Teenage songbirds from 26 high schools in Shanghai competed at the third annual Voice of Halo Singing Competition, which ended Sunday with a bubbling final at MAO Livehouse Shanghai that attracted an audience of more than 200 students.

The competition is organized by Halo, a club from Shanghai High School International Division (SHSID) that practices peer-to-peer micro-finance to help the poverty-stricken.

This is the first time in its three-year history the competition has been expanded from international institutes to encompass all high schools in the city.

All profits from this year's competition, such as admission fees (90 yuan, $14.14 for preliminaries and final, or 70 yuan for final alone), go toward supporting farmers in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

At the final, 24 contestants sang in front of their peers and a judging panel consisting of a piano professor from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, a music expert from Boston University, and an IB music teacher from SHSID.

The finalists went through five rounds, including a task in which each contestant sang a cappella for a minute.

First, second and third place were decided by vote, with 50 percent weighting given to the judging panel, and the other half being decided by audience poll.

The Global Times attended the final and talked to the excited finalists right after the competition.

Contestants sing for an audience of their peers and a judging panel.

First place winner

Xu Wenjie, 17, High School Affiliated to Shanghai Theatre Academy.

Xu has never been very confident with her naturally husky and smoky voice, and did not take part in school choirs or the like.

For years she only sang with close friends, who kept encouraging her. This time, she came out on top.

"I could not stop my hand from shaking when I performed, though I did much better than in the preliminaries," the sweet, doll-like girl said of her nerves, which were hardly noticeable when watching her performance.

She found it difficult to choose what songs to perform, so asked her friends for suggestions. They gathered at a KTV to make the selection, and eventually her list included "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele, "Bubble" by Hong Kong singer G.E.M, and "If I Were a Boy" by Beyoncé.

The judges loved her for her distinct voice and smooth transitions between low and high notes, but she said she is fully aware of her drawback.

"I am often short of breath, and I can't really sing those low-pitched, climax-less songs that I love," she said.

Currently a performance student, Xu wants to go on to study DJing, singing, art and performance. "I can't do anything I don't like, and in terms of music I like it so, so much," Xu said.

Second place winner

Violet Liu, 17, Shanghai Taiwanese Children School.

Otherwise calm and collected, Liu is energetic, and at times even explosive, when she sings.

With solid skill and a spontaneous soulfulness, she won the admiration of the crowd with each performance and was the judges' favorite throughout the final - one of them praised her for "not singing with her voice, but with her body."

She sang "Hello" by Adele, "Edge of Glory" by Lady Gaga, and "Fallin'" by Alicia Keys, among others.

She was well prepared - for one thing, she wrote out all the lyrics and studied them sentence by sentence so as to fully grasp the emotions they were trying to convey.

Previously an SHSID student, Liu has taken part in all three Halo competitions, and this is the first time she has won a top-three spot.

The judges said she had moved from being "spirited" to "mature," while Liu said she has overcome psychological pressure and gained better stage control over time.

"The competition joined people who love music and see music as an important part of their lives, and I got to meet a lot of friends as well as reunite with my kindergarten classmate through this," Liu said.

Liu also writes her own songs - humming to herself at first, recording on her phone, and then producing on a computer.

With the aim of becoming a professional music producer, she wishes to complete her first album in the next few years, and then apply to music production and engineering at UC Berkeley.

The top three winners (from left) Violet Liu, Bian Qianwen and Xu Wenjie, on the stage Photos: Courtesy of the event organizer and Bian Qianwen

Third place winner

Bian Qianwen, 17, Shanghai United International School Wan Yuan campus.

A first-time contestant, Bian easily stood out from the other entrants by combining movements, mostly cute hand gestures, with her singing.

This came out from her time as a cheerleader at school, and she loves creating new moves with her friends when she sings at KTV.

So she chose songs that make her want to dance. Her numbers included "Walkashame" by Meghan Trainor, and "Don't Cross Me" by Tanya Chua.

"Performing plus singing is such fun. Once I get started practicing, I can't stop," Bian said.

She sang her own composition, a cheerful, lighthearted tune, during the a cappella task - she learnt some music composition basics during music class.

The tune came to her when she was walking along the road one day. She then added guitar, drums and piano during recording, with the help of two friends.

She wishes to pursue film studies in college, but believes music will continue to be a great inspiration for her. "After all, music is a very important part of films too," Bian said.