Melody Journey

2026-05-21

Melody Journey is a show that invites established singers to find fresh new music by introducing them to songwriters and producers. The singers have to convince the songwriters to pick them and I think it elevates the show by changing the power dynamics. Like give your baby to me, I will take care of your song! The singers audition and joke around with the songwriters for a really lighten the mood. Some of the songwriters flip to being singers and vice versa to show that they have flexibility in their show format and skill sets. One singer can be chosen by the songwriter but the singers can choose to perform the song as well (to a maximum limit of one additional singer), it is SO sweet to see how excited the singers are to claim a song. I think Melody Journey shines a light on the hidden talents and producers behind singers because there is the myth that the singer does it all. A singer does not write all their songs, produce, and develop them all alone, they have a hard working team that contributes too.

Compared to the competitor's show on WeTV called HitSong2024 they are unerringly harsh on the song writers and do take on their position of power to discern which songs they want to perform. For example one judge stated that the "song was simple [...] was not rich" or "it sounds good at first but I can't grasp something more meaningful". It's not comradery but a music machine churning these writers out. The songwriters in Melody Journey work collaboratively with singers to adjust lyrics, styles, and tailor the song to the singers. Especially since some songwriters that showed up on Melody Journey also showed up on HitSong2024 with the same songs too. The songwriters also only perform 1 minute of their song on HitSong compared to a full performance by in Melody Journey. They are just farming their sadness and disappointment for the show!

I watched this show for Zhou Shen and Joker Xue they seem friendly and love joking together for the cameras. Otherwise, Lars Huang and Liu Duan Duan pleasantly surprised me. didn't realize but I knew Lars Huang from when he performed on Super Vocal, and Liu Duan Duan is an actor by trade but wanted to try singing. I also ended up loving Mooney who was invited as a songwriter at first but ended up performing as a singer (someone released his concert on YouTube)

Songs I liked from Season 1 based on when they show up in the official playlist starting from episode 1