Promotional material for reality show Singer Photo: Weibo

According to reports, Singer, a Chinese singing reality show broadcast on Hunan Satellite TV, will experiment with online filming for its third episode, which means singers scattered in five different cities in China will compete from their own homes.

Airing in China for the past eight years, the reality show will cancel its usual 500 member live audience at the recording studio for the first time ever. Instead the winner of each episode will be decided based solely on the online votes of audiences watching online. Singer will also become the first Chinese mainland musical entertainment program to film episodes by connecting online participants and broadcast it on television.

This is not the first time that Hunan Satellite TV has turned to the internet due to the novel coronavirus epidemic. It recently released two variety shows filmed online, Day Day Up Cloud Time and Hey, What are You Doing.