◎Death
On the stage of the audio comprehensive “Our Folk Songs 2022”, folk musicians have completed several rounds of competition. Even though the program team carefully built a folk song city, even though different scenes were set up on the stage to show the characteristics of different artists, even though we saw veteran folk singers who dared to challenge themselves in the show, even though many program entries rushed to the hot search …But “Our Ballad 2022” still has an indescribable “awkwardness”.
Most folk musicians are introverted, socially fearful and sensitive. Their music contains their emotions, life and yearning. The works are improvisations when they are touched by the scene, and then fermented into glasses of alcohol through the heart. Even Chen Hongyu, who promoted his bar business in the first episode, burst into tears during the recording of the program because of the intense and sincere emotions. In the show, the camera also shifted from the affectionate expressions on the stage to the tearful eyes off the stage, frequently moving, sentimental, and beautiful. It is simple and gorgeous, but it is too dense and makes people feel a little tired.
Folk musicians are Buddhist. The “wild child” who once appeared on the stage of “Summer of the Band”, even in the explosive rock arena, still maintains his true colors, has no desire to win, and does not wander around in the rules. The gathering of a group of folk singers is more like a reunion of long-lost old friends, just warming each other peacefully. This is also difficult for variety shows, where the sense of entertainment and conflict has fallen into a state where there is no energy to use.
It is natural to invite talk show actors Hu Lan and Xu Zhisheng to host the show. They can attract more audiences with traffic, and their joyful sense of variety can also properly offset the sentimental tears on the stage and ease the atmosphere. But in the competition stage, comedian Yue Yunpeng and writer Liu Zhenyun joined, plus two other judges, which made the comments or gags too dense, and even somewhat destroyed the unique atmosphere built by folk singers.
The on-site scoring audience also lacks a rich selection of age groups. They are all too young audience groups born after 00, and they are more likely to vote for popular traffic songs and musicians. At the end of the first round of the knockout round, some folk singers were eliminated. It can’t help but make people feel that the program group is too realistic in the implementation of the competition system. Xiaoliu, Zhang Ruoshui, and Lu Jingzhou’s musical styles have their own characteristics, which is rich in musicality for this stage, but they were eliminated early, which cannot but be said to be a loss for this stage. If Zhang Weiwei and Xiao He, the two ceiling figures in folk music, are eliminated, it is estimated that they will offend and lose a lot of viewers.
The performance is a good performance, some of the comments are in place, and there are rich elements to create topics, but the collage is neither like a special competition nor like a special documentary party; the collision of sparks, the mobilization of potential, and the expression of temperament beyond the inherent impression are all Not obvious, good-looking and not good-looking, maybe this is the source of “awkward”. Whether competition is suitable for folk songs and how the competition system is more reasonable is still open to question. Folk songs come from life, and it may be an idea to connect the stories between folk songs with pictures in life.
Awkwardness is awkwardness, but each performance in the show is taken out separately but there is no shortage of highlights. Particularly worth mentioning are Zhang Weiwei, Zhou Yunpeng, Xiaoliu and Xiaohe. Zhang Weiwei was not satisfied with the present and still challenged himself. He made new music with a synthesizer, and at the same time showed his funny and relaxed side on stage. Perhaps off the stage, the communication between him and young musicians is more worthy of being captured by the camera.
Zhou Yunpeng’s performance in the show is particularly outstanding. Although there are very few tidbits about him off the court, his performance on the court will never disappoint. For example, after performing “September”, he introduced the background of the lyrics and music, evoking awe of the dead and life, and also responded to the controversy of “wood” in the lyrics, and established a synaesthesia between the sense of smell and hearing in the analysis—— This is a very valuable and nutritious content in the program. In the classic cover part of the cooperation competition, he and Ye Bei sang the difficult “Burning Flowers” together, and explained that this song is sad but not hurtful, allowing us to see the side of Lin Daiyu’s rebellious girl—one of her musical perspectives. Uniqueness is also a reflection of his own destiny and attitude towards life.
Xiaoliu is a surprise, unique among the younger generation of artists, the two works in the program are novel and refreshing. Especially the song “Syndrome” perfectly interprets the psychological performance of people in a state of depression. In the album, this song is connected with the introductory part of the opening chapter, which also marks the tone of the whole album. Listening to it as a whole, I feel that music is a record, a release, and a cure for Xiaoliu. By the way, she just won the “Folk Singer of the Year” at the Weibo Music Festival not long ago.
Then there is Xiaohe, both performances appeared in the form of “Xiaohe and Rumor Seeking Project”. Xiaohe’s “Rhyme Seeking Project” started in 2018, aiming to let more people pay attention to, discover, and spread traditional Chinese nursery rhymes, and record those melodies that are about to be forgotten. This is not only to find the songs scattered among the people, but also to let people find their childhood in their hearts. On a music platform, someone left a message for “Shake the Boat” and said: “This song was sung to me by my grandfather when I was very young. Since I was a child, I have been curious why none of my friends have heard this nursery rhyme. I found the answer through the program this time… Grandpa has been gone for three years now, and I really cried for a long time after hearing “Shake the Boat” today.” Find those things that can span time and space, have no imprint of the times, and have a commonality in human nature The works are the criteria for screening works of the “Rumor Seeking Project”. Through this program, the “Rumor Seeking Project” has become known to more people, and I believe Xiaohe will continue to do better.
The first album of Xiaohe’s band “Beautiful Drugstore” is called “Please show me a photo of my cousin”. Borrowing this title, I also hope that “Our Folklore 2022” can continue to adapt to the temperament of folklore itself, attract more audiences who love folk music, magnify the style characteristics of all folklodgers, and build a clear image that truly belongs to folklore .