The Tokyo Olympics won another national attention after Beijing.
Because this is a foreign Olympic Games that does not have to be jet lag, the heat of our discussion is also unprecedented.
During this time, we have reviewed the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games inside and out, and the memory is full of nostalgia.
The opening ceremony, the athletes who were in their prime at that time, the life that began to accelerate, and the self at that time.
When all of these images fade, the sound persists longer. I think of 2008, there was a melody that took root so deeply that it was like the lyrics: never need to be remembered, never forget.
That is," "The door to my house is always open."
That year, we could hear it anywhere, newspapers, television, the Internet, with the support of the relevant departments, traffic television, railway and aviation and other channels also broadcast on a loop.
In addition to these, what can better reflect its popularity is the number of downloads of mobile phone RINGTs, the on-demand volume of music channels, and the number of KTV singing, which were all familiar at that time.
It is not only a song, but also a song substitute, becoming the language of the year and becoming a symbol of Beijing's welcome to the world.
The existence of such an overwhelming song is impossible to see again today.
At that time, we may have listened to it, heard the seconds change the stage, the seconds cut the song, and heard the people who wanted to hum around it, and its glory was just in time, and the emotional memory of it was also left in that year.
So, today we are talking about "Welcome to Beijing", what are we talking about?
A Beijing ballad
March 2008, Chaoyang District, Beijing, a Sichuan restaurant.
A fat man with glasses fell into contemplation. The crowd at the dinner table is jumping out with excitement:
"Atmosphere, must be atmospheric!"
"The atmosphere is the atmosphere, and I am afraid that it will be too grandiose to hear it, and there will be no taste."
"That's right, we want something that all the Chinese people can sing, and they love to hum when there is nothing to do in life..."
The fat man deliberated for half a day, and suddenly opened his mouth: "Guys, since it is at the doorstep of the family, then why can't we add some national elements, the more national, the more worldly it is, and it has taken the international wind for several consecutive sessions, and I have not dared to use the 'national' way to interpret it?" ”
When the crowd heard this, they were very excited about this somewhat risky idea.
At that dinner table, everyone finally agreed to write "Welcome to Beijing" as a ballad.
The person who said this is one of the most important music producers in the mainland, Xiao Ke.
The "propositional composition" arranged by the state this time requires simplicity and clarity:
As the promotional song of the Beijing Olympic Games, this song will be released 100 days down to the opening ceremony, which will ignite the passion of the Chinese people to welcome the Olympic Games.
Simply put, it is to make all the Chinese love to listen and love to sing. Xiao Ke began to regret it, regretting that he had accepted the task rashly.
On the first anniversary of the countdown, a song "We Are Ready" was sung in Tiananmen Square, and the lineup was not small, with a total of 133 singers.
Infected by the emotions of the scene, when he went to the parking lot to pick up the car, Xiao Ke suddenly came to the inspiration, crouched in front of the Union Hospital, wrote a song "Cheers for Life" three or two times, and was later selected for the Paralympic Games music library.
The song was influenced by the theme song "Hand in Hand" for the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and the pattern was so big that he decided to write an anti-macro Beijing ballad.
For three or four days, Xiao Ke went through the Chinese songs that he had heard from childhood to adulthood, from national, military, inland rock, and popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan, analyzing the melodic commonalities and chord trends.
At this time, a voice suddenly floated in his head, as if it was a cry for selling rock sugar gourds in the North City in the past.
In the old Beijing before liberation, the north city was an inner city, a political center, and the people who lived in it were all deep mansions and courtyards, and a shouting and shouting had to be melodious and far-reaching enough to shout out the people in the courtyard, and it was also beautiful to hear and be happy.
Since it is "Beijing Welcomes You", of course, there must be a local style to make people shout, this shout, although it did not become a specific sentence later, but the taste is already there.
It is still difficult to officially start writing, because he only knows that it will be the stars, but he does not know who it is, so the writing should be spacious enough, and it must be able to fit all kinds of singing voices, various styles, and it cannot be too difficult, and he can learn it if you and I listen to it.
After consulting various materials, the main song has: "My door is often open..." But the chorus can not be written for a long time, so it can only be repeated, accelerated, up, until the end.
Finally, he described the sentence "Beijing welcomes you" as completely spewing out, pushing open the door that was half hidden in front of the gentle minor key.
Every participant has a story
As soon as the song was written and arranged, the recording began immediately, the first to arrive was Wang Lihong, Xiao Ke felt really good after listening to it, just before the demo, he suddenly sang the whole song.
At that time, Liu Huanren was in the United States, and the demo was sent over and his part was drawn out. But Liu Huan recorded the whole song three times and passed it back, and also wrote a special E-mail, saying which sentence should be changed, his third time he sang the best or something, and finally the finished product came out, and Huan Brother found out: Oh, just a sentence ah!.
Jackie Chan is the most daring to sing, listening to the demo many times prepared, saying "Come on" fiercely, saying into the shed. He didn't seem to have sung enough when he left, and he chanted to the staff: "I want to sing more, and I can sing better." ”
Jolin Tsai heard the demo, which was originally a bel canto version, she thought she would also sing a bel canto, and was ready to practice, and finally was told that she had her own sweet voice.
Zhou Huajian is the pistachio of the recording studio, and his smile infects the tired combat staff. Before leaving, he happily patted Xiao Ke's shoulder: "Congratulations, good song, I hope I wrote hahaha." ”
The ending of "Welcome to Beijing" has two 9-beat ultra-long trebles, which also becomes a difficult challenge for each singer. As for why nine beats are sung, because nine is the largest number in China, two nine beats is nine nine into one, hoping that Chinese athletes will get good results.
However, in the end, only Wu Tong, the original lead singer of the reincarnation band, and Dai Yuqiang, one of the three tenors, interpreted this High D to the most perfect.
As soon as the stars landed in Beijing, they rushed to record, and after recording, they went to shoot MVs and Olympic blessing videos, and the work cycle was very tense.
The MV of "Welcome to Beijing" itself has no story, that is, the actors show traditional Chinese elements in front of Beijing's characteristic attractions, but there are many details outside the MV.
For example, Wang Lihong wrote calligraphy at the China Millennium Monument.
Ren Xianqi plays antiques in the Glass Factory.
Han Geng paints faces in the courtyard.
Lin Junjie and Adu visit the big theater building of the Huguang Guild Hall.
There are also the Olympic venues that were just completed that year, the Bird's Nest, the Water Cube, and the Five Pines, all of which have also sent stars over.
Because of the tight time, no one picked and chose, and When He Rundong arrived, he caught up with the heavy rain. He waited at the hotel for two days, and when the rain subsided, he immediately started work, and it was midnight after shooting the exterior.
On the contrary, Xie Tingfeng's group was photographed in the Forbidden City, which was in the hot and scorching heat of Beijing, and was exposed to the sun for a long time, and even the police on duty could not see it anymore, so they were invited to rest in the police car.
Because there are 78 stars, the scene is complete, and it is no problem to travel to Beijing for a week today.
That day may also be the time when Beijing has the highest density of stars.
So far, from the beginning of March to the completion of the production of a month and a half, the recording material file has 11 G, two weeks to complete the singer recording, shooting and blessing interview, 6 days to complete the post-production, the documentary filmed more than 7,000 minutes, more than 200 staff to pay hard sweat for it.
The Taimiao performance, which counted down to the 100-day Countdown to the Olympic Games, later became a fake roll call scene. The strength of the faction gathered, everyone did not sing much fake, the acting skills are quite clumsy, some simply laugh and paddle.
But seventy or eighty people, one sentence after another, came to a few microphones, smiling and united, or people can't help but miss the strength of the Chinese music scene in those years.
Later, Zhao Dongming, director of the Cultural Activities Department of the Olympic Organizing Committee, said: "In the creation process of "Welcome to Beijing", almost every participant has a touching story. In this team, there are no stars and big names, only Olympic participants, all of whom have given up fame and fortune and selflessly dedicated themselves to the Olympics without complaint. ”
All-Star of the year
I know there is a question: "Beijing Welcomes You" how to invite so many big-name artists to participate in the singing?
The subject thinks that the all-star lineup, this hand is too big, even if it is not for money, who can do so many people?
This question is a little strange and not strange.
There were a total of 78 stars participating in the recording that year, and the Olympic Organizing Committee first put forward the requirement of equal treatment, that is, to sign a "confidentiality agreement":
1. Must queue up to record in the designated recording studios in Beijing, Hong Kong and Taipei;
2. Must arrive in Beijing within 10 days to shoot the MV;
3. Must participate in the live performance of the Taimiao Temple on April 30, 100 days counting down to the Olympic Games.
These hard requirements, of course, will interrupt the work arrangement of the star, and even push off the commercial performance, bear the responsibility for breach of contract, that is, lose money. The feedback that can be obtained is all "OK": you can adjust the time and do things according to the regulations.
There were also many stars who were not invited at the time, took the initiative to contact the preparatory team to ask for participation, and some even said: "Even if you don't let me sing, you can do chores in the studio!" ”
"Welcome to Beijing" has been 13 years, and looking back at the all-star lineup, it can be divided into several groups:
01
Mainland Nationality Group
Liu Huan, on the national level, is the most widely infiltrated among all people.
Na Ying, the only mainland singer who won the Golden Melody Award, pretended to be a master.
Han Hong, the first female rapper in the mainland.
Sun Nan, the big brother of the mainland music scene is Liu Huan, and the remaining brother is him.
Han Lei, the Voice of the Emperor, which Emperor Drama does not have him, it is enough to fall.
The rest also have at least one or more famous songs, all of which are artists who have sung for a lifetime of business and performance, and will always be alive in the hearts of the elderly.
They caught up with "The Voice of China" and "I Am a Singer" and fully released the dividends of the national degree.
When two years of mentoring, than the competition, won the championship as desired, once again consolidating the recognition of the majority of the audience, the status of this group is already semi-permanent.
02
Hong Kong and Taiwan popular idol group
Sun Yanzi, male zhou female sun, eternal youth, later the heat is relatively low, but a live broadcast on Weibo, when she sang "Dark", but also triggered the nostalgia of netizens.
Whether or not behind the adult world, there are always flaws
Wang Lihong, a high-quality idol, recently learned to program software, just to teach people to sing, for a while, people called him little Keanu Reeves, and then Wang Lihong live broadcast sales class, at the instigation of the audience directly shaved all the beard.
Jolin Tsai, from an otaku killer to a "local talent", and then to a 40-year-old feel damn good independent female spokesperson.
Lin Junjie, Walking CD, DOTA player, Dream Destroyer.
Nicholas Tse, a cook, occasionally returns to desperate actors and loves rock and roll guitar prodigals.
This group is basically all online today, the mass base is deep, and they are all mainstays from the end of the golden age of Hong Kong and Taiwan records.
Nowadays, the sluggishness of the post-80s and post-90s suddenly misses the collective nostalgia, these former popular idols, some of them have become Buddhist, some are still continuing to export, opening up their own territory, casually showing a hand in the variety show, can easily ride in the pile of young people.
03
Cast
The actors basically sing, like Jackie Chan, Huang Xiaoming, Lin Chiling, but the emphasis is on participation.
04
Mainland Draft
In 2005, supergirl's big three, Li Yuchun, Zhou Bichang and Zhang Liangying, had just been voted to debut for two or three years. Today, they have their own mature style routes, experienced the twists and turns of the entertainment industry, and become a mentor in the new draft.
Their fan base is still strong, and Zhou Bichang's vote for Sister Lang this year is still overwhelming.
05
Bel Canto group
Artists such as Dai Yuqiang, Liao Changyong and Yan Weiwen are the favorites of grandparents.
06
Special mention of the group
Han Geng, the only "top stream" of the first generation, the Korean debut flower beauty man, and the love and hate story with fans, are enough to write a book.
But now according to his words, he no longer has a little "idol sense", in the "Round Table Pie", he also talked to the uncles about idol design, and said goodbye to his early self as if he did not exist.
Pang Long and Dao Lang, their rough feelings and small mobile phones, were the first to produce a magnetic field, which became a unique mark of the CRBT era.
Of course, there is also the little girl who sang the first sentence, Chen Tianjia, eight minutes in Beijing at the Athens Olympics, who led the singing of Jasmine, when she was 8 years old.
In addition to these, in the face of the rapid washing of the entertainment industry, some people have disappeared, and some people blame themselves, cheat on drugs, and go to jail.
In 2008, at the peak of his career and without bad deeds, he became one of the 78th.
Of course, these entertainment labels did not exist that year, and they were remembered at that time, which meant that the face and the work were one.
Labeling is a habit formed later, and the stars in the MV are facing the sky and dressed up today, just like tourists traveling in scenic spots, but they have a unique style.
When I described the idol that young people liked, I was still a popular singer, not a bean lover.
There is no competition, fans tearing each other up, no I want to press you, fish more than you, sing in what position, the popular singers also completed this performance equally and low-key.
So, to answer that question, people, don't need to please at all, they all volunteer and scramble to be the first. Being able to do things for the Olympics, whether from personal will or company revenue, is bigger than the sky, and it is stupid not to come.
Moreover, we miss the lineup of "Welcome to Beijing" because the all-stars of that year, their overall quality, is not the same as today, and the way we look at stars is completely different, there is only extreme upward and downward looking at them, and it is difficult to have a heads-up view anymore.
As soon as "Welcome to Beijing" was broadcast, it became a hot song of the year.
Hearing this song again today, you may still feel good, or you may not like it much, that is, you can sing it smoothly, and then lament its influence.
This kind of emotion, which is usually not remembered and is difficult to forget, has entered our DNA, and when we talk about "Welcome to Beijing", we don't know what we are talking about, but the DNA moves.
Finally, just one word: in 2022, Beijing still welcomes you.
The article originated from the Beidaihe Peach Canning Factory Film Monks Association, author of the Cavern Club