This week, Jay Chou leads his team of 10 to five rounds of PK to pick out his top 5 contestants. Do you remember some of the most popular contestants from this team like Nathan Hartono and the Low Key Duo (低调组合)? I must say that a lot of other contestants improved a lot, giving rise to a whole lot of surprises in this episode. Who do I think should stay, who should have been eliminated? What about your opinion? The summary of this episode here:
Minutes into the new episode, we are introduced to the guest judge that Jay Chou invited. Hidden behind a veil, this guest judge with the most distinctive voice in Mandopop industry sings 青花瓷, a song by Jay Chou. Come on, if you don't know Fei Yu-ching, you must be living under a rock! You can call him the Grandmaster of 中国风, so yes, no surprises that Jay Chou picked him to be the guest judge!
Later, Fei Yu-ching invites Jay to sing their only duet - 千里之外. Such a treat for everyone's ears!
Here you can watch the entire SING CHINA Season 1 Episode 7.
(低調組合) 杨和苏 (Yang De Su) and 张馨月 (Zhang Xin Yue) vs 程思佳 (Cheng Si Jia)
For Jay Chou to choose the 低調組合 (low-key duo) to open in his team's top 5 night is so predictable - if anyone, it'll be them to rev up the crowd with their insane rapping skills. Just when I thought Yang De Su and Zhang Xin Yue could not possibly up their own game from their blind audition's performance that blew everyone away... they do it again. This time, with innovative rap lyrics, so ingenious it's such a waste to rap them away so quickly! The proportion of the rap is greater than before though, which I find is a shame because I really like to hear Zhang Xin Yue sing as well. She's really good even on her own! The moment when both of them transited into MJ's classic song - Bad, you just can't take your eyes off them..!
Cheng Si Jia is still as adorable as before. She is one of the contestants I previously found had potential to go ahead in the competition, but if she's going against the Low Key Duo, there's no way for her to win them. She sings 不同凡想 by Tia Ray, which is a song that is rather non-mainstream. Her voice reaches the higher and low tones effortlessly as before, but she fails to find her own style at this point of the competition. Besides singing ability, SING CHINA does look at other factors like attractiveness, stage persona and a memorable personality or distinctive voice.
Jay Chou says that whoever who leaves will be invited to his concert; Harlem jokes that now everyone wishes they get eliminated. It eases the tense situation on stage.
Editor: Low Key Duo
Fei Yu-ching: Neutral
Jay Chou: Low Key Duo
Jay Chou: Low Key Duo
羽田 (Yu Tian) vs 单良 (Shan Liang)
This is the pair that improved by leaps and bounds, singing to celebrate the fusion of Chinese and English songs. Yu Tian sings a brilliant mash up of Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran and... 鳳凰于飛 by 費玉清. What the hell, I know! But when he sings, it all comes together wonderfully, He even helped 鳳凰于飛 transcend to the contemporary world. The crowd goes wild - and during his post-performance speech he gives an extended thanks to his ailing grandmother in the audience.
Shan Liang, on the other hand, does a similar mash up but of different songs - 南屏晚鐘 by 費玉清 and I'm Yours by Jason Mraz. He brings his bass along. Although Yu Tian was really good, I preferred Shan Liang's performance! He was really good at making the audience feel really happy and relaxed while hearing him sing, and Na Ying points that out too. Since technically both of them are equally good - Jay Chou even awards them 'full marks' for their performance, I would go with the one that made me smile.
Editor: Shan Liang
Fei Yu-ching: Neutral
Jay Chou: Yu Tian
Jay Chou: Yu Tian
I don't agree with Jay Chou's decision, if both of them were equally good, what is his basis of choosing Yu Tian over Shan Liang? Is it because of looks? Or because he played the 'grandmother' card? (Jay is known for a softie in this aspect) Well we will never know. Hopefully Yu Tian will continue to improve and do justice to Shan Liang's dreams.
包师语 (Bao Shi Yu) vs 曾敏杰 (Zeng Min Jie)
Bao Shi Yu surprised me a lot. She sings one of her mentor's famous songs 彩虹. Anyone who is mildly acquainted with Chinese pop songs will know this one, and Bao Shi Yu actually (in my opinion) sang it better than Jay Chou. Almost every single line made my goosebumps stand, and very soon it is interesting how this song that didn't sound particularly emo made everyone tear. The magic of Jay Chou's and Fei Yu-ching's teaching.
It feels like Zeng Min Jie's performance did not reach her full potential. She sang an oldie - 傷痕 by 林憶蓮. It sounded as if she rushed through it. her confidence dwindled as the performance continued, with a shaky ending that followed Jay Chou's unexplainable glum face.
Editor: Bao Shi Yu
Fei Yu-ching: Zeng Min Jie
Jay Chou: Zeng Min Jie
Again I don't agree with Jay Chou's decision.
Jay Chou: Zeng Min Jie
Again I don't agree with Jay Chou's decision.
向洋 (Nathan Hartono) vs 黄俊杰 (Huang Junjie)
This Jay Chou lookalike and mega-popular Nathan Hartono (also known as Xiang Yang) sings 我們都寂寞, which I liked a lot better than his 有没有, generally because this is after all, a song from Eason Chan and more so because I feel that he managed to weave in emotions better this time. The judges complained that he was too over the top with his performance style, but well, it appealed to me! It almost felt like a concert or some kind of musical drama, but I didn't think it grated on my nerves at all. This song managed to highlight his voice better too. I don't find him as handsome as everyone says he is, but his voice is solid.
It was unfortunate that Huang Junjie meets Nathan Hartono, because I feel that he is very good too. He sang 迷迭香 by Jay Chou, with a playful and casual edge to it. I liked it a lot. It feels so smooth and fluid. It's the kind of voice I would love to hear at Houhai bars. It's really a huge shame to let him go, but this is how the competition goes.
Editor: Nathan Hartono
Fei Yu-ching: Huang Junjie
Jay Chou: Nathan Hartono
吴江 (Wu Jiang) vs 朴翔 (Pu Xiang)
Wu Jiang sings 在雨中 by Wang Feng, and strange why I didn't pick this up before but he sounds like 修兒 (reference) from Wang Feng's team in VOC Season 4. The weirder thing is that he is singing a Wang Feng's song, which means he could be doing better over at the other camp. It is an interesting song choice with a reggae style, which I didn't feel work to his advantage for a competition. It is a dangerous strategy at this point to choose such a non-showy song.
Side note: Is it me or he looks like Harlem
Pu Xiang sings 把悲傷留給自己 by 陳昇 which is a clear winner even by choice of song already. Pu Xiang is going down the Paer Harti style (reference, Wang Feng's team champion for VOC Season 3) with a rather 'sandy' voice, Again, this one is totally Wang Feng's style. This Mongolian guy really brings you to the wild plains with his voice. I love his voice better than Paer Harti, because it is slightly less sandy but a lot more man.
Editor: Pu Xiang
Fei Yu-ching: Pu Xiang
Jay Chou: Pu Xiang
With this, the top 5 contestants of Jay Chou's team is finalized!
Low Key Duo
Yu Tian
Zeng Min Jie
Nathan Hartono
Pu Xiang
My guess for Jay Chou's team top: Pu Xiang
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