Compiled by JUNAID IBRAHIM and C. ARUNO
VETERAN Chinese singer Na Ying sparked controversy after she was crowned the victor of the reality TV show Singer 2024 during the final episode last week, Sin Chew Daily reported.
Even the songstress herself, who was overcome with emotion, said she could not believe it when the results were announced on July 26.
“I really did not expect it!” said the 56-year-old.
She made it to the final episode after 12 gruelling weeks of competing against strong contenders like American Chante Moore and Canadian Faouzia.
Despite being ranked at the bottom at the start of the season and having to nurse a bout of shingles, Na Ying managed to shift the tide in her favour in just one episode by performing two cover songs – Young Dan’s Fresh Flowers and Wang Feng’s Free Like a Dream.
Many Internet users are now alleging that the competition was rigged after Moore and Faouzia, who had been the favourites to win, were eliminated early on in the episode. Some are even calling it the “darkest day” in Chinese reality TV.
“Even if Taylor Swift ... were to compete, they would not ... win,” a netizen quipped, adding that allowing Na Ying to win was a means for the organisers to save face.
> The daily also reported that Malaysian actress Lin Min Chen is in a relationship with boyband member Edan Lui, who is seven years her junior, after the two were spotted on dates in Taiwan and Europe.
Lui, 27, who is from Hong Kong, was seen flying to Taiwan to meet his paramour, 34.
The two have kept their relationship out of the public eye, as many opine that announcing it would be tantamount to career suicide.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.
