It’s Reality Show Time

By XI WEN

Play Up! Good Boy! contestants perform a Latin American dance.	The Winning Star Idol of Guangxi TV.	Super Girl 2006 wannabes at the Shenyang heats.

Soon after the government’s decision to limit proliferation of TV reality shows, Hunan TV announced that its broadcasts to five provinces of the hugely successful Super Girl contest would be extended to the whole nation. The Chinese counterpart of the US American Idol and the UK’s Pop Idol first aired in 2005, pulling in an amazing 150,000 participants and 400 million viewers. Having boosted the station’s commercial ratings to RMB 7,500 (US ) per second, it’s little wonder that Hunan TV seeks to capitalize further on this golden goose.

“ There is a huge number of reality talent contest-type shows on TV these days,” confirms Ha Wen, producer of CCTV2’s offering in the genre, Dream China. And they get hotter daily.

The shows jostling for airspace at weekend prime time this year include: Dragon TV’s Play Up! Good Boy!; CCTV’s (Chinese Central Television) Dream China (for wannabe entertainers), Charming Partner (for aspiring program emcees), Absolute Challenge (for executive job-seekers) and Happy Family; Shandong TV’s Angel’s Task, Anhui TV’s Jeanswest Super New Star; and Sichuan TV’s Lovely Chefette.

The viewing public’s response to these programs has been avid to the extent of fanaticism. When one male contestant in Play Up! Good Boy! was voted out, a 17-year-old fan of his called Dragon TV, threatening to mob the station building and kill herself on the spot if they refused to put her favorite Good Boy back in the running. A number of these shows’ fans are young people who think nothing of skipping classes or calling in sick, either to audition for shows or simply cheer on their favorite contestants. The shows present a chance to realize the instant fame-and-fortune fantasy that distracts young people from their studies and work, giving them an unhealthy sense of values. This naturally arouses ire and anxiety among parents and teachers. It was public opinion that prompted the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television to attempt to check the nation-wide reality show fever.

Pursuit of profit is at the root of the proliferation of these shows. “ TV drama has historically been a main propeller of audience ratings in recent years,” says Xie Yungeng, professor of media studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, “ But local TV stations cannot compete with CCTV when it comes to the purchase of sole rights to blockbuster series, and lack the funds to put on lavish productions of their own. In the struggle not to be squeezed out of the market, they see reality entertainment as their salvation.”

This is exactly what happened with Hunan TV’s show trailblazer. It launched Super Boy, the Chinese equivalent of the US American Idol in 2003, in the hope of attracting more viewers and advertisers. By the end of the first season of Super Girl in 2005 it had shot ahead of all its rival TV stations as regards ratings and commercial revenues. More significantly, it opened a new dimension in Chinese TV programming by empowering audiences to have direct influence on the success or failure of the performers trying their luck. This has proved a more powerful hook than the most compelling of TV soap operas.

Lucky contestants that succeed also stand to gain hugely from this broadcasting phenomenon. The best example is 2005 Super Girl champion Li Yuchun. In the past year her name has been prominent in entertainment news and the talk of the mass media. Her happy smile has even beamed from the front cover of Time magazine. As her fame spreads, with advertising appearances and album releases, so her fortune, estimated at no less than RMB 10 million, grows. There is every reason to believe that that this new star, who personifies the rags-to-riches-overnight clich¨¦, will continue to shine brightly for a while to come.

The lives of all the other four 2005 Super Girls have undergone similarly dramatic transformations, which motivates an ever greater number of young men and women to try their luck, to the delight of program producers. Says Dream China producer Ha Wen: “ Though many people doubt that 2006 Super Girl show can attract as many contestants and viewers as last season, and contestants are aware that not everyone can be as fortunate as Li Yuchun, it nonetheless commands a huge following. To the youth, it presents a tantalizingly more exciting and profitable way of earning a living than slaving in a shop, office or restaurant.” As new college graduates nationwide quail at the prospect of finding work in today’s tight employment market, many find hope in the possibility of fame and fortune as a successful reality show contestant.

Chen Mingqing, a 20-year-old from Shanghai, is one of the many Dream China contestants. “ I want to win in order to prove my talent, and if I do, I will have everything my heart could desire.”

Many contestants compete in more than one show to increase their chances of winning. Li Yuchun, for instance, failed in Dream China before coming through in Super Girl. Each show has its own standards and requirements, which creates a wider scope of possibilities.

All shows in this genre follow the same format. Participants display their singing and other performance skills, and are assessed by a panel of judges, who give them marks and make comments that are as pitilessly facetious, barbed and ruthless as possible. Those selected from this initial trial must continue through several elimination rounds before getting to the serious competition for top performer. TV viewer support is vital in the game, as the votes they cast can completely change the decision of the panel of judges. Li Yuchun came last among the five finalist singers in the Super Girl 2005 season, but was named winner thanks to an overwhelming public ballot of three million.

In order to intensify and capitalize on the show’s ethos of human stress and endeavor, producers purposely put the two most popular rivals in the same team. In so doing they achieve a moment of high drama at the point when one of them is knocked out. Another common practice is to dig up or fabricate scandal about the participants’ past in a bid to boost the ratings still higher as the competition reaches its final stages.

Fame doesn’t come cheap. The 20 Super Girl final contestants in each city are given the dubious choice of either signing a five-year contract with the media agency company co-sponsoring the program or drop out of the contest. The majority complies and so consigns its fate to the company for the next five years. Insiders doubt both the company’s ability and motivation to cultivate and promote so many singers. They report that the general practice is to keep all these hopefuls on hold until the later stages of the competition and then concentrate on those that get the farthest. Those left out in the cold are obliged to sit out the term of their contract, deprived of the right to perform anywhere else.

This is one of the many reasons why such shows are widely deplored. “ They are active persecution of people with musical ideals,” declares Muer, a schoolmate of Li Yuchun. Super Girl and Dream China are nevertheless forging their way to hegemony in China’s entertainment business.

Super Girl bills itself as an all-people gala with the logo “ sing whenever you feel like it, regardless of what you sing, how you look or where you are from” But it has been proven that only good-looking pop singers win out. Prof. Zhang Yiwu of Peking University points out: “ Contestants regarded with the greatest potential are either sweet or sexy. Producers care little about their vocal skills, and encourage them to woo the audience with their physical rather than vocal attributes.” It is, therefore, no surprise that Li Yuchun’s latest recordings, made and performed without the visual backing and hype of Supergirls, have had a tepid reception. She may soon realize that once the Super Girl hype dies down, she may have to concentrate on singing for her champagne supper.

Whether for or against them, TV reality shows are obviously here to stay. But in order to win full public approbation they must extend their emphasis from contestants’ physical charms to singing ability. One reality show producer predicts: “ There is still much space to be explored in TV show programming.” This may be true. But airtime is increasingly encroached upon by the reality talent shows that viewers, hooked on their ability to select the media darling of the moment, gobble up and cry for more.