Zhang Liangying poses for her album The Seventh Sense Photo: Courtesy of Show City Times

A decade ago, she was just some unknown contestant in a music talent show. Now ten years later she has chosen to head back to the competitive stage that made her famous to join a much fiercer competition. However, this time she returns as a professional singer.

Since Zhang Liangying, also known as Jane Zhang, joined music reality show I am a Singer in January, she has once again been put in the spotlight.

Hunan Satellite Television's I am a Singer has consistently been one of the most popular reality shows in China since it first hit the airwaves in 2013. Unlike other music talent shows searching for grassroot talent, I am a Singer pits famed professional singers on stage in a competition to see who will come out on top. After every two rounds, the singer who ranked last is dropped from the show, a situation that places quite a bit of pressure on even the most successful singers as the show has brought even greater fame to many singers over the past few years. 

However this year, the competition seems fiercer than ever, since several stage veterans with outstanding singing ability, like Han Hong and Sun Nan, have joined the show.

Despite the increased difficulty Zhang still decided to step onto the stage and face the competition.

"I'm about to enter the next phase of my life. I need the stage to help me examine where I should go," Zhang told the Global Times in a phone interview on Friday.

Beginnings

Zhang rose to fame in 2005 when she appeared on the hit national music talent show Super Girls, also a Hunan Satellite Television production. Her outstanding singing ability, especially in English, and her unique "dolphin sound" earned her nods from both the judges and the audience, leading many to nickname her the "Dolphin Princess."

A professional singer ever since, she has sang the theme songs for a number of big films such as Painted Skin and The Banquet. Her fame has even extended to the international arena after she appeared on Oprah Winfrey's The World's Got Talent in 2009, where both Oprah and Simon Cowell praised her performance. She also won Best Asian Artist China at the Mnet Asian Music Awards in 2011.

 For a decade now she has been counted among Chinese audiences' most beloved singers. However, despite this success she decided to return to her roots by throwing herself against even stronger opponents.

"Over the years, I've been busy rushing to and from different stages to perform. Although I've wanted to fully devote myself to singing, I've always been in a rush for the most part. But this stage gives me a feeling of easiness," Zhang said.

"I have time to fully think about how to interpret each detail. It's been a long time since I've been able to devote and focus myself on one thing and taking a break from everything else."

Taking chances 

Audiences have become familiar with Zhang's soulful interpretation of love songs, her wide vocal range and her unique dolphin-like sound. As such, when joining I am a Singer, she has chosen not to go with her normal routine, but instead choose songs that people rarely hear her sing.

This choice has proven to be the right one, as her interpretation of the rock'n'roll song "elang chuanshuo" (Legend of Starving Wolf) caused her to rank first among the six other singers.

However, things have taken a sharp turn as she has ranked last in the latest two episodes and seems to be on the edge of being kicked off the show. Audiences at home are placing their bets to see whether this Friday's episode will be her last.

According to several music critics online, the reason she has ranked so low is because the songs she has chosen to perform were either not suitable for the competition or not suitable for her vocal range, such as "Life Life Summer Flowers" - a plain song that lacks a high pitch that can show off her vocal talents.

Zhang's deputy publicity director Huang Changda posted an article on Sina Weibo explaining that "that song caused a fierce quarrel between Zhang and her team. Many colleagues tried to persuade her to not choose that song, because it wasn't suitable for a competition."

 Although facing strong opposition from her own team and even close to being out of the game, Zhang stands by her choice of songs as she hoped they would allow audiences a chance to see a side of her they never saw before.

Zhang told to the Global Times that some of the songs she chose were indeed not suitable for her, but the whole point was for her to challenge herself and hopefully make a breakthrough. "I want to see if this is something I can do on a real stage."

"Since my debut, audiences have regarded me as 'the girl that sing English songs,' or 'she can only sing those types of songs.' But I've been trying to figure out how to sing Chinese songs more exquisitely," she said.

Although she could have chosen the types of songs that made her stand out in Super Girls, she confessed that doing so would have "been against my purpose for coming to this stage."

While some audience members and music critics have criticized some of her performances as "lacking power" and being "totally out of control," others have also voiced support for her efforts to be different, stating "she's been challenging herself every time, unlike other singers who have just stayed within the range they already good at."

Even if she doesn't make it all the way to the end of the competition, Zhang sees I am a Singer as a great platform for improving herself.

"I hope I can perform better and be more professional. No matter how the host introduces me, I want to be able to step on the stage with pride. That's my motivation," Zhang said.