Most Singaporeans would know JJ Lin, the singer. After all, he is Singapore’s pride and he blesses us with his voice every time he releases a new song.
He’s been in the music industry since 2003, and there’s a clear reason as to why he’s still in it. His songs are good and his voice is beautiful. What’s there to not like?
That’s what one US vocal coach felt too after he heard JJ Lin’s singing, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that he compliments him like a million times in a reaction video he uploaded onto his YouTube channel.
Matt Ramsey starts off by introducing himself as a “real singing teacher and vocal coach” and then apologises for possibly butchering the Chinese language during his reaction video of JJ Lin singing “輸了你蠃了世界又如何” (What is the Point of Winning the World If I Lose You?) live on the Chinese music TV programme “梦想的声音2” (“Sound of My Dream 2).
First Impressions
As he hits the play button, it starts out with Ramsey nodding his head to the rhythm and the tune of the song, just like the judges in the show.
He then goes on to say that Lin has a “beautiful, beautiful tenor voice” and feels that his vocal weight is very “easy” and “light”.
He says that it’s off to a “beautiful start” and that he can tell Lin has been doing this for a long time.
Despite not knowing the language, at what seems like the end of a verse, Ramsey can tell that he’s about to hear a “really, really dramatic turn”, and he’s not wrong.
The Chorus
Lin easily belts out the start of the chorus and it was so good that Ramsey plays it back to hear it once more.
Ramsey explains that the way Lin enunciates his vowels gives off a very relaxed but strong sound, and this is evident in the way his jaw opens up more as compared to when one sings a closed vowel. He commends Lin on the control of his jaw and says that it’s “beautiful work”.
He elaborates that Lin keeps his vowel enunciation quite consistent which is important when one is singing a “tenor’s second bridge”.
He bobs his head to the music and smiles in approval. He even plays an air guitar while he’s at it.
The Next Verse
He notices that Lin changes the energy throughout the song, which is what a singer is supposed to do. He says that Lin starts off his verse “kind of light and breathy” and then he builds it up to a very high energy during the chorus.
He points out that he “has his vowels perfect”, saying that despite it not being easy to hit certain notes, Lin makes it sound easy because “he knows how to modify those vowels to give him the most resonance”.
He Used Auto-Tune?
At around 10:43, Ramsey points out a “trademark wobble” that can be heard in Lin’s voice, stating that “auto-tune” was used because it’s “not a natural vibrato”.
He then clarifies a little later into his video that he’s not saying that Lin requires auto-tune to sound good because he “obviously can sing super, super well”. He believes that a bit of auto-tune was used to ensure that there were no errors in the song. But that of course didn’t mean that he was conceding that auto-tune can be used to eliminate all errors.
He adds that one would still have to be a very good singer in order to use auto-tune correctly because he has to hit close to the note that is wanted.
Towards the end of the song, Ramsey compliments Lin once more on how he’s able to effortlessly “flip” into a falsetto and it’s “awesome”. He also says that it was a “beautiful ending too”, and gave him “five out of five stars”, citing that “there’s so much to learn from this phenomenal singer”.
Netizens React
After his video was posted, fans of JJ Lin flock to the comments section to tell the YouTuber that Lin didn’t use any auto-tune because he’s just that good.
One even clarified that since this isn’t even his song, there’s no professional recording of it so Lin really sang it live in front of the audience.
And if you didn’t already know, JJ Lin is well-known to be a “human walking CD” because of the fact that his live performances sound just as good as his professionally recorded ones.
If you’re interested to watch the full review, you can watch it here:
If you just want to hear JJ Lin’s performance, you can hear it here: