The seventh season of the Chinese television series Singer (; previously titled I Am a Singer) was broadcast on Hunan Television between January and April 2019. Singer 2019 was produced by Hong Tao, and its music director was Hong Kong senior musician Kubert Leung. The first episode was recorded on January 4, 2019, and first premiered in Mango TV on January 11, 2019. YouTube also broadcast the episodes with the results replaced by commercial snippets.
The season ended on April 12, 2019, and Chinese singer Liu Huan named as the winner. Liu was the first mainland Chinese singer to win since Han Hong in season three, as well as the first male winner since Han Lei in season two. Taiwanese Sodagreen lead singer Wu Qing-feng and Chinese four-member band Super-Vocal (Frank Ju, Ayanga, Cai Chengyu, and ex-member Zheng Yunlong) finished runner-up and third place, respectively. For the first time, the top four singers were all male. This is also the first season since the inaugural season the season ended without the biennial concert held after the final.
Competition rules Like the previous seasons of I Am a Singer and Singer, Singer 2019 was divided into four rounds of three stages, with seven singers performing for a 500-member audience each week. The electronic voting feature, first appeared as a pre-voting twist in the previous season, were introduced; the electronic voting (up to three votes) was conducted throughout the performance and accounted for 50% of the final score. Similar to the previous seasons, the accumulated votes from both Qualifiers and Knockouts determined which singer would be eliminated from the competition. The Challenge round, first introduced in season three, also returned. It featured a rule for contestants to beat at least four out of the seven remaining singers to stay in the competition.
The announcement of results was also changed: fourteen envelopes displaying the contestants' placements for the current round were placed on the table, among which seven envelopes were named envelopes that had the names of the contestants, and the other seven were numbered envelopes containing placement numbers. One by one, singers were tasked to select one envelope from each category and could view the result alone without the other singers. Singers were given the ability to disclose the results they had viewed—either by bluffing or revealing the actual results—to other contestants as they see fit. While the top four performers were able to receive their information on the placements for the round, the bottom three instead received blank envelopes, similar to season six where the placements were not announced until the Knockouts. The managers also had the option to reveal the electronic voting results.
In terms of song selections, each contestant could only pick their own songs for their first appearance. After each round, if a contestant finished first, the singer may select their own song for next week's show. Additionally, managers or contestants may also survey other performers under isolation, without influencing or impeding other potential contestants.
Beginning from the second round, singers, usually those with higher placements, were given WeChat messages to usher their way to the stage to check envelopes for the bottom three placements. Afterwards, Hong Tao would notify these singers about the safe results for the performance (and in the case of Knockouts, the singers' overall placements) and would sometimes discuss which singer would be eliminated. The remaining singers who did not receive messages would enter the room later, after which Hong Tao would announce the placements for the remaining placements (and in case of overall or challenge placement, the eliminated singer). The electronic voting results, which were also revealed at the end of the show, were announced privately to each singer's respective manager after each performance ended under isolation to other managers with the audio muted.
National's Recommended Singer Organised by Sina Weibo, an online spin-off called National's Recommended Singer (踢馆赛全民举荐歌手) premiered on December 27, 2018. Similar to I Am a Singer- Who Will Challenge, singers and online viewers can recommend a potential singer. The requirements are to produce one musical composition, be at least 18 years of age, and be available at the scheduled time arranged by producers. During certain periods—usually a week between the recording and airing dates of the Qualifier Round, viewers are polled online to choose their top eligible singer, and the singer with the most votes is chosen as the National's Recommended Singer, who will then join the panel in the Knockouts where they will separately face a challenge against a Professional Challenger (专业踢馆歌手) in a Pre-Challenge Face-off (踢馆预选赛).
Hosted by Hong Tao, the face-off was streamed exclusively online concurrently with the current Knockout Round; it was not broadcast on television. The votes cast for the face-off were separate from those of the Knockout round, and the outcome (which would not be revealed until the Challenge round) depended on which singer received the majority of the votes. The winner of the face-off was given the Challenger status (and his or her manager) and the right to participate in the competition. However, a loss will result in his or her elimination and ineligibility to participate in the Breakouts, although the singer was still allowed to perform Return performances during the recording of the Challenge round (which was broadcast after the episode's end); due to the change, this is the first season not all previously eliminated singers (outside withdrawn singers) were eligible.
The first round's eligible contestants were Zheng Yiming, Bii, Eric Chou, and Liu Yuning. Voting ended on January 5, 2019, and Liu was voted the first National's Recommended Singer with 1,467,482 votes cast. On January 28, 2019, Jefferson Qian was chosen as the second National's Recommended Singer and faced Super-Vocal finalists for the second Pre-challenge face-off. On the third and final round, Angela Hui was chosen as the third and final National's Recommended Singer and faced Bii.
Although he did not participate in the Pre-Challenge Face-off, Chen Chusheng was also chosen by professionals and immediately became a challenger during the Ultimate Knockout or Challenge Round, due to one singer who did not perform that week because of an injury (see below).
Contestants The following Singer 2019 contestants are listed in alphabetical order. Singers without a placement for the final are listed as finalists and singers who withdrew are listed as withdrawn.
Key: – Winner – Runner-up – Third place – Other finalist – Eliminated/Non-contestant (not eligible for Breakouts) – National's Recommended Singer
ContestantCountryMusic PartnerStatusWeek EnteredWeek ExitedResultChinaChallengerTaiwanChallengerChinaChallengerTaiwanInitial singerChinaInitial singerRussiaSubstitute singerChinaSubstitute singerHong KongChallengerRussia/BulgariaInitial singerChinaInitial singerChinaChallengerChinaChallengerChinaChallengerTaiwanInitial singerChinaInitial singerTaiwan/AustraliaSubstitute singerChinaInitial singer
Future appearances Cai Chengyu of Super-Vocal returned in season eight to serve as a temporary music partner for Charlie Zhou in episode five due to his original music partner being unavailable. Second season finalists from the same show entered the competition on episode eight as Surprise Challengers.
Results
First Safe Bottom Eliminated Return Performance Professional Challenger Challenge Success Challenge Failure Breakout Success Breakout Failure Winner Runner-up Absent National's Recommended Singer Won Pre-Challenge Face-off Lost Pre-Challenge Face-off + Singer Broadcast date (2019) Jan 11 Jan 18 Jan 25 Feb 1 Feb 8 Feb 15 Feb 22 Mar 1 Mar 8 Mar 15 Mar 22 Mar 29 Apr 12 1st round 2nd round 3rd round 4th round Breakout Final Round Qualifying Knockout Challenge Qualifying Knockout Challenge Qualifying Knockout Challenge Qualifying Challenge 1st round 2nd round 1 Liu Huan 1 3 3 5 1 5 5 3 5 2 3 — — 1 2 Wu Qing-feng 2 2 2 3 4 2 1 5 4 4 5 — — 2 3 Super–Vocal finalists — — — — Win 3 2 6 3 5 6 1 — 3 4 Yang Kun 6 1 1 2 7 6 3 4 1 7 1 — — 4 =5 Chyi Yu 3 6 5 6 3 4 4 2 2 6 2 — — — =5 Polina Gagarina — — — 1 2 1 6 1 7 3 — 2 — — =5 Gong Linna — — — — — — — — — 1 7 3 — — =8 Faith Yang — — — — — — 7 7 — — — 4 — —=8 Chen Chusheng — — — — — — — — — — 4 5 — — =8 Escape Plan 7 7 — — — — — — — — — 6 — — =8 Kristian Kostov 4 5 6 4 5 7 — — — — — 7 — — =8 ANU — Win 4 7 6 — — — — — — 8 — — =8 Melanie Zhang 5 4 7 — — — — — — — — — — —=8 Angela Hui — — — — — — — Win6 — — — — — – Bii — — — — — — — Lose — — — — — — – Jefferson Qian — — — — Lose — — — — — — — — — – Liu Yuning — Lose — — — — — — — — — — — —
Competition details First round Qualifying Recording Date: January 4, 2019 Airing date: January 11, 2019
This round's performance order was determined through each contestant's preferred style.
Singer 2019 1st Qualifying Round January 11, 2018 Host: Wu Qing-fengOrder Singer Music Partner Song Title Original Singer Lyricist Composer Arranger Ranking 1 Wu Qing-feng Guo Tao "燕窩" Sodagreen Wu Qing-feng Liu HuyiGong Duo Jie 2 2 Melanie Zhang Wang Qiao "可汗山" Melanie Zhang Hou Qiang Nick Pyo 5 3 Escape Plan Liu Xinran "一萬次悲傷" Escape Plan Mao Zhou Li Ci Escape Plan 7 4 Kristian Kostov Leo Li "Beautiful Mess" Kristian Kostov Borislav MilanovSebastian Arman Joacim Bo PerssonAlex OmarAlexander V. Blay Borislav MilanovSebastian ArmanKristian KostovDavid Bronner Daniel Kostov 4 5 Yang Kun Li Weijia "我比從前更寂寞" Yang Kun Yang KunLiang Mang Yang Kun Xue Feng 6 6 Chyi Yu Jeffery G "最愛" Michelle Pan Zhong Xiaoyang Jonathan Lee Baby Chung 3 7 Liu Huan Li Rui "夜" Liu Huan Gu SuLiu HuanLao Zi 1
Knockouts Recording Date: January 10, 2019 Airing date: January 18, 2019
Singer 2019 1st Knockout Round January 18, 2018 Host: Wu Qing-fengOrder Singer Music Partner Song Title Original Singer Lyricist Composer Arranger Ranking 1 Wu Qing-feng Guo Tao "我們" Eason Chan Ge Da Wei Chen Chien Chi Liu Huyi 2 2 Escape Plan Liu Xinran "你的愛情" Escape Plan Mao Zhou Escape Plan 7 3 Melanie Zhang Wang Qiao "天下無雙" Jane Zhang Fan Xinman Shi Yong Chen Tong Nick Pyo 4 4 Kristian Kostov Leo Li "Hello" Adele Adele Greg Kurstin 5 5 Chyi Yu Jeffery G "是否" Su RuiSharon Au Lo Ta-yu Tu Ying Liu Qi 6 6 Liu Huan Li Rui "Une vie d'amour" Charles Aznavour Georges Garvarentz Zhao Zhao 3 7 Yang Kun Li Weijia "要死就一定要死在你手裏" Mo Xizi Shi Yu Xinyu Mo Xizi Shi Qu Shicong 1
Overall ranking During the announcement of the results, the placement for some singers (Yang Kun, Escape Plan and Melanie Zhang) were blanked and were later revealed by Hong Tao after all the singers had opened their envelopes.
Singer 2019 1st Round overall ranking Ranking Singer Match 1 Percentages of votes (ranking) Match 2 Percentages of votes (ranking) Total percentages of votes 1 Liu Huan 28.37% (1) 18.89% (3) 23.630% 2 Wu Qing-feng 17.84% (2) 19.84% (2) 18.840% 3 Yang Kun 9.01% (6) 22.90% (1) 15.950% 4 Chyi Yu 15.72% (3) 9.32% (6) 12.520% 5 Kristian Kostov 14.34% (4) 10.50% (5) 12.420% 6 Melanie Zhang 10.60% (5) 12.78% (4) 11.690% 7 Escape Plan 4.11% (7) 5.77% (7) 4.940%
Challenge Pre-Challenge Face-off Recording Date: January 10, 2019 Airing date: January 18, 2019
The first National's Recommended Singer is Liu Yuning, and the first Professional Challenger is ANU.
Singer 2019 1st Challenge Round (Pre-Challenge Face-off) January 18, 2018 Host: Hong TaoOrder Singer Song Title Original Singer Lyricist Composer Arranger Result 1 Liu Yuning "像我這樣的人" Mao Buyi Zhao Zhao Eliminated 2 ANU "Fly" (Tibetan) ANU Dan DanXu Lin Advanced
Main Show Recording Date: January 17, 2019 Airing date: January 25, 2019
During the episode, Yang Kun's manager, Li Weijia, left in the middle of the taping due to participate the Chinese New Year Worldwide Celebration 2019.