Chongqing- On the evening of Saturday July 11th, the online singing competition UKCQ Idol came to a successful conclusion, with first place being awarded to Mr. Zhang Yue from Shanghai, a masters student at the University of York. His motto was ‘I just love music, don’t make me stop!’

Chinese overseas masters student at the University of York Mr. Zhang Yue won the UKCQ Idol Singing Competition held live on the broadcast platform of Douyu.

Co-hosted by the UK-Chongqing Students and Scholars Association and UK Chongqing Business Association, and supported by the Chinese Embassy to the UK and Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism Development, the month long period of auditions culminated with the live finals broadcast on the Chinese online platform ‘Douyu.’

Over 500 students and scholars from UK universities entered the competition, which was open to all nationalities, and organized to promote cross culture exchange whilst they handle the challenges of everyday life under the current pandemic.

Within twenty minutes of the live broadcast, there were over 2000 online viewers as the competition ranked 40th on the platform’s hourly rating list.

Once the panel of expert and guest judges completed their deliberations once the performances were over, the UKCQ Idol champion was named as Mr. Zhang Yue, a masters student from Shanghai at the University of York. The runner up was named as British student Mr. Jethro Coups from Nottingham Trent University, while third place was awarded to Miss. Wang Xiaomeng from the University of Sheffield.

Finally, masters student Mr. Zhou Yufeng from the University of York won the popularity award thanks to support from the online audience.

The performances received lavish praise from both the audience and panel of judges. Mr. Liu Guang, vice dean of the Chongqing Opera House and UKCQ Idol judge, offered expert advice to each contestant beforehand on how to improve their song delivery.

At the same time, he expressed high hopes for the contestants. He said, ‘Though it was the first time they have taken part in a live online competition, the students achieved a professional level of performance, and some of their voices were highly distinctive. I hope you can go a long way on this road.’

Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in the UK Mr. Lu Haitian commented, ‘This event has brimmed with youth and vibrancy. In such a challenging period, students worldwide have been able to exchange and study together on the internet. No matter where we are, Chinese students and foreign friends are closer tonight. I believe we can encourage them together to overcome the difficulties of this epidemic.’

Despite the physical distances, internet speeds, and limited singing resources, the finals of UKCQ Idol were keenly contested, and each of the participants gave their best for the audience. This curtains may have fallen on this special event for now, but this extraordinary year of 2020 has now been given some extra sparkle.