Chapter 1047: She Can Sing Falsetto
Li Bingman had some difficulty reaching the high notes, and Xia Ling managed to detect it. Back then she’d thought to herself, if she was the one performing it, she’d be able to comfortably sing those notes even if they were one tone higher.
But some people mocked her quietly. “Oh, how she overestimates herself.”
The band leader looked at Xia Ling and the examiners. “One tone higher would mean we’re playing in C7.” C7 was already in the range of the falsetto, and not many even in the world were able to sing falsetto.
The band leader looked at Xia Ling and the examiners, “One tone higher would mean we’re playing in C7.” C7 was already in the range of the falsetto, and not many even in the world were able to sing falsetto.
The few examiners exchanged glances, unsure of how they should proceed.
What were the chances that a candidate would be able to sing falsetto? It was close to impossible!
If the candidate really could sing falsetto and had the interest to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, he or she would long have been taken away by those star searchers for grooming instead of trying out for a selection here. The statement “I can sing falsetto” would have gotten countless companies fighting over this talent! One of the examiners looked at Xia Ling in disbelief. “Little girl, you can sing in C7?”
Xia Ling had never heard of such a term. “What’s C7?” All her singing had been self-learned. Hence, she did not know the technical aspects of music, much less a term like C7.
The examiners were speechless. It seemed like they had all thought wrong. This was just a girl who knew nothing about her own ability. She was simply trying to resort to any means that could help her beat Li Bingman. Teacher Chen scolded her. “Are you messing with us now!”
Xia Ling repeatedly stubbornly, “I want to raise it by a tone.” She looked at Feng Kun with her bright, clear eyes, believing that this kind and gentle examiner would speak up for her.
As she’d guessed, Feng Kun smiled once again.
“Up a tone,” he said to the band.
“How can this be allowed?” Teacher Chen was disapproving.
“Isn’t this absurd?” Another examiner voiced his disbelief.
Feng Kun said to them, “Let her give it a shot.” Although he was young, his status among them was high and respected. With his words, the rest of them had no further objection. Alright then, they’d let her give it a shot, but just so that she’d know the consequences of spewing nonsense. So what if she had a pretty face, it wasn’t invincible!
All the other candidates kept quiet as they anticipated mocking Xia Ling.
Even Li Bingman was sneering. Wretched girl, do you really think it’s so easy for me to reach those high notes? It might sound effortless, but it takes a lot of work for me to achieve it! Li Bingman felt that this was a challenging song, and thought that Xia Ling was only boasting because she couldn’t even tell the complexities of the song.
She’d already thought of how to insult Xia Ling when she embarrassed herself later.
Xia Ling regulated her breathing and signaled for the band to start. The instrumentals commenced, and they were a whole tone higher than before. Xia Ling tipped her head up slightly and closed her eyes as she entered her dreamscape. In that world, she was the princess, the queen, the creator, and all of the notes were under her command.
In her unique style, she sang the first line of the Russian song.
Just one line was enough to awe everyone present.
It sounded a little like Li Bingman, and yet at the same time, not quite.
Xia Ling’s voice was more hollow and lighter, almost like a little bird that wouldn’t leave a single trace in the skies it had conquered. Everyone was waiting for the next line that she’d deliver. At this point, nobody was thinking of her enunciation anymore—music was universal and traversed boundaries, the sort of feeling one could evoke was far more important than the language inhibitions.
And Xia Ling was the sort of person who could evoke such strong emotions.
In the second line, she fluently performed a slight twist in the rhythm, and it reminded them of a feather drifting slowly in the wind. Many of them were holding their breaths, afraid that they would disturb this beautiful dreamscape.
The third line, then the fourth…
They realized to their surprise that Xia Ling’s voice was in no way inferior to Li Bingman’s, and that its effects were even more powerful and infectious than Li Bingman’s. Li Bingman’s singing would get her comments such as “that’s a good voice”, but Xia Ling’s singing practically took them into another world, so much so that they’d forget this was just a song…
Only the minority of examiners were still fully conscious and focused.
Feng Kun’s eyes lit up. He’d always looked forward to this little girl’s performance, and she ended up exceeding his expectations. He was now leaning forward and resting his chin on both hands as he focused on her.
“It’s coming, it’s coming,” a few examiners said all of a sudden.
While being immersed in Xia Ling’s voice, they had not forgotten that this whole song had been raised a tone. This meant that the higher notes would reach C7 and above into the falsetto range. Such a singing style required talent more than anything—those who could sing falsetto would naturally be able to conquer those notes and execute them wonderfully, while ordinary singers would never be able to achieve such a level even if they worked on it their whole lives.
Could Xia Ling sing falsetto or not?
If ordinary singers were seen as sand on the beach, then one who could sing a falsetto would be a precious stone in the sand! That was how precious they were!
All the examiners sat up instinctively.
Xia Ling sang a light-hearted tune, the first part of the high notes in the song. She reached the C7 note flawlessly and effortlessly.
“Gosh…” All the examiners were in utter shock. This girl really could do it!
She was just like a bird soaring through the air, achieving greater heights with minimal effort… This was a three-segment melody of high notes, with each subsequent one higher than the last. The highest of them all was considered rare even among other songs with falsetto parts. But for her, it didn’t seem much different at all. She raised her pitch perfectly for each segment that came and managed to have the three segments flow beautifully. At the end of this high-pitch verse, her melodious voice was still suspended in the air. She went on and lowered her voice for the following parts, perfectly performing the mid- and low-pitch segments as well.
… Simply flawless!
Everyone was too shocked to speak as they completely immersed in her gift of voice.
Finally, when Xia Ling was done with the song, she bowed before the examiners.
Not a single sound was heard offstage.
A second later, Feng Kun began applauding before the rest finally snapped out of their daze and went along.
Xia Ling smiled at the examiners. “Did I sing well?”
The examiners acknowledged her statement with silence. They were simply speechless when it came to this girl’s character—all the other candidates were polite and fearful, and every one of them acted humble even if they knew they did well. But what about her? She was actively fishing for compliments.
“Modesty!” Teacher Chen felt a need to teach this girl some manners.
Xia Ling ignored her and looked toward Feng Kun. She’d realized by now that Feng Kun was the nicest examiner around here, and all that mattered to her were his comments.
Feng Kun smiled. “You sang very well. You’re in.”
“Ah?” She gasped. “But the score isn’t out yet.”
“No need for that. You’re first,” Feng Kun said. Well, who’d object to a girl who could sing a falsetto coming first in the finals?