SINGAPORE – When The Voice Singapore/Malaysia announced that online auditions were open on May 5, producers came under fire for language requirements for the show.

They had announced that only those fluent in Mandarin, and who could sing in Mandarin, were eligible to participate.

On Thursday (May 11), one singer, Nurfarahin, uploaded a video on Twitter. The short clip showed the telegenic lass singing Chinese pop singer Guan Zhe’s Mandarin tune, The Night I Spent Thinking Of You, as she walked through a Housing Development Board estate.

The 22-year-old outdoor adventure educator cheekily asked at the end: “I want to try auditioning for The Voice SG. Can?”

To her surprise, the tweet went viral with over 4,000 retweets and 2,000 favourites.

“I recorded it because I enjoy singing,” she told TODAY. “I did not expect it to go viral.”

Four hours after she posted the first video, she uploaded another clip of her singing the chorus to the song, as there had been online requests for her to do so.

Nurfarahin has some ability in Mandarin — she studied conversational chinese when she was in Secondary 2 for a year. But because she cannot speak fluently in Mandarin, she will not be attempting to join the competition, she said, adding that this little foray “was really just for fun”.

Besides, she added that “I am tied down with other commitments, and these compeititions can run for a long time”.

She does sing English songs “during my free time” and records covers “once in awhile”, posting videos on Instagram.

She had been inspired to take on the Guan Zhe song as Hong Kong-based Malaysian singer-songwriter Shila Amzah had covered the track in 2014, when she competed in reality singing competition I Am A Singer.

Another Singaporean has also come on TODAY’s radar, for his involvement in the Sing! China show. 

Last month, Sherman Toh, 22, auditioned for a panel that included artistic director Zhang Jia Yi of Shanghai Canxing Culture & Media Co. Ltd — the production company behind Sing! China.  

Toh, who is currently in National Service, had discovered that the auditions were on just a day before they were held at The Singing Loft. They required singers to send in a demo on line to be shortlisted.

“I woke up and I saw a Facebook post on The Singing Loft’s page,” said the self-taught musician. “I decided to send in a couple of demos and see how it went,” he said.

He was contacted and told to come in and audition. Performing with his guitar, Toh presented singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran’s Dive and Shape of You; as well as Mandopop artiste Hsiao Huang-Chi’s Ni Shi Wo De Yan; and Taiwanese singer-songwriter Eric Zhou Xing Zhe’s How Have You Been. 

Toh has a YouTube channel, ShermanZachary, where he posts videos of him singing. Dive was one video he posted recently, and it has seen some 80,000 views — which was why he wanted to use it as an audition song.

Toh is now at the final stage of being confirmed for the show. Once the show's head music director gives the go-ahead, Toh will officially be slated to join the show, according to organisers. Toh has been in other singing contests, competing as a finalist in Noise Singapore’s Encore in 2015. The Republic Polytechnic graduate in mass communications has even performed in public, such as at a show at the Singapore Biennale last year.

He said that he will be “practicing a lot more” now that he is in the running for Sing! China.  “I’m listening to more Mandarin songs,” he said. “I might even seek out a vocal coach to help me improve,” he said. 

Last year, Nathan Hartono flew the flag for Singapore in Sing! China, coming in second in the competition.

“He has done his part, I’ll do my best, too, and see how it goes,” Toh jokingly said.