Tang Yixin just shared a selfie with fellow actress Li Xiaoran and Olympic champion Wang Meng, her teammates on the 1st group performance for the Chinese reality show Ride the Wind 2026 that offers a stage for female celebrities over 30 to sing and dance.
The three performed the song “Wish List (心願便利貼)” from the 2008 hit drama Fated to Love You. However, due to the show’s live-singing format, their vocals were fully exposed such as the group singing off key and forgetting the lyrics, even as they smiled and swayed confidently to match the song’s cute concept. Their win became controversial. The group scored 857 votes, beating the team led by Vietnamese singer-actress Trang Pháp, who earned 824, despite delivering what many viewers considered the stronger performance. While Li Xiaoran’s team likely benefited from popularity, many still questioned the fairness of the voting results. Even contestant Wei Nina, who became the second to be eliminated following the loss, tearfully admitted she really doesn’t know what the show’s criteria is.
Ride the Wind has long faced criticism over its lack of transparency. Actress Zhao Ziqi, the first contestant eliminated, publicly expressed her frustration and said she “would never go back.” There have also been accusations of favoritism, along with complaints that the show replaced its live format with pre-recorded audio for some performances. It prompted fans to feel the move gave unfair advantage to some while also sabotaging fan favorite Pets Tseng who wasn’t able to show off her live vocals. Still, controversy has only fueled the show’s buzz. The now-viral performance famous for being “so off-key” has drawn viewers who are watching for laughs. And it seems the stars themselves are embracing the moment. Tang Yixin captioned her post, “At any moment, we deserve to be appreciated! ❤️ @Li Xiaoran @Wang Meng #RideTheWind2026#.” Wang Meng joined in on the joke, commenting, “That’s true, right now the whole internet is appreciating us at every moment,” referencing their viral meme circulating across Chinese social media.
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Wendy
Mixed feelings about this… if it is a variety comedy show I’d have no problems; but if the show is presented as a serious competition that’s ment to uplift talented singers/actresses, then this is blatantly wrong. How seriously should the winners of such a show be valued? If the ‘losers’ are more talented and better performers and their skills are devalued because of the show while only popular but unskilled performers ‘win’ then how is this any different from a middle school popularity contest where skills don’t matter at all? I guess it depends on how the public remember contestants: skilled loser or just winners. Somewhat related; I saw a music producer from China complain on a live stream that Westerns and other people outside of China don’t value singers from China and I have to say if the Chinese media crowns poor performers with backing as ‘skilled’ then – YES; people will look down on the skill level presented as ‘winning’ because its clearly not good. Sure there are some talented individuals but as a whole more skilled performers should be recognized and valued. I’m surprised no one’s complained about how warped winnings affect children and adults watching the show. It’s demoralizing to see clearly better performers rejected because then why should anyone strive to get better? Only greedy and selfish talentless hacks win using backing and money – isn’t this the reason why people just want to ‘lie flat’ now?