Faye Wong makes reality show debut

She's a great singer but Faye Wong's also known for her elusive nature.

So, when the Mandopop queen was rumoured to be making her reality show debut this year, the Internet was set abuzz.

And from the looks of the music reality show's premiere on July 20, PhantaCity does not disappoint.

The original series by HunanTV is presented in a novel format - guests sing and act in live performances filmed in one take.

When the cameras get rolling, performers only have one shot to make or break the act.

To introduce this to the audience, Wong opened the show by demonstrating the show's unique format.

Singing her 90s hit song Dreams, the diva effortlessly traversed elaborate films sets before emerging on stage to thunderous applause from the audience.

PhantaCity pairs performers with directors to produce eight-minute-long musical performances.

As the audience watches the film on the big screen, the magic unfolds in a 3,000sqm film set built right behind the stage.

Directors command their crews to film the performance on multiple cameras, edit scenes in real time, while being supported by a live band and a special effects team.

Even a seasoned actor like Huang - the first performer on the show - was full of nerves when he took to the stage.

A performance like this is highly demanding of both performer and production team and presents a new set of challenges as no post-production work is allowed, said Derek Hui, the Hong Kong director who collaborated with Huang.

The first episode also featured actor Ren Suxi, Chinese soprano Lei Jia, and Jackson Yee from Chinese boyband TFBoys.

Will this spark the next trend for reality shows?

Only time will tell, but we must say we're quite intrigued by PhantaCity - and we're not the only ones. On YouTube, the first episode has already garnered close to 500,000 views.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIRHwVIvFC8[/embed]

minlee@sph.com.sg