Chioma  Performing Her First Song This is me.

Standing in front of the microphone with her head down, she sang with her soft voice. As the key went higher, her voice became more powerful and bright setting the audience in CUC Auditorium on fire. This highly competitive singer is Chioma, or Zhao Xinlan in Chinese, the third winner of 2019 "the Elegant Star" Talent Show.

"The journey I have had is more valuable than the outcome,”said Chioma, cherishing her first stage performance experience in CUC. 

Chioma  Enjoying the  Stage of “the Elegant Star” Talent  Show.

This is the Nigerian girl’s first year in China. She was born in a musical family in Nigeria and her father is a well-known local musician. However, she has never taken any lesson about singing, not even from her father. “I just listen and do what they do.” When she was younger, Chioma did not realize how high her voice could go. By following national singer Frank  Edward’s high-key song, her talent was inspired. And after listening to Beyoncé’s songs, she couldn’t help falling in love with her. “Her songs are so great, and she is really famous.” Chioma was excited when talking about Beyoncé.

During her high school, Chioma was the director of galas or other shows in her school. “I sang a song and I directed the whole event,” Chioma said proudly, “It is normal to get a little bit nervous before going on stage. But when it happens, I just enjoy it so much.” She smiled confidently. Stage has  always been the place of her dream , which is also one of the  reasons for her  to choose CUC. 

Chioma  Giving a Performance for Teachers and Students in  the Confucius Institute.

Chioma is not only a bright star on the stage, but also a talent of languages. After graduating from high school, Chioma was attracted by the active study atmosphere and nice buildings of the Confucius Institute at Nnamdi  Azikiwe University, located in Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.Then she spent the next two years studying there. The further she studied Chinese, the more fun she had. She was fascinated by the charm of Chinese after getting familiar with some Chinese idioms and ancient Chinese poetry. “It’s so interesting that a combination of several Chinese characters could express such complex meaning.” It is the attraction of Chinese traditional culture that helps  her make up her mind to  come to China for further study.

In  the  Confucius  Institute,  she  not  only  passed  HSK (level VI),  which  is a famous language test for non-native speakers' abilities of using Chinese, but also made good  friends with her Chinese teachers. One of her favorite teachers taught her about Chinese traditional opera, such as Yu opera and Huangmei opera. She loved this art form, and performed Chinese traditional opera in the Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students last year, in which she finished runner-up in Nigeria division.

One of her most unforgettable experience in the Confucius Institute is that she composed a Chinese song independently at a farewell party of senior students. Many people present couldn’t help crying when Chioma was singing the song called “Don’t give up”. Screams and the warmest applause burst out after her performance. Despite the short lyrics, the song conveyed exactly what Chioma had wanted to say for long.

Chioma’ s Poster of the Talent Show.

Moreover, Chioma has dreamed of accomplishing a pleasant and meaningful song in both Chinese and English. But Chinese songs with idioms and rhymes are not so easy for her to learn. Having realized that there is still a long way to go, she is determined to choose Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages as her major in CUC rather than others.

The Chinese language has benefited Chioma in many aspects. She had a chance to experience different cultures and get to know some friends from the whole world. Powerful yet amiable is the impression she left for her Chinese agents of “the Elegant Star”. “I remember that when she was having her first rehearsal, her backup singers were a bit rusty and they kept making mistakes. But she’s  so nice that she encouraged them a lot and was grateful for their help.” her agent shared after the talent show. “Chioma is a  girl who always  brings happiness to people around her. She is often seen studying in the library,” said Eunji Kim, her Korean roommate, “At the Halloween party, we international students were chatting with one another  freely, while Chioma was absorbed in music, dealing well with the difficult parts of her song, and I knew she was really different from others in singing.”

Chioma  Enjoys  Spicy  Food a Lot.

Life in CUC is colorful for her, except for the food. “I love spicy food. Yet, in Beijing, nothing is spicy at all and I just can’t find the right thing to eat.” The habit of obsessing spicy food starts from her experience in Changsha. As the runner-up of Nigeria division in the Chinese Bridge Competition, Chioma was offered an opportunity to take a tour in China and watch the final competition held in Changsha for a total of two weeks. Now she cannot stop missing the spicy food in Changsha, and it’s  somehow a troublesome problem for her to find something to eat to her taste here.

Chioma likes watching Chinese traditional TV series, such as Princess & Agents (《楚乔传》) and To the Sky Kingdom (《三生三世十里桃花》)at  her  leisure, which helps her learn more about Chinese traditional culture. Sometimes she also plays the guitar, serving as an inspiration source for her creative work.

Talking about the ideal job, Chioma said “becoming a world-famous singer，”without hesitation. She is a girl who just belongs to the stage. “I enjoy being on stage. And if there is a chance, of course, I would love to stay in China  in the future.”

Her name means “God is good” in Nigerian, which also becomes her motto. “Sometimes things won’t go smoothly as we expected. But we should believe that God is certain to give us the best,” said Chioma with a firm tone. “Even though it may look terrible,  everything will get  better  tomorrow.”

Editor:Jiang Chuqin, Arshad Bhatti