The finals organizers gave each contestant some friend and family tickets to invite support groups to the venue. Fang Yinnian called his father, mother, and grandmother to come together.
Of course, there were also his most treasured teammates.
Tang Che and Xiao Fei also flew to Beijing airport in the evening, everyone meeting at the hotel.
Fang Yinnian actively stepped forward to hug both.
Tang Che patted his shoulder: “Good that you’re back. Completing your studies in two years—must have been exhausting abroad?”
Fang Yinnian said: “It was okay. The teachers abroad gave me a lot of help.”
Fu Fei smiled brightly: “Brother Nian is a Lausanne Academy master’s graduate—you raised our average education level hahaha!”
Xiao Fei was still as smiley as in memory—he’d changed least among the five. His face had baby fat naturally, plus his unique youthful voice made the 23-year-old look like an 18-year-old.
The five had a simple meal gathering in a hotel private room.
Mo Xun raised his beer, smiling: “Come on, everyone cheers—to all of us having free status.”
Everyone raised glasses together, shouting in unison: “To freedom!”
***
Saturday evening August 25th, CCTV’s “Chinese Good Songs” finals were held at Bird’s Nest Stadium.
As one of China’s largest stadiums, the Bird’s Nest could accommodate over 100,000 spectators, but this finals stage was built as a three-sided stage. With fire safety requirements, only 50,000 seats were temporarily opened.
At 8 PM, the “Chinese Good Songs” finals officially began.
The atmosphere was very lively. Under the host’s encouragement, 50,000 audience members created human waves, light sticks changing various colors, with deafening screams and applause reaching backstage.
First round: contestants + featured guests collaborative performances.
Tonight’s featured guest lineup was quite luxurious. Teacher Ji Ying’s team invited music industry little diva Ouyang Xi, while other mentors’ teams also invited weighty professional singers.
In comparison, Fang Yinnian’s featured guest had now changed careers to acting. Though Tan Junwen had recently exploded with a modern romance drama, his music industry influence was limited—he hadn’t performed on stage for two years.
Fortunately, the understanding between Fang Yinnian and Tan Junwen was cultivated through countless days and nights of practicing songs and dances together. Plus Mo Xun’s choreography gave Fang Yinnian confidence in the upcoming performance.
The first three singers finished their performances one by one. The third sang a very difficult song, receiving 45,980 votes.
With 50,000 total audience members, getting over 90% votes was already quite impressive.
Fang Yinnian performed last under enormous pressure. He took a deep breath, lightly high-fiving Tan Junwen: “The previous singers got high votes—we’re facing an uphill battle.”
Tan Junwen smiled: “Don’t worry. Since debut, we’ve always faced uphill battles.”
On stage, the host passionately delivered transitions: “Thank you to Ji Ying team contestant Fu Lin and featured guest Ouyang Xi for their wonderful performance! The first round competition has one last contestant remaining. Who is he? Let’s shout his name together!”
The entire audience shouted in unison: “Fang Yinnian!”
Host: “Please welcome contestant #4, Fang Yinnian from Mentor Luo Hua’s team!”
Amid deafening screams, Fang Yinnian, Tan Junwen, and the backup dance troupe got ready on stage as the song’s intro echoed throughout the stadium.
Most of today’s ticket-buying finals audience were loyal fans who’d watched the entire season, so everyone knew Fang Yinnian excelled at gentle ballads, expecting him to continue with ballads at finals.
No one expected the song Fang Yinnian brought today to have such passionate and inspiring intro melody!
“Why”
Lyrics/Composition/Performance: Fang Yinnian
Featured Guest: Tan Junwen
Choreography: Mo Xun
Backup Dancers: Angle Dance Troupe
Livestream viewers and live audiences collectively froze seeing the song information appear on screens.
The livestream was flooded with dense bullet comments.
“Holy crap! Mo Xun and Tan Junwen?! Am I seeing things?”
“Fang Yinnian actually invited Tan Junwen to feature? My god!”
“This is FTM’s first small reunion since disbanding, right?”
“Ahhh group fans are going crazy! Never dreamed Yinnian would invite Junwen to feature!”
“Mo Xun did choreography? I remember Angle dance troupe often did backup dancing for FTM?”
“Is my MoFang CP about to resurrect from ashes?”
“Holy crap, this is literally a dream collaboration!”
Simultaneously, forums opened a massive thread.
“Fang Yinnian invited Tan Junwen to feature, Mo Xun did choreography!”
The poster’s hands trembled while typing: “I’m a former musical note—who understands my current excitement ahhh! Dream collaboration actually slightly realized on Yinnian’s finals stage!”
Fans and haters immediately clicked to reply.
“Scenes I wouldn’t dare dream…”
“My god, will the MoFang CP that’s been BE for years finally give sugar today?”
“Ahhh Tan Junwen actually went to be Yinnian’s featured guest?”
“Tan Junwen hasn’t had stage performances for two years—won’t his featuring drag things down?”
“Doesn’t Fang Yinnian have connections to invite industry bigshots, only able to invite former teammates as fillers?”
“Above poster don’t rush to hate—if Yinnian dares invite and Junwen dares sing, look how anxious you are.”
“Did Tang Che and Xiao Fei come? Won’t this really be full group appearance?”
Live broadcast directors seemed to guess audience expectations, deliberately cutting cameras to the friends and family section—Tang Che, Fu Fei, and Mo Xun’s faces were enlarged on venue screens and livestream screens.
Audiences: “!!”
The livestream filled with ahhhhh screams.
“Holy crap, century-defining frame!”
“Mo Xun, Tang Che, Xiao Fei’s first frame together in two years!”
“My god, I have a crazy theory—is FTM reuniting?”
“If they could reunite, this would be an entertainment industry miracle!”
On the big stage, lights snapped on.
Fang Yinnian and Tan Junwen, leading a massive backup dance troupe, began their first knife formation dance performance.
Today’s performance costumes were very distinctive—all black leather with red ribbons tied to arms, shoulders, and backs. This was typical paired dancing: one person stiffly imitating “mechanized puppets” in front, as if every joint had been disassembled and was clicking and rotating, while another person behind controlled red ribbons with sharp, cool movements.
The neat knife formation mechanical puppet dance performed by a group was so stunning it made audiences’ scalps tingle.
“This choreography is incredible!”
“The puppets act so realistically—my god, the puppeteers’ movements behind are so beautiful!”
“Fang Yinnian’s dancing has improved greatly!”
“Hehe, I bet Mo Xun taught him~”
“This is definitely tonight’s most stunning stage—knife formation dance is too cool!”
Over ten puppets plus puppeteers behind them danced in perfect unison. All puppets seemed controlled by intelligent AI, creating eerie “mechanical feeling.” Black leather, red silk threads—the visual effects were amazing!
The choreography perfectly merged with the song’s rhythm.
After a section of uniform mechanical dance, Fang Yinnian took the microphone in front row center position and began singing.
“Every day controlled like a puppet by others
Rules’ silk threads shroud my entire body
Seemingly guiding but more like a cage
Why can’t your control loosen
Following routines brings nothing different
Personality and dreams gradually worn empty
Those restraining clauses cold and heavy
Why am I always easily toyed with by you
Why
Obviously unreasonable yet must be followed
Why
No one speaks of all the injustices
Why
Who exactly is controlling everything
Why
Has it always been this way so it’s right”
Listeners collectively burst out “holy crap” exclamations.
“Fang Yinnian’s lyrics are so bold?!”
“Is this subtly mocking certain industry unspoken rules?”
“Surface level is puppets being controlled, actually it’s about management companies controlling artists, right? Those who understand, understand”
“My god! This song is completely unlike Fang Yinnian’s usual gentle style!”
“Who said Fang Yinnian only writes ballads? This passionate, intense singing-dancing song is also well-written”
“Singing gentle ballads at finals won’t get high scores—he’s smart. With this high-energy song and choreography, if I were watching live I’d definitely vote for him!”
After Fang Yinnian finished this section, he retreated to the back rows.
Tan Junwen gracefully slid forward to center position, beginning his rap performance.
“Yo yo let me loudly say no to you
Colorful worlds shouldn’t be painted black and white
Unique creativity shouldn’t be secretly plagiarized
Forward paths shouldn’t be arbitrarily controlled
Individual thoughts shouldn’t be despotically destroyed”
Two years later, Tan Junwen’s rap remained as smooth as in memory. He sang while dancing, rhythm timing especially precise, voice completely clear without mumbling or mic feedback—every word reached listeners’ ears clearly.
This rap section had an incredibly fast rhythm, which Tan Junwen delivered smoothly, further pushing the song toward its climax.
“I’m not without thoughts, I just don’t want to be directed by you
I have the courage to climb over this tall wall before me
Those rule constraints I must break them all
My destiny must be steered by myself
Don’t think you can trap me with messy frameworks
My beliefs burn hot like fire, I’m never cowardly and will never retreat”
Tan Junwen quickly retreated to the back with the backup dancers. Fang Yinnian was controlled by puppeteers to the front, his clear voice entering at the perfect moment to begin the second verse melody.
“Every step of the road is corrected and arranged
Admonitions and regulations like invisible haze
The fire in my heart remains difficult to release
Why can’t the truth be spoken”
During the second chorus, the entire group’s magnificent knife formation dance triggered deafening screams from the venue!
Fang Yinnian sang while dancing, sweat pouring down like rain, yet his voice remained stable as if he’d swallowed a CD.
He coordinated perfectly with the backup dance troupe, smoothly completing the knife formation performance.
Then, a clear drum beat sounded in the accompaniment. The dance suddenly stopped, all puppets seeming to lose control, falling to the ground together like kites with severed strings.
The song’s melody became gentle. Fang Yinnian stood in the center, his clear voice echoing throughout the entire stadium—
“May mountains and earth blow the gentlest wind
May unreasonable rules all be sealed away
May hope and faith no longer fall empty
May free souls fly toward the sky”
This high note ending was sung so beautifully by Fang Yinnian. The bright high notes seemed to carry countless free souls, flying into the vast sky.
After the intense dancing, the gentle ending made the puppets seem awakened by his voice. Their bodies regained sensation as they stood up from the ground, surrounding Fang Yinnian.
As the final note fell, everyone struck an ending pose, concluding the entire performance.
Thunderous screams and applause erupted from below the stage.
The entire stadium was completely ignited by this passionate, inspiring song!
This was definitely tonight’s—even among all competitive music variety shows in domestic entertainment—most stunning stage performance!
The host’s voice was also excited: “Thank you very much to Fang Yinnian and Tan Junwen for bringing us ‘Why.’ Live audience, did you like their performance?”
The audience shouted in unison below: “We liked it!”
The host said: “Next, you two have 30 seconds to canvass for votes.”
Fang Yinnian caught his breath lightly to calm his breathing, bowed toward the audience below, and smiled: “If you liked our performance, please vote for #4 Fang Yinnian. Thank you everyone!”
Tan Junwen directly improvised a vote-canvassing rap on the spot: “Tonight is the Chinese Good Songs finals stage, lights focused here as we showcase our talents together. Fang Yinnian reaching finals is a sign of his strength. Please all audience vote for #4 Fang Yinnian so he won’t slack off in the future! Yo yo, vote vote vote for #4! Vote vote vote for #4!”
Fang Yinnian was amused by him—Junwen was quite talented. He remembered when they participated in the Spring Festival Gala, they’d also changed a song into a blessing version, with Junwen revising all the rap parts.
Seeing him work so hard canvassing votes, Fang Yinnian was very moved.
Having so many friends accompanying him to witness the finals—wasn’t he the luckiest person?
The host smiled: “Alright, 30 seconds up! Junwen’s rap vote-canvassing was very distinctive. Please begin voting, live audience. Those supporting Fang Yinnian, press button #4!”
Vote counts on the big screen began rapidly increasing.
30,000…
40,000…
45,000…
46,000!
When the count settled at 48,704, Fang Yinnian excitedly turned and embraced Tan Junwen.
Excellent—first place, nearly 2,000 votes ahead of second place!
The two bowed to the audience below and exited together.
Returning backstage, Fang Yinnian couldn’t help saying: “Thank you Junwen, you’re really wonderful, even improvising rap on the spot to help me canvass.”
Tan Junwen smiled: “Don’t be polite—I’m happy to help you. Continue preparing for the next round. I’ll change clothes and find Brother Mo and the others. Fighting!”
Fang Yinnian turned and entered the dressing room to change.
Next was the second competitive round—students and mentors singing together.
Since final results required adding both rounds’ votes, the second round would be even more intense.
Fang Yinnian still performed last.
His second round brought a superhigh vocal technique showcase song “Sky Mirror.”
Fang Yinnian changed into a white suit while Teacher Luo Hua wore a black suit.
This collaboration between veteran singing king and new generation singer was also very stunning.
Fang Yinnian had a clear, bright vocal line with very high range. Luo Hua was a typical rich, magnificent singer. Their combination was like towering mountains and vast seas—complementing each other, performing this song especially brilliantly!
After the performance ended, warm applause erupted below.
Livestream audiences also flooded screens with 666s.
“Fang Yinnian’s high notes are incredible!”
“Honestly, these vocals are domestic entertainment A-list level, right?”
“He collaborated with senior Luo Hua without being overshadowed! Really quite impressive”
The host said: “This round has 30 seconds for friends and family vote-canvassing time.”
Today’s finals were star-studded. Various mentors had called in industry connections, with each contestant’s friends and family groups having strong lineups. When cameras showed Fang Yinnian’s friends and family section below—
All four FTM members in the same frame!
Fans excitedly flooded screens with “ahhhhh.”
“Century-defining frame!”
“My god, scenes I wouldn’t dare dream of”
“All four actually showed up completely—Fang Yinnian has such great connections”
“Seems their private relationships are quite good?”
Mo Xun smiled at the elderly woman beside him: “Grandma, help canvass votes for our Yinnian?”
The old woman was so excited tears flowed, her voice trembling: “Please all audience vote for #4 Fang Yinnian, thank you!”
Mo Xun took the microphone, continuing: “Yinnian’s second round ‘Sky Mirror’ was very beautiful. If everyone liked his performance, please cast precious votes for #4 Fang Yinnian.”
Tang Che took the microphone: “Thank you everyone, vote more for #4 Fang Yinnian.”
Fu Fei said: “Vote #4, everyone move your fingers quickly.”
Tan Junwen continued rapping: “Yo yo, if you vote #4 tonight we’ll be good friends.”
Laughter filled the venue. Was Tan Junwen on a rap high tonight? Even his speech had rap flavor.
The host said excitedly: “Yinnian’s friends and family group today is very strong. We see all four former FTM teammates came to support him on site! Audience friends, are you ready? Countdown, voting begins!”
Vote counts on screen rapidly increased.
Second round, Fang Yinnian ultimately received 48,653 votes.
Still ranked first.
Host: “Congratulations Fang Yinnian! Adding both rounds’ votes, with a decisive 97,357 vote lead advantage, you’ve won ‘Chinese Good Songs’ Season 3—Grand Champion! You’ve also earned this season’s ‘Best Producer’ title!”
After competition ended, countless brilliant confetti sprayed from the big stage.
CCTV producers personally came to award contestants.
Fang Yinnian received the golden trophy. The excitement and joy of finally gaining recognition surged continuously from his heart, making his eyes sting with sourness.
What made him even happier was having his dearest family and teammates witnessing this moment together.
Fang Yinnian quickly held back tears, bowing deeply toward the audience: “Thank you… thank you everyone!”
The four teammates below were also applauding for him.
Yinnian, you’re truly amazing—we’re proud of you!
**
