“FTM will participate in tonight’s ‘Music Billboard’ performance, debuting the new song ‘Sunny Coast’ live. Please look forward to it!”
Fans: “!!!”
Finally, the wait was over.
As soon as the news was released, countless Music Notes rushed to spread the word, all camping online waiting for the moment the album would officially drop.
The super topic also had many fans rallying: “The music group’s first album, everyone who has the means please support it~”
“All major platforms have purchase limits now, one ID can only buy one copy. Babies who haven’t registered on QQ Music, Sogou, or NetEase Cloud Music, hurry up and use your phone numbers to register!”
“A proper digital album with 10 songs priced at 21 yuan is very conscientious—the price of a cup of bubble tea. Everyone please support FTM!”
“Ahhh so excited, I want to listen now~”
“So happy that the previous three singles are also included. Our music group suddenly has ten songs, we can loop the album every day from now on”
“Tonight’s stage performance is the title track. Wonder what the choreography is like, so looking forward to it!”
At this moment, backstage at Yuntu TV.
The five changed into brand new music promotion outfits, encouraging each other.
Previously, “Blazing” had a passionate and sexy style. When they won the weekly championship, they wore red leather jackets with black tight pants.
But “Sunny Coast” had a light and cheerful style, very suitable for summer beaches, so the music promotion outfits were also summer vacation style.
All five wore matching white fitted long pants and white sneakers, with color-block shirts on top.
Fang Yinnian wore a color-block short-sleeve shirt that was half light pink and half light blue. His skin was particularly fair, able to carry off such light-colored clothing, making his whole appearance look especially clean.
With the good-looking person standing in center position, FTM’s entire group aesthetic followed Fang Yinnian into a fresh and clean style.
The teammates’ clothing designs were all different. The five together collected the rainbow colors of red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple, creating quite a rich color palette when standing together.
But because the clothes didn’t have flashy patterns—only simple white designs like clouds and waves—when the five stood together, the colors weren’t too harsh on the eyes, but rather very harmonious.
The youthful vigor and enthusiasm of young men.
The summer seaside vacation-style clothing was also full of approachability.
This set of color-block music promotion outfits gave a very comfortable first impression, naturally evoking thoughts of blue skies and white clouds, ocean and beaches.
They also brought a 10-person backup dance crew for this performance, all professional dance teachers from Yan Chi’s team. To avoid overshadowing the main act, the backup dancers wore uniform blue jeans and white T-shirts.
The entire stage arrangement was much more complex than “Blazing,” and the chorus section with the full backup dance crew would be much more lively.
The host excitedly said: “Welcome FTM back to the ‘Music Billboard’ music promotion stage! What song are you bringing us this time? Captain, please give us a brief introduction.”
Mo Xun picked up the microphone and smiled: “This time we’re bringing the title track ‘Sunny Coast’ from our first album ‘Forever FTM.’ We hope everyone will like it.”
Host: “This is the debut performance of the new song, right?”
Mo Xun nodded: “Yes, the first official performance.”
Host: “Good luck! Please draw lots to determine the performance order.”
Mo Xun reached into the box and drew number 1.
First to perform!
Usually the first performer wouldn’t score too high, because the public judging panel would have a “let’s wait and see, maybe there’s something better” mentality, giving more conservative scores at the beginning.
But that was fine. They weren’t necessarily here to win the weekly championship today—they were just using “Music Billboard” as a platform to promote their new song, letting more people know them and their new music.
The results didn’t matter; they’d just perform well.
The five stacked their hands together: “Let’s go!”
The show’s stage hadn’t changed much, the lighting effects were still simple, but the audio equipment was industry top-level, able to reproduce the singers’ most authentic voices.
The performance began, and the familiar musical rhythm rang in their ears.
The five quickly arranged themselves in formation on stage.
The ten-person backup dance crew also stood around the stage, surrounding them in the center like petals around a flower’s center.
The song opened with a stunning “wave dance”!
Mo Xun led the dance in center position. Every muscle in his arms seemed able to move independently as he used both arms to mimic the undulation of ocean waves, each movement perfectly fusing with the drum beat rhythm.
Many people in the live judging panel sat up straight.
It had been so long since they’d seen such impressive choreography!
Most of the songs on the music promotion stage recently had been ballads. The song FTM brought today had extremely strong rhythm, making people’s bodies want to sway along with them.
Mo Xun finished leading the dance and retreated to the back row. Fang Yinnian came to the front of the stage surrounded by the backup dancers.
He smiled while dancing and began singing the main verse.
“Gentle breeze softly blows across the sunny coast”
“We walk shoulder to shoulder toward that azure blue”
The song’s melody was fresh and bright. Fang Yinnian’s clear voice seemed to bring the gentle sea breeze to this venue.
Sunshine, ocean.
Seashells, beach.
Fang Yinnian sang with great immersion, making the live audience seem to see these images before their eyes.
After Fang Yinnian’s main verse ended, it was Fu Fei’s sunny vocal tone.
“Happiness spreads endlessly across the beach”
“Let’s begin this summer carnival together”
After Fu Fei finished the last word, the music’s rhythm suddenly intensified—the summer carnival officially began!
The backup dance crew waiting on the sides all mobilized.
Fifteen people stood in three rows on stage, performing synchronized knife-group choreography. The colorful visual effect shocked both the judging panel below and viewers watching the live stream.
“Holy crap, this segment looks amazing!”
“Carnival atmosphere on point, this dance just makes you happy watching it”
“So many people dancing so synchronized”
“FTM’s knife-group choreography has never disappointed me~”
“The fresh colorful music promotion outfits are so beautiful~”
“This song is perfect for vacation listening”
FTM’s “Sunny Coast” was a very happy song.
The arrangement and choreography merged perfectly. And FTM’s five members delivered a nearly perfect stage presentation today.
Many singers perform with backup dancers.
But being able to coordinate seamlessly with backup dancers, letting the backup “supporting leaves” enhance the main singers’ “red flowers,” wasn’t easy.
These backup dance teachers had met them during MV filming and had very professional dance foundations, so they added considerable support to FTM’s stage performance.
Having only 5 people dance the chorus “summer carnival” section would seem monotonous and not lively enough.
With the backup dancers added, their entire stage became a passionate summer carnival scene.
With the backup dance crew, the choreography design became much richer. For example, using dance to mimic sailing boats at sea; backup dancers surrounding them as they broke through waves, driving yachts…
The entire stage appeared lively and full of fun.
This wasn’t a simple, boring performance.
They were enjoying the stage, singing and dancing while conveying joyful emotions.
During the second chorus, the five led the backup dance crew in moving back and forth across the stage.
“Waves crash to shore where a few crabs quietly rest on the beach”
“The shells’ colors are so vivid, that’s the language from the sea”
The five danced while waving to the audience below. This choreography segment was simple, designed to get the audience to interact.
They stretched out their arms on stage, jumping and waving to the music’s beat. Many audience members below were infected and waved along with them.
When the last word was sung, the accompaniment perfectly ended.
The backup dancers crouched around them while FTM’s five stood in the center, holding hands in a cloud formation.
The camera captured the five’s smiles. Viewers watching the live stream excitedly flooded the screen with dense bullet comments.
“Holy crap, this group has improved so much!”
“Super relaxed stage presence, they heated up the whole venue”
“Running and jumping on stage, such lively choreography”
“I want to dance a few steps along with them”
“Both the first knife-group dance segment and second interactive segment were amazing!”
“Stage full of approachability, the audience can join in and carnival with them~”
“Who remembers when they first came to ‘Music Billboard’ and a shoe fell off because they were too nervous? [dog head]”
“This performance was really fantastic, an eye-catching stage”
“Judging panel don’t be stingy, give them more points!”
Under the audience’s anticipation, the host’s voice finally rang out: “Thank you FTM for bringing us an energetic, passionate summer carnival stage! This song is really perfect for summer.”
“Please have the judging panel vote and score FTM’s ‘Sunny Coast.'”
The numbers on the big screen began flashing rapidly.
300…
600…
8…
Reaching the 800s meant at least 80% of the live judges approved of their stage.
The numbers continued increasing.
9…
Actually starting with 9?!
The five looked at each other in disbelief.
915 votes.
The screen finally settled on this number.
The host said: “Congratulations to FTM’s ‘Sunny Coast’ for receiving 915 votes. Please wait for the other singers’ performances.”
The audience also got excited.
“Holy crap, the first performer actually got such a high score?”
“Probably the live judges got caught up in the emotion. They also sang really well with no flaws”
“This group’s vocal skills have really improved a lot”
“Looks like those two months of secluded album recording weren’t wasted—they must have practiced many times privately”
A singer’s vocal ability required not only private practice but also extensive stage experience accumulation.
When FTM first started performing, they would indeed have various small problems due to nervousness. But ever since “Blazing” won the weekly championship, they suddenly had much more confidence.
Now when performing on stage, they no longer got as nervous as in the beginning. With a much more relaxed mindset, their performances naturally kept getting better.
The five went below stage to wait for the other singers’ performances.
Today was quite a coincidence—aside from “Sunny Coast” being an upbeat dance track, the other four singers all performed ballads.
Ouyang Xi, whom they had encountered before on the music promotion stage, was a very spirited girl, but her song style was quite gentle. While gentle, slow-paced songs were comfortable to listen to, they were hard to score high in PK competitions.
She got 780 votes this week.
The other singers all scored around 850 votes.
It wasn’t that the public judging panel was harsh, but with FTM setting such a high standard, the subsequent singers’ performances all had flaws to varying degrees.
Either too bland and boring; or overly greasy show-off singing techniques; or several cracked high notes…
All things considered, FTM still performed the best.
So many of the public judges didn’t vote for the later acts.
The results for all five new songs were quickly displayed on the big screen.
FTM’s “Sunny Coast” received a final total of 915 votes!
A golden crown appeared after the song’s name, representing that it had won the weekly championship.
The host excitedly announced: “Congratulations to FTM’s ‘Sunny Coast’ for winning this week’s championship!”
TV station leadership came up to present the award. Mo Xun received the trophy and shook hands with them, then bowed to the audience below together with his teammates.
“Thank you everyone!”
“Thank you to all the judges!”
The five embraced each other excitedly.
Fu Fei was almost in tears: “Holy crap, we won the weekly championship on our debut performance, I never expected this!”
Tan Junwen’s eyes also welled up: “Brothers, you’re amazing!”
Mo Xun patted his teammates’ arms and smiled: “Our FTM is the best.”
Fang Yinnian’s nose suddenly felt sour. They had been busy for two and a half months—practicing songs and dances, filming MVs—everyone had given their all for the new album.
Debuting the title track and winning the weekly championship in one go—this result was the best reward for their efforts!
At the same time, several related hashtags appeared on the entertainment trending list.
#FTM First Anniversary#
#FTM Official Album Released Today#
#FTM Music Billboard Weekly Champion!#
Aside from the weekly championship hashtag that the production team had just pushed, the rest were all trending from netizen discussions.
Clicking into the hashtags revealed massive fan and organic promotion.
“Welcome everyone to follow FTM! They just released a new album today, friends who like it can purchase to show support~”
“The album just went online, ahhh go buy it!”
“The title track ‘Sunny Coast’ is pretty good, but my favorite is ‘Night Scene,’ a very gentle love song”
“Just finished listening, this album’s quality is quite high! Besides the title track, there are several other really good songs”
“Found a treasure! Go listen to ‘Prayer Under the Moonlight,’ this song is absolutely amazing!”
“I really like ‘Happy Dialogue,’ I feel this one isn’t inferior to the title track? Why is it so underrated?”
“Thought it was fan circle-limited trash album, but after sampling it, found several good songs, so I bought it too”
A forum entertainment group started a high-rise discussion thread titled “FTM New Album Concentrated Discussion Thread”
OP: “FTM has been out for a year already, so fast! They released a new album today, has everyone listened?”
2F: “Thanks for the notice, going to listen now.”
3F: “21 yuan is quite reasonable. But FTM dares to sell their first album directly? Pretty bold”
5F: “Albums have purchase limits now, fans can’t buy dozens or hundreds of copies per person to boost sales like before. With ID purchase limits, can this group sell 100,000 copies?”
8F: “Laughing to death, forget 100,000, I don’t think they can even sell 50,000. The public has very low recognition for idol albums”
10F: “Starting to harvest fans so eagerly already?”
11F: “Harvesting fans should be through physical albums, stuffing a bunch of photocards and postcards inside without purchase limits to let fans boost sales. Digital albums can’t make much money.”
15F: “How long is the sales tracking period? Waiting for the show.”
18F: “This will be the first boy group in domestic entertainment whose album nobody buys, sitting here waiting for the embarrassment.”
…
297F: “Holy crap, they directly won the weekly championship!”
300F: “Congratulations to FTM for winning the weekly championship on their music promotion stage debut, our little unknown group really gets stronger the more they’re mocked!”
305F: “Don’t rush to mock, just listened to their album, the quality is pretty good”
350F: “After digital album purchase limits, fan circles alone can’t buy much, depends on whether passersby enter the market”
360F: “What are the sales numbers, is anyone tracking?”
This question didn’t get an answer.
After new albums launch, major platforms don’t directly display sales/revenue data—there are 24-hour sales and weekly sales statistics. The final annual rankings are based on one month’s sales.
What range would FTM’s first album sales fall into? Could their “music group” path actually work?
Already so popular on their first anniversary, plus winning the weekly championship on their “Music Billboard” debut, the wave of internet-wide criticism at the beginning of the year hadn’t been able to suppress them. FTM’s rising momentum was already very difficult to suppress.
The first album’s sales were key to testing their popularity and market recognition.
Not only fans were watching, but haters were watching too.
The entire industry was also keeping an eye on it.
A truly “center of attention” group.
The industry didn’t seem to realize yet—their attention to FTM had already far exceeded that given to other boy groups.
**
(advanced chapters available on kofi)
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