“中国好声音”热播中

China is the latest country to produce its own version of TV singing competition, "The voice". Weekly broadcasts of the "voice of China" began in July and it now leads audience ratings for its time slot. And that’s pushing its commercial value. Herbal tea brand Jia Duobao spent 60 million yuan to become the official sponsor, and the advertisement prices have more than doubled to 360,000 yuan for 15 seconds.

"The voice of China", adapted from the original Dutch music show, topped nationwide ratings rankings when it was first shown on Zhejiang Satellite TV, attracting 2.77 percent of the country’s TV audience.

Every turn-round of the judges in the blind audition brings a highlight.

Na Ying, Coach, The voice of China, said, “What most impressed me is its honesty. That’s why audiences love the show and trust it.”

"Judging the voice, and not the appearance" makes the show stand out from the numerous other reality shows in China.

And another selling point is that judges in the show are also mentors of the singers they choose. Or, one could say, the singers who choose them, because if two or more judges want the same singer, the singer has the final choice.

The mentor’s position makes them more involved.

Na Ying also said, "We want to encourage them. Because most of the team has to work hard for living, they didn’t give up and tried their best to seize every opportunity to realize their music dream. Whether we turn around for them or not, we want them to stick to their dream and do what they really like to do."

So even though some auditioners have to leave the stage, they don’t leave with nothing. Gradually-built confidence and a determined faith in music are the show’s most precious legacy for them.

Jike Junyi, The voice of China, said, “We surrounded him, and he sat in the middle and taught us many things about music. It felt really incredible when he shared his ideas with us.”

Liu Huan, Coach, The voice of China, said, "I’ve been thinking that different music genres could be divided in the "the voice of China" website, like rock&roll, jazz, R&B...because singers are different. We should work hard together to enrich Chinese music and the audience can enjoy different genres of music. That's what we're aiming for."

For judges, it was hard to knock out any team members, unable to hold back the tears when someone has to leave, especially the only female judge.

Na Ying said, “I’ve been a singer for more than 20 years, but I’ve never taken part in this kind of program before. I just sing, and I wanted it to be as simple as it is.”

Hua Shao, MC, The voice of China, said, "Oh, please...I comfort you more than any auditioners this summer."

Viewership has risen to a high of 4.5 percent. The producer Tian Ming says much of its success comes from a sense of honesty, talented voices and good mentors, as well as big investment and production.

Tian Ming, Producer, The voice of China, said, "We want to express the spirit of confidence and self-improvement through a format of entertainment. We hope to touch the audience’s hearts and we're rewarded with high ratings."

Tian says each adaptation of a popular Western TV show gives Chinese producers an opportunity to learn and improve. Maybe, one day, China will come up with a successful home-grown show format.