Vocal coach highly praises A-Mei and A-Lin’s live performance at Taitung New Year’s Eve. In an era flooded with auto-tune and digital correction, this raw, slightly imperfect but heartfelt performance successfully restores the audience’s pure emotional connection to music.
Rozette, a well-known vocal coach in China and Taiwan who reviews various Chinese singers, recently gave high praise for A-Mei (阿妹) and A-Lin’s live performances at the Taitung New Year’s Eve concert, calling it a show full of “authentic voices.”
She observed that A-Mei and A-Lin fully utilize their vocal cords and sense each other’s states. A-Lin softly blends in harmony, ensuring their voices match the main melody. They listen deeply to each other and collaborate in real-time, demonstrating on-site creative ability.
Rozette emphasized their excellent microphone control, laying down a solid vocal foundation. She also linked A-Mei’s powerful aura and the retention of thick vibrato to American singer Lady Gaga, believing both showcase their true selves.
Of course, this completely unedited performance isn’t perfect. Regarding minor pitch imperfections in the duet, Rozette, who often points out singers’ tuning issues, remains positive, stating that a performance with flaws can be very beautiful.
Rozette mentioned that the more technology is used, the more people’s obsession with perfection intensifies, resonating with online audiences.
Some netizens said that many people are accustomed to perfect pitch thanks to auto-tune, and in this era of increasingly flattened aesthetic standards, the public truly needs performances like this to rediscover their original intent.
Others pointed out that the obsession with perfection is becoming evident, prompting reflections on the human value brought by live singing.
Image source: CZ Media YT channel comments, viewers’ impressions of the foreign vocal coach’s praise for A-Mei and A-Lin’s live performance at Taitung New Year’s Eve
Another netizen commented that mainland China’s singing shows are overly polished and lack authenticity, which is why they no longer watch them. They are grateful for the era of A-Mei; a Chinese netizen also responded on Bilibili that auto-tune and beauty filters make it impossible to accept flaws, even causing anxiety and harshness.
With real-time auto-tune and technological advancements, many shows strive for perfect performances. For example, the show “Singer 2024” claimed to be fully live and unedited. However, Rozette questioned during her review why Na Ying’s performance of the song “Mo” seemed to show signs of editing.
Image source: Mango TV Music YT channel screenshot of Na Ying performing “Mo” on “Singer 2024”
In Japan’s New Year’s Eve program “Kohaku Uta Gassen,” viewers often notice that many idol groups habitually use backing vocals or auto-tune, which creates a gap in authenticity compared to other unedited Japanese bands and singers.
Besides the singers’ unedited performances, the relaxed, natural, and purely singer-focused atmosphere of the Taitung New Year’s Eve concert has inevitably faced some criticism of “declining singing skills,” or comments like: “Although I understand A-Mei’s appearance now, I can’t help but mentally update to this version immediately, which causes some internal conflict.” Nonetheless, it was widely praised as the best New Year’s event in Taiwan for 2026.
Behind the highly praised Taitung New Year’s Eve event is the veteran performer A-Mei, who, after the countdown, performed an additional 1-2 hours, essentially giving the audience a free concert.
Some singer participants revealed that A-Mei, A-Lin, and Dai Ailing started drinking the day before and continued backstage until they went on stage. Fans joked: “In Korea, there’s the Witch Hunt group; in Taiwan, there’s the Strong Liquor Girl group.”
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