Singing with Legends
Singing with Legends, alternately known as Our Song, is a variety show that pairs rising stars with role-model singers who compete to find the best pair over 12 episodes. It first premiered in China on October 27, 2019 through a parallel release on SMG Entertainment's Dragon TV and its respective Youtube channel.
The original concept of the show was inspired by the collaboration between Fei Yu-ching and Jay Chou on the song 千里之外. Its main goal is to serve as a bridge for different generations in the music industry and revive classic songs that may have been overlooked by current audiences. This first season was dedicated to Fei Yu-ching as the last variety show he participated on before his retirement.
The "Y" logo shows up often in the stage design and is thematically important to the show. It represents the convergence of generations to promote the exchange of ideas. The stage design is a "Y" shape, there are "Y" buttons to create pairs, and "Y" attachments to the singers' microphones.
Show format
The singers are randomized into group A and group B to manage the large number of participants. The show alternates which group was featured in the episode until they are slowly eliminated. The last three pairs compete for the final title of "Golden Partners", while the runner-ups receive the title of "Silver Partners".Both rookie and veteran singers are anonymized using facial blurring and voice modifications until the rookie sings in the "auditions". The veteran singer bids for the rookie singer they want to blind duet with. Participating singers have rehearsed their parts separately, but are unable to see their partner and do not know how they will sing the song, hence the "blind duet". After the performance, the singers must mutually agree to form a partnership or attempt to pair off with a different singer later.
In the tournament episodes, duos faced off to garner audience votes. The most popular group was named the champion of the episode. The other three pairs sang additional songs to decide the second, third and fourth place winners. Episodes 7 and 8 were team battles between Groups A and B. The four singers on each of the assigned teams must perform three songs and did not need to stay in their original pairs. The groups with the lowest votes are eliminated.
The top four pairs proceed to the next phase of the competition along with two singers who were eliminated to rejoin the show as audience picks. These two form a new duo. As such, five pairs proceeded to the semi-finals through another round of audience voting. The group with the lowest overall ranking in the semi-final episodes is eliminated. In the finals, the top three teams perform two songs to decide on the champions.
Season 1
Other season information
The format for the other seasons is similar but may have a few small deviations. Season 2 featured guest singers Alan Tam and Li Jian that did not participate in the pair formation. Season 3 introduced one additional rookie singer to participate in each group that were eliminated if they were not able to form a partner. Season 4 introduced a new tier of "mid-generation stars" that were established singers but did not have the seniority on par with the role model singers. Similarly, any one who is not able to be paired were eliminated. Season 5 maintained a similar format to the previous season.Season 6 led to a format shift where singers only participate in two episodes before changing focus to a different group. Five groups were used in total. Their points were tallied up and the top teams performed in the final episodes. There was no delineation between role model singers and rookie singers in this season. It is believed that the change was to help create flexible scheduling for singers and accommodate international participants like Dimash and Shila Amzah.
| Name | Designation | Group | |
| 1 | Chung Chun To | Role model singer | Group A |
| 2 | Joey Yung | Role model singer | Group A |
| 3 | Jeff Chang | Role model singer | Group A |
| 4 | Huang Qisan | Role model singer | Group A |
| 5 | Coco Lee | Role model singer | Group B |
| 6 | Sun Nan | Role model singer | Group B |
| 7 | Jordan Chan | Role model singer | Group B |
| 8 | Chang Shilei | Role model singer | Group B |
| 9 | Curley Gao | Rookie singer | Group A |
| 10 | Feng Timo | Rookie singer | Group A |
| 11 | Zhang Bichen | Rookie singer | Group A |
| 12 | Taiyi | Rookie singer | Group A |
| 13 | Zheng Yunlong | Rookie singer | Group B |
| 14 | GAI | Rookie singer | Group B |
| 15 | G.E.M. | Rookie singer | Group B |
| 16 | Roy Wang | Rookie singer | Group B |
| 17 | Alan Tam | Guest singer | - |
| 18 | Li Jian | Guest singer | - |
| Name | Designation | Group | |
| 1 | Priscilla Chan | Role model singer | Group A |
| 2 | Steve Chou | Role model singer | Group A |
| 3 | Yang Kun | Role model singer | Group A |
| 4 | Jam Hsiao | Middle gen singer | Group A |
| 5 | An Youqi | Middle gen singer | Group A |
| 6 | Lu Hu | Middle gen singer | Group A |
| 7 | Zhang Qi | Rookie singer | Group A |
| 8 | Ma Jiaqi | Rookie singer | Group A |
| 9 | Angela An | Rookie singer | Group A |
| 10 | Terry Lin | Role model singer | Group B |
| 11 | Rainie Yang | Role model singer | Group B |
| 12 | Wowkie Zhang | Role model singer | Group B |
| 13 | Wang Siu Wan | Middle gen singer | Group B |
| 14 | Angela Hui | Middle gen singer | Group B |
| 15 | Bird Zhang | Middle gen singer | Group B |
| 16 | Meng Huiyuan | Rookie singer | Group B |
| 17 | Mikey Jiao | Rookie singer | Group B |
| 18 | Deng Jian-chao | Rookie singer | Group B |
| Name | Group | |
| 1 | Stella Fang | Group A |
| 2 | Penny Tai | Group A |
| 3 | Wowkie Zhang | Group A |
| 4 | Mao Buyi | Group A |
| 5 | Liu Yuning | Group A |
| 6 | Chen Lijun | Group A |
| 7 | Michael Learns to Rock | Group A |
| 8 | Shang Wenjie | Group B |
| 9 | Lee Seung-hyun | Group B |
| 10 | Wang Likai | Group B |
| 11 | Erepat Enwer | Group B |
| 12 | Firdhaus | Group B |
| 13 | Mariah Angeliq | Group B |
| 14 | Tengger | Group C |
| 15 | Gong Linna | Group C |
| 16 | Black Panther | Group C |
| 17 | Dimash | Group C |
| 18 | Huang Xiaoyun | Group C |
| 19 | Li Quan | Group D |
| 20 | Leo Ku | Group D |
| 21 | Chen Chusheng | Group D |
| 22 | Bird Zhang | Group D |
| 23 | Allen Su | Group D |
| 24 | Ms. OOJA | Group D |
| 25 | Julia Peng | Group E |
| 26 | Shila Amzah | Group E |
| 27 | Wang Heye | Group E |
| 28 | Yuexin Wang | Group E |
| 29 | Zhang Bichen | Group E |
| 30 | Zhang Xincheng | Group E |
Reception
In China, the first season garnered critical success. According to the Weibo Variety statistics, the show's main topic board received over 7.3 billion views. Including the collective subcategories on Weibo, the Singing with Legends topic received a collective 17.7 billion views after the show finished airing.Singing with Legends received international attention. In October 2020, season 1 of the show was debuted at the Cannes International Series Festival in France to positive reception. The producers signed the rights to use the show's format in Germany , Spain, USA, Italy, France, and Vietnam.
Of these countries, Spain released "Dúos increíbles" to channel LA1 of TVE in 2022. The winners of this show received a trophy and 25,000 euros to donate to an NGO. Spain employed a team of 23 musicians playing live in each episode on par with the original Chinese show. "Dúos increíbles" also aired a second season in 2023. Vietnam released the second international adaptation with "Bài hát của chúng ta" in 2024 with similar success.