Call Me By Fire Season 5 披荆斩棘 (2025) is Here!!!
- mypassion.mythoughts
- 20 hours ago
- 9 min read
Guys! Guys, guys guys guys... Call Me By Fire is back!!! After an excruciatingly long wait, we are finally blessed with a brand new season of quality music performances and celebrity shenanigans!
I was genuinely worried the previous season (Season 4) would be the final run of the show, especially after they announced the demolition of the Brothers' dormitory at the end of Season 4.
Looks like we have nothing to worry about! Yay!
This blog post is organised as below:
What is Call Me By Fire (披荆斩棘)?
This is a music program by MangtoTV, featuring a group of male celebrities competing in a series of rounds leading up to the finale.
Here's the theme song of Season 5:
Who is the Cast of Call Me By Fire Season 5?
By birth year order:
Jordan Chan Siu-chun (陈小春) - 8 July 1967
Julian Cheung Chi-lam (张智霖) - 27 August 1971
Max Zhang Jin (张晋) - 19 May 1974
Reno Wang Zheng Liang (王铮亮) - 30 November 1977
MCHotDog (热狗) - 10 April 1978
Jerry Lamb Hiu-fong (林晓峰) - 28 September 1970
Allen Su Xin (苏醒) - 5 March 1984
Nathan Lee Seung-hyun (李承铉) - 30 October 1984
Pakho Chau (周柏豪) - 12 November 1984
Bird Zhang Yuan (张远) - 2 June 1985
Wang Yue Xin (王栎鑫) - 18 January 1989
Fox Hu Xia (胡夏) - 1 March 1990
Zao An (早安) - 1 February 1993
Xevier Bo Yuan (伯远) - 11 February 1993
Feezy Luo Fangqian (罗昉芊) - 10 December 1993
Timmy Xu Wei Zhou (许魏洲) - 20 October 1994
KnowKnow Ding Zhen (丁震) - 3 May 1996
Xie Yuan Yu (谢渊宇) - 19 October 1997
Yi Xin (易鑫) - 15 June 1998
EL, Sha Yi Ting (沙一汀) - 18 June 1998
Nine Gao Qing Chen, or Kornchid Boonsathipakdee (高卿尘) - 11 July 1999
Major Ma Ji Zhao (马际朝) - 21 August 1999
AK Liu Zhang (刘彰) - 18 December 1999
Zhu Zhi Xin (朱志鑫) - 19 November 2005
Zuo Hang (左航) - 22 May 2006
Su Xin Hao (苏新皓) - 12 January 2007
Zhang Ji (张极) - 3 February 2007
Zhang Ze Yu (张泽禹) - 30 April 2007
Who is the Oldest and Youngest Brother?
Jordan Chan is the oldest Brother of Call Me By Fire Season 5 at 58 years old. He is the OG of the music program, being the main cast of Season 1 (2021) and reinvited for Season 2 (2022).
What about the youngest? Zhang Ze Yu, a member of teenage boyband, TOP, is only 18 years and 4 months old when the season aired, making him the youngest Brother in Call Me By Fire history.
Thoughts on the Cast?
To be honest... Not a huge fan LOL.
Skim through the name list and you'll be quick to notice a handful of familiar names. Indeed, the directors went full nostalgia by inviting brothers from every previous season.
The OGs made up 50% of the cast. While I'm happy to see the return of some of the show favourites, I think it's more fun to see new contestants navigating the complicated competition of Call Me By Fire... And of course, new personalities and hilarious forms of interaction!
Most importantly...
This season has once again deviated from the show's original intention, which is to reintroduce the veteran celebrities to the younger generation.
Look at the birthday again. Never have I ever thought I'd be compiling birth years starting with 20s. So what's next, 2010's babies? They are qualified to join the show in 2 years!
We have five Younger Brothers... I mean, seriously Younger Brothers with an average age of 19 years old. If we do the math, Jordan Chan is 40 years older than the youngest, an age gap greater than a typical father-son relationship.
But hey, let's look at the bright side.
Regardless of age and competition experience, every contestant has the same objective: to outperform the best versions of themselves.
It'd be interesting to watch how this unique mix of age groups, upbringings, and social expectations works as a team and produces quality performances.
Brief Introduction to All Tribes
X-Brothers
Brothers: Nathan Lee (李承铉), Max Zhang (张晋), Fox Hu 胡夏), Zao An (早安)
The name "X-Brothers" is self-explanatory: a tribe of former Brothers LOL. Nathan Lee became the leader after winning a kids' game.
Fun fact: these four Brothers are also leaders in the former Seasons! Nathan Lee was Tribe Leader in Season 1 and 2, Max Zhang was Tribe Leader in Season 1, whereas Fox Hu and Zao An were Tribe Leaders in Season 3.
I'm glad Nathan Lee "helmed" the leadership... Actually, I'm happy with either of the older brothers, other than Fox Hu and Zao An.
What's the matter with the youngsters? Season 3's Round 3, 'nuff said. Future blog post, *ahem ahem*
Great Bay Area (GBA) Lads
Brothers: Pakho Chau (周柏豪), Jordan Chan (陈小春), Julian Cheong (张智霖), Jerry Lamb (林晓峰)
Quick geographical lesson here: the full name of "GBA" is Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The four brothers are Hong Kong veteran actors-singers, with at least 120 years of experience combined.
And yes, all four of them were also experienced Call Me By Fire contestants!
Happy Laoka (快乐老咖)
Brothers: Allen Su (苏醒), Reno Wang (王铮亮), Bird Zhang (张远), Wang Yue Xin (王栎鑫)
Their history traces back to 2007, when the four took part in Super Boy (2007 快乐男声), a Chinese singing competition for males. All four reached the top 13 finalists, where Allen Su emerged as the first runner-up.
Fast forward 18 years later, Allen Su finally made his appearance in Call Me By Fire. Season 5 may be his first year in the music program, yet he is already the Tribe Leader! He won his fellow teammates' hearts by... Well, gifting them.
This is an early indication of Allen Su's problem-solving skills. Bravo! #sarcasm
New Generation
Brothers: MC HotDog (热狗), Feezy (罗昉芊), KnowKnow (丁震), EL (沙一汀),
Finally, a group of professional rappers! MC HotDog is the only former Brother of the competition; the remaining three are brand new. I'm excited to see what they can showcase!
Fun fact: they were also the first tribe in history to rotate their Tribe Leaders.
PROME
Brothers: Timmy Xu (许魏洲), Xie Yuan Yu (谢渊宇), Yi Xin (易鑫), Major Ma Ji Zhao (马际朝)
Why the band name PROME? Drawing inspiration from the Greek titan Prometheus, "PRO" and "ME" is the metaphor of "transcending oneself". In other words, the band seeks to outperform themself. What a cool name and meaning!
INTO1
Brothers: Xevier Bo (伯远), Nine Gao (高卿尘), AK Liu Zhang (刘彰)
INTO1 (yes, it's all caps) is a multi-national Chinese boy group, formed through the 2021 reality show Produce Camp 2021 (Chuang 2021).
This is AK Liu Zhang's first season in the music program. Xevier Bo and Nine Gao were participants in Season 3 and Season 4, respectively.
T.O.P
Brothers: Zhu Zhi Xin (朱志鑫), Zuo Hang (左航), Su Xin Hao (苏新皓), Zhang Ji (张极), Zhang Ze Yu (张泽禹)
T.O.P stands for "TransfOrm Project". This Chinese boy band, consisting of 5 members, was created through the TransForm Project, which is a third generation of trainees from Chongqing, China.
They made their debut in late August 2025, marking Call Me By Fire Season 5 as their one-year introduction to the music industry.
P/S One month in and I still have trouble differentiating the boys LOL so let me know if I accidentally misnamed them hahahahahaaaa
Outstanding Participants and Trivia
The most former Brothers in history.
Season 4 was rebellious by not inviting any former Brothers. The directors must have heard my criticism, played the UNO reverse card and cast half of the participants from their history!
Below is the full list of returning Brothers:
Season 1 (2021) - Jordan Chan, Julian Cheung, Max Zhang, MC Hot Dog, Nathan Lee
Season 2 (2022) - Jordan Chan, Julian Cheung, Nathan Lee, Jerry Lamb, Pakho Chau
Season 3 (2023) - Bird Zhang, Wang Yue Xin, Xevier Bo
Season 4 (2024) - Reno Wang, Fox Hu, Zao An, Nine Gao
That said, we have 3 Brothers with 2 years of Call Me By Fire experience. They are Jordan Chan, Julian Cheung, and Nathan Lee.
This year sets the lowest record in diverse nationality, at a meagre 25%.
We only have seven Brothers outside of mainland China. MC HotDog, Nathan Lee and Nine Gao are Taiwanese, Korean-American and Thai respectively.
The remaining four are the GBA Lads' Hong Kong veteran celebrities: Jordan Chan, Julian Cheung, Jerry Lamb, and Pakho Chau.
The second lowest diversity in nationality is Season 4 at 32% (11 Brothers out of 34).
Sixth "Happy Boys"
After two consecutive years of teasing, we have the sixth "Happy Boys" member, Allen Su, joining the music program.
He is accompanied by three other fellow mates: Reno Wang, Bird Zhang Yuan, and Wang Yue Xin.
No professional dancers!
We don't have professional dancers this year! Season 4 has at least one dancer, Huang Xiao (黄潇). I suppose we could seek comfort by watching the boy bands, since dance is the bread and butter of boy bands.
Do you have more trivia to add? Let's gossip!! :D
Season 5 Executes a Brand New Competition Format!
Bye bye Individual, hello Group!
The biggest difference I noticed is in how the casting is done. Most of the Brothers are now invited as entire boy bands, rather than as individual members... and they stay together throughout the show.
"Wait, what does that mean?"
It means that instead of just one member from a boy band joining, the whole team (or most of it) is brought in and competes together as a tribe for the entire season.
This is a change from earlier seasons, where traditionally only one member from a group was cast, and they'd be placed in a tribe mixed with members from other groups.
"This is still confusing LOL."
Let's use T.O.P as an example. All five boys are invited, and they stayed in the same T.O.P tribe throughout the season!
Come as a Group, Leave as a Group
Remember how the invitation is on a band-entirety basis? This applies to elimination, too.
You read it right... Instead of two Brothers leaving the competition in every Round, the entire tribe is leaving.
"Why are they so cruel this year?!"
Indeed! This is what happened to Round 1, which I'm still recovering from LOL.
Now, now... What happens as we go towards the end of the show?
Do we have Winners, or only the Winning Tribe?
Does the band-entirety still apply to the Finale? Previous seasons decide winners based on individual popularity votes: their tribes do not matter. Now that the casting and elimination are all based on tribes...
It's possible to see only one tribe winning, instead of the typical 17-ish most popular Brothers!
What's Next?
"Where can I watch Call Me Be Fire Season 5?"
That'd be 披荆斩棘的哥哥 Call Me By Fire YouTube channel.
For official English subtitles, try my YouTube playlist titled "Call Me By Fire Full Episode with English Subtitles".
I've been itching to write about the Brothers since last year... talk about impeccable timing.
Call Me By Fire is now a niche of my blog, so thank you, everyone, for reading and supporting this fan blog!
"What can I expect from your blog?"
Well... anything! My regular content of this music program is the performance reviews of every Round, which can be found using this tag CallMeByFire.
If you have any ideas for me to write and explore, you're more than welcome to contact me. Thank you once again, and see you in the next Call Me By Fire blog post!!
Disclaimer:
All screenshots are from 披荆斩棘的哥哥 Call Me By Fire and China HunanTV Official Channel 湖南卫视芒果TV官方频道 YouTube channels. The thumbnail's raw images are from mydramalist. Kindly contact me should you wish to remove any of the published media.
Comments