Show aired.

As both "Your Bones" and "Old Pine" were only available in live performance versions, and not even complete songs, even if people wanted to download them, there was no way to do so. Consequently, "Cleopatra" and "Ophelia" rode the wave and once again gained attention.

First, they shot up the iTunes instant download chart. "Cleopatra" quickly reached third place, boasting extraordinary popularity, while "Ophelia" temporarily secured the fourteenth spot, a decent performance. Subsequently, on Spotify's streaming chart, "Cleopatra" astonishingly claimed the top spot, becoming the most streamed single within 24 hours. "Ophelia" held a respectable seventh position.

Driven by both streaming data and digital download data, Renly once again wrote history.

Without music videos, without radio airplay, and even without physical sales, it was this kind of "three-zero" product that successfully secured a place among Billboard's top 100 singles.

After fifteen weeks of release, "Ophelia" finally entered the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, temporarily taking the eighty-third spot. This performance wasn't outstanding but still a good self-boost.

As for "Cleopatra", in the latest week's Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, it entered the top twenty strongly, holding the nineteenth position. Not only was it the second single to enter the top twenty after the millennium, following Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours", but it was also the first single to remain in the top twenty after more than thirty weeks on the chart.

What's even more commendable is that for an independent or amateur singer, for an artist who hadn't released a studio album, having two singles break into the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart could truly be called a folk music miracle!