Qian Zhenghao (Chinese: 钱正昊, born January 5, 2001), also known as Jefferson Qian, is a Chinese singer, dancer, rapper, songwriter, and composer. He is best known for participating in the survival show Idol Producer, where he ranked 11th, as well as his participation in Singer 2019. As of 2019[update], Qian is a solo artist.
Early life
Qian Zhenghao was raised in Shanghai, China by his parents and attended a private school. At age 13, Qian participated in a children's singing show called China's New Voice Generation Season 2. Qian went to a studio to record an album every year to preserve his voice. At age 14, he participated in a dog-training competition with his dog, Rocky.[1]
Career
2014: Singing debut
After participating in China's New Voice Generation Season 2, Qian became a student of singer Shang Wenjie, marking his official entrance into the entertainment industry. In the show, Qian performed "The Monster" with Shang and "Angel" with Shila Amzah.[2]
2015–2017: Becoming a trainee
In 2015, Qian became a trainee under the record label Younger Culture.[3] He went to South Korea to further his training, often participating in live performances with his fellow trainees.[4]
2018: Idol Producer and debuting as an artist
In January 2018, he participated in reality show Idol Producer as a contestant. His first performance was a cover of "City of Stars", receiving a "B" in ranking evaluation and impressing the judges with his vocal skills.[5] However, he received an "F" in the second ranking evaluation when he failed to memorize the dance moves and lyrics of the theme song, also receiving criticism from vocal mentor Li Ronghao. Later, a limited number of trainees who received "F" grades were allowed to participate in making a music video of the theme song. Qian succeeded in joining the performance.[6] He finished the show in 11th place, two spots shy of joining the final group.[7]
In August 2018, Qian released his first EP, My Art 0.5. He also participated in fellow Idol Producer contestant Zhou Rui's album Unsolvable Problem (无解题), where he was featured on the song "I'll Never".[8][9]
In January 2019, Qian was chosen as the second "National's Recommended Singer", later facing Super-Vocal finalists in the second Pre-Challenge Face-Off in the music show Singer 2019. He was eliminated in the knockoff challenge, but he returned for a final performance.
In April 2019, Qian joined a show called I am a Singer[circular reference] created by IQiyi and won the show along with his teammates.
Names in Bold indicate the winning singer, while Italics indicate the runner-up singer. Singers are listed based on their original season appearances, returning singers (who participated in seasons 5 or 8) are not repeated.
Singers participated in groups are listed in parentheses. Initial singers first listed in order of official announcement, followed by Substitute/Challenge Singers in order of appearance.