Admittedly there was a moment of panic where I thought for sure I'd made a mistake in joining this competition. The competition had fallen on the same day as my Chinese proficiency exam (HSK, for you China savvy folks). I was tired from getting up early. I was ill prepared. I was frustrated as I didn't understand what exactly was going on. Yet after a few minutes I resolved to sit back, soak in some Chinese culture, and enjoy the day.
And enjoy it I did! The competition started, of course, with the many formalities and introductions of various leaders, VIPS, and judges that go along with official functions. We had drawn numbers and I was number six. Good that I didn't have to wait that long. Bad that I had to wait while 7-38 competed. Ahead of me was a fellow American wearing a yet-to-be-determined minority get-up who danced around playing a traditional Chinese gourd flute. Next was a young man from Kazakhstan with incredible Chinese in a traditional suit who played the gu zheng (Chinese zither). Soon it was my turn. "Enjoy the moment. Soon you can put this whole competition business behind you", I said to myself as I took the stage. Of course if you know me, you know I enjoy performing. As such I relished the opportunity to sing for a captive audience. By that time I was truly enjoying myself.
"Hello everyone. I'm a foreign student at the Arts Institute. I come from America. My name is Li Big Dragon. Bruce Li (Li Little Dragon) is my little brother!" (It's my long running joke. My name is the same as Bruce Lee's, aside from the big and small part, that is.) Seeing the audience and judges chuckle a little bit helped me relax. I finished my self-introduction and moved on to my song. I poured my heart out to a cover of "Why is the flower so red?"
Why is the flower so red? Why so red?
Ahhhhhhhh. The flower's like....
The flower's like a burning flame!
Well. Believe me. In Chinese it's quite beautiful. Regardless, I sang my heart out. The talent portion is immediately followed by an interview. The judges asked me a few questions including the history of the song, the movie it came from, and the minority people group portrayed in the movie. Thankfully, I'd had enough foresight to text my tutor to ask for the name of the movie just before going on stage. Phew! Following my interview, I stood patiently as the judges gave their decision. Each judge had a red and green light. Two greens means you go on to the next round. Judge 1. Green. Judge 2. Red. Judge 3. Green. On to the next round! Woah.
I then discovered that in the final round I would have thirty seconds to give a final appeal to the judges. Talking it over with a teacher from my school I decided on my pitch. Waiting through several more hours of contestants was actually quite enjoyable. Songs. Dances. A very good Beijing Opera performance by a young lady from Kyrgyzstan. Chinese calligraphy. A strange yet entertaining performance where a young French man sang a song and chugged Bai Jiu (Chinese vodka). I must say I found all these performances strange and wonderful all at the same time. Because I live in such a unique area of this country I find I am unaware of a great deal of Chinese culture.
Finally our last chance came. Each of the 15 or so finalists had 30 seconds. People rapped. Sang. Danced. I decided to go the humor route. "I've been here for two years and still haven't found my wife. I guess it's because I don't have a car and house (a common prerequisite for men required by many women here). So my heart can best be expressed by the words of this famous XJ song." And with as much gusto as I could muster I sang:
"1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1.
Eight girls come and go.
Where is my girl?
Hey! Hey! Where is my girl?
Big sister's okay. Little sister's okay.
Which ever is prettier is great.
Beijing's good. Xinjiang's good.
Where ever you are is good.
Hey! Hey! Where is my girl?
Hey! Hey! Where is my girl?"
I guess the judges liked it. After ten minutes of deliberation we were again gathered on the stage. At this point, I was thinking about what a fun day I'd had and where were we going for Big Plate of Chicken after and how strong the body odor of the guy next to me was. They announced the first name. It was a young lady from Tajikistan. Well deserved, I thought to myself. She did great. Then I heard the emcee's voice as if in slow motion, "The next winner is number 6." "Hmmmm. That sounds familiar", I thought to myself in the split second pause. "LI DA LONG!" he declared. "Holy crap! That's me." Thankfully it was mumbled and I don't think anyone heard it. It is an understatement to say I was a little surprised. But there I was, standing with the three other winner's from our province. "I'm going to Beijing!" they had us yell as they snapped our picture.
So. As it turns out. I'll be going to Beijing in August for the National Competition, though I'm still not sure of the details other than they are paying for it and it's in Beijing. I do know the final competition is nationally televised. Whether or not my mug will be seen there is also yet to be determined. Who know's, though. The emcee of our our provincial competition placed 15th in last year's national competition. The movie he got a contract for comes out summer 2013. Stay tuned...
News article from our provincial competition. Scroll down half-way for my picture!
Video montage of last year's national competition.