Chapter 495: A New Problem

Chapter 495: Chapter 495: A New Problem

By this time, the schedule for The Voice had progressed to the third stage: the inter-team battle knockout rounds.

After multiple rounds of brutal competition, more than half of the contestants had been eliminated.

Those who remained were top-tier, one-in-a-thousand unpolished gems of the industry, each possessing the stage presence to command the spotlight alone alongside their own signature musical styles.

Under each of the four coaches, their respective teams had solidified their core ace contestants—the ones with the highest hopes of making a sprint for the grand championship.

Among them, the most dramatic journey belonged to Christopher Ocean.

During the Blind Auditions early in the season, his uniquely lazy R&B vocal style and delicate emotional expression triggered a tug-of-war between two top coaches, Steve Winwood and Kanye West.

In the end, after weighing his options, he chose to join Team Steve Winwood.

Unfortunately, during the intense intra-team battle rounds, his condition fluctuated slightly, leading to a heartbreaking defeat that left him on the brink of elimination.

Just when everyone thought his journey had come to an end, Kanye West, who recognized his talent, decisively used his steal option to rescue him into his team, granting him another chance on stage.

Having refined his craft through these twists and turns, Christopher Ocean’s stage presence had grown increasingly mature and stable.

He had now become the most competitive ace contestant in Team Kanye, with the highest potential to cross over into mainstream success.

His R&B style was truly one of a kind, backed by a massive audience base.

Meanwhile, the contestant who had defeated Christopher Ocean in that intra-team battle with ultimate stage performance, flawless vocals, and incredible songwriting capability—becoming famous overnight—was none other than Team Steve Winwood’s core ace: Bruno Mars.

At this point in time, Bruno Mars was still somewhat green, yet he already displayed extraordinary stage control, versatile vocals, songwriting prowess, and natural rhythm on stage.

With no weaknesses across singing, dancing, and writing, his stage atmosphere and infectious energy were unmatched, making him the most stable, explosive, and universally well-liked favourite to win the title.

Under the veteran female rock coach Bonnie Raitt, she had also locked onto her most favoured, beloved, and promising contestant—Katy Perry.

At this time, Katy Perry was still youthful, possessing a clear voice packed with explosive power, a versatile musical style, immense stage presence, and an exceptional sense for melody—naturally predisposed to creating pop hits.

Irene had long recognized her hit-making potential.

After all, to build momentum for Britney earlier, Irene had borrowed Katy’s iconic signature song "Roar" during the sensitive period following 9/11, garnering massive attention for Britney.

"Roar" went straight to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming a legendary hit.

Irene felt she owed Katy a favour.

Now that Katy Perry was likely to become an artist under her own company, she would do everything in her power to help her succeed.

With this, the ultimate Final Four lineup for this season of The Voice had quietly taken shape, clear and defined.

Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, and Christopher Ocean—four future top artists who would sweep the Grammys, dominate the Western music scene, and hold up half the sky of the pop music world—were all gathered in the arena of this single season.

Irene intended to sign all four of these future global superstars in advance, sweeping them all into her fold.

Holding four top Grammy-level newcomers would be enough for the new music company formed by her and Britney to leap straight to the top, instantly securing a premier spot among North America’s rising record labels and saving years, if not decades, of deep cultivation and accumulation.

The only wildcard lay with Christopher Ocean.

Kanye West recognized his talent and favoured him immensely, devoting full effort to nurturing and supporting him throughout the show.

Kanye had long made his intention clear to bring him into his own orbit of resources and would most likely sign him later using his personal connections and industry leverage.

Irene felt no great regret over this, nor did she force the issue.

Connections in the entertainment industry were best left to nature.

Being able to sign three top legendary newcomers was already a guaranteed win of a masterstroke; the slight remaining regret was simply the most natural reality of the industry.

Just three days after Irene successfully signed Stefani, Season 1 of The Voice officially entered its most brutal and crucial sprint phase: the semifinals.

After being filtered through multiple rounds of intra-team battles, cross-team shootouts, and steal revivals, the originally massive rosters of the four coaches’ teams had been significantly streamlined.

According to the established format, after multiple internal battles, each team retained its top three contestants with the strongest overall ability, highest stage consistency, and best audience reputation.

A total of twelve contestants across the four teams assembled to prepare for the ultimate semifinal battle.

This round of semifinals would introduce a brand-new free-for-all knockout format, completely tearing down team barriers.

With no more internal protection from coaches, the twelve top-tier young singers would compete on the same stage in head-to-head combat.

Through stage performance, professional judge scores, and live audience popularity votes, the overall Final Four would be decided to advance to the season grand finale.

This was the ultimate battle to transition from "team powerhouse" to "annual top star."

Every contestant remaining on stage had long shed the green anxiety of their debut.

Refined and forged through multiple performances, their vocals, stage presence, expressiveness, and psychological stability had all undergone a total transformation.

Every match was a clash of titans, with the intensity of the competition and the spectacular nature of the performances far surpassing anything prior.

At this crucial moment when anticipation online was peaking and the competition was right around the corner, Irene had other work to attend to: finalizing the grand finale venue and setting up the public voting system.

This was the final preparatory work she needed to handle most urgently, where no mistakes could be afforded.

Restricted by the regulations and technical limitations of North America’s television industry in 2005, mainstream variety shows across America at the time—whether talent competitions, contests, or talk show specials—rarely used a regular live broadcast format.

Live broadcast approval was strictly scrutinized, signal transmission technology was limited, and the tolerance for error was extremely low; if an unexpected stage accident, contestant mistake, or live incident occurred, it was impossible to remedy in time, making broadcast disasters very likely.

For instance, following Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction earlier, the scrutiny for live broadcasts across the US became far stricter than ever before.

Irene and Britney had privately cursed Justin Timberlake no fewer than ten thousand times for it.

Meanwhile, as an original variety show with a brand-new format, the production team of The Voice had not applied in advance for a live TV broadcast license for the season.

Qualifications review, channel scheduling, and signal filings all failed to meet the requirements for a live broadcast.

Considering multiple factors, the production team had decided back during the initial phase of the project that all rounds of this season, including the final annual grand finale, would be recorded for broadcast.

Although the pre-recorded mode avoided the risks and technical challenges of a live broadcast, it sacrificed the show’s most impactful real-time buzz and sense of nationwide participation.

To compensate for this shortcoming, Irene established a core rule halfway through the season: the annual winner of the season finale would not be determined solely by coach scores or professional judges, nor by internal production decisions, but would be fully entrusted to real-name votes from the thousands of live audience members, thoroughly embodying the core concept of "the public choosing the singer" to maximize fairness, public involvement, and credibility.

But a new problem came with it.