Hartono finishes second in Sing! China

Singaporean singer Nathan Hartono finished second in the first season of Sing! China on Friday (Oct 7).

Hartono had 45,613 votes compared to the winner Jiang Dunhao, 21, who had 59,882 votes.

For a while, it looked hopeful as Hartono's performance of The Longest Movie garnered him a total of 35,577 audience votes.

He was the third to perform in the second round of the final held at the National Stadium in Beijing, and had kept his top spot, until Jiang Dunhao (below), 21, from Chinese rocker Wang Feng's team came up.

Winne Jiang Dunhao. PHOTO: YOUTUBE / SING!CHINA OFFICIAL

Jiang glided easily to the top with 39,962 votes from the audience following his performance of Wang's River. Both Hartono and Jiang went on to compete in the final round.

First to perform, the Indonesian-Chinese sang a medley of Singaporean Mavis Hee's classic Moonlight In The City and Hong Kong diva Anita Mui's Woman Flower, where he even pulled off a mimic of an erh hu instrument. Up next was Jiang, 21, from Xinjiang, who sang mentor Wang's Window Sill.

In a Whatsapp voice message to The New Paper, Hartono said: "It's an amazing feeling, it's a great weight off my shoulder. (While) I've been pretty relaxed throughout this entire process, every song tonight was a big challenge for me.

"There was a new obstacle in every song and I am happy I got through it."

Nathan Hartono (right) performs with Jay Chou during the Sing! China final. PHOTO: YOUTUBE / SING!CHINA OFFICIAL