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The platter concert that Lu Chen participated in was the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Xizi Cultural Festival and the completion celebration of Xizi Square.
Xizi Cultural Square is one of the key projects completed by the Municipal Government this year, and it involved a significant amount of private capital investment in its construction. Therefore, the celebration was particularly grand, with over twenty celebrity artists invited to this concert alone, making it a star-studded event.
The biggest star among them was the multi-talented superstar Li Xing, who excels in film, television, and music. This 30-something-year-old actress has won multiple Best Actress awards in film, released two personal albums, and starred in TV dramas that guarantee high ratings.
In terms of status in the entertainment industry, Li Xing is even higher than Chen Fei'er, making her one of the top-tier celebrities in the country.
The reason Li Xing was invited to this Xizi Cultural Festival opening concert is that she is a native of Hangzhou.
Another notable figure is Liu Zonghan, who also has a high reputation and status. He is from Hong Kong but has been developing his career in mainland China. He is skilled in singing love songs and R&B, can compose his own music, and has released multiple best-selling albums.
Apart from Li Xing and Liu Zonghan, the rest, including Lu Chen, are second or third-tier singers in the domestic music scene.
To put it bluntly, they are here to make up the numbers, which is why it's called a platter concert.
With Li Xing and Liu Zonghan as the main attractions, this platter concert was undoubtedly eye-catching. It's said that all the tickets were sold out half a month ago, and the advertising revenue was substantial.
Moreover, Zhedong Satellite TV will be live-streaming the event.
Typically, many artists are willing to perform at such concerts even if they don't make money, just to get some exposure. The fact that Lu Chen secured a spot is mainly due to his identity as a native of the province.
So when Lu Xi received the invitation, she quickly signed the performance contract.
At 6 PM, under the arrangement of the concert organizing committee, Lu Chen took a courtesy car to the stadium.
The gala was held at the West Lake Stadium, with Xizi Cultural Square located to the south of the stadium, just a few hundred meters away from the world-famous West Lake.
As soon as it got dark, the area outside the West Lake Stadium was already bustling with activity, and the surrounding roads were completely congested.
Of course, the courtesy vehicles still had no trouble getting through.
As part of the celebration, the organizing committee arranged for the celebrity artists to walk the red carpet.
In the early days, walking the red carpet was a very grand affair, usually reserved for major film festivals.
But later, with the rapid development of the domestic entertainment industry, the prestige of walking the red carpet has significantly declined.
As long as multiple celebrities or public figures are invited, even brand promotion events now lay out red carpets and invite media reporters to take photos and create buzz, which has become a common practice.
People are no longer surprised by it.
The Xizi Cultural Festival concert was no exception, with nearly 30 celebrities making it worthy of a red carpet show.
Of course, while the prestige of walking the red carpet has declined, the basic rules have never changed.
That is, the order is determined by the celebrities' status, with the higher-status ones going first.
Lu Chen was assigned to the 12th car, and he walked the red carpet alongside another female celebrity, Bai Wei.
Bai Wei is an actress who has been in the industry for five or six years and has appeared in many TV dramas.
Lu Chen's impression of her comes from a supporting role she played in a city-themed TV drama. She is quite beautiful and a good actress.
Her fame isn't particularly high, but she has a rather aloof personality. After getting into the car, she merely nodded at Lu Chen as a greeting and didn't respond to his friendly and polite greeting.
She just started scrolling through her phone.
Since her attitude was cold, Lu Chen naturally didn't try to ingratiate himself.
The atmosphere in the car was a bit awkward.
Fortunately, the distance from the hotel to the stadium was short, and they didn't have to wait long before the courtesy car Lu Chen was in came to a smooth stop at the starting point of the red carpet.
A staff member in a black suit opened the car door, and Lu Chen quickly stepped out.
Click! Click! Click!
The surrounding flashlights instantly lit up, startling him a bit.
There were so many people!
The red carpet leading to the main entrance of the stadium was about 50 meters long, and it was of a high standard.
The red carpet path was separated by safety barriers on both sides, and behind the barriers were countless people , a sea of heads and brightly lit signs with different celebrity names.
Among the crowd were naturally reporters and photographers, with cameras of all sizes and an uncountable number of smartphones capturing the moment. Walking on the red carpet truly gave a thrilling sense of glory and accomplishment.
Bai Wei, who had been cold in the car, transformed into a completely different person as she walked the red carpet, beaming with smiles and stopping occasionally to pose, showcasing her elegant Hermes gown.
Tonight, Lu Chen was dressed very formally in a tailored Armani suit that perfectly complemented his figure, and his confident demeanor attracted quite a few camera flashes.
This suit was chosen by Lu Xi just the night before.
His sister has great taste.
Although they were walking the red carpet together, Lu Chen and Bai Wei were essentially on separate paths, maintaining a safe distance of over a meter to avoid any rumors.
"Lu Chen!" "Lu Chen!"
Just as Lu Chen was halfway down the red carpet, he suddenly heard someone loudly calling his name. He turned to see several young female fans trying to squeeze to the front of the barrier, ignoring the security guards' shouts, excitedly yelling, "Lu Chen, I love you!"
Lu Chen was momentarily taken aback but then felt a bit touched.
These fans looked quite young, likely still in school, and they were pushing through the crowd, their hair and clothes disheveled, yet they tightly held fluorescent signs with Lu Chen's name.
They waved vigorously at him! Without hesitation, Lu Chen walked over to them, smiling, "Hello!"
"Ah!"
The girls immediately squealed in delight, their faces flushed with excitement.
One of the girls stammered, "Lu Chen, can I have your autograph?"
Lu Chen replied, "Of course! Do you have a pen? Where should I sign?"
The girls hadn't expected not only to get Lu Chen's attention but also to find him so friendly.
They were prepared, quickly pulling out a pen and lifting up their T-shirts.
"Sign here, sign here!"
Lu Chen didn't know what to say but nevertheless fulfilled their request, signing his name on the T-shirt.
After signing, the girls grew bolder and asked for a photo together.
"Mr. Lu Chen."
Unfortunately, the security personnel maintaining order had objections, as many people were starting to crowd towards them.
Lu Chen quickly made an apologetic gesture and returned to the red carpet.
He could only leave the girls disappointed.
In such situations, it's nice to interact with fans, but one cannot linger too long.
Otherwise, it could easily lead to chaos.
Also, it's his status that allows him to sign autographs; if it were Li Xing, such behavior could lead to serious trouble.
So sometimes, it's not that celebrities are deliberately acting high and mighty, but rather for safety considerations.
Successfully finishing the red carpet walk, Lu Chen stepped onto the welcome stage and signed his name on the signature wall.
Then came the photographers and a brief interview with Zhedong Satellite TV.
The interview was conducted by a host from Zhedong Satellite TV named Tian Tian.
This host graduated from the China Media University and had only joined the station a year ago. She quickly became a well-known heroine broadcaster due to her beauty and talent, hosting popular music and food programs with high ratings and significant online popularity, being hailed as the first beauty host of Zhedong Satellite TV.
Tian Tian was young and, in terms of appearance and temperament, outshone several second and third-tier female stars present, especially when she smiled, revealing two shallow dimples on her cheeks.
When it was Lu Chen's turn, she first graciously shook his hand and asked, "Lu Chen, everyone knows you are from Binhai and studied at university in Hangzhou. What are your thoughts on returning to your hometown to perform?"
Lu Chen smiled and said, "I'm very happy to perform in Hangzhou for my fellow townspeople. Tonight, I will do my best to sing at my highest level and ensure I don't disappoint everyone!"
Walking the red carpet, taking photos, and the interview were all pre-arranged by the organizing committee, including the questions posed by the female host.
Lu Chen simply had to recite the prepared answers.
Tian Tian smiled, "Then I wish you great success in your performance tonight, and I hope to hear your solo concert here in the future!"
Lu Chen nodded, "Thank you!"
After the interview and the group photo with the stars were completed, the staff began guiding everyone towards the staff passage.
The staff passage led to the backstage dressing rooms in the stadium, and the official performance time was approaching.
Host Tian Tian walked ahead with the staff, followed by the cameraman, and then Lu Chen, along with two other artists, all stepping down the welcome stage together.
At that moment, from a crowd about ten meters away, a man suddenly jumped over the safety barrier, taking advantage of the security's momentary lapse.
This man was wearing a brownish-black jacket and a mask, originally holding a fluorescent sign, but he discarded it while climbing over the barrier and rushed forward at high speed.
As he ran, he pulled a glass bottle from his pocket and expertly twisted off the cap.
His eyes were fixed on Tian Tian, burning with a frenzied intensity! Due to the rapid unfolding of events, it wasn't until the man was only four or five meters away from Tian Tian that the celebrity artists who had just stepped off the welcome stage reacted, gasps and screams erupting simultaneously.
The staff member at the front was so startled that he instinctively recoiled, colliding with the cameraman behind him.
(End of Chapter)