Voice of China Season 4 Episode 11: Cross Battles Between Wang Feng & Harlem Yu

All you eager eyes and keen ears out there must have heard about the little clash between Wang Feng and the media, and here we are, watching the episode itself this week! We can finally be the judges to see for ourselves if the media had indeed been biased against Wang Feng or it's all in his mind. Here's my summary and take on it:

Wang Feng picked the song that is always associated with Harlem as the opening song - 让我一次爱个够, which was appropriately tuned to become Wang-Feng-ized! Pretty satisfying to watch for sure, and Harlem, too chose a popular Wang Feng's song 春天里 (shameless plug for my favourite rendition of this song - Geng Si Han & Chen Zhi's performance) which was very adorably changed to Harlem's style. It's a soul swapping experience that is worth replaying again and again. But the night is long and so, let's begin the games! As a quick refresher, here are the contestants that will be fighting it out in this episode:

This is the 'youngest' cross battle in the history of Voice of China, with 16-year old Huang Xiao Yun performs All by Myself and 19-year old Zhao Da Ge singing Ain't No Mountain High Enough. Zhao Da Ge does her signature snazzy singing, giving this classic song a new modern feel. I like how she has her own personality when she sings, which is quite rare in this season. That's a characteristic of the members in Harlem's team. However, Huang Xiao Yun totally nailed it with her stunning All by Myself, which is an extremely difficult song to sing, let alone re-organizing and having so much emotions in it at such a young age.

Zhang Shu picked a cutesy song that is very unlike her previous styles. It must have been Harlem's idea, I mean, Zhang Shu singing 你的甜蜜?! Are you see-ree-ious? I would have preferred her to sing heavier, emo songs but anyway, it might be to show her versatility. She does pull it off nicely, though it's a visual and audio mismatch. Bei Bei performs an extremely soulful 大桥上, does not exceed her previous stellar performances, does not break out of her female Wang Feng character, but touches me deeply as usual. The crowd is undoubtedly wow-ed by Bei Bei and entertained by Zhang Shu. Both Jay Chou and Na Ying holds Bei Bei to high regard and compliment - Na Ying even comments she has the flair of a champion (I agree). 

Before going into the next round, host Hua Shao asks Wang Feng to comment, and he says, 'The previous two contestants from my team have exceeded my expectations so much. Our team currently faces a treacherous situation, but I think I don't have to use the immunity privilege anymore, given the ability of the remaining two contestants.' Na Ying and Jay Chou both looked highly uncomfortable and solemn. I have never seen Harlem look so uneasy before either. Ho-hum. Okay, next round.

Tan Xuan Yuan is currently my favourite contestant and in my opinion, the best contestant in Harlem's team. He sings a really beautiful 欲水, the sort that I would replay in the darkest of nights for respite... he draws the audience in to his world as he sings. His voice is very suitable to sing theme songs for period dramas too. Zhang Xinxin is strangely flat when he sings a solo - I remembered him being really good in the previous PK battles. It remains comfortably relaxing to listen to, but at this point, it is a dangerous move. It could be a wrong song choice as it didn't reflect how good he is. It is also difficult to surpass Zhang Lei in the department of minyao, so... yeah.

'I've been thinking of something from the first song. I wanted to wait until the final song before saying it. I need to express some nagging feelings that I have. The next few lines might not be broadcast on the official show, but I will definitely be responsible for my words. First, I want to express that what I am about to say has nothing to do with my losses on this episode. As the opponent to Harlem, I have told my assistant and my family that my favourite part of this season's Voice of China is the attitude of Harlem's team and the songs he picked. My interactions with Harlem have also been pleasant. I have no issues with Harlem. What I am about to say has nothing to do with Harlem and his team.

To all my students that have failed to go through, I am extremely apologetic to all of you, please pardon me for my frankness. You did not lose in music, you did not lose in Harlem's point of view, you did not lose to your opponent's spectacular performances, you lost to the materialistic and crude world of gossip and bias, to which it is aimed at your mentor (himself). Please do not cry, I am grateful for The Voice's band, director, music producers, music critics and DJs. I've said this long ago - your journey in The Voice can end any time, it is unpredictable. But your performances will surely be broadcast, the memories of every one here will never be gone.' 

Ma Yin Yin sings a quiet, romantic version of 三天三夜. If you haven't heard the original before, you will never imagine how it sounds like. I recommend this version from the super-awesome Season 1 contestants here. I really like how she plays with the song into this jazzy, bar-music, country, drunk sort of version, it is really so creative that has got me captivated all the way. But... Huang Yong has found a new fan in me. This is the best performance of the whole episode, and boy am I glad that Wang Feng saved the best at the last, it's really icing on the cake. In fact, I secretly wish that Huang Yong would win the entire competition. I never noticed him... and guess this is what we call a black horse, eh? I really liked how he smiles while singing such a crazily motivating song 流浪, he revved up the entire crowd. Haven't seen this Wang Feng spirit since Geng Si Han. Tears in my eyes as he finished up the last line, and longing for more.

It is true that Ma Yin Yin has already developed her own distinctive singing style, a lazy sophisticated way reminiscent of Shanghai in the 1930s. She sings 在水一方, reminding me of a scene with whiskey and soft bokeh lights. I would love for her to star in a coming-of-age movie, and/or sing the theme song of that movie. Bei Bei does a powerful, effortless 蓝莲花 by 许巍 (performed during PK battles of Season 2 by Zhao Han and Zhang Heng Yuan) as usual.