Crisp and dense drum beats sounded. Taylor entered the state in a second, like a cat, or more like a female leopard entering hunting mode.
Her sweet voice and appearance contrasted sharply with her extremely aggressive eyes.
"I'm worried the audience will be overly excited; she will bring an unparalleled performance," Leon said with a smile to the theater manager beside him.
As the only person present who had heard this song, he was full of confidence in Taylor's work.
The quality of songs created by this woman is not inferior to the BUG-like inspiration refreshing mechanism, and even superior in efficiency.
"Once upon a time a few mistakes ago..." Taylor twisted her waist while singing, "I was in your sights, you got me alone; you found me, you found me..."
"I guess you didn't care, and I guess I liked that..."
She sang and danced, her white gauze dress swinging back and forth significantly.
Her voice was as sweet as Ceylon black tea with three spoons of sugar added, yet with a bit of hoarseness characteristic of country music.
The audience was immersed in her singing, recalling Leon's rough and dirty western bastard image just now, contrasting to the extreme with Taylor's sweet singing.
Like a real-life version of Beauty and the Beast—the eldest daughter of a southern plantation encountering a western outlaw.
"Perfect! Your performance tonight is simply a match made in heaven!" The theater manager was conquered by the perfect performance effect.
"A match made in heaven?" Phil muttered against the wall, "At least for now, this tall blonde chick sucked away his soul."
Reaching the climax of the song, the whole audience stood up, squinting their eyes in intoxication, humming loudly along with the chorus.
Oh, oh, trouble, trouble, trouble
Oh, oh, trouble, trouble, trouble...
The audience's reaction explained everything. The scene of humming in unison was comparable to Adele's epic live performance at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles last month.
This is the highest praise for a theater live performance.
Leon watched backstage, tilting his head to look at Phil, revealing a mysterious smile.
The two clinked beer cans together; everything needed no words.
The old geezer has a clear understanding of the development of pop music, especially female singers.
He once predicted that future pop music would step by step until completely leaning towards electronic music and experimental music.
Singers' makeup and works will become more and more rebellious.
Lady Gaga will take over the scepter from Beyoncé and dominate the next diva era.
But now this idea is increasingly shaken. Taylor does not fall behind in this competition of the golden age of music.
After the performance ended, the audience was boiling. Whistles and applause mixed together, like an exploded popcorn machine.
Leon walked onto the stage slowly and smiled at Taylor.
"Honey, how was my performance just now?"
"You dominated everything."
The two hugged tightly, intimate with each other.
The audience shouted that the ticket price was worth it. While appreciating the new works of two popular singers, they were also fed a wave of dog food (PDA) so sweet it hurt their throats.
Taylor returned backstage after singing only one song; her task tonight was over.
Tim calculated carefully when inviting her. Compared to the gimmick of the couple pairing in this performance, whether Taylor performed one song or ten made little difference.
The next half hour was Leon's solo show.
Considering that rock and country music have never been separated, to better fit the appetite of southern audiences, most tracks were selected from the debut album Demons.
Until the end of the entire performance, the audience stood up one after another. Cheers and applause lasted for at least three minutes.
The performance at Grand Ole Opry was a huge success. Unsurprisingly, entertainment media in major southern cities will use headlines like "Epic Live" on the front page tomorrow.
Taylor originally insisted on letting Leon stay in Nashville for a while longer to appreciate the southern style here properly.
But this proposal was rejected. There was another mess waiting for him to clean up in Los Angeles.
As long as Eminem's live performance in the The Rap of America finals is settled, it means that this first streaming music variety show in American entertainment history, lasting nearly three months, will completely come to an end.
Lion's Den Media paid a huge price for this crucial live performance.
The finals will be held at the Yankee Stadium, a landmark in New York. Holding a live broadcast of the finals in this stadium that can accommodate 53,000 people, unless tickets are half-sold and half-given, the attendance rate will be very ugly.
Clearly a money-losing business.
But losing money to hold concerts for gimmicks is not new in the music scene.
Wembley Stadium in London has a terrifying capacity of nearly 100,000 people. Singers who want to hold concerts here and still guarantee a profit often have to reach the level of international superstars like Mariah Carey and Madonna.
In 1985, the epic concert "Live Aid" initiated by superstars such as Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Queen, U2, and Madonna was held at Wembley.
Establishing Wembley Stadium's epic status in one fell swoop.
But even so, many singers are willing to lose money to do this, holding a concert in a super-large stadium to prove that they stand at the pinnacle of the music scene.
Most of the contestants of The Rap of America just broke away from amateur status. Their fame is naturally insufficient to support 50,000 spectators paying to walk into the stadium.
The twelve recorded episodes cost nearly $20 million, and a final alone will cost $10 million. For Leon, absolutely no mistakes are allowed.
Because of this, he must do everything possible to invite Eminem, the biggest hip-hop singer with the most box office appeal at present, to hold the line.
"Can I go back to Los Angeles with you?" Taylor happened to be in the break period of the tour. Her schedule these days only had a not-so-important talk show.
"Of course!"
"Great, I can't wait to see the new house you bought in Beverly Hills~" Taylor showed a bright smile and immediately instructed the assistant beside her to postpone the talk show the day after tomorrow.
As a senior "property lady," she is extremely interested in buying houses.
Whenever she comes to a favorite city during the tour, she will unhesitatingly find a real estate agent to choose suitable properties.
On the plane from Nashville to Los Angeles, Taylor fell asleep on Leon's shoulder, with a faint smile on her lips.
Leon's fingers unconsciously played with her blonde hair, but his heart was calculating the next thing—solving Eminem joining the show while helping Robbie settle the heroine of The Great Gatsby once and for all.
"Don't think of Hollywood too simply; the relationships there are much more complicated than in the music scene..." Phil held a wine glass, his eyes blurred by drunkenness. "Jeff has struggled in this industry for thirty years, far more cunning than you imagine. As the president of Warner Bros., he has to prioritize Warner's interests. Everyone knows Leonardo and Warner are in a honeymoon period."
Saying that, he snapped his fingers to ask the stewardess for a refill. This was already his fourth cup of whiskey on the plane.
"No, Jeff will stand on my side." Leon curved the corners of his mouth, looking extremely calm.
Although Jeff had stated in advance that this matter was not so easy to handle, the other party's difficulties were not within his consideration.
Difficult?
Difficult or not, it must be done!
This is why he agreed to let Jeff join Apocalypse Pictures at the beginning. Letting such a heavyweight figure with rich resources in the industry and cunning arrogance join, the company has a few more possibilities of turmoil and division.
He just wants to use Jeff's power at Warner to fight for benefits for himself to the greatest extent.
Not just a small matter like fighting for the heroine of a movie; Leon had long locked his fangs on Warner Bros.' attractive copyright treasure trove.
Superhero movies are in a golden age, and the capital of the entire industry is staring at this attractive cake.
The more in this situation where money can be made even with closed eyes, the less likely IP owners are to sell them.
But if seeking a breakthrough point from the inside, the situation is completely different.
In the documentary Inside Job released last year, the director boldly pointed the spearhead at Wall Street capital giants.
Analyzing the essence of the 2008 financial crisis in the easiest way for the audience to understand.
The film revealed a basic truth: In a country where the central bank is not controlled by the government, taxpayers should not be responsible for any financial crisis.
The only one responsible for this is greedy Wall Street.
Investment banks and guarantee institutions predicted the impending avalanche long ago when issuing subprime loans indiscriminately, but they still released positive signals to the public—the market outlook is great, housing prices will always be strong!
Many speculators not only didn't lose money in this so-called crisis but made a lot of money because of it.
And what Leon needs Jeff to do is to use the power in his hands to complete a good show of "embezzlement" (stealing what is entrusted to one's care) at Warner Bros.
Super IPs like Batman and Superman are not within his consideration. Even if Warner Bros. faces a bankruptcy crisis one day, its parent company Time Warner cannot approve selling such important big IPs.
But the situation of those marginal IPs is completely different.
Images like Joker and Harley Quinn repeatedly appearing in inspiration-refreshed MVs made Leon covet them for a long time.
Although the third-rate IP Joker skyrocketed in value under Heath Ledger's god-level interpretation, with Heath's death, all related shooting plans were shelved.
This means it is no longer a non-sale item of Warner Bros. Jeff holds the high position of President of Warner Bros., but essentially he is still a high-level employee of the Wall Street capital behind him, while he is the veritable boss at SLW Apocalypse.
Fighting for benefits for Apocalypse Pictures is fighting for benefits for himself.
When agreeing to Jeff joining the partnership, he had already thought about how to PUA the other party and stage a good show of embezzlement.
Robbing money from Warner Bros.' IP treasure trove!
When the plane landed, the sky was just getting bright.
The air in Los Angeles carried the smell of sea salt and gasoline. Assistants helped the two drag luggage into the Beverly Hills mansion.
Taylor, who slept all the way on the plane, was energetic and enthusiastically planned shopping and eating. "Honey, want to swim together?"
"Oh my God, this tennis court is much newer than mine. Want a game, loser?"
Leon plunged into work mode, but Dre replied neither to calls nor messages.
"This ngga probably hasn't woken up yet..."
It's just past six o'clock now. For those nggas who made a fortune, there is usually no concept of morning. Sleeping until afternoon is the norm.
Play video games first, then get some weed to find inspiration, go to the recording studio to brag, and dive into the nightclub at night; a day passes just like this.
Compared to young rappers, Dre has a little discipline, but not much.
Rich nggas who can get up before 9 AM, except for that man who likes to watch the sun at 4 AM, probably can't find a second one in the whole Los Angeles.
"Hurry up, honey~ There's a reward for beating me!" Taylor provoked with a racket at the baseline of the tennis court.
Wearing a tight tank top on the upper body and a short skirt on the lower body, she intentionally shook the hemline when saying "reward."
Leon's fatigue was instantly dispelled. Thinking it was still early, he simply accepted the challenge.
"I'm not a novice anymore. Get ready to honor the reward." Leon took the racket and stood on one side of the baseline confronting her.
"Beat me first!"
As soon as the voice fell, Taylor took a deep breath, threw the tennis ball high, and then swung the racket to hit the ball.
The ball was like an arrow leaving the string, with a slight rotation, accurately landing in the opponent's service area.
The angle was tricky, but due to insufficient strength, Leon easily caught up with the ball.
Smack—Leon moved quickly, hit the ball with a forehand, and smashed it back vigorously.
The speed like a cannonball out of the chamber made Taylor too late to react, freezing on the spot watching the yellow ball bounce and fly past her ear.
"When did you improve so fast?"
"My physical strength is excellent, you know. Any sport can be played well with a little training." Leon looked proud, intentionally emphasizing the pronunciation of "physical strength."
Since realizing the truth that tennis is table tennis PLUS, his skills have improved by leaps and bounds.
Especially larger venues mean higher physical consumption. Men naturally have an advantage over women in physical strength, so it's not strange to beat Taylor in a short time.
"Don't be smug too early; I just started adapting to this court!" Taylor pouted and served the second ball.
The advantage of long legs is that she can always guard the positional advantage near the baseline and counterattack under the premise of insufficient strength.
If it were Little A's height, the defensive area would probably only cover the half axis of the baseline.
Driven by years of tennis training and competitiveness, Taylor didn't fall behind at all; the score rose alternately.
In a fierce multi-shot tug-of-war, Leon deliberately went easy and reduced the return force. Taylor scored with a beautiful high-pressure ball at the net.
Bang—Leon's racket was inches away from the tennis ball; the score was tied.
"Good job, looks like you do have some athletic talent." Leon gave a thumbs up, maximizing emotional value.
"Net technique is my specialty!" Taylor's tail was about to rise to the sky, looking full of fighting spirit. "Told you not to underestimate me!"
An hour later, the two threw away their tennis rackets and lay in the center of the court panting heavily.
Taylor's chest heaved rapidly, soaked in sweat.
The "alchemy formula" of sweat plus body fragrance pointed to one answer—hormones.
Leon was dizzy from being teased and couldn't help turning over to press on her. "Looks like I won. When will you honor the reward?"
"Don't be impatient, honey; I need to cool down first." Taylor revealed a wicked smile.
Before the shoulder press posture was completed, she repeated the old trick, pressing her toes against the other party's chest to separate a distance.
Before Leon figured out the situation, he saw Taylor stand up and smile provocatively at him.
The tall figure turned her back to him, swaying gracefully.
Tight tank top, thrown away;
Sports short skirt, thrown away;
The last seal, also thrown away.
Golden hair is usually more conspicuous under sunlight, no matter where the hair is.
Taylor proved this conjecture with her body.
Under Leon's amazed gaze, she jumped into the pool without hesitation.
Only the slender neck and exquisite collarbone were exposed on the water surface, arm lines smooth and powerful.
"WTF..."
Leon hadn't seen the sun at 4 AM in Los Angeles, but now it seems the morning light at 8 AM in Los Angeles looks not bad either.
Like a traveler about to die of thirst in the desert, throwing away all thoughts in his head, he jumped into the pool following closely. The two skillfully switched butterfly and backstroke postures to chase, and finally combined in a freestyle posture.
The sunlight just filled the entire pool at this time.
Being at the peak of Beverly Hills, playing with the morning light of Los Angeles.