These Malaysian girls are wowing China’s music stars

Move over Shila Amzah, Lee Pei Ling and Adinda Tasya Mansor are the new darlings of China’s reality TV talent shows.

On July 15, Penang teen Pei Ling made her debut on a new singing competition show called Sing! China and her performance impressed the panel of “mentors”, especially Na Ying, one of China’s top-selling artistes. Also on the panel are Taiwan’s Jay Chou and Harlem Yu and China’s Wang Feng (actress Zhang Ziyi’s musician husband).

After her performance, Pei Ling was chosen by Na Ying to be on her team; the young talent will be coached by Na Ying throughout the course of the competition.

If this sounds like another popular American reality-based talent show, well, it sort of is. Sing! China is formerly known as 2016 The Voice Of China, an unofficial China version of the The Voice. The Chinese show actually made its debut in 2013 but after legal disputes, producers decided to change its name to Sing! China and re-introduce it to fans on July 15.

Pei Ling, 15, who also calls herself “Jeryl”, and Adinda, 11, are the latest Malaysian girls making waves in Chinese singing competitions following the success of Shila Amzah, who became a sensation in China when she won the top prize in the show, Asian Wave in 2012. 

Adinda made headlines recently when she wowed judges Su Yunying (Chinese singer-songwriter), Jacky Xue Zhiqian (Chinese singer) and Gary Chaw (Taiwan-based Malaysian singer-songwriter) on the show Let’s Sing Kids S4, a singing programmge for kids broadcast on Hunan TV in China. Adinda, from Taiping, Perak, performed the song Next Stop In The Future and later, requested that Chaw sang Let It Go with her.

“I have goosebumps. Your performance was excellent,” Chaw told Adinda on the show. Unfortunately, Chaw was not Adinda’s choice for mentor as she picked Su Yunying to be her coach in the competition.

Lee Pei Ling belting out a song during competition in Penang at age 12 in 2012. Photo: The Star/Zainudin Ahad

Lee Pei Ling belting out a song during competition in Penang at age 12 in 2012. Photo: The Star/Zainudin Ahad

As for Pei Ling, the teen performed Daniel Chan’s Xin You Du Zhong during Sing! China, which was shot in Beijing. Pei Ling was later quoted as saying that she felt both nervous and excited during the selection stage of the show. She was happy that Na Ying had chosen her. “I felt like screaming, my heart was beating really fast, I told myself to calm down and not falter in front of the judge,” she said.

Both Pei Ling and Adinda are veterans in singing competitions, having joined several before in Malaysia and overseas. When Pei Ling was 12, she joined one of Taiwan’s popular singing contests Chinese Million Star, and sang the song Zhen Fu (by Na Ying). Although she did well, the song was deemed “too adult” for her as it deals with mature issues. Singer Gigi Leung, who was part of the show, said  she couldn’t look at Pei Ling when she was singing because felt that she was too young to be singing such an adult song.

Pei Ling also joined China’s Water Cube Singing Contest For Overseas Chinese Teenagers last year; she beat 54 contestants from all over the world to nab the top spot!

For Adinda, some folks might remember her from the local competition Ceria Popstar in 2014, in which she placed in the top five.

Good job, girls!

 

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