echo 梦想的声音你听得见吗？青春也因为有了梦想而与众不同
“Can you hear the sounds of your dreams? It’s the dreams that make our youth unique.”
熠燃之心，音亦有光
“a heart that shines, music shines as well”
After trials and tribulations, it’s down to just 8 finalists! On 2nd May, it was the long-awaited SunVoice 5 Finale. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this grand finale was streamed online for the safety of everyone. But not to worry, Echo Media made the chance of bringing this virtual experience to everyone reading this.
This season of SunVoice 5 was special compared to the previous ones as it was held online instead of being held at the usual Jeffrey Cheah Hall in Sunway. Not only that SunVoice 5 was held online in the span of 4 months, more preparation and considerations had to be made to make sure everyone was safe as the SOP were followed.
With all the blood, sweat and tears poured into this event, this marks the last time for the two emcees to stand on the SunVoice stage.
Before the event began, there was a total of 3 speeches by the VIPs which was the Welcoming Speech by YBhg Puan Sri Datin Seri Dr Susan Cheah, Opening Speech by Mr. Lee Seang Hock (President of GRADUAN) and a Speech by Tan Yoke Cheng (SunVoice 5 Organizing Chairperson).
Both Dr. Susan Cheah and Mr. Lee expressed their gratitude towards the efforts of SUCCS in organising SunVoice 5. Mr. Lee was also thankful for SunVoice’s efforts in producing musical talents. Besides hearing from Yoke Cheng, she promised that SunVoice 5 will still hold on to its passion for Chinese music and is still motivated to ignite an appreciation for its beauty despite having it online.
Before the event kick-started, the audience got a glimpse of how the 8 finalists felt. From the video, all the finalists were grateful for making it through the election process and promised to give their all to sing their hearts out. Their fiery passion and joy towards music was what got them through all the challenges faced in pursuing their dreams. They believe that with passion and strong support from their family and friends, they can achieve their dreams. As long as they don’t give up, the sky’s their limit!
Judges:
Mr. Abraham Tee (Director of KO Idol)
Mr. Ong Peng Chu (professional musician in the Malaysian Chinese music industry)
Mr. Koen Chia (producer, written 《刻在你心底的名字》)
Mr. RYOTA (singer and composer in Dream Pop, Trap and Indie-Rock)
Aki 黄淑惠 (artist from KO Idol, lead singer of ARVAN)
Besides having experienced judges, SUCCS was able to have mentors to assist and support the finalists. They are none other than Winnie Ho and Terrence Ling from KO Idol.
Rules and Regulation
With all that said, let the competition begin!
Tan Ying Fei from Taylor’s University
With her unique voice, she managed to hone in her vocals nicely and gave us her rendition of the love song 《其实》by 薛之谦 Joker Xue. Overall, the judges loved her soothing and sexy voice and hoped that she could improve as a singer. However, they believed that there was not enough emotion portrayed in her singer, which in hindsight would be hard for any singer since they are forced to sing before a camera which does not encapsulate the experience of singing before an audience.
Toon Kai Xing 张恺芯 from Inti International College Subang
The judges loved her performance of 别找我麻烦 by蔡健雅 Tanya Chua . Kai Xing’s voice and stage presence were phenomenal, and the judges said she’s a natural! Especially when she picked up her kazoo, it added another element to her song which made her performance even wonderful. One of the judges, Mr. Koen Chia, praised her performance for being of high production quality.
Tan Li Min 陈俐敏 from University Technology Malaysia
RYOTA found her performance of 你还要我怎样 by 薛之谦 being pretty cool as she was immersed in her own world when she sang. He also liked her wide vocal range. To improve, Aki suggested that she add more emotions to the song by changing singing techniques from time to time since using the same technique made the song sound flat and boring.
Yew Shi Jing 尤诗静 from UOW MALAYSIA KDU
For Shi Jing, she sang her heart out with her voice which the judges found unique. Mr. Koen Chia believes that she made the right song choice, as the song she sang (我敢 by 胡彥斌) reflected the beauty of her voice. However, Mr. Abraham believes that because of the quality of recording, the judges might not hear her real true voice, which is truly unfortunate.
After watching 4 performances from the contestants, it was intermission time.
Special Performance by the winners of SunVoice <Apricus> Music Composing Competition, “Just Me & You”
Special Performance by Aki 黄淑惠
Aki sang 2 of her hit songs which were 寻找 and 风和蚂蚁. The acoustic performance by her with her guitar highlighted her melodious and elegant voice which brought the audience a breathtaking performance.
Khoo Zheng Hao 傅政豪 from University Malaysia Pahang
RYOTA found the performance of 流浪记 by 巴奈 like being in a theater as his emotions were on point, but he believes that rock would suit his voice better compared to mellow songs. But overall it was a great performance.
Yeak Lai Yuk 叶莱玉 from Inti International College Subang
Aki was wowed by Lai Yuk’s aura during her cover of 就是现在 by 王力宏 and liked how she handled the voice. Overall, she successfully brought out the emotions of the song and grabbed hold of the judges’ attention.
Ching Meng Xuan 钟明轩 from Universiti Sains Malaysia
RYOTA commented that most people would agree with him that Meng Xuan’s voice is attractive and he handled his falsetto smoothly. Meng Xuan even managed to build up his singing and produced a groove with just singing along to his piano. Meng Xuan’s rendition of 爱存在 by 魏奇奇 was RYOTA’s most favourite performance.
Tan Thung Leng 陈彤宁 from Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka
Through her singing of 爱我 by 林志炫 & 柯以敏, Mr. Ong Peng Chu commented that her recording didn’t manage to capture her piano but even if the recording was just her voice, the judges could really tell that she had a powerful and amazing voice. Mr. Ong even said that her voice was was a mixture of GEM Tang’s and Mindy Quah’s (柯以敏) voice! So, if she had the chance to sing live, everyone would be blown off of their seats!
Special Performance by RYOTA
RYOTA first sang his song, On the Road. His performance was off the charts especially with the stage lights producing an electrifying effect. His vocals gave of a chill vibe as he sang in front of a stage that gave off the same vibes.
The other song that he performed was Chocolate. His rapping skills gave chills to the audience as he nailed those lines. Overall, the camera was always glued to him and his singing which made the night more memorable.
Special Performance by 菲道尔 Firdhaus
With his soft and sweet voice, he sang his hits songs My菜 and 阿拉斯加海湾. Some additional information about him, he’s Tik Tok famous as he has over 1.7billion views in TikTok. According to Berita Harian, he is the first Malay singer to achieve such high views on China’s TikTok.
Results
Besides, here are the winners of SunVoice <Apricus> Music Composing Competition, “Just Me & You”
That marks the end of SunVoice 5! For more additional information, here’s a booklet to know more about it!
Although SunVoice 5 has ended, SUCCS still has more fun events in store. Check out their Instagram and Facebook to keep up to date!
Writer: Wu Wen Qi
Editor: Pei Zoe & Jamie
