THE first round of auditions for the All-People Singing Competition and the Senior Singing Competition, two events taking place during the culture-promoting community day “Futian Karaoke Room of Public Benefit” and sponsored by the Special Funds to Promote Cultural and Sports Development of Futian District, was held in each of the seven administrative districts in Shenzhen with a total of 3,244 singing lovers showing up to participate in-person Sept. 17.

Registration for the singing audition saw applicants from a wide variety of backgrounds, dominated mostly by non-professional karaoke lovers including blind masseurs accompanied by family, security guards, waiters, students, housewives and retirees. The oldest participant is 80 years old.

Another audition was held Sept. 30. and there is still another one to be held Oct. 15. People aged 18 to 50 who are interested in the singing audition can register via the official WeChat account, “娱乐在手(WeChat ID: yulezaishou),” or via the Tencent app, “全民K歌 (All-People KTV),” or at Shenzhen “友唱 (Friendly Singing Mini KTV).” People aged 50-plus years old can register via “娱乐在手” or through the senior citizen’s association of each subdistrict or community. The deadline for registration is Oct. 13.

The two competitions aim to look for the best-singing average person. The total amount of the monetary prizes exceeds 300,000 yuan, making the competition the largest-scale and the most influential singing competition the Shenzhen public has yet seen. Excellent singers who stand out among all the competitors will have the opportunity to professionally record their own singles and perform for a more well-known platform such as CCTV’s “Avenue of Stars,” an influential singing competition program for singing amateurs.

It is said that the All-People Singing Competition has invited renowned professors in the vocal field as judges to ensure authoritative judging and brand awareness. For participants aged 18 to 50 for the All-People Singing Competition, only popular songs are permitted to be sung at the competition, while for participants aged 50 years old and more there is no such restriction. (Chen Xiaochun)