Great music show to watch: Wo Men De Ge / Chinese Idol-Our Song
Rough summary of the show (1st season: 12 eps): Sixteen Chinese artists (8 young artists; 8 famous veterans), have to form teams of 1 veteran + 1 young artist each. Once they form a pair, the veteran and young artist stay together, collaborate to create new performances each week, and compete with the other teams. The audience is divided into equal age groups and vote for their fave performance each turn. The final winner gets the title of “2-person team with a golden voice”.
Reasons to watch, in no particular order:
So much mutual respect, camaraderie and mutual appreciation. It is a competition, but there is never any sense of aggression or desperate wish to be the best. Competitiveness is minimal. When one team performs, the others show such genuine enjoyment: It’s a playful appreciation of music, the stage and one another.
A wonderful side-effect of minimal competitiveness: there is so little drama. Everyone has debuted or had a career already, so it’s not intense like a real survival show.
Xiao Zhan is a special case, but many young artists are singers more than idols. When those young artists speak, it’s more unrefined and a bit blunter. You get the sense that they make offhand remarks cause they felt like it, and aren’t trying to be an “attractive” person. I cannot stress how much more charming and natural that makes the show.
The veteran cast are big names in the Chinese music scene, but they’re all very fun. Every veteran can make fun of themselves, many are eager to try new things, and some are plain dorks. They get giddy, bicker, fumble…It makes the offstage parts just as fun as performances. Bonus: a nice part of Chinese culture is that an older person is not only respected but also has a sense of generosity for younger ones’ blunders ( “bao rong”). So whether they signed up for it or not, it’s like each of the young artists is getting an elder sister/brother/dad/uncle for the show’s duration. It’s very platonic and heartening to watch.
There’s a wide-ranging variety of songs and some are flat out gorgeous. Old Chinese songs are good. Some of them are surreal. But the show’s not just tributes to old classics, there are also new and western songs. I’m still sobbing about the classics.
Some of the voices are beautiful sensory experiences. In the young ones: Zhou Shen, Liu Yuning, Ayanga. In the seniors: Fei Yuqing, Zhou Hua Jian, Luo Qi, Li Keqin, Na Ying, Angela Chang etc…When these people open their mouths to sing, you can hear that there’s substance regardless of age. Whoa. In terms of musical experience, this show has real substance.
You get to watch the teams’ chemistry grow over time. Some teams have great chemistry, I cannot stress this enough. Even the pairing-up process itself, based on blind auditions, is impish and fun.
Whether you prefer a music-oriented group or an entertainment/performance-led group, you will be served. The 16 artists are first divided into Group A or B for pairing up and initial rankings. Broadly speaking, Group A’s young artists are more music-oriented (Xiao Gui, Zhou Shen, Liu Yuning, Xu Weizhou), while Group B’s are more performance/entertainment-led (Ayanga, Li Ziting, Xiao Zhan, Jiang Yiqiao). All 8 veterans start as singing-focused but again, Group B’s play more with entertainment than Group A. Depending on your preference, you’ll find something interesting to watch either way (and from ep. 7 onwards, Groups A and B get mixed).
Despite the rough summary, the show’s format is not repetitive and evolves over the course of the season. You get different kinds of face-offs, promise.
The MC is just right: He’s funny but not focused on being funny, has a good rapport with many of the artists, has depth and doesn’t go overboard with his remarks.
This doesn’t sum up everything, but I have a lot of love for this show and it’s getting too long… 11 episodes have already been subbed so far, and by the looks of it, it is likely going to be fully subbed later on. Here is the link to the 1st Episode with English Subs.
Whether it’s just because you love Xiao Zhan or for other reasons, give this show a shot! It’s really wholesome and good. ;__;
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