Yang Mei

yangmei_szdaily@163.com

TWELVE contestants from nine countries wowed the audience and judges with their fluent Chinese and impressive displays of talent at the 9th Shenzhen Expats Chinese Talent Competition at Futian Shangri-La Hotel on Saturday afternoon.

The three-hour competition consisted of three rounds — a three-minute prepared speech in Chinese on the topic of “Shenzhen in the Future,” a word-guessing game in Chinese and a talent show. The competition was live-streamed in full.

Out of the fierce competition, 28-year-old Shin Moon-sub from South Korea and 11-year-old Aleksandr Vaskin from Russia earned the highest scores and won the top prizes in the adult group and junior group, respectively. The two runners-up were Lee Yue-qing from Malaysia and her compatriot, 12-year-old Ethan Tang.

Shin, a student from Shenzhen University, said in his speech that Shenzhen has become a magnet for young people like him thanks to its openness, inclusiveness and favorable talent policies. During the talent show, Shin sang an inspirational Chinese song called “You Are My Eyes.”

Eight-year-old Shenzhen-born Melody Del Valle Frias from Colombia, who was the youngest contestant, showed the future of Shenzhen to the audience through paintings she created. She believes that in the future Shenzhen will become a city of gardens and smart buses beside a beautiful sea. During the talent show, she sang two songs while dancing, leaving a deep impression on the audience.

Nine-year-old Isaiah Edward Schwartz from the U.S. envisioned in his speech that Shenzhen will become a trash-free city with smart dustbins. He also mentioned that every family will have robots to do the housework for them. He played the song “Hai Kuo Tian Kong” on the guitar.

Ye Danming, a national-level judge, told the Shenzhen Daily that she was impressed by the performances and the contestants’ deep understanding of Chinese culture. “The event has entered its 9th edition, which speaks to its success. I think it will enhance the communication between China and other countries and I believe the contest will reach more expat communities in Shenzhen,” she said.

The contest has produced several rising stars in different circles. For example, former contest winner Anikreva Selena from Russia has found a niche in the entertainment field and starred in a Chinese TV drama on China Central Television. She was invited to be one of the five judges for this year’s contest. A young man from Ghana was encouraged by the contest to continue learning Chinese and he has become an important member of Shenzhen’s first volunteer team, which is mainly made up of expats.

The contest is an annual event sponsored by the Shenzhen Municipal Foreign Affairs Office and the Shenzhen Municipal Information Office, and organized by Shenzhen Daily and eyeshenzhen.com, the English-language portal of Shenzhen.

Since the competition was launched in 2010, it has been one of the most influential events in the city’s foreign community. Thousands of expats have participated in the competition since 2010, and this year more than 100 expats signed up.