TV singing competition 'Sing! China' premiered on Friday

Season five of China's smash hit TV singing competition "Sing! China" has premiered on Friday evening, once again leading the audience ratings across the country.

Based on the original "The Voice of Holland", the concept of the series is to find new singing talent among aspiring singers drawn from public auditions.

The TV show comes amid a legal dispute over the copyright of the brand "The Voice of China", the name that the show has been using since 2013.

Earlier this year, contractual disputes arose between Talpa Holding, the owner of the show's format and franchise, and Canxing Production, the show's producing company.

Canxing Production later launched "Sing! China", a rebranded version of the show which the producers claimed to come with an original format, though it still shares several similarities with "The Voice of China".

But one major difference is that, instead of a chair that can turn around from the previous seasons, in the new season, the jury now sits on chariot-like chairs that descend from atop a slide way.

The panel of four coaches this year includes pop diva Na Ying, rock star Wang Feng from the mainland and pop icon Jay Chou and Harlem Yu from Taiwan.

"Sing! China" airs on Zhejiang Satellite TV every Friday evening.

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