Asian Wave is a 2012 Chinesereality singing talent show featuring contestants from many different Asian countries. The show premiered on 11 July 2012 on Dragon Television.
On 20 September 2012, Malaysian singer-songwriter Shila Amzah won the competition by unanimous vote, after performing 3 songs (in the final rounds) in 3 languages (Malay, English and Mandarin).
Format
The first 16 episodes, first shown between 11 July 2012 and 30 August 2012, feature competitions amongst 66 Greater China contestants (including music groups). Competition was so strong that established singer Fiona Fung from Hong Kong failed to reach even the Final 16. In the end, the 6 finalists were selected (in order of finish):
The preliminary rounds of the Asian-wide competition consist of 6 episodes and were first aired from 3 September 2012 to 19 September 2012.
In each group of 8 contestants, 4 will advance to the final rounds.
In Round 1, eight contestants are divided into 4 pairs, with the 4 winners directly advancing to Round 2. Then the judges do a second round of voting to determine the best 2 contestants among the 4 losers. Then, the remaining 2 contestants do a 30-second a cappella battle to determine the last contestant to advance.
In Round 2, the 4 winners from Round 1 are divided into 2 pairs, with the 2 winners directly advancing to the final rounds. Then the judges do a second round of voting to determine the better contestant between the 2 losers. Later, the best contestant from the 3 losers from Round 1 does a 30-second a cappella battle with the remaining winner from Round 1, to determine the last contestant to advance.
After the song, Guo Meizi decided to withdraw citing health reasons while Yu Chaoying was eliminated by Ten Nararak
Final rounds
The final 3 rounds were broadcast live on 20 September 2012. Before the competition, some of the previously eliminated contestants performed; as well as invitees Jam Hsiao from Taiwan and Michael Wong from Malaysia.
Likely due to the violent anti-Japanese demonstrations in China at the time, Japan's Emi Tawata and South Korea's Cross Gene (which includes a Japanese member) had to withdraw from the final rounds. As a result, only 10 of the originally selected 12 finalists remain, and after Round 1 the judges do a second round of voting to select one of the five battle losers to advance to Round 2.