Popular Chinese variety television show “Sing! China” (中国好声音) has been under the spotlight recently – but not for the right reasons. After the production staff was accused of harassment towards the late singer Coco Lee (李玟), two winners from the show are now accused of buying their spots.
Rumours that the show was rigged resurfaced after a leaked audio clip of Coco venting about her negative experience on the show went viral. The accusation blew up even more after a blogger dropped hints on which contestants were paying for their spot in the finals. In his livestream, the blogger, who claimed to be a former producer of the show, hinted that the contestant who paid over 30 million yuan (approximately RM19 million) to secure a spot on the final was a female.
Netizens then began analysing the claims to narrow the list to two contestants, Zhang Bi Chen (张碧晨) and Shan Yi Chun (单依纯). Netizens say the two winners are the most likely out of the five female winners as they are the only ones who can afford to pay the high amount. They claim that Zhang could afford the 30 million yuan as she was a singer before joining the show. On the other hand, Shan comes from a wealthy family and even has a business, which is why netizens claim that she can afford to pay for the win.
Both singers have yet to respond to the allegations. Meanwhile, production and broadcast of “Sing! China” have since been halted after the show was accused of mistreatment and result manipulation. The show’s broadcaster, Zhejiang Satellite TV, also announced an investigation into the issues raised by netizens.
What do you think about these rumours? Could netizens be right with their guesses?
Sources: China Press, Creaders.net
Adleena contributed to this article.
