"It's you!" Avril Lavigne, wearing a black t-shirt with wide sweatpants, covered her mouth in surprise.
"Why are you here?" After the surprise of their first encounter, the two asked each other the same question in unison.
"Well, ladies first!" Lin Ming Yang shrugged his shoulders, he realized that every time he opened his mouth, he would "collide" with Avril, so he decided to let the other party speak first.
"My single was nominated for this Grammy, and I got to perform on stage today." Avril hadn't expected to meet Lin Mingyang here after the hasty goodbye in Napanee Town. The quirky girl had only recently realized that the guy who looked like Keanu Reeves and had done her a big favor in her hometown was actually really a Hollywood actor, and it seemed like his fame wasn't small. Unfortunately, this big-headed punk girl still hadn't memorized Lin Ming Yang's full name to this day. "I've heard a few things about you, and watched the video of you flipping over a flying car on the street, and quite a few of the friends I know admire you!"
"That maneuver is very difficult and dangerous, please don't imitate your friends." Lin Mingyang cautiously reminded.
"In fact very few people would think of imitating that move of yours, and that's why I think you're cool, you've done something that's cool but others can't imitate." Avril chewed her gum, her small mouth moving, but that didn't stop her from spitting out words clearly. "I've heard you've been in a few movies, unfortunately I haven't seen any of them, you know I've never been a fan of the good girl hypocrisy in movies."
Lin Ming Yang was tempted to say that in reality not all girls were able to be as free-spirited and self-absorbed as she was, but before he could come to say anything, Avril had already brought the topic back to the present.
"You're here for the Grammys too? But aren't you in movies? You can sing too?"
The girl's series of questions made Lin Mingyang not know which one to answer first, and in the end, he could only nod his head and give the other party a very vague answer.
"You must be a terrible singer!" Avril was so direct even in her blows, "A lot of actors like to get themselves the title of singer, no matter how great a producer they get, their songs are awful and singing is just a performance for them."
The girl's direct but sincere words directly hit the ever-present vanity deep inside Lin Ming Yang, which made him feel ashamed. "I like listening to songs, but the singing is average."
"Compared to those smug guys, you're much cuter than them!" Avril stuck both hands in her pants pockets, the comment cute might feel awkward coming from someone else's mouth Lin Ming Yang, but coming from her, Lin Ming Yang felt a sense of relief.
"I have to go out and get ready, the band's partner is waiting for me outside, the second program is mine!" Avril pointed towards the door with her thumb, "Good luck!"
Without waiting for Lin Ming Yang to say thank you, Avril turned around dryly, but when she was about to reach the door she suddenly stopped again, seemingly remembering something, and then turned back to Lin Ming Yang and waved her hand, "Thank you for the blessing text message that you sent me during the holiday season, bye!"
Avril was like a beautiful scenery outside the car window in Lin Ming Yang's life, surprising him every time, but always flashing by. She was like a jumping elf, making it impossible to catch the trajectory of her flight.
----
Lin Ming Yang found his seat in the middle of the venue at the back, after the award ceremony started, the two hosts on stage said something, Lin Ming ** did not listen to it with his heart, he put on the headphones and played the melody of the song "Baby" over and over again, silently considering in his mind the details that he should pay attention to on the stage.
It wasn't until a round of applause erupted from the crowd around him that Lin Ming Yang raised his head, and then saw Avril and the band behind her already standing on the stage. She was singing "Anything But Ordinary" from her first album "Spread Your Wings and Fly", an ode to the uniqueness of the individual, with lyrics that were purely feminine. The lyrics were purely feminine, and with her showy vocals and crystal clear voice, the whole venue danced to her melody.
Because of the distance, Lin Mingyang could not see Avril's expression on the stage, but her energetic performance had driven everyone's emotions, and the audience in the back rows were even forgetting to cheer and scream, and throughout the entire singing process, no one stopped waving the glow sticks in their hands, and there were even some people who were so excited that they covered their faces in tears.
Avril's singing set off the first climax of the awards ceremony, after a lot of singers also sent their own wonderful singing on the stage, but no longer evoked so enthusiastic reaction from the audience under the stage, that kind of cheering, screaming scene only belongs to Avril, after her performance on the disappeared, and never appeared again.
The winning singers excitedly went on stage to receive their awards, and then excitedly and unknowingly delivered a bunch of acceptance speeches without any actual content, and the time just rushed by like running water. After half of the award ceremony, many awards have already been won, the audience under the stage began to yawn, excited and excited, cheering and cheering enough, many people's faces are showing a tired look, everyone can not wait for the ceremony to end quickly, and then rushed home to sleep.
Lin Mingyang's performance was scheduled in such a "garbage time", from the organizers to the audience, everyone did not have any expectations for his performance this time. The two hosts did not forget to flirt a bit during the curtain call, trying to mobilize the drowsy audience.
"Jenny, I'm not mistaken." The male host made a surprised expression on his face, "The next person to perform is Felix Lin, isn't he a movie actor?"
"Oh Pete, I don't think you're mistaken, there's only one Felix Lim in America and he's right backstage."
"But we didn't see him before (referring to the rehearsal) and we don't even know what he's going to perform, is he going to do a magic trick?"
"I heard poor Felix was sick yesterday, but I know he's giving us a new song today."
"Felix started singing?" The male host asked exaggeratedly, "I've been patronizing him for a while now!"
His "humor" caused the audience to burst into laughter.
"Well, if you haven't seen the movie 'Song and Dance Youth', then I can forgive your mistake!" Seeing that the atmosphere on stage had been mobilized, the hostess didn't continue to make fun of Lin Ming Yang, "I think your child probably knows him better than you do, but now you have a better chance, please welcome our 'Wonder Boy', Felix Lin!"
The lights on the stage slowly dimmed, a dark blue light hitting Lin Ming Yang's body as he held the microphone in both hands, and the first words out of his mouth were "OhWoooah!"
The stage was quiet, because they were all syllabic words, so the lyrics didn't attract much attention, but Lin Ming Yang's good voice made some professional musicians on the stage nod their heads.
"I thought his voice in that movie was post-processed." A lady in the front row whispered very quietly to the person next to her.
"OhWoooah!" with a dynamic rhythm, Lin Ming Yang switched to holding the microphone in one hand and spun around the stage with the other hand, followed by another "OhWoooah!"
"Is that all he's going to sing?" After the initial novelty, some people under the stage already showed their impatience, usually there are transitional syllables hummed at the beginning of a song, but not many repeat it three times.
"You know you love me, I know you care." After the first line of the lyrics were sung, Lin Ming Yang's body moved, the posture of his hand holding the microphone didn't change, but some people on the stage had already recognized that he was doing the swinging step that was very common in breakdancing.
"Just summon me and I'll appear right away."
"You want my love, you want my heart."
"We will never, ever be apart."
"We are together, aren't we? Girl stop torturing me."
"We're just friends, you say that."
"You looked me straight in the eye and said you have someone else in your heart."
"My first love broke my heart the first time."
...
The boy in the lyrics is recounting his own emotional experience, whether it's in a movie or in music, love as a timeless topic always resonates with people easily. Many people have experienced the failure of their first love for the first time, Lin Ming Yang's clear and bright voice with a little low voice, sang this feeling very well, there was no more whispering on the stage, everyone had been attracted by the mood of the song, and couldn't help but hold their breath.
When Lin Mingyang sang the climax of "baby, baby, baby" for the first time, the stage finally resounded with the excited cheers of the audience in the back row, who didn't stand in the front row of the professional musicians' point of view to evaluate the song. They didn't judge the song from the perspective of the professional musicians in the front row, but simply felt that the song was very good and resonated with their hearts, so they hissed along with the song's strong and dynamic rhythm, releasing their inner excitement.
Lin Mingyang sang a tune that was so new that it was even a little strange to these pop musicians in the front row, and if it was a professional singer performing, they might have shaken their heads. But Lin Mingyang standing on the stage was just an actor in their eyes, so they didn't put their harsh eyes on him.
Putting down the professional attitude and relying only on their feelings, this was indeed a very good song, especially the kind of dynamic rhythm created by the electronic dubbing, together with Lin Mingyang's clear and thick voice, it evolved a dazzling and full of music charm, making all of them forget to follow Lin Mingyang's dance steps and indulge in this kind of rhythm.
Of course there were a few people who stayed awake, Avril was one of them, she didn't sway to the rhythm of Lin Ming Yang's songs like the people around her, but rather she was attentively memorizing the feeling of the newer styles of music. And musicians who were as unusually sensitive to the development of pop music trends as she was, were doing the same thing as her.
This song had opened a door for them, a door to the pinnacle of future pop music trends, and even though it was just a ray of faint light, it was enough to make them ecstatic.
By the time the climax of "baby, baby, baby" was sung for the second time, some people on the stage could already hum along with the melody of the song, and the cheers and whistles from the crowd around them became louder and louder. Just like the frenzy shown by the people when Avril was singing on stage, everyone was screaming and cheering, releasing the strong excitement and thrill brought by the resonance of the song.
Lin Ming Yang's song came to an abrupt end after this climax, and then a black man in hip-hop came out from behind him, singing in a distinctly HI-POP voice, bringing a rhythmic storytelling narration to the song, before he finally sang, "My heart is in pieces, but I still have to keep saying it". The familiar melody of "baby, baby, baby" plays again, and after Lin Ming Yang repeats the lyrics twice, the song comes to a glorious end with the slightly sad "I've already left" chant.
Spitting out the last syllable, Lin Ming Yang kept his legs crossed, his hands naturally stretched out, slightly bowed his head, and posed in a cool pose, welcoming the mountainous screams and applause from the stage.
A sharp-sniffing reporter had early on aimed his camera at Ecks, who was seated offstage, and then captured him standing up and hissing towards the front stage while waving his fists.
This image was put together with another photo taken by a reporter at the time about the unbelievably surprised expression on the face of the chairman of this year's Grammy organizing committee after watching Lin Ming Yang's performance, and in the middle of it was that classic action pose that Lin Ming Yang had struck after the end of the song, and this set of images became the cover photo on the front page of the next day's New York Times, with the headline below it being:
"He Eclipses the Grammy!"