The Appeal of Chinese Singing Competitions & Survival Shows

A bit of information about me: In 2018, I was invested in Singer 2018, which is a singing competition for professional and well-established singers. It took place in China.

Earlier this year, I was super invested in Chuang 2020, a girls trainee survival show that took place in China. The 7-member group, BonBon Girls 303, was formed. I voted every day when it aired.

I’ve also watched a boys trainee survival show called Chuang 2019. The 11-member band, R1SE, was formed. I’m currently watching Super Vocal Season One, which is a singing competition for opera and musical singers.

Each episode is around two hours and the finales are around four hours. Two hours for one episode is not enough, by the way. There’s so much content that gets left out. You can probably tell that I like these types of shows.

Why, though? Note: A lot of these reasons are applicable to non-Chinese singing competitions.

1) TO WATCH THE CONTESTANTS WE LOVE

A lot of the contestants already have established fanbases. I watched Singer 2018 for Hua Chenyu and I watched Chuang 2020 for Chen Zhuoxuan, Nene, and Joyce Chu. I’m watching Super Vocal for Zheng Yunlong and Ayanga.

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2) TO DISCOVER TALENTED ARTISTS

I became a fan of Zhao Lei, Zhou Zhennan, and Liu Ye after I watched Chuang 2019.

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3) FOR THE FRIENDSHIPS

Although these are competitions, there are moments of beautiful friendship between the contestants. In Chuang 2020, Nene cried because she was afraid that Wu Yalu was going to be eliminated. Nene had a secure ranking but the one she was worried about was her best friend. Liu Xiening and Xu Yiyang’s friendship was touching, too.

In Super Vocal, Zheng Yunlong and Ayanga’s friendship started from when they were roommates during their university years.

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4) TO FEEL INSPIRED

The contestants are hard-working and determined to achieve their goals. I know I felt inspired when I watched this scene in Super Vocal:

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The contestants have to face a lot of challenges during the show, too. Although it’s challenging for them and entertaining for us, it pushes them to learn and grow as artists.

5) FOR THE MUSIC

All the contestants are talented! Since these are singing shows, there’s obviously beautiful singing involved! Sometimes there’s rap, dance, and musical instruments too, depending on the show. Not only do they sing, they sometimes rearrange the music (Singer 2018, Super Vocal), write the music, and create the choreography (Chuang 2019). The art of performing in front of an audience is important as well as selecting the right song.

It’s entertaining!

6) TO APPRECIATE NEW MUSIC GENRES AND SONGS

Prior to watching Singer 2018, I didn’t really appreciate Chinese folk music. I changed my mind after I learned more about it and saw the hard work behind the scenes.

7) TO LEARN NEW THINGS

I’ve liked songs from musicals and opera for many years, but I didn’t know the meaning behind some of the songs. In Super Vocal, they explain the story behind the song.

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8) YOU GET TO PARTICIPATE

This one is for survival competitions that involve voting. It’s exciting to support your favourites. There’s a reason to vote for them: So that they can debut (This depends on the show).

When Chuang 2020 aired, I had something to look forward every week.

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Do you see why I like Chinese singing competitions now?

Chuang 2020: My Thoughts on the Final Ranking

I’m very happy that Curley Gao won C position! She deserves it!

I’m also happy that Chen Zhuo Xuan and Nene made it in the final group. While they didn’t make the top 3, I’m glad that they still made it. I didn’t have any worries about Curley, Zhuo Xuan, or Nene not making the group because their rankings have always been within the top 7.

Still, I think that Zhuo Xuan and Nene deserve to be in the top 3. Zhuo Xuan’s performances in the final were amazing. She showed us a different side of her that we have never seen before. If she didn’t face so many setbacks and was able to show her full potential during the show, I believe she would have placed higher.

Ranks 1-6 were stable, but I was worried about rank 7. One moment it was Xu Yiyang and then the next moment it was Zhang Yifan. In the end, Yifan was rank 7 and Yiyang did not get to debut. There’s a lot of outrage on platforms everywhere: Weibo, Facebook, YouTube, etc.

I hear the difference between the votes was very small, so Yiyang had a chance. I personally voted for Yiyang. In terms of vocal and dance ability, I think that Yiyang is better.

There were also a couple of things that were off-putting about Yifan prior to the final. 1) Yifan saying that the group will carry her to victory and 2) Yifan saying that she cannot do it (yell a song lyric) and Yiyang encouraging her to do it. From these scenes, it looked like the group was babysitting Yifan when everyone had a lot on their plates already.

However, I also feel sad for Yifan for all the hate she is getting. A lot of netizens are saying that Yifan made it in the group because of her rich mom and because her company is huge. I don’t know if this is true or not. Even if she did win because of money, it’s not fair to direct the hate at her. Yifan still worked hard. It was others who voted for her.

I am sure that Yiyang will be successful, even though she didn’t make it in the group. I’m also sad that Liu Xiening is separated from Yiyang.

While Nene didn’t get to stay with Wu Yalu and her other close friends, she has the opportunity to become closer with Curley and the other girls.