Chapter 254: Godfaher of Girl Groups
"How popular is Zhang Yuanying in Korea? She and aespa's Liu Zhimin are known as the 'K-Pop Twin Stars' in Korea." Photos of Zhang Yuanying and Liu Zhimin appeared on either side of the blogger.
"Both are top-tier idol artists in Korea, with a popularity similar to Phoenix Legend, completely household names."
"Zhang Yuanying originally debuted in a group called IVE. I wonder if any of you outside the industry have seen this clip."
What followed was a scene of Zhang Yuanying jumping from a plane in the "I AM" music video.
"This song is a segment from IVE's debut music video, and it also marks the beginning of Zhang Yuanying's legendary idol career. In 2019, IVE disbanded due to some issues. You can find the specific reasons in my past videos, so I won't elaborate further here."
"In August of the same year, Zhang Yuanying re-debuted through Korea's national survival show 'Produce 48.' The group she debuted with this time is the current IZONE."
"Let me give you some background on what kind of group IZONE is in Korea. On August 4, 2019, IZONE officially debuted. As soon as they appeared, they completely dominated all K-Pop groups, similar to when Jay Chou releases an album and other singers have to make way."
"According to the White Paper—oh, by the way, this White Paper is an official Korean historical record documenting the development of K-Pop; artists who appear in it are essentially etched into history."
"According to the White Paper's statistics, IZONE was the first group in Korea to have over one million paid fan club members. What does fifty thousand paid members mean? It means one out of every hundred Koreans has spent money on IZONE. Remember, it's 'spent money'! Not spending money isn't counted."
"In such a national-level group, Zhang Yuanying's popularity consistently ranks in the top two, mostly first, occasionally second."
"Oh, by the way, there's also a rumor that someone in Zhang Yuanying's family is Chinese, specifically a man from Shandong. The first stop of the recently popular Korean travel variety show 'Yuan Ying's Travel' is Jinan, so this claim has some credibility, but it's not officially confirmed, so don't pay too much attention to it."
"Alright, I believe this should give you a slight understanding of this girl who became a top Korean star at only sixteen years old."
"Now, for the main event." The blogger smiled and clapped his hands, then a photo appeared showing Jiang Shu in a suit, sitting at a conference table, calmly looking forward.
And next to the photo, lines of titles were dazzling.
"Jiang Shu, Chinese, from Jiangsu. Born in 1990, currently the chairman of DM Entertainment, one of the four major Hallyu entertainment companies, a director of S.M. Entertainment, the recognized number one producer in K-Pop, and the creator of famous groups like IVE, Red Velvet, ITZY, and IZONE. He is also the only foreigner written into the White Paper, and is crowned 'Godfather of Girl Groups' by the White Paper!"
"Isn't that exaggerated?" The blogger's smiling face appeared.
"It is well-known that Korea is extremely xenophobic, but our compatriot not only carved out a career in Korea but also reached a point where he leads the entire industry. His ability is unimaginable."
"We mentioned the White Paper earlier; initially, K-Pop didn't have such a thing. But later, Jiang Shu, through DM Entertainment, proposed the concept of the White Paper to the officials, and this concept was subsequently adopted, leading to the White Paper we have today."
"Let me share an interesting rumor with you."
"Because Jiang Shu is a foreigner, the cultural and entertainment department initially didn't want to include Jiang Shu, but then they encountered a problem: if not Jiang Shu, then who? The development of girl groups certainly needed a leader to drive it all."
"They thought long and hard but couldn't find a suitable candidate. Moreover, many of the current concepts related to girl groups were proposed and perfected by Jiang Shu, and his contributions to girl groups are unmatched. If you don't include him, it's not Jiang Shu's loss, but the White Paper's credibility's loss."
"And so, the only foreigner in the White Paper, and the Godfather of K-Pop girl groups, was born."
"Actually, Jiang Shu isn't the only Chinese working in K-Pop. Jiang Shu is an outstanding representative of this group, and many others are working hard to create their own stories."
The video ended, but the popular information about Jiang Shu and Zhang Yuanying was spreading rapidly.
Especially Jiang Shu's related information. No matter how amazing Zhang Yuanying is, she is Korean, but Jiang Shu is different; he is Chinese.
A Chinese person making a name for himself as a "Godfather" in a foreign country sounds like something out of a fantasy novel.
When such a cinematic plot truly appears before one's eyes, the sense of pride it brings is quite interesting.
The empathy and national pride of Chinese people are very strong. The achievements of compatriots abroad make many people feel honored, thus becoming natural supporters of that person.
This is currently the situation with Jiang Shu.
Using this Lin Junjie concert as a springboard, Jiang Shu's name became thoroughly famous on the domestic entertainment network, and many people gradually learned something.
In Korea, there is a compatriot named Jiang Shu who has become the Godfather of the Korean entertainment industry!
The rumors grew more and more incredible, more and more impressive.
Even the super topic, which originally had only one or two tens of thousands of followers, broke through one hundred thousand within a few hours, and the number was still soaring.
As for the two protagonists of the public opinion, they returned to Seoul one after another.
The Suzhou stop ended successfully. Zhang Yuanying had to go run her schedule after filming the variety show, and Jiang Shu's vacation ended, so he also returned to the company to handle affairs and enter work mode.
Chairman's Office.
"Your reaction speed regarding the concert is commendable; you did well." Jiang Shu looked at Li Duohui in front of him and praised her.
"That's also thanks to you overriding all objections last year to implement public opinion risk control on yourself," Li Duohui said with a smile.
Last year, Jiang Shu requested that his public opinion risk control level be set to the highest, which met with great resistance. Although it was ultimately implemented, there were still many people secretly opposing it before this incident occurred today.
However, after this concert incident, there were naturally no more objectors to this matter.
Facts once again proved that Jiang Shu was correct.
"Your reaction was also quick enough, which is still commendable."
Jiang Shu received the report from Li Duohui, Qu Fan, and Qin Zhen only the next morning, but they had already come up with a plan before reporting, which was very good.
If he had waited for him to give instructions before arranging the plan, it would have been a bit late.
Li Duohui just smiled at Jiang Shu's praise and didn't take too much credit.
