Our top 8 finalists emerge as we move into the last episode of the group stage with Yu Quan this week. Not sure what the finals will bring, but whoops I’m excited.

Da Fei 大飞 － 寂寞的时候别唱情歌 Don’t sing love songs when you’re lonely

• Media vote: 46/51
• My song score: 8/10
• My lyrics score: 7/10
• My performance score: 7/10 (8 – for the guitar solo, which was pretty banging)
• The chorus got me jamming, but the other parts of the song were pretty so-so. His singing isn’t much to brag about either. What redeems the performance somewhat are his comical expressions and gazes.

Lei Yu Xin 雷雨心 － 深海游戏 Deep sea game

• Media vote: 42/51
• My song score: 6/10
• My lyrics score: 7/10
• My performance score: 6/10
• It was excellent up until the chorus kicked in and all the spirit sapped away. I can see why everyone’s raving about her talent though – she has this intuitive understanding of how melody should flow… her songs have a way of feeling right. I just think the verse, which reminded me of a Waa Wei stripped of her dark quirkiness,  suddenly got cut with a completely different jazz song. In terms of the performance, her vocals are weak and the song came out really flat.

Xu Jun 许均 － 暖光 Warm light

• Media vote: 49/51
• My song score: 7/10
• My lyrics score: 7/10
• My performance score: 8/10
• I loved the concept, but somehow this song just didn’t work for me. It had all the right elements – a quiet verse, repetition, then the explosive chorus where the full band kicks in – but it just didn’t work. I was left with a feeling of incompletion, like the buildup of this melody ultimately denied me a payoff.

Wang Hong En 王宏恩 － 梦想的颜色 The color of dreams

• Media vote: 50/51
• My song score: 5/10
• My lyrics score: 7/10
• My performance score: 6/10
• I’ll come right out and say that I really disliked this song and completely do not understand the positive reaction to it. Right off the bat, it was really cliched, completely basic and impossible to connect with. Didn’t help that his voice was rather annoyingly nasally. And most blasphemous of all was that it ended with a key change, hallmark of lazy songwriting (for me anyway).

Su Zi Xu 苏紫旭 － 融；解 Dissolve; Resolve

(This is the ONLY performance without a HD upload T_T)

• Media vote: 29/51
• My song score: 9/10
• My lyrics score: 9/10
• My performance score: 10/10
• THIS GUY KILLED IT. Hands down. I loved the repetition of that “du-du-di-da-dee” part in between his explosive choruses. The way he growls *o*

Here’s the HD audio because I think he deserves to be heard in full glory:

Judges votes:

• Tanya – Lei Yu Xin
• Liu Huan – Da Fei
• Wakin – Wang Hong En

Yu Quan’s pick: Xu Jun

Overall thoughts:

So I’m really unhappy with the results this round.

Firstly, I for the life of me cannot understand how Wang Hong En got 50 votes and took the top spot. That song wasn’t even pop good, it was just boring cliche bad. I’d say it’s probably the weakest song I’ve heard all season. I’m actually surprised he even won over Zhou Meng Die in the preliminary round, since from the snapshot we were shown her song sounded much more interesting and emotionally affecting (though maybe that’s my genre bias speaking here). I can see why Yu Quan picked Xu Jun though – they do seem to share a genuine connection, and his first competition song went absolutely viral in China. In terms of online profile, he and Su Yun Yung are probably way up there, so him getting into the finals is not too surprising.

Secondly, I can’t believe Su Zi Xu got just 29 votes and no judge voted for him. Looking back on all the contestants, I have to say that he and Su Yun Ying are definitely the stand outs of the season (Hanggai aside, since they’re more like untouchable gods.)

Anyway, on to the finals next week (last ep I think)! Though we don’t really know what the format will be, my bets are still on Su Yun Ying or Hanggai taking the cake. She’s (deservedly) loved by everyone and they’re legends.