“The Voice 4” Judges’ Jaws Drop For Fred Cheng and Becky Lee
TVB’s reality singing competition The Voice 4 <超級巨聲4>, alternatively titled Star’s Legend <星夢傳奇>, is currently undergoing studio recording at TVB City. Unlike previous series of The Voice, the fourth installment will feature established TVB artists instead of newcomers as singing contestants, competing for the goal to win a music contract with a record company.
Judges include TVB music producer Tang Chi Wai (鄧智偉), singer-songwriter Eric Kwok (郭偉亮), Cantopop diva Sally Yeh (葉蒨文), and Malaysian musician Eric Moo (巫啟賢). Hosting the show were Carol Cheng (鄭裕玲) and Amigo Chui (崔建邦).
Contestant Fred Cheng (鄭俊弘), best known for his performances as Yoyo Mung’s (蒙嘉慧) younger brother in the Forensic Heroes <法證先鋒> series, had the judges speechless after performing Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) “Tune of the Era <時代曲> in the first episode. Fred finished the race in first place that night, with a high score of 174.9 points.
Judge Eric Kwok commented, “I don’t think you should be an actor anymore. Be a singer.” Fred admitted that he had waited for the chance to sing on stage for the past ten years; the looming opportunity was so nerve-wracking that he had stomachaches. Fred hopes that he would be able to maintain both an acting and a singing career in the future.
The first episode featured seven contestants. Mandy Wong (黃智雯) and 2012 Miss Hong Kong winner Carat Cheung (張名雅) were disqualified. Fred, along with Oscar Leung (梁烈唯), Benjamin Yuen (袁偉豪), Stanley Cheung (張景淳), and Ronald Law (羅鈞滿), were advanced to the next episode.
Fred Cheng Dominates Second Episode
Jaws dropped once more for Fred on the show’s second episode, which was filmed earlier this week. After performing the song “Angels,” the judges gave Fred a standing ovation and awarded him an even higher 179.5 points, the highest of the night.
On his decision in choosing the heart-wrenching song, Fred cried and said, “This song is a gift for my grandfather, who is now living in a faraway place. He had raised me to adulthood. He was my guardian. I was not there with him when he left me. I feel very remorseful.”
The judges unanimously agreed that Fred had outperformed many professional Hong Kong singers of today, and urged TVB to immediately sign Fred as a singer. Judge Eric Moo, known for his harsh criticism on rookie singers, praised Fred, saying, “The stars of today are not good. Your boss (TVB) should sign him as a singer right now. Your singing has touched me. I will be holding a concert in Hong Kong this August. Might as well invite you as my guest performer.”
Lives of Omission <潛行狙擊> star Becky Lee (李璧琦), a new contestant for the second episode, surprised the judges with her operatic rendition of “Think of Me,” a number from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical The Phantom of the Opera. Judge Sally Yeh expressed that Becky performed so well that she had “no right” to rate Becky’s performance.
Becky, who worked as a vocal coach for ten years, came in second in the race with 174.9 points, five points below Fred.
Although Oscar Leung passed the second round, he was heavily criticized by Eric Moo for having “messy” vocals. Benjamin Yuen and Stanley Cheung were disqualified.
Source: Apple Daily via ihktv.com
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
believe me,this sing-contest is one big fake show.the judges are told being harsh too the contestant and carat cheung have to cry from the director to attracts more viewers,so lame…
how do you know that?
typical TVB gimmick to attract viewers. It’s not hard to not notice it =/
if that’s true – lol. TVB is gonna be like Korean shows – all fake
i noticed the judges weren’t ranking the contestants fairly. Seriously the judges aren’t that talented either… such as hanjin… weak, Miss Chan hmm…. she keeps criticizing about not biting the words clearly when her english is bad too.
I just found out about the voice of china last night… and it’s good with so many talented contestants oh and the judges are awesome so authentic.
azndoraemon,
Who are your favorites so far? The contestants do put some of HK’s idol singers to shame. 🙂
Miss Chan Chan and Hanjin aren’t judges in this … 😛
Also jayne, the show’s name is “Voice of Stars”
🙂
b0nni3,
This article was published prior to the official title, “Voice of Stars” being revealed.
carat cheung must be crying because she sings better than horrible oscar but oscar got higher marks!
I agree, I reckon Carat was better than Oscar. I thought that Mandy and Oscar should have left. They should stick to acting as much as I love them, I feel like their performances should be behind the camera acting and not on a stage singing 🙁
Love them still though!
Fred Cheng representing Vancouver hard!!
Many have already forgotten that Fred got into TVB through winning second place in the New Talent Singing Auditions back in 2001. He is one talented artist!
yeah-I looked him up on wiki just then and found out that he used to win some sort of singing contest.
He’s also ABC (I so didnot know that!!!!!!)
do u guys think he can speak english?
If he’s an ABC, it’d be obvious he’d be able to speak English-unless he moved to HK when he was really really young or something
He is actually from Canada. Had his high school and university education there as well
I’m getting confused by the show’s format. Why do they eliminate two contestants per episode and then add two more contestants to the next episode. Hardly fair for those who have participated from the start.
That’s what i was confused about as well-why are they eliminating so many contestants in each episode? At this rate they’d probably have 4-5 episodes done and already find a their winner at the other end LOL?
no two new challengers will be added every show as the show goes on
I used to like watching the voice but after watching the voice of China, I no longer interested in the TVB version. China has so many talented contestants and the judges are way better with authentic feeling. Sad that TVB is doing so bad with (everthing)Singing, acting, and filming.
@azndoraemon: Heard from a very reliable source (someone who was actually a behind-the-scene temp) that the whole shebang was staged and scripted, down to when the the contestants would cry a little or a lot (depending) at different stages of their sob stories, and btw, it is imperative if they want stand out above the rest, the contestants must come prepared with a good sob story to grab high ratings. But then we already know that, don’t we?
Btw, talking about Voice of China.
Wait, is there an error in the translation? Cuz I thought the 4th judge was Dominic Chow (周啟生), not Tang Chi Wai? I sure hope it’s a mistake because TCW has no business being a judge, especially since he is on TVB’s payroll and is good friends with majority of their artists….it will be very hard for me to believe that he won’t be biased toward certain artists….
I hope they begin airing some episodes live later on into the series, because now I know 2 weeks of results before the show has even aired!
I’m excited to see Fred Cheng break out in this series because I know he really loves music, so I can’t wait to see his performances.
Becky Lee should do well in her singing, after all she is a vocal coach of 10 years or more.
I’m so glad that this show is able to showcase some good talent. Ronald Law, Fred Cheng and Becky Lee are all good singers.
Kinda sad though. I already know Fred can sing years ago and only now he get some recognition. Same with Becky. She has already showed her vocal talent in ‘Be Home For Dinner’, but, TVB never give her opportunity to sing themesongs.
I hope these talented artists will get their recognition after this.
Becky is really good. Much better than Linda Chung.
linda chung is autotuned singer who sings horrible in real life. can’t compare to becky
Did you even watch Linda’s performance live?
“the fourth installment will feature established TVB artists instead of newcomers as singing contestants”
But doesn’t that defeat the purpose of a singing context called The Voice? Shouldn’t it feature amateurs as in not in entertainment world looking for a break? To fill this show with TVB artists, many are established names is like filling a reality show looking for the new broadway star with their own contract artist. It feels more gimmick than genuine because we all know, if TVB wants to promote someone, even if they sing like pigs squeeling they will promote that person to death.
I am sorry but I feel whatever you call this show, it is in the end all about TVB contract artist or established stars and for me rather silly. Doesn’t make sense.
100% agree. Exactly what I think. Even if you do win, it means you are the best singer out of 6 people hand-picked by TVB regardless of their talents. It could just mean that you are best of the worst.
Also, hate the new hosts – Dodo and Amigo. Loved the old series because of Sammy Leung and it was really about ‘singing’…not this chessy rubbish
watch the show first funn and you will love fred right away! he’s humble and has a rough career and life and his singing is marvelous! oscar leung should step down!
Always knew Fred cheng had potential. Needs his breakthrough just like oscar!
fred deserves more than cocky oscar! oscar can’t sing his vocals is all over the place and messy! don’t get how he can get 81 marks and pass carat cheung!
fred deserves more than overconfident oscar! oscar can’t sing his vocals is all over the place and messy! don’t get how he can get 81 marks and pass carat cheung!
why are the media reporting ON every single episodes RESULTS so far when the show even aired? cant they refrain from reporting who’s out?
if the rating is low later, TVB have themselves to blame.
*when the show HAVE NOT aired? (opps)
the first episode aired! the judge was bias at oscar! he was worse than imagined! i expected mandy to not do that well but oscar getting that marks must be rigged! carat sings better than him but carat was eliminated instead! something fishy!
I love fred a lot and hope that he will be promote after this. He will be like a new generation of tvb. 🙂 just like Raymond Lam
‘The judges unanimously agreed that Fred had outperformed many professional Hong Kong singers of today, and urged TVB to immediately sign Fred as a singer. Judge Eric Moo, known for his harsh criticism on rookie singers, praised Fred, saying, “The stars of today are not good. Your boss (TVB) should sign him as a singer right now. Your singing has touched me. I will be holding a concert in Hong Kong this August. Might as well invite you as my guest performer.””
The translation is clearly off for this part. It’s different from the actual words said by Eric Moo, specifically.
And Eric Moo’s concert is in July for 2 days. Eric Moo said that himself during the episode.
And he invited him for sure. It was Dodo Cheng who asked if Eric Moo would invite Fred Cheng to be a guest performer and Eric Moo said “be my guest”. It wasn’t a ‘Might as well invite you as my guest performer’. And it’s “Your singing has touched me. I will be holding a concert in Hong Kong this August. Might as well invite you as my guest performer.” before “TVB should sign him as a singer”.
Watch the episode #2 before translating.
No point in signing him if TVB doesn’t put in the effort to promote him. There are better singers who failed as singers and yet worse singers who failed. The key is promotion. If TVB doesn’t invest in him, then better not even begin.
“and yet worse singers who failed.”
I meant worse singers who succeeded (like the many in HK itself)
“better singers” ? Please list some.
But do they have the same passion as Fred Cheng when they sing and up to now, only Fred Cheng’s performance was touching and he impressed me twice in a row.
And it appears that only you Funn don’t see the talent in Fred and is against this show.
” Fred’s performance was incredible. He sings what he feels, with heart.”
“Fred is fantastic and he’s so cute! Why wasn’t he talent-scouted before this competition? I hope he will clinch the title! Way to go Fred! Supporting u here in Singapore!”
“I love fred, benjamin and oscar…u guys are good!”
Larissa, let his first album be the judge. And do read my post again. Where did I diss Fred? I said if TVB does not promote him, it is pointless to say he becomes a singer. A singer in HK requires not just ability to sing; they need the backing, the manpower, the budget, the dedication. Without all these, he can be the world’s best singer and he will still fail.
And I see the same reaction with every American Idol winner. Except for Kelly Clarkson, the rest aren’t doing that great and kelly required a decade and some serious promo with own identity to make it where she is today. Fred won’t succeed unless TVB gives 100% backing and I don’t see that in TVB.
I am learning about the contestants and each of them have their own little story to tell. Like Larissa, I was deeply impressed.
Even if TVB doesn’t sign him, that’s their loss. However, if companies such as EEG and whatnot sign him, he will be big one day, maybe not right now, but perhaps in several years’ time. He may become like “Cilla Kung” where she has a singing career as well as an acting series. I mean, did TVB back her or supported her? Not really.
“Same reaction”–> well I personally wasn’t this impressed with American/British reality shows and that singing of Fred Cheng did leave a deep impression on me.
I listened to Angels which happened to be my most favourite robbie williams song by Fred. Too much done to the song but he sang with good emotions. Was he so amazing? No. But compared to a lot, his english was clear, the raw emotion is there even if the technique is there. There is talent but to me a bit generic which is the problem with a lot of HK singers. All he needs is guidance, his own style and the budget to back him. But then Robbie Williams wasn’t a great singer too but he sang with so much sincerity in his voice you believe him.
I think it was the story behind why he chose this song which made his overall performance amazing..
And it seems you are picky with everything.
And I think if all 4 judges are telling him to have his own song and whatnot, it means something.
Good thing you’re not a judge. >_<
In Fred’s cheng interview with Ming Pao (link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5560A0zWs8A ), the reporter asked if he was a confirmed guest at Eric Moo’s concert and Fred Cheng said Yes, but only for one show (:
And Eric Moo’s concert is in July, not august.