It seemed like only yesterday that Joanna Dong was undergoing a blind audition for Sing! China, a Chinese reality television singing competition.

A minute into belting out a jazz take on Love Song, 1990, Jay Chou himself had smashed the token of approval and turned around. She swiftly chose him as her mentor, and the rest, as they say, were set in stone.

Now fast forward in time, and she has beaten out all competition – including her fellow Singaporean teammate Olinda Cho –  to represent the Mandopop king at the finals. Not bad. Could be better, but not bad.

The Sing! China final was held on 8 October 2017, and if you have yet to hear about the results, we’ve got you covered. Without further ado, we present 10 facts about the explosive finals that will make you feel like you’re there, right beside Joanna Dong as she gave arguably the best performances of her lifetime.

Introducing the competitors

In the finals, Dong was up against Zhaxipingcuo from Liu Huan’s team, Doris Guo from Na Ying’s team, as well as Xiao Kaiye and Ye Xiao Yue from Eason Chan’s team.

Each individual has his or her own strengths and weaknesses, but one thing’s for sure: it wasn’t going to be easy for the songstress.

She performed with Jay Chou for the first round

For the first round, each of the finalists was to perform a duet with their coach.

In Dong’s case, she and Chou chose a medley of Chou’s 2001 hit Simple Love and The Carpenter’s Top Of The World for their duet.

And man, it was absolutely dazzling.

The audience evidently thought so too: Dong and Guo had the most audience votes after the first round.

Joanna belts it out for the second

For the second round, each of the finalists was to perform a solo song.

Dong picked Feng Fei Fei’s Applause as her number, and can I just gush over how beautiful the performance was?

Even the Rock can smell the awesomeness in that, and I’ll have you know that he usually can’t even smell the noodles he’s cooking.

Zhaxipingcuo and Guo make it into the Grand Finals

Unfortunately, Dong did not make it past the finals.

After Zhaxipinguo performed, Dong was eliminated from the running.

This meant that Zhaxipingcuo from Liu Huan’s team, as well as Doris Guo Qin from Na Ying’s team, were heading into the grand finals.

The winner of Sing! China Season 2

Let’s give it up for…

Zhanxipingcuo!

With the highest number of votes from a 101-person panel and audience members, Zhanxipingcuo clinches first place.

Congrats, bro! I still think Joanna should have won it, because I’m biased that way, but your victory is definitely not undeserved! Kudos!

Second Singaporean to reach the finals of Sing! China

The first was the charismatic musician Nathan Hartono, who stole our hearts with his jazzy style and prolific beat-boxing skills.

Incidentally, he was the runner-up of the competition, one place ahead of Joanna’s achievement this season.

Here’s some food for thought: they have pretty similar styles in music, and both do the mouth trumpet incredibly well.

Perhaps that’s the winning ticket? Just some notes for musicians looking to make it big on Sing! China. 😉

Controversy?

Last season was pretty controversial: there was some shady vote-counting business going on, and the fact that a Chinese person won it in the end didn’t help. Not that we are crying “foul play”, but… just saying, you know?

This season’s finale, however, looks way cleaner than before. They seem to have gotten some mathematically proficient individuals this time round, as the votes were counted in a precise and accurate manner.

While some smelled foul play following Joanna’s elimination, the winner turned out to be a Tibetan, and honestly it’s even more contradictory picking a Tibetan winner than a Singaporean winner.

So yeah, this season seems legitimate.

What does Joanna think of the defeat?

It seems Joanna has taken it in her stride.

“There is no need for disappointment, because unlike an actual sporting event, there is really no objective criteria for measuring music and, to me, to have been able to make it this far, I feel incredibly, incredibly fortunate already.”

She added that being able to perform in China’s Olympic stadium, felt like she was “participating in the Olympics’ equivalent of singing competitions“.

Finishing third, has already exceeded her expectations.

Well, Joanna, it looks like other than being a multi-talented singer, actress and host, you’re also a beautiful woman with an equally beautiful mindset.

If it was me I know I would be raging at the judges and crying foul.

Guess that’s why I’m not inside, huh? (Other than the fact that I sing worse than my bullfrog Tim)

So… what next for the lovely singer?

For one, Dong will be based out of Singapore, but she will definitely return to her hometown. Aware that it’s difficult to step into the wider Chinese market, she acknowledges that she will be shuttling between China and Singapore.

For two, she will be looking to promote jazz to Chinese-speaking audiences, and it’s not just limited to China, but worldwide.

Future wise, Dong has this to say.

“All I ever wanted to do as a singer was to be able to keep singing into my old age.”

“And so I hope that this achievement, or that placing third in this competition, is sufficient for people to be interested in me for a few years more.”

Hope for Singaporeans

If you’re a Singaporean musician with big dreams, don’t give up.

Stefanie Sun, JJ Lin, Nathan Hartono and Joanna Dong have all shown one thing: nothing’s impossible if you put in the effort and persist in what you love.

So keep trying, and who knows? One day you might just be up there, making all of us Singaporeans proud.

And I’m sure we’ll all be looking forward to that. 🙂

#wordsforhopeuntilyourealisethatrealityisabitchandthingsdontgothewayyouwantitto

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This article was first published on goodyfeed.com

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