Peking University Top Ten Singers Competition 2016
2016-06-08 10:06:06
On May 22, 2016, the Peking University Top Ten Singers 2016 Competition was held at the Peking University Gymnasium. The first Top Ten Singers Competition was held in 1986, and since then, there have been 30 yearly competitions.
There were no empty seats in the PKU Gymnasium. Glow sticks lit up the entire auditorium, and through the creative opening video, we reflected upon the entire PKU Top Ten Singer Competition from the beginning to the night of the final round.
After the countdown, lights faded out and voices became silent, a band took the stage to give a warm-up performance. The FL Crew performed three dynamic dance pieces. The pieces were accompanied by amazing lights and melody, and they quickly energized the atmosphere.
Every year, this contest provides a stage for PKU students who have passion for music to take the stage and shine. The competition also helps discover the most innovative young musicians in the PKU community. After a brief introduction of the history of Top Ten Singer Competition, a special guest named Cheng Bi performed a warm and relaxing song entitled “Paper-cut for Window Decoration on a Sunny Day”. The first time she sang this song was on the stage of the 2012 Top Ten Singer Competition.
Then, President Lin Jianhua went on stage, and he shared his own thoughts on music and the Top Ten Singer Competition. He expressed his love for music and his excitement to see everyone's performances.
Before the start of the actual competition, the first place winner from last year’s competition, Zhang Siyuan, and his partner, Li Wenchao, performed their original song “Universe”. Multiple musical elements were blended in this song.
After a series of well-made music videos, the first round of the competition started. In addition to the techniques applied in the video-making process, the audience was impressed by each contestant’s attitude toward music. Truly, every contestant on the stage is talented.
The first song “Butterfly” was performed by Yenching Academy master's student Mio Sato. She used her soft voice to sing this dynamic melody and evoke everyone’s childhood memories.
Next, team Straight brought their original song, also called “Straight”, to the stage. The audience resonated with the lyrics and immediately fell in love with this lively melody.
The third song was “Song of the Matador”, performed by Hu Lingfeng, an undergrad student from the College of Engineering. His skilled and thick voice was fully demonstrated in this song. His control over the different parts of the song, such as rhythm and emotional variations, was perfect.
The fourth song was team Sunday Hao’s “Sisters”. With teamwork efforts and combination of well-matched voices, they exemplified the beauty of A Cappella.
Next song is “The Hills” by Wang Shaopu, an undergrad student majoring in sociology. He surprised the audience by using only one machine to produce his background music. Undoubtedly, such creative form of performance demonstrated Wang’s music talent.
The sixth song was “Love and Madness”, performed by Zhang Yaneng, a master’s student in the College of Foreign Languages.
The seventh song was “Single Person” by team Chen Zai and Yu Li. The two voices matched perfectly, and the face-to-face interaction between the two singers was very sweet.
The eighth song was “Still Believe in Love” by Zhao Xueying, an undergrad student from the College of Foreign Languages. The audience was impressed by her powerful voice, and they could feel the love she expressed in this song.
Next, team NoS performed “Two Ways to Say I Love You”. It consisted of two separate songs, and they used these two songs to demonstrate their love as they threw roses to the audience.
The tenth song was “The Last Bus” performed by Jin Guanyi, who is from the College of Public Health. The audience became silent as they listened quietly to this emotional song.
The eleventh song was “Valerie”, performed by Chen Zixi. Even though his voice is soft, his performance was lively and entertaining.
Wearing a black dress, the twelfth singer was Gu Yixuan, who performed a song called “Bu Zui Bu Hui”. This song perfectly demonstrated her impressive voice and stage presence.
The thirteenth song was “Have You on my Journey”, performed by Shi Ji. His song was not only a song but also a love poem.
The last song of the first round was “Song of Mayila”, performed by Fan Yueying. Through the technique of bel canto, this song was indeed exotic and unique.
After the first round of performances, judges Yang Jionghan and Yan Yidan performed a romantic song “The Best of Us” together. In this round, a total of ten contestants entered the second round of competition.
The second round consisted of eight groups of contestants with two groups competing with each other.
The first two groups competing against each other were Straight and Chen Zai and Yu Li. Team Straight chose an original song called “Sherry Baron” while Team Chen Zai and Yu Li chose “Someone Like You”. At the end, Team Straight won this second round and entered the third round of competition.
Next, the two contestants were Hu Lingfeng and Fan Yueying. Hu performed a song called “Father’s Prairie and Mother’s River”. And on the other side, Fan chose a heavy metal song “She is My Sin” and got the chance to enter the third round of competition.
The next competition was between the two A Cappella groups: Team NoS and Team Sunday Hao. NoS chose “Blank Space”, and Sunday Hao brought a newly composed song called “On Beijing’s Golden Mountain”. It was the only “red song” in this year’s Top Ten Singer Competition. Finally, Sunday Hao entered the third round of competition.
The final group competition for the second round was between Zhao Xueying and Chen Zixi. Zhao impressed the audience by singing “Oh, Yeah”, and Chen Zixi chose a quiet song called a “Girl Named A’Chu”. Through his soft voice, Chen not only sang a love song, but told a love story. Finally, Chen impressed more judges and successfully entered the next round of competition.
Entering the third and final round of the competition, contestants performed works that best demonstrated their abilities.
In the third and final round, Team Sunday Hao performed an exotic song called “Wan Wu Sheng”. The song started with a clean female voice and then different kinds of voices joined in to complete this amazing piece. In order to compete against Team Sunday Hao, Wang Shaopu performed his original piece “Make me Missing”. This song is composed of electronic music, beat box, and multiple other elements.
Next in the competition was Team Straight versus Gu Yixuan. This time, Team Straight performed an original song called “Stuck Like Glue”, which continued to demonstrate their artistic style. On the other hand, Gu performed another powerful piece called “No”.
The third competition of the third round was between Chen Zixi and Fan Yueying. Chen performed “Latch”, and successfully demonstrated the deep emotions within this song. The last song of today’s competition was “The Phantom of the Opera” brought by Fan Yueying. This classical opera was a perfect ending to the wonderful night.
Examining the entire auditorium, the audience was still holding and waving the glowsticks in the air to show their passion and apprecaiation of these lovely contestants. Finally, the results were announced: Gu Yixuan, Wang Shaopu, and Fan Yueying received first place, second place, and third place, respectively. Chen Zixi, Team Straight, Team Sunday Hao, Hu Lingfeng, Team Chen Zai & Yu Li, Zhao Xueying, Team NoS, Fan yueying, Wang shaopu, and Gu Yixuan received the title of “Top Ten Singer”. Also, Shi Ji, Jin Guanyi, Zhang Yaneng, and Mio Sato received the title of “Excellent Singer”.
By Peng Xiao
