After the spotlight fades

The 2009 season of China's pop-culture juggernaut talent show Super Girl launched two names into the stratosphere: Li Xiaoyun, then a sophomore at the University of Melbourne who placed second, and Huang Ying, the third-place finisher who once worked as a singer at weddings and funerals in the mountainous areas of Sichuan province. Though both signed with the same entertainment management company, their career paths soon forked.

Plagued by discomfort and insecurity under corporate control and the unrelenting glare of fame, Li eventually retreated to a windowless studio in Beijing, forging her own identity as an independent artist.

By contrast, Huang leaned into the system, actively showing up at commercial gigs. After her contract expired in 2017, she transitioned into the booming influencer economy of short videos and livestream commerce.

Fifteen years later, in September 2024, the two reunited at a concert featuring contestants from across five seasons of the Super Girl franchise.

It was there that the documentary Meant to Sing began filming Li and Huang.