Kapitel 163: Chapter 163: Rehearsal Scene (Patron Bonus Chapter 3/10)
The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. It houses numerous renowned theaters, opera houses, concert halls, and outdoor performance spaces, making it the world's largest performing arts complex.
The rehearsal for MJ's concert was taking place at the Metropolitan Opera House, one of the largest performance venues in the Lincoln Center, with a capacity of over 5,000 people.
However, each performance of MJ's comeback concert was expected to have an audience of over 60,000, making the opera house clearly insufficient. The actual concert venue was Madison Square Garden, which could accommodate over 100,000 people.
When Link and Selena followed MJ's assistant into the opera house, the rehearsal had already begun.
Familiar music came from the stage, with a strong rhythmic beat. It was "Billie Jean," one of MJ's representative works.
MJ himself was on stage, performing the moonwalk, wearing a black sequined jacket, followed by over a dozen dancers in black suits. Their movements were smooth and flowing, looking very cool.
Link scanned the stage but didn't see the dancer who looked like "Elvis Tsui."
Also, MJ's movements were very agile while dancing, not inferior to the dancers, and he didn't look sick at all.
Link wondered if his memory was wrong, confusing the time of Steve Jobs' and MJ's deaths.
"Mr. Baker, please wait here for a moment. The rehearsal will take about ten more minutes."
MJ's assistant said.
"Okay!"
Link nodded and stood in the audience, about fifty meters away from the stage, watching the rehearsal from afar with Selena.
There were many staff members on site. Besides MJ and the sixteen dancers on stage, there were three to four hundred people responsible for lighting, sound, stage design, directing, stage art direction, security, and even over a dozen doctors and nurses.
Link looked around and found it a bit quiet. He looked down at the young girl Selena beside him, who was staring at MJ on stage with wide eyes.
"What's wrong? Are you stunned?"
Link waved his hand in front of her and asked.
"You're the one who's stunned."
Selena glanced at him, shook his hand, and asked, "Is that really MJ?"
"Not sure, maybe it's his body double. Important people have body doubles."
Link said with a smirk.
"Are you really going to perform on the same stage with MJ?"
"Not sure about that either."
He didn't know when MJ would pass away, nor if this concert would take place. Everything was uncertain.
"If you perform with MJ, what are you going to perform?"
Selena asked.
"Singing and dancing! I can do both."
"Are you sure? MJ is the King of Pop, a world-class dancer. Both his singing and dancing are top-notch. Aren't you worried about being crushed by him as a boxer performing on the same stage?"
"Of course not. I'm also great at singing and dancing, okay?"
Link retorted.
Selena looked him up and down, then shook her head with a smirk.
Link rubbed her hair, feeling a bit annoyed. He wasn't nervous when he received MJ's invitation, but after being reminded by this little girl, he suddenly felt a bit tense.
Selena was right. MJ was world-class in both singing and dancing, a true King of Music and a great performing artist.
He was just a newcomer in the music industry, with average singing and dancing skills. Performing on the same stage with a top-level master on a world-class stage, there was a 90% chance of being crushed.
And this kind of crushing couldn't be improved through his own efforts in a short time. In simple terms, he was powerless.
Thinking of this, Link suddenly realized that accepting MJ's invitation might not have been a good idea.
"But don't worry, Britney also performed with MJ at Madison Square Garden when she debuted, and that performance was pretty good. Your performance with MJ definitely won't be too bad either."
Selena seemed to sense his nervousness and said, smacking her lips.
Link thought for a moment, and it was indeed true. Britney was only 20 years old when she performed with MJ. If a girl like Britney could do it, how could he, a world boxing champion, be afraid?
It was all Selena's fault for shaking his confidence with her words!
Link lightly patted her forehead. If she hadn't said anything, he wouldn't have broken out in a cold sweat.
Selena puffed out her cheeks and rolled her eyes at him.
"Mr. West, please wait here for a moment."
Link heard someone speaking behind him and turned around to see several familiar faces.
There was Kanye West with his square black face, wearing a black tracksuit and a black baseball cap, looking sullen and unhappy.
Behind him were three other black men with thin faces: Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, Usher, and several other black rappers with large gold chains and tattoos on their arms. There were over ten people in total.
Kanye and the others also saw him and stopped, looking at him provocatively.
Although they had been arguing with Link in the media for over a month, this was the first time they had stood face to face in private.
"Hello!"
Link politely nodded at them and continued watching the performance on stage with Selena.
Kanye and the others stood in the seating area next to them, separated by an aisle.
Link heard someone whispering, "Should we go over and mess with him? We have more people." Someone else said, "Are you stupid? That guy is a boxing champion, the kind who can kill someone with one punch. Even with more people, we're no match for him." Someone else said, "I brought a knife." Everyone looked at him in shock, "You brought a knife to MJ's rehearsal?"
"Shut up!"
Kanye West glanced at his companions and asked Link with a dark expression, "Why are you here?"
"I think we have the same purpose."
"MJ also invited you to perform? Impossible, why would he invite a racist to participate in his concert?"
Kanye said angrily.
"Racist? Are you talking about me?"
Link raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Yes, you!"
"Give me solid evidence, or I'll hold a press conference after I leave and tell all the media that Kanye West once again falsely accused me of being a racist and tried to provoke conflict. I think this will be big news again."
Link snorted coldly.
"You!"
Kanye looked at him angrily. If Link went out and held a press conference, with their fame, this matter would definitely become hot news again, and Link could use this news to sell more albums.
No!
He absolutely couldn't let him ride on his popularity.
"Okay, I take back what I said earlier. You're not a racist for now. But as a newcomer singer, what qualifications do you have to participate in MJ's concert?"
Kanye said indignantly.
This time, before Link could answer, Selena snorted and said, "Link is not a small singer. His first album went double platinum in the United States and is still leading you on the Billboard charts. If he's a small singer, then you're a tiny, tiny, tiny singer."
"Well said!"
Link praised, stroking Selena's braid.
"I'm just telling the truth. They're a bunch of old singers who have been debuting for many years, relying on their large number of fans to gang up on a newcomer like you. They're really shameless."
Selena pouted disdainfully.
Pfft!
Kanye almost vomited blood when he heard Selena's words. What did she mean by "a bunch of old singers" and "shameless"?
How could this little girl's words be even more piercing than Link's?
Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, and the others also looked over with dark expressions, cursing and muttering, as if they were performing rap.
Selena stuck her tongue out at them, hugged Link's arm, and hid her face behind him.
Link smiled slightly. "It's okay. In a forest, the tallest tree is often the most vulnerable to strong winds, like me, and like MJ! We've both faced a lot of criticism on our path to fame. But it doesn't matter. As long as we persevere and continue to do the right thing, we'll become stronger and stronger, indestructible."
Selena nodded, seemingly understanding. "Will I be envied in the future?"
"That's for sure. You're so beautiful and cute, you can sing, dance, and perform. Most importantly, you have a very, very handsome brother. In the future, the people who envy you could line up all the way to France."
Link joked.
Selena covered her mouth and laughed, blaming him for being narcissistic.
Kanye was sulking when he heard the siblings laughing and joking, and his face darkened.
"Hey! Link Baker, you just said you're as good as MJ. Do you even deserve to be compared to MJ?"
50 Cent said disdainfully.
"Not necessarily."
Link said confidently.
"Haha, guys, did you hear that? This guy said he could be on par with MJ in the future."
"Tsk, this guy is all talk, the media is right."
50 Cent and the other black people started mocking him.
Link smiled indifferently and shook his head at Selena, telling her not to speak. There was no point in arguing about this kind of thing. Only by taking it seriously and working hard to achieve it would it be meaningful.
"Okay!"
"Take a break!"
A person wearing headphones shouted from under the stage.
The music on stage stopped abruptly, and the dancers left the stage one after another. MJ's assistant ran down and said something to MJ, pointing towards Link and Kanye. MJ, wearing sunglasses, looked over with a smile, but his face seemed a bit stiff.
"Hey! Mike!"
Kanye waved and glanced at Link before striding over.
Link remembered that Kanye, Akon, and other singers had participated in MJ's "Thriller 25" anniversary album released last year. From this perspective, only he wasn't familiar with MJ.
But he didn't mind. People like MJ, who were close to "greatness," had different ideas from ordinary people. The reason he invited him and Kanye here was probably to ease the conflict between them, a very positive purpose.
(End of Chapter)
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