The recording of the late American Hong Kong singer CoCo Lee’s accusation against the “Sing! China” production team was leaked on the Internet on Aug. 17, attracting much public attention. According to the audio clip, Ms. Lee asserts that because she told the truth and criticized the show’s competition format, deliberate efforts were made to humiliate her, including causing her to fall on stage. Expressing her distress, she exclaims, “This is the first time I have been treated like this in my 28 years as a singer; this is an insult!”
Ms. Lee was heard in the recording saying that she participated in the program organized by Zhejiang Satellite TV despite the possible risk to her life. At that time, she was suffering from breast cancer, and the doctor’s advice was strongly against her going, but she still insisted on participating in the program’s recording.
She said she worked so hard to be on the show because she liked it and thought that the young people participating in it loved music as much as she did. She also did not care about the money and had not even tried to find out beforehand what her contract was worth.
On Oct. 14, 2022, biting all the pain from the disease, she participated in the final day recording. She said that her left leg felt like it was in ice and snow, so cold that it went numb.
She added, “I don’t mind sacrificing myself. I didn’t expect that they (the production crew) were all bad guys trying to trap me, just because I told the truth.” “There is a problem with their competition format.” Ms. Lee said.
As early as Sept. 27, 2022, the video clip of Ms. Lee questioning the director team at the on-site recording of “Sing! China” was going viral on social media. In the video, she was seen shouting to the director team at the time: “Blimey! Everyone is watching! Dear directors, please tell me the rules of the game, why is there a second chance for a score of 73, but no such chance for 88.3? Can you, dear directors, offer an explanation? Can you please explain?” ”Is this fair? Even if you don’t say it, everyone will!”
In the latest leaked recording, Ms. Lee mentioned that the director’s two assistants forced her to leave the set or they would call security. Ms. Lee said that she had not been treated so rudely in the past 28 years. She felt the director was going to grab her clothes but was stopped by her staff.
After the episode aired, it caused a lot of controversy, and viewers all felt that there was a problem with the format of the competition. Public pressure forced “Sing! China” to change the rules. However, a condition was reportedly set that Ms. Lee needed to address her previous outburst on Weibo, a Chinese microblogging platform if she wished her students to return to the stage.
Ms. Lee said in the recording that she was unwilling to bear the responsibility made by the program crew, but for the sake of her students, she finally decided to bow to reality and made a post on Weibo to diffuse the situation.
She said that she did the recording, not for herself, but for the participants. “I am not after money, just for this program, for these youngsters,” she said.
On the final day of recording on Oct. 14, 2022, Ms. Lee said that she had made an agreement with the director to keep her partner as close to her on stage as possible because, due to her foot injury, she would not be able to stand without support. But the program crew made last-minute changes and moved her partner away, leading to her fall on the stage.
Ms. Lee wept in the recording and said: “I couldn’t stand for long. I really couldn’t stand.” I have been a singer for 28 years, and I was insulted and bullied this time. Does anyone care about my feeling?”
She said that she had been feeling very down before the breast cancer surgery on October 17, and felt that she was risking her life for the good of everyone. But her segment was edited out as if she had never been part of the show.
On the night of Oct. 28, 2022, all competitions of the season were aired. The next afternoon, Coco Lee, one of the mentors, deleted all previously posted tweets about the show, including a “hidden word poem” posted on the night of the finale, which implicitly criticized the show, saying “good voice sucks”.
This fall on stage caused Coco Lee to undergo another leg operation, which severely affected her ability to walk normally. The leg wound, as well as depression, eventually led her to commit suicide in her home on July 2.
The leaked recording not only exposes Ms. Lee’s ordeal but also underscores concerns about the fairness and treatment of contestants on “Sing! China.” The public reaction has been strong, with netizens rallying in support of CoCo Lee and questioning the show’s integrity. This incident has reignited discussions about ethical standards within reality TV shows in China. (I added this paragraph to summarize the netizens’ reactions.)
“Sing! China” responded on Weibo to the leaked video regarding Ms. Lee’s accusation, saying that the recording had been edited and is disrespectful to the deceased as well as damaging the image of the program. But the netizens do not agree.
