One out, three more still in the game.
Singapore's Stella Seah is out of the race on Sing! China. In the episode scheduled to air last night, the member of mentor Na Ying's team was eliminated after she lost to Malaysian Janice Tan from Jay Chou's team.
There are three more singers from Singapore in the popular contest: Joanna Dong, Olinda Cho and Curley Gao, who is a Chinese student based here.
An experimental choice in song did not pay off for Seah, 24. She had gamely taken on her coach Na Ying's suggestion to perform Flow, an electronic dance music-infused Mandopop tune by singers Khalil Fong and Wang Leehom.
"Maybe I should have performed a song which is more popular, more palatable to general audiences," Seah tells The Straits Times. She is back in Singapore from Hangzhou, where the show is recorded.
"I kind of expected the results so I was rather calm when it was announced. But I have no regrets. I have already gained so much from this competition. I am really thankful to be able to come this far."
Earlier this month, Seah, who is signed to Singapore label Ocean Butterflies, had passed the blind audition rounds and chose to join Na Ying's team.
The show is now in the battle round, where singers compete individually against one another. The results of this round are decided by votes from a panel of 51 judges, including music producers, music critics and media industry experts.
Although she has been booted out, Seah has good reason to feel like a winner, with the exposure gained from appearing on the Zhejiang Television singing competition.
Her blind audition performance of Taiwanese singer Richie Jen's I Am A Fish on the show's YouTube channel has garnered close to 150,000 views since it was uploaded two weeks ago.
"I did not expect the good response to my clip. It's probably the first time I received messages from fans all over the world telling me that they liked my performance," she says.
She also learnt invaluable tips on singing techniques and body language during her personal vocal lessons with Chinese singer Na Ying.
"My mentor sang and danced with me in the classroom. It was so much fun, I didn't expect her to be this bubbly off stage. This is indeed an experience of a lifetime," says Seah, who released a Mandopop EP, Wings Of Dreams, in 2014.
Now she can apply what she has learnt to further her singing career here.
Seah, who is also part of singing duo StellaVee with Singaporean singer Vee, says: "After taking a short break, I'm all ready to start preparing for StellaVee's debut album. In the meantime, look out for our covers."
• Sing! China airs on Jia Le Channel (Singtel TV Channel 502) on Fridays at 9pm, the same time as in China.
