‎中國新歌聲‬ SING CHINA, JAY & WANGFENG PK rounds

JAY CHOU versus WANG FENG's team - five rounds of direct PKs as the competition heats up!

Who will emerge the winner? Your favourites - Nathan Hartono, Xu Ge Yang, and Low Key Duo - all in this energy-filled episode:

The top 5 of Jay's team: Low Key Duo, Yu Tian, Zeng Min Jie, Nathan Hartono and Pu Xiang burst out in song to 恒星。 Beginning with Pu Xiang, followed by Yu Tian, then Zeng Min Jie. A startling realization - they are beginning to morph into one another's voices without losing their original identity. Jay Chou leads the song into 煙花易冷, which transits into a rap commanded by Low Key Duo. The tempo speeds up and taking it up by Nathan Hartono. Everyone takes it together, hauntingly beautiful. The improvement from everyone is encouraging.

Wang Feng leads his team to perform 蜗牛, a song by Jay Chou. It begins with Xu Ge Yang - her voice feels a lot more polished than before, which heightens her potential. The rest of her counterparts Zheng Jia Wen, Jiang Dunhao, Lin Kai Lun and Liu Wen Tian takes this melodic song in a safe delivery, standing in a row for the most part as if they are in a choir.


The onus to choose the top 6 of the 10 contestants (5 from Jay; 5 from Wang) is out of the judges' hands this time round. Voting will be conducted among 51 media representatives: 30 Mandopop producers from Mainland China, Taiwan, Hongkong, 11 DJs, and 10 'media talents' - majority wins. Popularity wins. Simple - so let's start. This time - the judges no longer can 'scheme' proper - they have to announce the contestant that they want to send at the same time.

Nathan Hartono vs Lin Kai Lun



Nathan Hartono improves significantly once again, especially on his Chinese pronunciation (which was considered to be extremely grating in the past two episodes). He sings天台的月光, before breaking into his 'mouth trumpeting' talent and then entered into a beatboxing routine a little awkwardly. Then he released his true weapon - Moondance by Van Morrison! He is really better off singing English songs, which is what he has always done, he was visibly much more relaxed and in his element than when he was singing Chinese.



Lin Kai Lun goes after Sam Smith's Writing's on the Wall as her song. I can't help but feel like she chose a wrong song. Her voice is powerful, thick and very 'Black-American style'. It is also excellent execution, her voice soars and explodes through to the ceiling. But this genre of songs is not going to get her into the good books of the media representatives because to them, they want to be entertained.

Jay is the first to comment on Nathan's performance - saying that Nathan's has a better charisma than him, with the ability to go with the flow. Jay jokes that he doesn't wait till the finale at Bird Nest to say this, in case there's no chance to do that, and just perform their best to the media reps. Wang Feng says simply that he is already very impressed for an 18-year old to perform and understand music execution to this extent, Harlem asked Jay if the mouth trumpeting segment was his idea - Jay returns to say that Nathan had to be able to do it for him to suggest it, giving the latter full credit. Nathan expressed his happiness to be able to extend his career towards writing Chinese songs in future.

Later Kai Lun starts off by thanking her team mates but before saying two lines she burst into tears in the most comical way (Ok, bad to say that but it was really quite funny) - and then corrects the misunderstanding that Wang Feng is always known to be cold, calling him a 'sunshine boy/man', a kind and thoughtful guy.

Verdict: 41 - Nathan Hartono; 10 - Lin Kai Lun


Zeng Min Jie vs Jiang Dun Hao

Zeng Min Jie does a groovy, laidback version of 爱什么稀罕 from A-Mei, it seems like she is demonstrating her showmanship to be bigger than her singing ability. I am not a fan of her from the beginning, and that's proabbly why I didn't really like her performance. I mean, she didn't outdo A-Mei for me.


Jiang Dun Hao sings 离开北京 (Leaving Beijing). This 21-year old from Xinjiang-Boertala tribe brings his guitar up with him on the stage. His clear, wide-sweeping voice wins a round of applause from the audience first, He has the ability to make you forget everything and just listen. The chorus comes, and cue those goosebumps!

Verdict: 35 - Jiang Dun Hao; 16 - Zeng Min Jie


Low Key Duo vs Zheng Jia Wen



Low Key Duo brings us 平凡之路 by 朴树... slay slay slay, as usual! Nothing ordinary in this performance, they almost feel like a 2016 F.I.R. They kept me on the edge of the seat with their killer, unbelievable rapping and amazing chemistry again. They are doing it live, with zero mistake for such a complex choreography, no doubt they are talented. Absolutely riveting, and they actually outdo themselves once again. Thumbs up!


I thought Zheng Jia Wen's performance will most likely pale in comparison to Low Key Duo, but he holds up wonderfully. He sings Lost Stars, one of my favourite English songs (I don't have many) which got everyone bobbing to his beat. Amazingly infectious. It seems like Wang Feng's team always love things associated with darkness, stars, and glittering lights - remember 夜空中最亮的星? He seems like a more introverted version of a cross between Jason Mraz and Bruno Mars... so likeable.

Verdict: 38 - Low Key Duo; 13 - Zheng Jia Wen

Yu Tian vs Xu Ge Yang