"Singer 2025" Eliminates Contestant in First Episode "Contest System Questioned as Discriminatory" Lin Zhixuan Nearly Bottoms Out

The Chinese competition show "Singer 2025" aired its first episode live on the evening of the 16th, and has already eliminated the first contestant. Japanese singer BENI (Araki Ben) stopped at 8th place with regret. The competition uses an "8 to 3" instant voting system by the live audience to decide rankings, with the lowest-ranking contestant being directly eliminated.

As the first contestant to perform, BENI performed the theme song "LA·LA·LA LOVE SONG" from the classic Japanese drama "Long Vacation." Her style was deemed too gentle and lacking vocal explosiveness, which was considered unsuitable for the competition. Coupled with the disadvantage of performing first, BENI did not receive enough audience support, ultimately ranking 8th.

BENI's elimination sparked widespread discussion on Weibo, with many viewers believing her Japanese R&B style is uniquely charming and deserved more recognition. Some questioned whether male singers were ranked too high and accused the voting mechanism of "nationality preference" bias, being quite unfriendly to foreign contestants. After BENI's elimination, the production team immediately announced Ma Jiaqi and Ayunga would join the subsequent performances as newly revealed singers.

In addition, Shan Yichun claimed the episode's championship with the ethereal voice and high-level skills in her new song "Zhu Yu," obtaining 22.7% of the votes. Chen Chusheng secured second place with the original national style piece "Jiang Jin Jiu." The third place was awarded to Mickey Guyton from the United States for her cover of Beyoncé's "If I Were a Boy," which was well-received by the audience. The fourth to seventh places were occupied by rapper GAI Zhou Yanping, Bai Jugang, Grace Kinstler, and Lin Zhixuan, respectively.

Source: ETtoday