National Tide 1980

"Okamoto, based on your knowledge of the Record Awards, what award do you think Teresa will win in the Record Awards?"

After listening to some of the inside information told by Akira Okamoto, Ning Weimin suddenly raised a very practical question.

"Well..." Akira Okamoto picked up the beer glass and considered the various awards in the Japan Record Awards with a very serious expression.

"To be fair based on her ability level and popularity of the song, Teresa definitely deserves the Grand Award. In 1985, the Japan Record Awards was awarded to Nakamori who was defeated by Teresa in several previous awards. After Akina was awarded the award, some Japanese music critics couldn't stand the exaggeration the next day, and directly pointed out in newspaper or magazine columns that the award should be awarded to Teresa Teng, and that it was unfair to Teresa Teng to award it to Akina Nakamori. This way The criticism directly affected the 1986 Record Awards, which broke the convention and dared not ignore Miss Teresa. But the problem is that the judges of the Record Awards were obviously just to appease the opinions of critics and audiences, and to be able to explain the past. That’s enough. So I think it’s probably a gold medal.”

"Gold medal? Is it second place?"

"If this can be understood from the literal meaning, but because this award can be awarded to multiple people, it is actually more like a consolation prize. I remember whether it is eight people or ten people..."

"So many people? What kind of award is this! Is it feasible to have only this award?"

Ning Weimin felt his temples twitching when he heard it. The judges of this record award were really irritating.

Even three people can accept it. I thought it was a pig tail, but now it turns out to be just a piece of toothpick meat.

"I personally think it must be like this. The judges of the Record Awards care about face very much, even though they have been scolded by public opinion. They have to succumb to public opinion, but they will not completely obey it. They always have to show some respect. Against the stubbornness of the public, it seems that otherwise it cannot show the style of the award and the professionalism of the judges.…”

Hearing what Akira Okamoto said about Ning Weimin, I really felt aggrieved for Teresa Teng.

Accepting the nomination for the Record Awards turned out to be a cold butt, falling into the hands of others and letting them manipulate it.

However, if you don't accept the nomination, you will be considered too arrogant by the media, and you will let down the good intentions of fans and critics.

This is not a good thing after all. In the eyes of the fans, they thought she was doing something good. Where to reason?

Seeing Ning Weimin's displeased expression, Akira Okamoto felt a little bit uncomfortable, so he expressed helplessness and regret.

"To be fair, the award for Best Single at this year's Record Awards should undoubtedly belong to the song "Toki no Ryuu をまかせ" because it is so popular that it completely crosses age boundaries. Regardless of young people, , middle-aged people and old people like it. Is there any karaoke or Snake shop in Japan that doesn’t play this song? In comparison, the pop music that new people like is only liked by young people. From the perspective of popularity In terms of its spread, it is far from comparable to this one. If I could vote, I would definitely vote for Miss Teresa."

"But I still say what I said, why is Miss Teresa not Japanese? The jury will definitely not treat her fairly. And the record company Taurus is too weak. Competing for the record award is for them, It's really intentional but powerless. As far as I know, Minoru Funaki, the president of Taurus Records, was originally the director of Polydor, and it was he who first discovered Miss Teresa and invited her to Japan for development. Miss Teresa once again After returning to Japan, I probably joined the Taurus Palace because of the old friendship. Although such a benevolent and righteous move is admirable, such an economic company has no connections, no money, no power, and is not qualified to stand up for its artists. Get benefits from the record awards."

"Singers like Akina Nakamori and Seiko Matsuda who are supported by large consortiums and management companies, not only have a high reputation in the first place, but also because of the strength and full support of their management companies, the Record Awards are awarded to them as a matter of course. So in this way In my opinion, Miss Teresa can only win a gold medal this time. There is no way around it. The secret to winning the Record Awards is that two factors, connections and money, are indispensable. The quality of the songs, the popularity of the stars and Record sales are still second best.”

"Otherwise, why didn't Momoe Yamaguchi, the phenomenal idol in Southeast Asia who was popular back then, never win the highest award at the Record Awards? The main reason is that the agency Horipro was not powerful. In the 1970s, the agency did not even have the second-rate threshold. Enter, and has always been famous in the industry for being stingy. Otherwise, wouldn’t Yamaguchi Momoe be more popular than Matsuda Seiko and Nakamori Akina? Even they can win the Record Award, why can’t Yamaguchi Momoe? So, at present, those who People who think that Miss Teresa will win the Record Awards are just outsiders who don’t understand the inside story of the entertainment industry except for reporters who want to attract attention..."

After hearing what Akira Okamoto said, Ning Weimin was silent for a while, and then spoke again after a while.

"I really learned a lesson, Okamoto-kun. You are indeed a senior agent in the entertainment industry. I didn't expect you to know so much about the awards in the Japanese music industry. These inside stories were not told to me by a professional like you. I really I can’t figure it out.”

Although Akira Okamoto was happy when he heard this, he also knew his own disadvantages.

So I don’t dare to take credit for it at all, but speak truthfully.

"No, President Ning's praise really makes me feel ashamed. In fact, what I know is just the superficial knowledge of some grassroots personnel. I can only give you a rough reference. People at my level still can't get the real inside story. of."

However, Ning Weimin's words were by no means false politeness.

Because Okamoto Akira did explain some inside information to him that he had never thought of.

In his memory, in the historical trajectory of his previous life, Teresa Teng seemed to have won a gold medal at the Record Awards in Japan.

Now it seems that it should be this year.

To be honest, at that time, he thought Teresa Teng was just too unlucky to miss out on the biggest piece of cake.

It turned out that was not the case at all, but now he understood that this award mainly depends on the opinions of the judges, and the opinions and preferences of the public are nothing.

In the Record Awards selection where money and connections determine everything, based on the current foundation of Teresa Teng and her contract company, they can undoubtedly only serve as a foil for others like green leaves.

This is reality, you have to accept it even if you don’t want to accept it!

But having said that, although there is no such thing as fairness and justice in a circle like the entertainment industry, the Record Awards is really a turbulent trend in the Japanese music industry!

In Ning Weimin's eyes, the judging panel for this award is really a jerk. They went too far.

Obviously he wanted to use Teresa Teng to calm the pressure of public opinion, so he took the initiative to invite Teresa Teng to the platform to support him, but he was very stingy.

This was just throwing out a cheap meat bone, and I decided that Teresa Teng was going to pounce on it!

He was unwilling to be given such a small favor by a favor, and he also wanted to be evil and deliberately set a trap.

Treating people harshly, I hope Teresa Teng can quit on her own initiative.

From this point of view, the narrow-minded national evil nature of little Japan is fully exposed!

Yes, awards are a good thing. For those who receive awards, they not only improve their status in the circle, but also make their works sell better, which involves a lot of money.

But behind the scenes, there are more than a billion Chinese people supporting the singer. She is not a dog. She is the face of all Chinese people in the pop music industry, and she is also the one who breaks the record of song requests in Japan!

Being treated so harshly, these bastards are so fucking bullying!

They really think that we Chinese are fools and have no temper at all!

Ning Weimin was really angry.

As a weakling in his previous life, he actually couldn't stand such bullying with guns, especially foreigners bullying Chinese compatriots.

Besides, after he came into contact with Teresa Teng, he developed a great liking for this diva's outspoken nature and love-minded person.

Just now, wasn't Akira Okamoto still telling him why Teresa Teng signed a contract with Taurus Palace?

After much deliberation, he couldn't help but want to intervene out of the feeling of sharing the honor and disgrace of the Chinese people.

"Okamoto, you said that Teresa's inability to win the Grand Prize is not only because she is Chinese, but also because her agency lacks connections, and the most important thing is the lack of funds to operate, right? So let's assume that if she finds a sponsor, what will happen? What will happen? If someone is willing to spend a lot of money to help her run the award, do you think Teresa has a chance of winning the big award? "

"President, your hypothesis is quite interesting."

Akira Okamoto failed to detect Ning Weimin's new idea in time, and just thought he was joking, so he took a sip of wine and said casually in a relaxed tone.

"Ha, if I look at it, money must be the most important. Whether it is face or so-called friendship, it is far less popular than money. First of all, not only the Record Awards, but any award is actually like a university. No matter how much it advertises the pursuit of truth, it cannot be famous without money. The Limited Broadcast Awards are obviously fairer than the Record Awards, but why is its influence even worse? Isn't it just because the Record Awards are rich? The gorgeousness of the stage and the grand occasion of famous actors participating can allow this show to steal the spotlight on the last day of every year and the Red and White Song Festival. If there is no financial support, what else can the Record Awards use to attract the audience? How about occupying the top prize in the Japanese music industry?"

"Secondly, for those judges, whether they are obsessed with the Japanese winning awards or scruples about human relationships, it is much better to hold real money in their hands. By following President Ning's operation this time Through the Academy Awards, I discovered that those so-called principled people actually have their own prices. If they can persist unwaveringly, it is just because the price is not enough. In addition, I am worried that this kind of transaction is not safe enough. In fact, as long as the transaction can be guaranteed As long as the content is not leaked, there is always a price that can seduce the other party. Even if you objected yesterday, it doesn't matter. As long as you have money, you can find a reasonable explanation for anything. What's the truth? Isn't it just based on what people say? "

"Well said!" Ning Weimin nodded in agreement, "Okamoto-kun, I didn't expect that you and I basically have the same views. It seems that I have really found the right helper in running the awards."

Ning Weimin then bit his lip again and pondered, "Then let me ask you another question now. I hope you can tell me seriously. Mr. Okamoto, what do you think about the Record Awards? If I help Teresa win the How much does it cost to reward?”

"What? You want to take action..." At this moment, Okamoto realized that Ning Weimin's attitude seemed not to be a joke.

He was stunned for a moment, but he quickly thought about it and expressed his opinion objectively.

"Well, I'm afraid it's a little more expensive. After all, Miss Teresa faces much greater difficulties than other Japanese contestants. If you want the judges to turn from opposition and hate to support, it will take a lot of effort. Premium…”

Hearing that Akira Okamoto's tone was not very firm, Ning Weimin knew his concerns and spoke words of encouragement.

"It doesn't matter. It's very reasonable. Just tell me. How much do you think it will cost?"

"Well, if you put it that way, I think... I'm afraid it would be... 300 million yen..."

After careful consideration, Akira Okamoto finally weighed out a number, but he was unexpectedly questioned by Ning Weimin that the number was insufficient.

"Three hundred million yen? Are you sure? Is this enough?"

This understatement made Akira Okamoto almost spit out a mouthful of blood. I have never seen such a arrogant person before.

You know, this was 1986, and three hundred million yen was equivalent to more than two million U.S. dollars.

Even the salaries of big singers like Akina Nakamori and Seiko Matsuda are only about 3 million yen per month.

Momoe Yamaguchi was popular for eight years, and finally earned 400 million yen.

Akira Okamoto has never heard of anyone in the Japanese music industry spending so much money to buy awards.

"President Ning, aren't you kidding me? What I said was 300 million yen! Why do you still think it's too little?"

"Are you serious?"

"Of course I mean it."

"But didn't it cost 200 million for us to run a supporting actress for the Academy Awards in the past few days? Then we can get the first prize of the Record Awards with 100 million more?"

"It's not easy to compare. How can the awards in the music industry be compared with those in the film industry? The style is much different. Moreover, the return and production cost of a blockbuster movie are far higher than that of a record, and they are not awards of the same level. In fact, The scale of the awards is also different. The Academy Awards have many more awards, and there are also more judges on the jury. The size of the six major film companies that mainly participate in the competition is not comparable to those of the record companies. In short, it is not an award of the same magnitude at all. According to my estimation, perhaps the cost of running awards for Akina Nakamori this year such as Kenyin will not exceed 100 million yen. Anyway, according to normal standards, it is impossible for Miss Teresa to win Capital is used to operate this award. So they seem to have determined that this year’s Record Award is theirs, as long as they coordinate the distribution of profits with other major record companies.”

This news made Ning Weimin's eyes light up and he became even more interested.

"Oh, this means that the other party underestimates the enemy, but it will help us reduce some money expenses. Is this what you mean?"

"Yes, just like when Tanaka Kakuei defeated Takeo Fukuda, who thought he had a chance to win, by relying on all-out counterattacks on the last night in the prime minister election..." Akira Okamoto thought for a while, and finally found a comparison. Suitable examples.

However, what he was more worried about was not this problem, but Ning Weimin's motivation for taking such action.

"But...but why do you want to get involved in this matter? Even if you and Miss Theresa are close friends, you don't have to do such a thing, right? What's more, spending so much money to help Miss Theresa win No matter how you look at it, winning a record award is not a cost-effective thing? Miss Teresa's record sales growth may not be able to offset such operating costs. And the benefits to us are also very limited! After all, she only sang a song for Matsumoto-san's movie Theme song, when the time comes...I...how should we explain to Matsumoto-san..."

Akira Okamoto's words were very euphemistic, but the meaning was clearly expressed.

I just wonder if Ning Weimin has any other thoughts about Teresa Teng. Akira Okamoto is afraid that he will be sorry for Matsumoto Keiko.

In this way, Ning Weimin was amused by his loyalty.

"Okamoto, don't get me wrong. I won't hide this from Keiko. You can tell her the truth. The funds don't have to come out of the office's account. I am solely responsible for it. If 300 million yen is not enough, That’s 500 million yen. I’m not afraid of spending money. What I want is for Teresa to win the grand prize! Create an unprecedented record. As for why? Just think about it, if Konosuke Matsushita or Akio Morita were in the United States or Europe, if You will understand what they will do when Hibari Misora ​​is made things difficult and humiliated by those Westerners, and is treated unfairly in the selection of awards. Miss Teresa is Chinese, and I am also Chinese. The Record Awards treats her Humiliation is not her fault alone..."

When it came to this, Akira Okamoto finally understood, and his attitude immediately became correct.

"Hi, President Ning's national sentiment and benevolence are really admirable. So, if you have any instructions, please don't be polite, I will try my best to assist you..."

"Thank you. This is great. Let's go to the Taurus Palace together tomorrow. No matter what, we have to say hello to the real owner first, otherwise it will be like the emperor is not in a hurry and the eunuch is..."

"Too...eunuch? What do you mean?" (End of Chapter)