Singer season 7
The seventh season of the Chinese television series Singer (Chinese TV series)|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 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 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 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. 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 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 in a Pre-Challenge Face-off.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 depended on which singer received the majority of the votes. The winner of the face-off was given the Challenger status 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 ; due to the change, this is the first season not all previously eliminated 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.
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:
| Contestant | Country | Music Partner | Status | Week Entered | Week Exited | Result |
| China | Challenger | |||||
| Taiwan | Challenger | |||||
| China | Challenger | |||||
| Taiwan | Initial singer | |||||
| China | Initial singer | |||||
| Russia | Substitute singer | |||||
| China | Substitute singer | |||||
| Hong Kong | Challenger | |||||
| Russia/Bulgaria | Initial singer | |||||
| China | Initial singer | |||||
| China | Challenger | |||||
| China | Challenger | |||||
| China | Challenger | |||||
| Taiwan | Initial singer | |||||
| China | Initial singer | |||||
| Taiwan/Australia | Substitute singer | |||||
| China | Initial 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 | - | - |
Competition details
First round
Qualifying
- Recording Date: January 4, 2019
- Airing date: January 11, 2019
Knockouts
- Recording Date: January 10, 2019
- Airing date: January 18, 2019
Overall ranking
During the announcement of the results, the placement for some singers were blanked and were later revealed by Hong Tao after all the singers had opened their envelopes.Challenge
Pre-Challenge Face-off
- Recording Date: January 10, 2019
- Airing date: January 18, 2019
Main Show
- Recording Date: January 17, 2019
- Airing date: January 25, 2019
Total percentages of votes
The results are announced in a traditional format similar to the past seasons- the seven singers are seated on one row and Hong Tao announces a certain placement, one-by-one.Second round
Qualifying
- Recording Date: January 24, 2019
- Airing date: February 1, 2019
During the announcement of the results, the top four singers received envelopes for the round, but placements for the top three singers had information in it. A fourth empty envelope had no placement, Yang read the fourth-place envelope which had the name inside.
Knockouts
- Recording Date: January 31, 2019
- Airing date: February 8, 2019
Challenge
Pre-Challenge Face-off
- Recording Date: January 31, 2019
- Airing date: February 15, 2019
Main Show
- Recording Date: February 1, 2019
- Airing date: February 15, 2019
Total percentages of votes
Third round
Qualifying
- Recording Date: February 14, 2019
- Airing date: February 22, 2019
During the announcement of the results, the top four singers received envelopes for the round, while Gagarina was given an empty envelope. Hong Tao later announced that she finished first for the round.
Knockout
- Recording Date: February 21, 2019
- Airing date: March 1, 2019
Challenge
Pre-Challenge Face-off
- Recording Date: February 21, 2019
- Airing date: March 1, 2019
Main Show
- Recording Date: February 27, 2019
- Airing date: March 8, 2019
Total percentages of votes
Fourth round
Qualifying
- Recording Date: March 7, 2019
- Airing date: March 15, 2019
Total percentages of votes
While announcing the results, the top four singers received envelopes for the round while Gong was given an empty envelope. Hong Tao later announced that she finished first for the round. The second to fourth place singers entered the room first, and Hong Tao announced the results for two of the three placements. The last four singers entered the room next to reveal the first-place envelope, after which Hong Tao announced the result for the first-place singer. Due to Gagarina's bye in the following week, which caused this week's result to be void, all of the placements are immediately shown instead of just only the four.Knockout/Challenge
- Recording Date: March 14, 2019
- Airing date: March 22, 2019
Total percentages of votes
The results for the Challenge were announced in batches; four singers were selected at random to reveal the safe placements for the aforementioned four; the last three singers then entered the room next during the revealing of the other placements for this round.Breakout
- Recording Date: March 22, 2019
- Airing date: March 29, 2019
Similar to the last season's breakout, there were eliminations midway during the performance. Ten singers were grouped into two groups of five, with the first five singers grouped in group one, and the other five in group two. Electronic voting was conducted after each group's performance, and the lowest ranked singer from each group was immediately eliminated with their paper votes rendered void. Angela Hui and Melanie Zhang were ranked lowest in the electronic voting for their respective groups.
The singers sang one song, and three of the remaining eight singers who had the most paper votes qualified for the finals. The Super-Vocal Finalists, Polina Gagarina, and Gong Linna placed in the top three and qualified for the Finals.
Total percentages of votes
The results are announced in a traditional format similar to the past seasons; during the results, Hong revealed that Chen, Kostov, Gagarina and Super-Vocal were the singers receiving a preliminary higher vote from Escape Plan, ANU, Yang and Gong respectively.Finals Rush Hour
- Recording Date: March 29, 2019
- Airing date: April 5, 2019
The performance order for this round was first decided by the singer who received the most votes in a prior online fan voting- Super-Vocal finalists won the most votes and was fixed to perform last and decide the next performing singer to perform second-to-last and vice versa. The exception was Chen Chusheng, despite being unsuccessful in the breakout round, was temporarily brought back as a guest singer by-virtue of never being eliminated in the competition and being added on impromptu; it was later revealed to have performed 7th in-between Liu and Super-Vocal finalists. Polina Gagarina performance was pre-recorded as she was on Russia due to a scheduling conflict with her concert performance at the time of filming; her music partner David served as a representative.
The episode generated controversy after one of the public audience members, Sakura Zou, made a post on Weibo accusing Super-Vocal Finalists for allegedly using unauthorized music after the show was aired. However, Souya Music replied on the day after the show that licenses to the program group were never issued and that no copyright violations occurred.
Finals
The finals were divided into two rounds, with the first song in the semi-finals being a duet with a guest singer and the second song in the grand finals being a solo encore performance. Similar to the previous season, votes cast were the sole determinant of the season's winner.- Airing date: April 12, 2019
Round 1
The first round of the finals was a guest singer's duet. The grouping was decided by the singers starting with the most wins prior to the Breakouts ; each group can consist of either two or three members, meaning that two groups will be head-to-head and one being a three-way. After the groups are decided, one member drew lots to decide the order of performance for this round. The result of the grouping are reflected in the table below.The singer with the most votes on each group directly advanced to Round 2, leaving the other four singers eligible for a "save" or second chance through a re-vote; the singer who received the most votes cast would be saved and would also advance to the second round.
| Legend | Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 |
Had Chyi Yu, Gong Linna and Polina Gagarina advanced to the next round, they would have performed, "掌声响起", "走西口", and "Those Were the Days" as their encore songs, respectively.