Adorables.

We’re back this week with Tanya’s group, which means I am so nervous because my darling 苏运莹 Su Yun Ying!!

They changed up the formatting again this week (-.-), though I acknowledge it’s for the better. Instead, of announcing all the top 4 right at the beginning, they’re doing it team by team. So we get one announcement then a performance and so on. It definitely makes for a more entertaining watch by preserving the dramatic tension. And viewers who see that they’re favs are out even before the episode gets going won’t be immediately turned off.

One thing they missed out at the beginning was this week’s competition theme, which left me a little confused because I wasn’t sure how I should judge the songs. I only found out the theme – 难忘的一天 An Unforgettable Day – indirectly when they were discussing after the first performance. Editing team, please be more careful!

Anyway, here goes:

羽田 － 只怪自己活该

• Pop
• Media vote: 35/51
• My song score: 7/10
• My lyrics score: 7/10
• My performance score: 7/10
• He’s an earnest boy with an earnest song, but it’s not particularly memorable nor interesting. The bridge made me perk up a little, but wasn’t enough to elevate the song. The lyrics were pretty basic (judging from the way he speaks, he’s not super fluent in Chinese). I also thought his singing style was too try-hard Western R&B, but maybe that’s just because he grew up in Canada.

What blasphemy is the new hair?!

陈萝莉 － 你安静起来

• Jazz
• Media vote: 31/51
• My song score: 7/10
• My lyrics score: 9/10
• My performance score: 7/10
• Such imagery and storytelling in his lyrics!停笔留恋你眼里的星火 I pause in writing to reminisce the starry spark in your eyes就这样熄灭幕落 Just like that it is extinguished and the curtain falls我等待空气静得冒烟的我 The me who waits for the air to be so still it burns吸了空气呛出故事的我 The me who breathes in the air and chokes out a storyHe’s adorable and his music is incredibly age-appropriate. I’m one of those people who never really gets jazz, but I appreciate the phrasing and transitions he does that work so well to give an additional layer to the lyrics.

苏运莹 － 萤火虫

• Indie pop
• Media vote: 45/51
• My song score: 8/10
• My lyrics score: 9/10
• My performance score: 9/10
• HER VOICE. Admittedly this isn’t as striking a song as 野子, there are points when the melody moves in a way that is counter-intuitive and thus more difficult to grasp. But damn her voice. That sense of her melody flowing left and right is partly the unpredictable phrasing, partly the inventive play with her lyrics, which are descriptive yet abstract. I would translate some of it, but I really don’t know how to.

祁紫檀 － 得知平淡珍贵的一天

• Indie folk
• Media vote: 43/51
• My song score: 8/10
• My lyrics score: 9/10
• My performance score: 8/10
• This is a very abstract, philosophical song. The interesting rhythm makes it hard to follow at first, and I don’t really feel the first part of the transition to the bridge, but then when she starts going “oooh, yeah” suddenly the song expands and comes into its own. After that climax, the return to the initial verse suddenly makes complete sense, which is beautiful. The judges are right in that the beauty of the song lies in how well the lyrics match with the melody and the arrangement, both flow like a river, and are as light as air, yet possess a consuming, moving power.
• The verse:聚聚散散 Gatherings, partings物是人非 People change平平淡淡 Plainly and simply最终烧尽 Eventually burning to ashes

  不凡灿烂 With extraordinary brilliance

  莹莹微蓝眼角湿气 Shimmering pale blue, moist in (my) eyes

  似流水潺潺 Like water flowing

  谁在向过去俯首鞠躬 Who is bowing to the past

  明明白白远离油腻人间 Leaving this greasy world behind

潘高峰 － 会忘了；会记得

• Funk
• Media vote: 42/51
• My song score: 9/10
• My lyrics score: 8/10
• My performance score: 9/10
• I think this is the best song of the episode. I think if I had to predict a contestant who would succeed the most commercially, in addition to talent, it might be Pan. This song packs such an emotional punch, while being incredibly catchy, and is very expertly constructed. The only nitpick would be the key change at the end, which I thought was pretty unnecessary and ruined the moment a little bit. Overall though, he has my respects for playing so well with a genre that’s practically nonexistent in c-pop. Also, loved the guitar solo.

Judges votes:

• Yu Quan – 5 points to Qi Zi Tan
• Wakin – 5 points to Su Yun Ying
• Liu Huan – 5 points to Pan Gao Feng

Which means that Su Yun Ying goes to the finals. My darling I cannot be happier.

“Nothing has really changed, the sun still hangs in the sky everyday.” Can she be more precious?

Finally, Tanya picks the second finalist, and she goes with Qi Zi Tan.

This week’s group is overall incredibly strong, and because every finalist had such a different genre and style, we reach a point where its no longer possible to really compare the contestants to each other. Especially the top 3, I think all 3 deserve to be finalists to be honest. They’re all so good in the music that they do. One thing that does become obvious, though, is that age is somewhat a factor here. Yu Tian and Chen Luo Li, compared to the top 3, are obviously more immature in the sense that as artists, they’re less certain about who they are. This puts them at a disadvantage because to succeed in the music world, a strong identity is crucial.

It’s interesting to see the rationale behind how the judges cast their votes: Wakin was being very honest when he said that everyone was so good he just picked the person whose style he personally liked the most; Liu Huan picked Pan because he believed that funk was a music that’s incredibly rare in China, and so more people should take notice; whereas for Yu Quan, they picked Qi because her music was that rare form where it was more like art, to be appreciated rather than judged.

It wasn’t too surprising that Tanya picked Qi. To a certain extent, she’s partial towards female artists, especially ones like Qi who are unique and sure about what they wanted to create as artists. Pan was the netizen favorite, Qi being a little too “weird” to cater to the mainstream. But I’m enjoying the daring picks that judges are putting out, it makes for more entertaining finals and certainly is a step toward celebrating the “weird” and the diverse.