Sing!China 中国新歌声 Episode 13 Recap (Final)

Who is the winner of Sing!China Season 1? Read on to find out!

(the post will be updated with pictures + points… soon.)

Xue Zhiqian and Vinida sing the opening performance. It’s a mashup of 丑八怪+给我一个吻. I like it. Somehow the mashup of ballad and rap works (well, at least in the first part). After she sings the “Give me a kiss” part it seems to awkwardly transition back to Xue Zhiqian’s 丑八怪. Lol and the people wearing animal heads though.

All top 40 singers reconvene in a performance 光明. The top six singers join in the last verse, where they stand on a model airplane prop while singing. The prop is perhaps symbolic for one of the lyrics 我相信光明就在远方, or I believe that light is in the distance. Gosh, during Liu Wen Tian’s lines, I realize how much he deserved to be in the final. Arrgh. Biggest mistake made this season, I feel.

the top 6 singers’ performances with their respective coaches

Jay Chou and Nathan Hartono perform 双截棍 together. The stage is kind of weird, but maybe I’m just not getting the meaning. There’s white maids in the beginning, and then ninjas, and then cowboys holding big milk bottles — maybe the meaning is that there is supposed to be none? Two thumbs up for Hartono, who raps in Chinese at rapid-fire speed. I mean, the pronunciation still needs some work, but wow has he improved from Episode 1. I’m just not a big fan of the song.

Na Ying, Li Peiling, and Wang Chenrui perform 爱上你等于爱上了寂寞 together. It’s pretty good, and their voices match well. But Na Ying’s voice is very… pure? So when she sings the climax of the song, I actually can’t feel the sorrow too well. Li Peiling’s high notes at the end are awesome though.

Harlem and Yang Meina sing 命中注定. I… don’t like the song. Like, at all. That awkward beat drop though. Whyyyyyy. I don’t even think it’s Harlem or Meina’s fault that it sounds so bad. It’s just that the song itself is a horrible remix.

I think I like Team Wang Feng’s performance most. They sing 满. Also, Xu Geyang is amazing.

individual performances

Hartono’s performance of 城里的月光+女人花 is very, very disappointing. I was quite taken aback, actually. He starts off the song off-key, and proceeds to struggle with intonation throughout the whole song. He is consistently flat on pitch and the high notes are not executed with ease. His lacking Chinese pronunciation becomes apparent especially since the mashup he sings is a ballad. The best part is probably where he imitates the er hu (Chinese instrument) by humming, but my goodness was this performance overall just disappointing.

Hartono sings 最长的电影 and it’s much better than his rendition of 城里的月光+女人花. He seems to be more comfortable with the lyrics of this song so he’s able to concentrate more on the emotions behind the song. His buildup into the chorus is also effective. I think perhaps it was because this time around he had to memorize four to five songs that his performance is subpar, as he does not usually speak Chinese.

Xu Geyang sings 蝶. WHOA. It’s amazing. Love, love the way she sings it. The chorus is filled with high notes, but she eases into them gracefully, and then belts the latter half of the chorus perfectly. She still struggles a little with the verses in terms of imbuing emotion, but this is such a minor concern compared to the her overall performance. Also, she is so pretty.

Meina sings 倔强. She is off-tune. Her intonation gets better as the song progresses, especially into the chorus, where she belts her notes. I like how she sings the notes in the interlude, with a lot of power. But her most memorable performance is perhaps still her blind audition in Episode 1.

Li Peiling sings Let it Go in Chinese. It is probably the best Chinese cover of Let it Go I’ve heard so far. Compared to other competitors, she’s crystal on intonation. The power in her voice is wonderfully demonstrated in the chorus. But with more time, I think she will become better at expressing emotion in song. However, she is already impressive at such a young age, and I think her performance today was much better than most of the other five singers.

Wang Chenrui sings 当年情 in Cantonese. Once again, she’s got good vocal control and use of technique. Her vibrato and rubato in certain notes are well-placed. But I am, once again, unable to feel any emotion from her cover. Why is this? Perhaps it’s because she is a singer in an acapella group, where each person is trained to sort of not stick out, since they all have to blend together. I dunno.

Jiang Dun Hao sings 窗外. Holy shit, for a while I thought he was Li Jian, they have such a similar way of singing. He’s off-tune slightly, but I don’t care. I love the way he sings this song. And when he sings the lyrics 不知道你是否会来, my gosh it’s gorgeous.

Jiang Dun Hao sings 河流. I think perhaps the Bird’s Nest has worse sound equipment or something, because all of the competitors seem a little off-tune whereas before the mistakes weren’t as glaring. Anyway. Dun Hao’s high notes seem strained in the chorus, and I thought his singing was just so-so this time around.

Jiang Dun Hao is declared winner of Sing!China Season 1.

Nathan Hartono: Second place.

Talk about a surprise. A few episodes ago I would have guessed Li Peiling or Nathan Hartono.

I think my personal favorites after watching this episode are Xu Geyang, Liu Wentian, Ji Kehao, Li Ruixuan, and Zhao Xiaoxi. Hope they continue to pursue music; I love their voices.