Nathan Hartono in Top 12 of Sing! China
Local singer Nathan Hartono has done it again.
He got into the top 12 of reality TV singing competition Sing! Chinain last night's episode as part of mentor Jay Chou's final group of three contestants.
The 25-year-old first sailed through the blind auditions on July 15 and chose Mandopop star Chou as his mentor.
Yesterday's episode, which airs on Zhejiang TV, featured Chou's team of five battling it out in pairs against Chinese singer Wang Feng's team of five.
Hartono, who faced US-raised singer Karen Lam from Wang's team, told The New Paper: "I found out I was going up against Karen literally seconds before going on stage. I had prepared myself beforehand to stay cool no matter who I would face in the battle round.
"It was beyond my control and all I wanted to do was perform my best."
He added that he was "a little distracted" as out of all the other members of Wang's team, he was most familiar with Lam.
Hartono sang Chou's song Moonlight On Rooftop, as Chou thought it was "appropriate" for his musical style. He also mashed it up with jazz tune Moondance by Van Morrison to make his performance "a little more unexpected".
Lam sang Sam Smith's Writing's On The Wall.
For that round, the judges were a panel of 51 industry professionals such as producers, songwriters and music directors, while the mentors had no say in the voting. Hartono got 41 votes, whereas Lam had 10 votes.
He said the next round will see only five of the 12 contestants move on to the finals.
Hartono said: "I am currently in the song selection phase and figuring out arrangements, so it's a little crazy. I've never learnt this many Mandarin songs this quickly in my life!"
- Tracy Low
New Gaga album title tribute to late aunt
Good news, Little Monsters. US pop star Lady Gagais releasing her fifth full-length studio album on Oct 21 - her first album since 2013 - and here's the title: Joanne.
Named in memory of her father's late sister, the album will feature "extremely autobiographical" songs, the 30-year-old singer told DJ Zane Lowe on Apple Music's Beats 1.
Gaga said the death of her aunt Joanne "left a scar that never healed".
"She is the woman of my past who is becoming and helping me bring more of my honest woman self into the future."
Fifty Shades beats Star Wars for most trailer views
The first trailer for erotic drama Fifty Shades Darker, the sequel to 2015's Fifty Shades of Grey, has broken the record for the most views in a day.
According to Universal, it was viewed 114 million timeswithin the first 24 hours of its release online, beating the 112 million views set by Star Wars: The Force Awakens' trailer last year.
Based on English author E.L. James' 2012 novel, Fifty Shades Darker stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan, and will have new characters, played by Kim Basinger and singer Rita Ora.
It opens in February.
"Quite frankly, I'm 55 years old, I naturally assumed I would be replaced with a younger model."
- English actor Colin Firth on originally having mixed feelings about returning for the new sequel Bridget Jones's Baby
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