From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

No one had ever asked why the band's name was August 31st.

It wasn't that they didn't want to ask, but there was no opportunity. After all, the band had not had any formal promotion or interviews. Reporters couldn't ask even if they wanted to.

But tonight, Higgins vaguely understood—

It was the last day of summer. All the brilliance, all the recklessness, all the flamboyance, were burning out in the afterglow of summer. The summer of youth was bursting with intense light at the moment of its imminent end, leaving no regrets even in its conclusion.

Everything was just like the band's music.

The surging emotions struck the bridge of his nose, and the bitterness and emotion could no longer be controlled.

Higgins knew he should remain professional, but he couldn't stop the tears.

A surge of emotion.

"Oh, oh, oh, Dan Higgins! Dan Higgins!"

Sure enough, Anson saw Higgins's embarrassment and was the first to tease him.

Higgins looked helpless and quickly defended himself, "Joy, these are tears of joy."

"Tonight, I can finally get rid of you guys. Do you know how much pressure I'm under? Quickly, quickly, you guys get to your positions and let the director grab some live shots."

He impatiently and irritably drove the band members away, wishing they would leave the backstage as soon as possible.

Conner looked at Higgins, who was clumsily trying to hide his emotions, and inconsiderately grabbed Higgins, "Dan, do you think there's any chance… uh, we could adjust it a bit?"

Higgins, "What?"

Conner glanced at his teammates next to him, who looked serious, but the smiles in their eyes were already uncontrollable, exposing their attitude of watching a good show. He also realized that his thoughts had been exposed and helplessly sighed, "It's just the acceptance speech just now. Actually, I think we can cut out all my parts."

"You know, everyone is complaining that the award ceremony is too long, and the acceptance speech should be shortened and shortened again. We should strongly support this policy. Our acceptance speech will only keep Anson's part and delete all of mine. There's no need to broadcast it live. What do you think?"

Haha, hahaha.

Anson and the others burst into laughter, not giving Conner any face.

Conner stared at Higgins, dumbfounded, dejected, and feeling hopeless.

Laughing and joking, chasing each other, the August 31st band members finally started walking, leaving the backstage and heading to the audience seats in front of the Staples Center.

Higgins's work, which had lasted the entire night, was finally over. He thought he could relax and find a place to sit down and have a drink, but after a slight daze, when he came back to his senses, he was already standing in front of the backstage monitor, looking for the band members in the camera.

The guests in the front of the Staples Center soon discovered—

The August 31st band members actually showed up!

As the award ceremony was coming to an end, the mysterious August 31st band finally appeared. The members, led by Anson, finally showed up, filling the empty seats for the entire night.

It was truly novel!

But what was even more novel was that the guests in the audience, one by one, seemed to have discovered a new continent, nodding and waving to greet them. All the attention flocked to them.

The award ceremony tonight had not yet ended, but now it could be 100% certain that the August 31st band would gain a bunch of industry friends.

Only at this time did the guests at the Staples Center have the opportunity to properly examine the August 31st band members. The previous mystery, chaos, and shifting focus of attention had not even allowed them to catch their breath—

Now, finally.

When they saw Anson's attire, many people's eyes lit up. Now they could finally understand what the frenzy on the red carpet was all about.

It wasn't just the Staples Center.

The audience watching the live broadcast in front of the TV also finally waited for the climax.

"Ah, Anson!"

Although there was a five-minute delay from the live broadcast, they finally saw Anson and the band members in the live camera. One by one, they could no longer control themselves.

From the anxiety, irritability, anger, and depression at the beginning, after a whole night of ups and downs in the narrative and performance, seeing Anson in the audience seats at this moment, everything had evolved into a kind of joy and frenzy—

Grand and mighty, completely detonating.

Even CBS Television itself had not expected that the ratings could continue to soar.

It was simply incredible!

After the award ceremony, according to Nielsen statistics, the 46th Grammy Awards ushered in a ratings frenzy. The highest ratings moment appeared at the beginning of the second half, during the August 31st band's performance. The number of viewers across the United States broke through 30 million, creating a new high.

This was the first time since 1988, after a full sixteen years, that the number of Grammy viewers had broken the 30 million mark again!

Surprise!

Absolute surprise!

The Recording Academy had started promoting and building momentum three months ago, hoping that the award ceremony could sweep away the decline and usher in a ratings frenzy—

Even at the cost of provoking the Oscars.

But they never expected that they would achieve such amazing results in the end.

The August 31st band's innovative and brilliant performance was a great contribution!

It was hard to imagine what the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences felt; and the cruel reality continued to rub salt in the wounds of those old stubborns:

They could continue to look down on Anson as a pretty boy, but Anson's influence was already unstoppable.

When the August 31st band finally appeared in the audience seats at the Staples Center, the number of viewers in the second half, which had remained stable, was still climbing steadily, breaking through 31 million, and still rising.

On the one hand, the Anson effect was spreading in all directions. Viewers who had missed the red carpet were eager to witness Anson's demeanor. What was the deal with that red carpet evening dress?

On the other hand, as the award ceremony entered its final stages, the results of the four major general awards were about to be announced, and casual viewers also turned on their TVs and cast their eyes over.

Step by step, the Grammy Awards' ratings numbers continued to climb miraculously. At a time when television program ratings were facing many challenges, it was a miracle.

After a full sixteen years, the Grammys had once again achieved such great results. Everything was all because of one Anson.

From the general public to industry insiders, the bustling discussions could not stop. Anson, Anson, and Anson again. The Recording Academy's move was brilliant.

After this battle, Anson's position in Hollywood was probably completely different.

But I don't know what the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences felt.

Under the gaze of more than 32 million viewers, the highlight of the award ceremony appeared, and the blockbuster awards were announced one after another, pushing the carnival atmosphere of this long night to the extreme.

Then, it completely detonated.