In the afternoon of December 29, 1986, the door of Tokyo Broadcasting Station was closed in the conference room.
The voting meeting to determine the highest award of the Record Awards will be held here.
The brand-new conference room composed of huge glass windows and light yellow walls is filled with a tense atmosphere that has never been seen in previous years.
Who allowed Teresa Teng, a foreigner, to be selected for the selection this year?
She has forcibly broken through the entry threshold for the Record Awards for the second time with her strength.
This is an unprecedented event in the history of the Record Awards.
The tables indoors are arranged in a U shape.
Before one fifty, everyone was already here.
In the center sit the three people with the most respected status in this selection.
They are Masahiro Mihara, the executive director of the Composers Association, Shinichiro Kaga, the deputy director of TBS, and Danharu Ohga, the representative of the Japan Television Bureau as a notary.
As for the judges from the other two organizers, as well as the public judges who are representatives of the media and cultural circles, they will sit on both sides of the table in the order of the seating chart.
Not long after, when the time reached two o'clock, Shinichiro Kaga, the person in charge of TBS, immediately stood up and made a solemn announcement.
“The final voting for the major awards of the 28th All Japan Record Awards will now be held. I believe that everyone should have fully consulted the previous deliberations and the information on hand in the recent period. After careful consideration and based on strict and fair principles, we will cast a sacred vote in today’s meeting.”
With Shinichiro Kaga’s speech, the atmosphere at the scene immediately became much more solemn.
The employees of TBS TV station standing behind Shinichiro Kaga took a step forward and prepared to distribute the ballots.
At this time, Kagami Shinichiro looked around everyone, and after confirming that all the judges were present, he coughed loudly.
"Please be patient. Because this time the situation is really special, a foreign artist has once again participated in our selection with his extraordinary ability. Moreover, this matter is also attracting attention from the people and all walks of life. Therefore, before officially starting the voting, we would like to invite Mr. Dahe Shanchun, a special representative from the TV Bureau, to explain to everyone the matters to be paid attention to in this selection.”
The notary’s news. After the sound, he stood up with his slender body like a crane and said to everyone, "Hello fellow judges, I am Dahe Danchun sent by the TV Bureau. Due to the selection of this year's Record Awards, there is a foreign artist who has won the support of the public. , resulting in the special attention of this year's selection, and among viewers and listeners, there seem to have been rumors that are not conducive to the Record Awards formulation committee, suggesting that the committee deliberately ignores foreign artists and there are many unreasonable things in the music selection. , non-compliance with the rules. Therefore, in order to ensure the fairness and fairness of this year's Record Awards selection and safeguard the reputation of all judges, as the competent department of private television stations, I accepted the entrustment of the Composers Association and TBS TV station and specially sent me to provide you with the results. Prove innocence.”
“First of all, let me report to you the selection method. In order to select artists and music products that have made profound contributions to the Japanese recording industry this year, this music event adopts a method. Through a nationwide open recruitment process, major record companies and artist offices across the country were invited to recommend candidates. Then, fifteen candidates were selected based on record sales performance and fan feedback, and then those candidates were eliminated based on their originality and quality. After the five who are culturally deficient, the remaining ten candidates are all indistinguishable outstanding musical talents. As for the repertoire information and record sales data of these ten candidates, you only need to refer to the candidates at hand. You should be able to find out if you get a copy of the information.”
“Next, as a notary, I would like to announce that the other four key awards, except the gold medal, will be announced today through your votes. . If you have any questions or opinions about the candidates, please feel free to speak now, especially the public judges, please take this opportunity to express your opinions frankly. ”
After Dahe Shanharu finished speaking in his extremely concise style, the judges from all walks of life looked down at the candidate information in each person's hand.
At this time, thanks to Dahe Danharu's words of encouragement, the reporter of "Weekly Bunshun", one of the public judges this year, immediately stood up and responded by setting an example and expressing his personal opinions.
“I don’t have much to say. These ten candidates are all outstanding figures selected by the committee after rigorous discussions to represent the power of Japanese music, so I only hope that a fairer vote can be passed method to select the outstanding talents who can best promote the prosperity and development of Japanese pop music. Therefore, before voting, I would like to remind everyone that the Record Awards is a music competition that focuses on the quality of music and the level of work, and the expansion of Japanese pop music. Influence in the world is the most important thing. I hope you will not ignore the opinions of the people and respect the choices of the people."
As soon as he finished speaking, another public judge responded.
"Yes, this is absolutely correct. It's time for all of us to take a longer-term view and abandon the so-called sectarian views. As long as the musical work is excellent, it should win a big award. No matter what Is she right? Only in this way can the Record Awards become an international event. ”
Obviously, these two people are media professionals and supporters of Teresa Teng.
From their words, one can completely hear their goodwill and support for Teresa Teng.
However, this move is undoubtedly giving eye drops to the organizers in public.
So there were tit-for-tat voices from the organizers.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t agree with the remarks of the two public judges. And I also think that they have a lot of prejudices about the selection method of the Record Awards.”
A judge from the Composers Guild speaks out. "You know, the Record Awards, as the highest award in the Japanese music industry, are already influential enough to lead the Asian music scene. From the beginning to the end, they have been providing a better showcase for excellent works, and they have always been the key to the Japanese music industry. We, the professional judges, always base our awards on whether the work is excellent. Fairness and impartiality have always been our creed, and will remain so in the future. In other words, we will only give honors to outstanding works, and everything will be based on seniority! The judgment of professionals shall prevail!”
To put it bluntly, this judge refused to admit that the professional judges of the Record Awards would deliberately exclude foreign artists because of nationality issues, denying that they were unwilling to let Teresa Teng win. Prize situations exist.
And there is a sense in the words that professionals have considered more comprehensively, have a broader perspective, and made judgments that are normal for ordinary people to understand.
And this kind of arrogance undoubtedly angered the public judges of the two media people.
Asshole! In the past, you could say whatever you wanted. The works were pretty much the same anyway, so no one dared to question you.
But now that there is such an outstanding work that the public generally thinks should win the award, how can you still be so arrogant?
As soon as he finished speaking, the reporter from "Weekly Wenchun" couldn't help but stand up and expressed his doubts sharply.
“Then what you mean is that even if nearly 50 million listeners and fans across the country collectively think it is an excellent work, as long as the professionals here don’t recognize it, is it not a good work?”
< br>This question hit the nail on the head, but the musician from the Composers Association was even more rude and immediately said coldly.
“The large number of people does not mean that the Correct Record Awards are never kitsch! Our key point is to consider the style and artistry of the work, otherwise, why would we evaluate it? We might as well just look at the record sales data like a limited broadcast... …”
Well, just this sentence choked the two public judges.
But it is true that the winner of the Record Awards every year is not necessarily the one who sells the best records. In this regard, the enka school always suffers more than the idol school.
Due to the different groups of fans, young star-chasers are more emotional than middle-aged people and do not care about money at all.
Although Teresa Teng's records sold 2.75 million copies this year, they still cannot compare with the sales of records by another candidate, Akina Nakamori.
But then again, it would be another matter if we were competing within the Enka sect.
Even Hibari Misora, a singer recognized as a national treasure in Japan, only sold 600,000 records this year.
From another perspective, she is much worse than Teresa Teng.
This is enough to show that Teresa Teng, as a singer of the enka school, can catch up with the singers of the idol school in terms of sales, and has achieved unprecedented success.
For example, this is equivalent to the popularity of a folk song in China. The sales volume of the tape has basically caught up with Zhang Qiang's tape. Do you think it is magical or not?
In short, these two public judges from the media are a bit pitiful because of their lack of professional knowledge.
For a while, they were tricked by this brainteaser. It was quite embarrassing that they clearly made sense but couldn't explain it.
And just when they were scratching their heads and could not figure out how to respond, Mihara Masahashi, the top leader of the Composers Association, also spoke.
Having never made a statement, he now stretched out his rich body, knocked on the table with a serious attitude, and gave a righteous warning.
"Judges, please pay attention to your words. Please don't make the kind of canvassing speech you just did again. I'm sorry to say that you have all violated the rules and have violated the rules of fairness. If you still want to speak, I hope you will only provide opinions on the candidate’s resume and achievements, as well as his artistic style.”
The notary Dahe Danchun responded immediately and positively like a judge.
"Yes, what Mr. Mihara said is right. Judges, your speech just now has been suspected of canvassing activities and has a very clear direction. I must warn you here, in order to ensure that everyone In order to ensure the objectivity and fairness of the award, please refrain from making any comments that are obviously biased against a specific candidate.”
This is like a final conclusion, which directly stuns the public judges.
So much so that the few people who just spoke could no longer argue, so they all had to lower their heads to admit their mistakes and respond perfunctorily.
But that’s not all. Mihara Masahiro then made another emphatically statement in an unusually low voice.
"Everyone, I would like to venture to say a few words. There is always some secret manipulation behind the annual Record Awards. These dark-style things cannot be completely avoided. After all, we do not live in a vacuum. As long as the Record Awards can promote The sales of records will increase the value of the singer, and those who are interested in it will not be able to help but make small moves."
"But I also want to remind you that this year is different, and every vote you cast. It will be discussed and scrutinized repeatedly by the public. Our voting results may lead to unprecedented criticism, and I am personally prepared for this for the sake of our artist's honor and personal innocence. , we should never include anything other than art when voting, but should fully abide by the voting process and rules and treat each other with a more professional attitude."
"Yes. Since just now, I have been listening to everyone's heated discussions. In fact, I am also very contradictory. No matter in terms of emotions or preferences, I have singers and songs that I admire. However, in terms of professionalism and artistic style, etc. Objectively speaking, I know very well that we should support another singer. How to balance this trade-off and vote for the right person? In fact, there is only one way, which is to uphold our artistic conscience and look at our artistic ability.”
"Although I am not talented, as a member of the Japanese musicians, in order to maintain the dignity of the Record Awards, I have made clear the position of the awards committee members. As a standing director of the committee, I still want to speak out and ask the judges to When voting, you must uphold your conscience and reason, and cast your vote from a fair standpoint. Let us work together to make the selection of this year’s Grand Prize a truly fair election.”
These words. , Mihara Masahiro’s sonorous and powerful voice resounded throughout the conference room.
Not only did it fill the entire conference room with a touching atmosphere, but it also made the judges present whisper to each other and express their deep admiration.
Not to mention that the public judges just now completely stopped and did not dare to protest out loud to avoid suspicion. Even Dahe Danharu, a notary public, couldn't help but sigh.
"Okay, okay, Executive Director Mihara, don't be so excited. Please believe in the judges and me as a notary. Everyone, we will follow the solemn instructions given by Executive Director Mihara just now as our purpose. We have made plans to start a serious and fair run-off vote, and we are not afraid of disagreements, but I hope you will adhere to fairness and justice and uphold your artistic conscience.”
In short, Mihara Masahiro’s words won him victory. He has a very high moral evaluation, and almost everyone here regards him as a spokesperson for fairness and justice.
Even though the voting was about to begin, when Shinichiro Kaga asked his subordinates to send the ballots stamped with the watermark of "Record Awards 28th Chapter" to the thirty-one judges present, everyone in the room was still immersed in a deep emotion. In the midst of emotion.
Most of the judges present had expressions of admiration on their faces.
The entire conference room was so quiet that people forgot that some of them were still engaged in fierce debates about the candidates they supported.
But to be honest, in the eyes of Kaga Shinichiro, such a scene is really ironic.
He had to try his best to endure it in order not to show any strangeness in his expression.
Because as another insider of the cooperation, he certainly knew that Mihara Masahashi, who spoke upright and righteously, was actually one of the biggest cheaters in this selection.
As for Miyuan's words and actions, he was not only calling for the thief to catch the thief, but also to clear himself up first to minimize other people's suspicion afterwards.
At the same time, it is also to further stimulate the public judges so that they will unswervingly vote for Teresa Teng to ensure that Teresa Teng wins.
To put it bluntly, the professional judge who was arguing with the public judges was actually Mihara's cronies, and the fight with the public judges was probably arranged by Mihara.
And this is definitely beyond the imagination of those public judges and judges who have other choices.
Kaga Shinichiro cannot be dissatisfied with this wonderful performance.
Through this incident, he discovered that Masahiro Mihara's thoughtfulness and acting skills were more intense than his. No wonder he was always under pressure.
He could only say secretly - old fox! That's really nice to say. But your artistic conscience, God knows what price it was sold for! (End of this chapter)