Big Fish, Dear Traveler, Dalabengba, The Lonely Whale Incarnated into an Island, The Shape of Water
Awards
ERC Chinese Top Ten AwardsBest New Artist 2016, People's Selection Male Singer 2017, Most Improved Artist 2018, Breakthrough Artist of 2019, Media Recommended Singer 2020, Most Popular Male Singer 2021 and 2022, Best Male Singer 2023
Zhou Shen (Chinese: 周深; pinyin: Zhōu Shēn; born (1992-09-29)29 September 1992), also known as Charlie Zhou, is a Chinese singer known for his ethereal voice and wide vocal range. He gained prominence with his renowned song "Big Fish", which has garnered eight awards. In May 2024, he released his second album Shenself and sold over 1 million digital copies in a week.[1] He has performed OSTs for numerous high-profile Chinese films and TV series, including Big Fish & Begonia, Jiang Ziya, and The Wandering Earth 2, among many others.
He won the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Greater China Act in November 2019. In August 2020, he ranked 42nd in the Forbes China Celebrity List of 2020.[2] The ERC Chinese Top Ten Awards named Zhou the Most Popular Male Singer of 2021 and 2022 and the Best Male Singer of 2023.[3] In August 2022, his Douyin online concert "I Want to Be by Your Side" (想到你“深”边) attracted over 140 million viewers.[4] His 9.29 Hz 10th Anniversary Concert Tour began in May 2024 in stadiums across China, with tickets selling out within seconds after release.[5][1] Since 2022, he has been a cast member of the popular Chinese variety show Keep Running! .
Early life
Zhou was born on September 29, 1992, in a mountain village in rural Shaoyang, Hunan. He and his older sister were left behind children, as his parents were very poor and would leave to find work in the city, only coming home once a year.[6] Since his grandparents were no longer around, he and his sister had to look after themselves from a very young age. His family later moved to Guiyang, Guizhou during his third year of primary school. He was subsequently admitted to Guiyang No. 6 High School. Following high school graduation, he went to Ukraine to study dentistry due to more affordable tuition costs. However, after a year, he made the decision to transfer to Lviv National Musical Academy to study Bel canto instead.[7] His vocal range can be classified as being that of a countertenor, specifically a sopranist, but he studied as a tenor in Lviv Conservatory.
Career
2010: Pre-debut
Zhou's music career began in 2010, when he began singing online on a Chinese video-based social network, YY.com, under the nickname 卡布叻, or Kabule.[8]
2014–2015: Participation in The Voice of China
After listening to Zhou's singing online, the director of The Voice of China invited Zhou to participate in the first and second seasons of the show. However, Zhou declined both invitations, hesitating due to his fear of how audiences would perceive his unique voice. Undeterred, the director continued to invite him for the following season, and although Zhou initially declined again, she persisted for 3 months until Zhou, touched by her efforts, accepted the invitation.[9][10][11] Zhou participated in The Voice of China (season 3) and amazed the coaches with his cover of Chyi Yu's "Huan Yan" in the blind audition round.[12][13] The song "Lake Baikal" sung by Zhou and Li Wei in the competition was awarded Song of 2014 of The Voice of China.[14][15] In the same year, Zhou participated in the live tour presented by The Voice of China.
He attended Beijing TV's New Year's Gala and supported the bid for the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing by singing a multi-language version of "Let It Go". He also participated in the world tour of the performing-arts extravaganza Cultures of China, Festival of Spring.[16][17] In May, Zhou went to London to attend The Voice UK with Li Wei on behalf of The Voice of China.[18] He then released a cover album called Aftertaste together with Li Wei in July. On 8 August 2015, Zhou's first single, "The Rose and the Deer", was released, and he won the Best New Artist of ERC Chinese Top Ten Awards.
2016-2017: "Big Fish" and debut album
In May 2016, Zhou sang "Big Fish" for the Chinese animated film Big Fish & Begonia.[19] "Big Fish" and "The Rose and the Deer" were both selected as part of the Top 10 Hits Songs of Fresh Asia Music Award 2016.[20]ERC Chinese Top Ten Awards named "Big Fish" one of the Top 10 Songs of the Year, and awarded Zhou the People's Choice Male Singer of 2017. He also won the Most Popular Male Singer Online of Music Pioneer Award 2016.[21]
In 2018, Zhou performed over 10 songs for various films and TV series, including the Chinese promotional song for the Academy Award-winning film The Shape of Water.[27] In May and June, Zhou held his first concert tour Shen's Space in Shanghai, Wuhan, and Chengdu.[28] He won the Most Improved Artist of the ERC Chinese Top Ten Awards and the Best New Artist of the Global Chinese Music Chart Awards.[29] In November, Zhou participated in the show Super–Vocal, where his performance of classic songs including "Time to Say Goodbye", "Memory", "Think of Me", and "The Lonely Goatherd" received extremely high praise from industry professionals.[30][31] He participated in The Masked Singer again, this time using his Bel canto skills and versatile vocals to mislead the guessing panel.[32]
2019: Second concert tour, Our Song
In 2019, Zhou performed over 20 songs for various films and TV series, including "With the Wind" for Mystery of Antiques, "Only You" for Relying on Heaven to Slaughter Dragons, "Longing for a Wholehearted Lover" for Royal Nirvana, and "Untouchable" for The Upside.[33] He was awarded Breakthrough Artist of the Year and the song "Blossom" won the Top 10 Songs of the Year from ERC Chinese Top Ten Awards 2019. A continuation of his first concert tour was held in Beijing in January, followed by Shenzhen and Hangzhou in June and July. In April, Zhou participated in the Super–Vocal and Never Say Goodbye concert tours. He also held a joint music concert with Isabelle Huang in Shanghai on 18 May. On 25 May, he attended Victor Wong's "The Pursuit of Happiness" concert in Beijing as a special guest. On 12 June, he participated in the Nanyang Khek Community Gift of Warmth Charity Concert 2019, a charity concert in Singapore for people with autism, together with Chyi Yu, Huang Hongying, and Roy Li Fei Huei.
In October 2019, Zhou was ranked on the music industry list of Forbes 30 Under 30 China 2019. On the 1 and 2 November 2019, he participated in the Nanjing The Untamed music concert, performing his song "Passing by the Deserted City". In November 2019, he won the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Greater China Act. From November 2019 to January 2020, he held his second concert tour, named Planet C-929, with stops in Beijing, Nanjing, Suzhou, Chengdu, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.[34] From October 2019 to January 2020, Zhou participated in the first season of the singing competition Our Song, broadcast by Dragon TV, where his duets and comedic interactions with his senior partner, cantopop legend Hacken Lee, widely contributed to the popularity of the show. Zhou and Lee were ultimately crowned the winners of that season.
2020: Singer 2020, end of contract with The Voice of Dreams
From February to April 2020, Zhou appeared on Hunan TV's Singer 2020 as an initial singer.[35][36] Zhou was one of the most consistently high ranking contestants across all seasons of the show. He won first place in episode 8 for his cover of the song "Dalabengba", in which he blended singing with voice acting, using 5 different voices in his dynamic performance.[37] This performance proceeded to go viral on Chinese platforms, receiving over 10 million views within a day of release and remaining trending on Chinese search engines. It dominated the music charts and within a month had over 100 million streams on Netease Cloud Music alone.[38][39] This version has been widely praised by China's domestic music critics, noting how his viral performance has contributed to the spread of ACGN culture.[40] "Dalabengba" won NetEase Cloud Music's 2020 Most Popular Single and Most Popular Show Performance categories.[41][42]
From January to April 2020, he participated in the cultural reality show The Great Wall.[43] As Zhou gained widespread recognition in 2020, he also appeared as a guest in many popular Chinese variety shows, including Day Day Up, Ace vs Ace, Back to Field, Smoothly Flowing Melodies, and Keep Running!. Zhou later participated in the variety show Youth Periplous II as a regular cast member.
On 19 July 2020, the establishment of Zhou Shen Studios was officially announced after his six year contract with The Voice of Dreams ended. His first online concert "Good Night, See You Tomorrow" was then held on 25 July through TME live, on the 6th anniversary of his debut.[44][45] The concert was streamed on multiple platforms, and the QQ Music broadcast alone attracted over 7.2 million online viewers.[46]
In August, he ranked 42nd in the Forbes China Celebrity List of 2020.[2][47] Zhou collaborated several times with internationally renowned pianist Lang Lang, performing "Interstellar Train" on The Coming One: SUPER BAND as well as "Big Fish" and "Scarborough Fair" on Jiangsu TV's Kuaishou "One Thousand and One Nights" Gala on 30 October.[48] On 16 October, Zhou also collaborated with renowned Mongolian singer Tengger to perform a mashup of "Big Fish" and Tengger's "Heaven" on the TikTok x Zhejiang TV Autumn Gala 2020.[49]
From August to November 2020, Zhou appeared on the variety show Go Newbies, in which he learned how to drive and obtained his driving license.[50] Starting from 4 November, Zhou Shen appeared in a workplace-observational reality show An Exciting Offer Season 2.[51]
2021: First appearance on CCTV's Spring Festival Gala (春晚)
Since 6 November 2020, Zhou has been the official Promotion Ambassador of Guiyang Cultural Tourism,[58][59][60][61] and he appeared on the cultural urban travel documentary Marvelous City presented by Youku on 5 January to introduce the city where he grew up.[62] In January, Zhou was named The Most Popular Singer of 2020 at the Tencent Entertainment White Paper ceremony and the Best Mainland Male Singer of the Year at the Tencent Music Entertainment Awards.[63][64] On 27 January, Zhou was announced as a mentor for the Tencent's talent show Chuang 2021.[65] His impromtu cover of a famous Ukrainian pop song "Річка" in the show with a Ukrainian trainee was broadcast on several Ukrainian news channels.[66][67]
During the 2021 Lunar New Year, Zhou performed at numerous Spring Festival galas, including China Media group's, Tencent's, Hunan TV's, Jiangsu TV's, and CCTV's 2021 Lantern Festival Gala.[68] Most notable was his first appearance on CCTV's "CCTV New Year's Gala" and his critically acclaimed performance of "China in the Lights" (灯火里的中国) with singer Zhang Ye.[69] The performance exceeded 100 million views cumulatively across Chinese video platforms the day after it aired.[70]
On 9 April, Zhou participated in the Global Diplomats’ Chinese Cultural Night, where he was awarded the 2020 Most Influential Youth Singer of the Year.[71][72][73] On 25 May, Zhou collaborated with world-renowned composer and conductor Tan Dun in the Nanshan Pop Festival 2021.[74] On 31 May, he participated in a public welfare project aimed at providing more opportunities for rural children.[75][76]
2022-2023: Second appearance on CCTV's Spring Festival Gala (春晚), Keep Running!, “深深感谢你“ Thank You Concert
Beginning in 2022, Zhou has become a regular cast member Keep Running!. One of the reasons the program director, Yao Yitian, invited him was because of Zhou Shen's thoughtfulness and consideration towards others, contributing to the atmosphere of the show.[77]
On 21 January 2023, Zhou made his second appearance at CCTV's Spring Gala Festival, performing the song "Blossoming Flowers, Forgetting Sorrows" (花开忘忧).
He served as the Public Welfare Ambassador for the 2022 United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15). A wax figure of Zhou Shen was unveiled at Madame Tussauds Beijing on July 25, 2023.[78] On 19 August 2023, Zhou held a special thank you concert "深深感谢你" at Beijing's Wukesong arena. Tickets were sold out on all ticketing platforms within seconds of release.
2024: Third appearance on CCTV's Spring Festival Gala (春晚), appearance at U.N. Chinese Language Day, Shenself and 9.29Hz Concert Tour
In January, Zhou was awarded Most Popular Singer of the Year at the Weibo Awards Ceremony.[79] In February, his OST for the movie YOLO was released; the song, “Little Happiness” (小美满), proceeded to dominate the weekly charts across Chinese platforms and was awarded Movie Song of the Year at the 2023-2024 at the China Movie Data Gala and Awards Ceremony of China Movie Channel M-Chart.[80] On February 9, 2024, Zhou made his third appearance in CCTV Spring Festival Gala with the song “Health Order” (健康到到令).[81]
On 18 April, Zhou was invited to attend the 15th annual United Nations Chinese Language Day at the UN headquarters in New York.[82] He participated in the roundtable discussions and performed the song "Ode to Peace", which was composed specifically for the occasion, in addition to his songs "Big Fish" and "Wait for Me".
On 31 March, “Mirage”, the first song from Zhou's second album, was released. In May 2024, Zhou Shen's 9.29 Hz concert tour officially launched in stadiums across China, with stops at Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Guiyang, Wuhan, Nanjing, and more stops waiting to be officially announced. Tickets for every concert sold out within seconds of release.[83] On May 19, 2024, the first half of his second album Shenself (反身代词) was released globally. The album sales exceeded 1 million copies just one week after release.[1]
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.
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