Tencent is like an idol factory. The Chinese media giant is behind the successes of last year’s “Produce 101 China” that debuted girl group, Rocket Girls 101 and this year’s “Produce Camp 2019”, which debuted the boy group, R1SE. Now, Tencent is shifting its focus to cultivate the next female singer in the singing competition, “The Coming One: Girls” (明日之子水晶时代). This is actually the third season of the “The Coming One” series. The first two seasons focused on solo male singers, which debuted rising Chinese singer, Mao Buyi (毛不易) and Taiwanese singer, Eric Tsai (蔡維澤).
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Tencent doesn’t promote the show as looking for an idol singer due to the restrictions from the Chinese National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA). Instead, the show emphasizes on cultivating female independence and self worth through their growth process. The show will have two groups of contestants: “Start”, for girls stepping onto the stage for the first time; “Restart”, which gives girls another chance to “revisit their original intentions” and debut again.
The mentors panel consists of:
LLong Danni (龙丹妮), producer Song Dandan (宋丹丹), actor Stefanie Sun Yanzi (孙燕姿), singer Hua Chenyu (华晨宇), singer Mao Buyi (毛不易), singer Meng Meiqi (孟美岐), member of Rocket Girls 101
The show aired the first episode today showcasing the mentors panel. The actual competition airs on June 22 and will consist of 10 episodes. Singaporean sister duo based in Taiwan, By2, are shown as contestants in the trailer. With all the emphasis on idol girl/boy groups the last two years, it’ll be hard for solo singers to gain a footing in the burgeoning and ironically, saturated Chinese idol industry.
Watch the trailer for first official episode:
Tencent will upload the episodes on Youtube usually a day later from the actual air date.
Credit: Ent China, Baidu, Sina Ent, The Coming One Weibo