Chapter 327 I Have to Ask You to Sing a Song in Person

Zhou Yan poured a glass of water for Mariah Carey, then sat down opposite her and asked with a smile, "Are you going to release a new album this year?"

Mariah Carey shook her head, "No new album this year."

"Oh, I met your fans at the celebration party of "The Sixth Sense" before, and I thought you would have a new album."

Maria shrugged her shoulders, "Because I always fail to invite you to sing."

When she said this, she looked at Zhou Yan with a smile.

Zhou Yan knew what she wanted to say, so he smiled and said, "Do you think you are suitable for the song "Someone Like You"?"

Maria curled her lips, "Are you questioning my singing ability?"

"That's not the case. Of course, your singing skills are fine. I just think the style may not be suitable for you." Zhou Yan smiled and changed the subject, "Although your "daydream" achieved great commercial success last year, it didn't win any awards. Don't you want to rely on awards for the next album?"

Maria said indifferently, "As long as the fans like to listen to it, it doesn't matter whether it wins an award or not."

Zhou Yan smiled, it's hard to say how much of her words came from the heart. No one doesn't want to win an award, and she also attended the Grammy Awards this year in a gorgeous dress, which must be to win something.

The album "daydream" received five nominations at this year's Grammy Awards. It was originally a strong contender for Best Pop Album and Album of the Year, but in the end it was nothing.

It's impossible to say that she is not angry.

Even if Mariah really doesn't care, as the most popular pop diva today, she has been put in this position. If she doesn't win the award, her fans will not agree.

The last time Zhou Yan chatted with her fans, he could also feel this. Fans were all standing up for her and accusing the Grammy Awards of being shady.

"Are you here to work in Los Angeles?" Zhou Yan asked.

Mariah laughed, "Don't you know? I live in Bel-Air now."

Zhou Yan raised his eyebrows. Bel-Air is a well-known luxury home community in Los Angeles. Like Beverly, everyone who lives there is rich.

Bel-Air is mentioned in the lyrics of "Young and Beautiful".

"You didn't buy a house in Bel-Air because of "Young and Beautiful", did you?"

"Not entirely. I had thought about buying a house here, but because of this song, I sped it up. In fact, I have a little hobby, which is buying houses."

Her words reminded Zhou Yan of Joey Wong. It seems that women from all countries are the same in liking to buy houses.

Then, before Zhou Yan could speak, Mariah began to tell him about her house in Bel-Air.

She told Zhou Yan about the movie theater, the gym, the basketball court, and even the nine bathrooms in her house.

Zhou Yan was thinking that Mariah Carey should not be very busy at work recently. Now it seems that she is not only not busy, but also a little too idle.

If she was not very idle, why would she come to tell him these things?

Although it was a boring topic, Mariah herself was quite happy to talk about it.

But as she was talking, she suddenly sighed and became depressed, "Am I bored?"

Zhou Yan was thinking about the storyboard of "Titanic". When he heard Maria's words, he came back to his senses and shook his head with a smile, "No, your new house is very interesting."

Maria seemed to be unable to hear Zhou Yan's words, and murmured, "It's really boring. I wanted to take a break for a while, but I found that once I stopped working, life became meaningless."

Hearing her topic drifting back and forth and her mood changing quickly, Zhou Yan showed a confused expression. Why does this girl look like she has psychological problems? She is not in a normal state at all.

Is it too stressful?

It shouldn't be the case. Her career has developed very well in the past year or so, and she should be in high spirits.

Zhou Yan was a little worried about her mental state, so he said along with her, "Indeed, when you are busy at work, you want to rest, but once you rest, you think about work again. Most people are like this."

"Do you feel the same way?" Maria looked up and asked.

Zhou Yan nodded and smiled, "Of course, many people say that I am a workaholic and I basically have no time to rest. But I am still pretty good. Do you know Zhang Yimou?"

Maria shook her head, "I don't know him."

"There is a very famous director in China. He usually only sleeps two or three hours, and the rest of the time he works."

"How is it possible? Only sleeping two or three hours a day, won't it affect your health?" Maria was surprised and said she couldn't believe it.

It's okay to sleep two or three hours occasionally, but if you only sleep two or three hours every day, it's a bit beyond her imagination.

"Maybe, but I think he is in good health. Everyone's body is different, and the lifestyle is naturally different. I also know someone who sleeps at least ten hours a day."

This time Maria showed an envious expression, "I also want to sleep ten hours a day, but I can't sleep. It's not easy to have a good sleep."

Zhou Yan shrugged, "If you can't sleep, find something to do. The key is to have a good attitude."

Many people have fallen into a misunderstanding, always thinking that if they don't sleep enough, there will be big problems. Especially after the saying "you must sleep eight hours a day" came out, many people think that if they don't sleep eight hours, they will have physical problems.

But in fact, it is most important to calm down. If you always feel that you don't sleep enough and fall into anxiety, you will enter a vicious circle.

It's better to relax a little. If you can't sleep, find something serious to do.

Zhou Yan said this to Maria because he felt that Maria was a little anxious.

After listening to Zhou Yan's words, Maria nodded thoughtfully, and then sighed, "A good attitude is of course important, but a good attitude is not so easy to have. Sometimes, the harder you try to have a good attitude, the easier it is to get a bad attitude."

Zhou Yan frowned. Why does Maria's state look a bit like the early manifestations of depression or bipolar disorder?

Although Zhou Yan is not a psychologist, as a teacher, he has also been exposed to things related to psychological counseling, because when students have psychological problems, they mainly rely on their teachers to guide and solve them.

Maria's current situation, if not taken seriously, may eventually develop into severe bipolar disorder or depression.

But the two are not very familiar with each other, Zhou Yan can't just tell Maria that she might be sick and ask her to see a doctor, although the attitude towards mental illness in the United States is relatively open, it is not appropriate to say so directly.

After thinking about it, Zhou Yan still talked to Maria about music, "Will there be a new album next year?"

Although Zhou Yan changed the topic quickly, Maria didn't react at all. She smiled and said, "Of course, two songs have been confirmed, and there are still a few songs under investigation. But the one I want to sing the most is "Someone Like You." "

Zhou Yan didn't expect that when he talked about music, Maria took advantage of it and mentioned "Someone Like You" again.

This time he didn't avoid the topic again, but said seriously, "You can try. If it's suitable, I can sing this song for you."

Maria's eyes lit up, "How to try? I'll find someone to write the lyrics and sing a demo for you?"

Zhou Yan shook his head, "Don't bother, I'll give you a version of the lyrics."

"You even wrote the lyrics." Maria was surprised.

She thought that Zhou Yan had never thought of making "Someone Like You" into a song, but now it seems that this is not the case. Zhou Yan even wrote the lyrics, and he must have been prepared to make it into a song.

"I'll write it for you."

Zhou Yan stood up and walked to the desk and sat down, and then began to write the lyrics of "Someone Like You".

Maria also stood up and came over. Seeing the script and storyboard of "Titanic" on the table, she was curious, but because Zhou Yan was writing lyrics, she didn't interrupt him.

When Zhou Yan wrote the lyrics, he also wrote the score to facilitate Maria's sight reading.

Maria looked at it for a while and felt that her posture was too awkward, so she ran to the sofa and sat down to wait.

After more than ten minutes, Zhou Yan handed Maria the score with lyrics, "Take a look."

Maria excitedly took the lyrics and looked at them carefully. While looking at the lyrics, she was also silently trying to figure out how to sing.

This time Zhou Yan did not mark anything related to singing methods on it, and everything depended on her own performance.

After reading it several times, she tried to sing it. After singing the first sentence, she felt that it was not good, so she started singing again.

The same song, the tone and everything are the same, but different singing methods are very different. Where to breathe, where to emphasize, where to use real voice, where to use false voice, different places are handled differently, and the effects produced are very different and very large, which requires testing the singer's singing quotient.

Maria's singing quotient is of course no problem. Although there are problems with the first singing of each sentence, after singing it again, the problems will be improved a lot.

Zhou Yan nodded when he heard her finish singing the first five or six sentences. He always felt that the song "Someone Like You" was not suitable for Maria, but now that he had heard Maria sing it, his thoughts had changed.

Maria's performance was better than he expected. The style of the song she performed was very different from the original Adele, but it was also very nice. Although there were still many problems, Zhou Yan believed that as long as she was given more time, she would definitely be able to figure out the song.

In the final analysis, the song itself was more catchy, and excellent female singers could perform it well, but the style was different.

Maria's vocal range was relatively wide, and she could control the high and low notes better. In addition, her transition and breath quality were very high, and she could show rare sphenoid sinus resonance, which was also the feature of her singing.

The most important thing was that she had a good sense of music and pitch, which was rare. Many pop singers changed their careers halfway and relied on their talents to make a living, but their sense of music and pitch were not good.

Maria's voice was a little hoarse when she spoke, because she had a back voice in the past few years.

Due to various reasons, Maria developed vocal nodules, which seriously affected her voice, so many people said that her voice was brittle.

In order to avoid the impact of this situation, she changed her singing style from the last album, raised the vocal position, and used more balanced mixing.

During this period, her high notes were much brighter than before, and they were also particularly open and resonant.

And it is precisely in her current state that she can better grasp the song "Someone Like You".

After Maria touched the whole song, she asked Zhou Yan with a smile, "Y, are you satisfied with what I sang?"

"I'll give you six points." Zhou Yan directly gave him a score that was neither high nor low.

"That's not bad." Maria was quite satisfied with this score.

Zhou Yan then added, "The full score is one hundred points."

"..."

Seeing the solid smile on Maria's face, Zhou Yan laughed and said, "I'm just kidding, you performed well on this song. Although there are some areas that need to be adjusted, it was already very good the first time you sang it. There are many places Pronunciation, I think you should think more about it and have a better way to deal with it.”

Hearing that Zhou Yan was joking with her, Maria rolled her eyes, and then asked, "Can you sing this song to me?"

Zhou Yan thought for a while, then nodded and said, "You can go talk to Zhang Youan."

Maria smiled and said, "No problem, I will give him an offer he can't refuse. This song is mine."

Maria was very happy and treasured the song "Someone Like You". She held the paper with the lyrics in her hands and refused to let go.

In addition to the melody of this song, she is also very satisfied with the lyrics and the image is very strong.

Zhou Yan seems to be very good at writing lyrics from a girl's perspective, as is the case with his previous song "Young and Beautiful".

Holding the lyrics, Maria suddenly asked, "Do you have any new songs recently, especially ones like this that can be made into songs with lyrics?"

Now it was Zhou Yan's turn to roll his eyes. People are indeed dissatisfied. Before he was sure to win "Someone Like You", he started thinking about other songs.

"You're a little too greedy."

Maria laughed, "People always have to be greedy."

Zhou Yan pouted, "Are you going to put this song in next year's album?"

Maria shook her head repeatedly, "Of course not, I want to release a single, and I can't wait for more than a year. By the way, do you have time? If you have time, help me make the arrangement by the way, because It’s a single and there’s no producer, so you’re in charge from start to finish.”

Zhou Yan muttered, "Alright."

The arrangement doesn't take long, and he can help even if he's not in the United States, and he doesn't feel at ease if this piece of music is left to be arranged by someone else.

"When will you do it for me?" Maria asked again.

"I'm in Los Angeles these days. If I have time, I'll make it for you. If I don't have time, I'll record it later and have it sent over."

"no problem."

At this time, Zhou Yan looked at his hands and saw that it was almost half past six. He stood up and said, "It's dinner time, let's go out to eat."

"Okay, I'll treat you to dinner. There's a delicious steakhouse nearby."

As soon as he heard her mention the steak restaurant, Zhou Yan thought of the restaurant he had been to twice. However, seeing Maria's positive recommendation, he did not say that he might have been there. He just nodded and set off with her. .

Zhou Yan's guess was correct, Maria recommended the restaurant he went to with Chris and the others before.

Maria does come often because the waiters know her.

However, the waiter acted quite calmly and simply said hello to Maria. Thinking about it, big stars often appear around here, so it is not unusual to see Maria.

When he came to this steakhouse for the third time, Zhou Yan re-examined the layout of this store. He had really underestimated this store before, but he didn't expect it to be so popular. Everyone recommended this store three times in a row.

This store doesn't look like anything special. The environment is relatively quiet and there aren't many customers.

It stands to reason that if a restaurant is popular, there should be many customers.

But now that Zhou Yan thinks about it, it may be because the prices in this store are not cheap. A steak here costs at least more than fifty dollars.

When he saw a steak costing tens of dollars before, he didn't think much about it, and even thought it was okay. But if you think about it, it is already very expensive.

At this price, ordinary families have no way to spend. A meal for a family of three will cost at least more than two hundred dollars, which is not enough.

If you want to have a good meal, you will need more than one or two hundred dollars per person. If you drink some wine, the budget will increase crazily.

Americans are indeed living a better life now, but most people's salary is only about two thousand dollars, so ordinary families will not spend so much money on a meal. A few hundred dollars is enough for them to do many things.

Zhou Yan's meal was naturally not cheap, and the total cost with tips was close to six hundred US dollars.

After eating, Maria asked Zhou Yan with a smile, "Are you satisfied with this restaurant?"

Zhou Yan nodded, "Well, their steak is really delicious. Thank you for your recommendation."

Maria was very happy that the restaurant she recommended was recognized, "You're welcome, there are many good restaurants in Los Angeles. If you have the chance, I will take you to a few more."

Seeing Maria's beaming look, Zhou Yan also nodded secretly. Her current situation is not bad. As long as she can give her some positive emotional value, her mood will be very stable.

…

After dinner, it was getting late, so Zhou Yan did not invite Maria to his room, and the two separated downstairs in the hotel.

At around nine o'clock in the evening, Zhou Yan received a call from Zhang Youan.

"You gave "Someone Like You" to Maria?"

Zhou Yan didn't expect that Maria would contact Zhang Youan so late. It seemed that she really couldn't wait.

"Well, she came to the hotel today and we chatted for a while. I also listened to her singing, it was pretty good."

Zhang Youan smiled, "It seems that she still has to ask you for songs in person. We have almost reached an agreement on the collection of songs, and we can arrange to sign the contract in the next two days."

"Such high efficiency."

"Of course it is high. She gave a very good condition right away, so high that I am embarrassed to bargain."

Zhou Yan did not ask how high it was, but just nodded and said, "Just agree on it." (End of this chapter)