Coco Lee (left) with contestant Wang Zepeng in the finale on 'Sing! China' in October 2022. Photo: Sing! China/Weibo
Chinese singer Wang Zepeng has broken his silence on the controversy surrounding Sing! China.
The Chinese singing reality show came under the spotlight after an audio clip believed to be from his mentor, the late Hong Kong-American singer Coco Lee, went viral on social media last Thursday.
Lee, who died at the age of 48 on July 5, had claimed in the clip that she was mistreated on the show after she spoke out on the unfairness of the judging system.
Wang, who performed Taiwanese singer Eric Chou’s song Unbreakable Love with Lee on the finale in October 2022, was accused of performing the song with his back to her and ignoring her distress.
“There were three rehearsals in total – from Oct 12 to the final recording on Oct 14,” Wang wrote. “Teacher Coco and I met only during the first rehearsal on Oct 12 to confirm the song and set the key.”
Wang said Lee waited for the production team to inform her of the time for the second rehearsal, but she did not receive any notice.
“Hence, I completed the second rehearsal alone and was told where to stand or move during the performance,” he wrote.
He went for the final rehearsal on the day of the recording on Oct 14. He had to surrender his mobile phone when he reached the venue at about 9am.
He was unaware of the messages from Lee, including those about her leg injury and the changes made to the performance. “Hence, I followed the original staging plan and had my back to her during the performance.”
He said it was not until the end of the song that he turned his head and saw that Lee had fallen and was sitting on stage. He said he and the show’s host Haman Hu helped Lee up.
Wang said he had behaved cowardly by keeping silent.
“The last few days felt like years as I listened to Teacher’s long messages,” he wrote. “I felt pained listening to her repeated encouragement and advice. I felt guilty and regretted that I was not aware (of what had happened to her).”
He said he did not know that he was meant to physically support Lee during the performance.
“The director fixed me deliberately,” Lee replied. “I have never seen such a vicious director in my 28 years as a singer.”
Another contestant, Zhou Feige, whom Lee had tried to fight for, took to Weibo later on Sunday. He was eliminated even though he had a high score of 88.3 marks.
"I have wondered over the past year whether I was the cause of what happened to Teacher,” he wrote. “Would Teacher have recorded the show smoothly had I not taken part in Sing! China?”
Wang and Zhou’s disclosures on Weibo added fuel to the fire as more netizens call for a boycott of Sing! China or the cancellation of the show on Zhejiang Television.
Zhejiang Media Group, which is behind the TV channel broadcasting Sing! China, released a statement late on Sunday.
It acknowledged that the show may have fallen short of the expectations of viewers and said it would investigate the issues raised.
“There have been 23 mentors and close to 1,000 trainees appearing on stage since Sing! China was launched in July 2012,” it wrote. “Teacher Coco Lee was one of the good mentors worth remembering.” – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
