KZ TANDINGAN Gets CELEBRITY Recognition in China Due to SINGER 2018

Thus far, singer KZ Tandingan has been acquitting herself well and doing all of us here in the Philippines proud with her progress in the Chinese reality singing competition “Singer 2018”. Starting from her big debut in the contest which aired February 9 on Hunan Television, singing her awesome cover of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” (plus Filipino rap in the middle of it), she has become a darling of the audience. Also making her impact big was KZ’s rather complex interaction with fellow competitor and British idol Jessie J. Needless to say, fans have taken KZ into their hearts.

ABS-CBN News tells how, once KZ Tandingan is done for the TV shoot of “Singer 2018”, the second she steps out of the Hunan Broadcasting System studios she is almost always accosted by a crowd of Chinese locals eager to have an autograph or share a selfie with her. KZ’s manager Erickson Raymundo uploaded an Instagram video of the singer, a former reality singing competition champion herself, going out to see the sights at Changsha Mall. Everywhere she went there, groups of people (with a roughly equal gender distribution, even) would flock to KZ’s side to have impromptu photo-op sessions.

Raymundo out it best in his video caption, “[It makes us] proud when non-Filipinos recognize her now.” And the deference of the Chinese fans to KZ while asking her to sign autographs or pose with them has been very remarkable. She now comes across as being the most famous Filipina celebrity in China right now.

KZ came into “Singer 2018” as the second challenger, or replacement singer for an eliminated contestant from the starting batch. Her performance not only beat out that of Jessie J for the February 9 “Second Round Knockout”, she finished first place and stood a chance at becoming a regular contestant.

On her second appearance, aired February 16 sang a medley of three Mandarin pop songs, and while she was not quite the top ranker this time around, she survived while another contestant was eliminated, thus securing her spot. In the “Qualifying” phase of the three-episode Round 3 arc, KZ went back to her strong points by belting out “Say Something” by a Great Big World and Christina Aguilera. This time, while still not getting back on top, her 4th place position still keeps her in a comfortable spot. Her next performance is Friday, March 2.

“Singer 2018” is currently the most-watched TV program in China today. This season alone has grabbed the attention of no less than 200 million viewers.

Photo courtesy of push.abs-cbn.com