From left Chinese singer Chen Jiahua, representative producer/singer Cai Xukun, Blackpink's Lisa and rapper Jony J in promotial material for reality show Youth With You Season Two Photos:Sina Weibo

Chinese reality show Youth With You Season 2 has been releasing introduction videos for its trainees on Sina Weibo since Monday, creating a battle for popularity among participants.

According to previous reports, this season 109 trainees were to receive training in dancing, singing and rap from tutors such as Blackpink's Lisa, Chinese singer Chen Jiahua, rapper Jony J and representative producer/singer Cai Xukun for four months. However, since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the four tutors haven't been able to take part in filming the show. To keep audience interest, it seems the program has turned to uploading online videos so viewers can start to figure out who their favorites are. 

In the videos released so far, trainees have been doing their best to present their specialties to impress netizens. Four trainees, Shen Bing, Shen Qing, Shen Yu, Shen Jie, who are quadruplets cosplayed as Snow White, Vanellope von Schweetz, the White Queen and the Little Mermaid in their introduction video. 

Things didn't work out completely for all four sisters. The White Queen Shen Yu performed a rap for her introduction but was mocked by netizens online. The hashtag #HopeThereIsNoMoreRappingFairytale was trending on Sina Weibo with 230 million views and 31,000 discussions as of Tuesday afternoon.

Some Chinese Sina Weibo bloggers posted videos of Disney Princess rap battles from several years ago using the hashtag and many netizens said that the trainee was too arrogant to think she could follow such performances because her rap ability was far from satisfying.

Momo (nickname), a 29 year-old rapper and music producer, told the Global Times that Shen didn't manage her flow well and that the lyrics lacked the level of mockery and confrontation of most raps. 

"She didn't put enough effort in preparing and so the whole introduction was like a mish-mash of different elements, like cosplay, ACGN and rap. These popular elements might help them gain attention and spark discussion, but the quality of performance was below expectations," said Momo.

Some trainees who have previously debuted in entertainment groups before are also taking part in the show, such as members of Chinese girl idol group SNH48.

One trainee, Qin Niuzhengwei, caught netizen's attention in particular due to rumors that she dated Chinese-Canadian singer-actor Kris Wu. Although some netizens have a bad impression of her and claim they will never like her, Qin has attracted a lot of attention and sparked heated discussions since she decided to take part in the show.

Chinese idol producer programs were introduced from South Korea. Although there have been some successful reality shows using this model in China, the winners of the programs haven't had splendid careers as idol groups, especially when it comes to girl groups. Whether this season of Youth With You can change this remains to be seen, but it's possible that Lisa's participation since she is a member of the worldwide sensation Blackpink may have a positive impact on the show.