Veteran Hong Kong singer Jenny Tseng isn’t one to mince her words and the outspoken star had plenty to say when Na Ying won the ninth season of Chinese singing competition show Singer last week.
The Chinese star had defeated American diva Chante Moore and Moroccan-Canadian singer-songwriter Faouzia, who were in the lead, to be crowned the winner, sparking accusations that the contest was rigged.
Many viewers were stunned by the results, but not Jenny.
In fact, three months ago, the 71-year-old had predicted on Facebook that Na Ying was “pre-determined to win”.
After Na Ying was announced the winner, Jenny took to Facebook to criticise the singer.
“I was right about Singer 2024. They paid foreigners to be manipulated and played with. Na Ying… listen to your own singing. Aren’t you embarrassed to win?”
Jenny added: “[You’re] humiliating yourself by being brave enough to accept the victory.”
According to Taiwanese media Next Apple, rumours have been swirling on Weibo that Singer had invited big-name stars to participate in the competition, but many were reluctant as they couldn’t afford to lose.
As a result, they were offered a contract guaranteeing them the win, although the rumour has yet to be verified.
Jenny also slammed the show’s production team, saying, “A singing show doesn’t equal a singing competition. You take a bunch of somewhat famous singers, rate them, and rank them. What qualifications do you have? Who are you? And there are singers willing to be humiliated. It’s truly eye-opening!”
This latest scandal reminded netizens of the controversy surrounding another singing competition Sing! China, in which Na Ying was a judge and mentor for six seasons.
The show was rocked by allegations of bullying involving late Hong Kong singer Coco Lee, who was one of the show’s celeb mentors in 2022.
This later led to accusations that its judging system was unfair and the show was suspended in August 2023.
Jenny was also close to Coco and was one of the pallbearers at the latter’s funeral.