A leaked audio reportedly of late singer Coco Lee ranting about her mistreatment on ‘Sing! China’ has surfaced.
In the nine-minute clip, Coco emotionally recounted how the show’s production team had bullied and humiliated her after she stood up for one of her mentees.
Source: Weibo
The mentee had been disqualified even though he had a higher score, which led to Coco’s outburst on the show.
There was even an instance where the production team allegedly made her perform in pain due to her pre-existing leg condition.
For context, Coco Lee took over as a judge in season seven of ‘Sing! China’ from Chinese opera singer and academic Liao Changyong.
One of her mentees, Zhou Feige, received a score of 88.3 but did not qualify for the next round of the contest.
However, others with a lower score made it, prompting an outburst from the judge.
“He had 88.3. Your lowest scoring one was 73, that person can compete again, and my mentee with 88.3 can’t?” she questioned during the show.
At one point, she even yelled, “What I said was the truth, of course, you guys are going to edit this out. This is unfair!”
The heart-breaking nine-minute audio surfaced on Weibo on Thursday (17 Aug), at 4.43pm.
In it, a female voice believed to be of late singer Coco Lee could be heard ranting about what she experienced on the show after the incident.
She said she went on the show even if it meant throwing her life away. “My doctor begged me not to go because my breast cancer is a ticking time bomb, but I didn’t care. I love the show, and these young people love music. That’s our common language — loving music.”
“It’s okay if I sacrifice myself, but I did not expect these people to be bad guys. They messed with me because I told the truth,” she said, her voice shaky.
Source: Sing! China on YouTube
“I went on ‘Sing! China’ for them, but they treated me so bad,” Coco Lee wailed.
“I watched the finale, it was as if I was never there. Despite all my effort, nothing was shown. My body collapsed because I sacrificed myself for the show, for these kids who love music. I want to help them even if I throw my life away.”
Coco then revealed that she did not even know how much she got paid or what her contract said because she did not care. She just wanted to help as the young contestants needed her help.
After the outburst on the show pertaining to Feige’s elimination, Coco alleged that the showrunners had “manhandled her”.
“Two of the director’s assistants told me I had to leave or they would call security. In 28 years [of my career], I have never been spoken to like that! When I stood up, she even grabbed my shirt and tried pulling me off stage.”
Following the incident, ‘Sing! China’ showrunners apparently threatened Coco to make a post on Weibo, calling the incident a miscommunication so that Feige could get another chance on the show.
“They threatened me like that, but of course I will protect my mentee. For him, I swallowed it.”
Most shockingly, the audio exposed an incident where she was made to perform in pain.
Due to her existing leg condition, she could not stand for too long. So, during rehearsals, she got her mentee Wang Zepeng to stand next to her on stage as she did not want to appear with a crutch or in a wheelchair.
She had reportedly given the X-ray of her condition to the directors, who agreed.
However, during the filming, the production team apparently cued Wang to move to the other side of the stage. This left Coco without anything to lean on as she performed while in pain.
“I was not standing stably, I could not support myself. I was wearing 7-inch heels to look good for the show! But I could not stand, I could not!”
“Has anyone ever thought about how I felt in that moment?” she wailed.
“I’ve been a singer for 28 years, standing on stage to be humiliated like that. This is humiliation, this is bullying!”
She ended the call on a heart-wrenching note, “I have always been strong, but now I can’t even dance! Dancing made me the happiest, and now I can’t even do it. Now you know my story.”
Later that day, the show released a statement addressing the audio clip.
They said Coco was a judge who put her whole heart into the role. While there were some misunderstandings during production, they shared that they have resolved them after some communication.
“Out of respect for the deceased, we will not explain the matter again, and will always remember her sincere devotion to the show. We hope that she can rest in peace,” they added.
The funeral for the late Coco Lee was held over two days, on 31 July and 1 Aug, in Hong Kong. She passed away on 5 July, aged 48.
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Featured image adapted from Coco Lee on Facebook.
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